16v Digfant II FAQ

[veedubinit]

Yes. I am using a transmition form my 1.8 8v and it is not adequite what-so-ever. I will be getting a replacement. if you have the tranny from that gti it would be far better.

[OhioBenz]

an 09A has pretty much the same ratios as an 02Y - input shaft size/diff clutch disk needed.

i have an 09A in my 90 GLI and can't tell any difference! There's a lot of diff 8v trannies out there - if you get an ACH or something like that you got an "econobox" with long ratios

[89JettaCoupe]

Has anybody done this swap with a 1.8L 16V yet?

[veedubinit]

I will work the same way. The mass air flow sensor just reads how much air is coming in and compensates with fuel. The computer knows nothing.

[OhioBenz]

Quote, originally posted by veedubinit »

I will work the same way. The mass air flow sensor just reads how much air is coming in and compensates with fuel. The computer knows nothing.

That's not quite accurate - the ECU is programmed for a specific end use. The 1.8-8v is an altogether different setup so some adjustments to the MAF may be required to get proper AF ratios. Best to use an AF meter/gauge.

[veedubinit]

Quote, originally posted by OhioBenz »

That's not quite accurate - the ECU is programmed for a specific end use. The 1.8-8v is an altogether different setup so some adjustments to the MAF may be required to get proper AF ratios. Best to use an AF meter/gauge.

Actually it will. I dont know if you've ever torn apart a MAF sensor, but its a flapper door with a metal arm connected to it telling the CPU how much air is going in. With my 2.0 16v we could never get that meter to its highest point. with a 1.8 16v being smaller it would have even less trouble keeping up. and i dont have an air/fuel gauge but a buddy of mine told me when he checked his it didnt run lean at all even top end. I'm sure a juicer set of injectors wouldnt hurt but thats why i say, you could toss almost any 4banger engine into a digi 2 setup and it would most likly work. .. maybe not perfect. .or good for that matter. . .but i bet it would run
edit: and a chip to change fuel curves helps to i would imagine .. i still plan on doing that too.

[OhioBenz]

the MAF is just one component tho..... The ECU takes data from a number of items and the VW engineers spent countless hours setting up program maps that work the best with the engine it was designed for in a multitude of circumstances. A fuel/ignition map is a complex grid of data which at best even for a stock engine is a compromise - toss in variables which were never considered during the ECU mapping such as totally different flow patterns and combustion swirl etc resulting from a 16v compared to an 8v head and you are guaranteed not to have an optimum performing engine.

Will it run better than CIS-E? possibly, is it an improvement - I'd have to see some dyno maps to be completely convinced.

If Digi-2 was the answer then there wouldn't be a demand for Digi-1 conversions nor a market for Digi-1 chips if even that ECU was perfectly programmed.

[cdn20VALVE]

For what it is worth I ran my stock 16v digiII on a 50,000$ lab and scope testing machine at my technical school. I was curious to see what I would find.

Results:

Fluctuation between 14.8 and 15.2 air fuel ratio

Conclusion:

Pretty damn close to what it should be. 14.7.

[rychas1]

she runs!!!!!!!!!! digi216v project is running (mandatory pics will come very soon). but one last thing. what did yall do about the temp sensor plug (the female portion). since the 8v and 16v plugs go into different places, where does this one go? (yes i know pics would be great but i ran outa film takin other pics for yall ). i was told that some a3's had a built-in temp plug on the upper radiator hose, and other 16vs had em in other places. for this digi2 app, what should i do for this one plug???????

[mrkrad]

[rychas1]

no, i have that on my car. maybe im not explaining the proper sensor. all i know is that there is a plug left with no where to go. i was told that this plug goes into the upper radiator hose, but thats all i know.

[veedubinit]

the sensor you speak of is your black connector coolant sensor. usually on an 8v the blue and black coolant sensors hand out on the front of the head on the flang for the man coolant line. You should have your blue sensor on the side of the head like the pic above, as for the black which your asking about. . there is a pin sensor on the back of the head. . .. kinda. . look at where you mounted your blue one .. then lean over and look behing. . you cant miss it. . its kinda high on the head. thats your signal, it sends the same coolant numbers as the one on your 8v, and it control your gauge in the cluster. Ground out the ground wire and hook the other up to that and your laughin

[rychas1]

thats the one. ill take a look at it.

[89JettaCoupe]

The engine I'm looking at swapping in doenst have power steering, but I do currently have it on my 8V, can I use the 8V power steering pump on the 16V block?

[gli4life]

i got my 88 coupe running the other day useing a complete harness out of a 91 carat. still needs some fine tuning. i have the bmw maf but haven't hooked it up yet, i'm waiting to make a short runner witha bigger tb of some sort and bigger injectors. car seems to run good, haven't driven it yet, i'm not running the isv so it takes a min for it to warm up and like running, mind you i'v only set the timing by ear so far but it does have some hesitation when reving, it you ease into it its alright and the warmer it is the better. over all i'm pretty happy with the swap. as long as it goes better then my last nightmare with obd I.

[cdn20VALVE]

Quote, originally posted by 89JettaCoupe »

The engine I'm looking at swapping in doenst have power steering, but I do currently have it on my 8V, can I use the 8V power steering pump on the 16V block?

I'm pretty sure you can re-use all your 8v p/s stuff. I will be doing this in the spring time as well on my 16v.

[MBRACKLIFFE]

Yeah all of the power steering brackets and such are interchangeable. Everything should bolt right up just make sure the pulley lines up correctly with you other pulley's. It should anyways but just to be safe.

[MotorwerksGti]

es the 16v stock coolant temp sensor stay in and unplugged or does it stay in and get plugged in. also i have a fuel rail but no fpr. where should i pick one up that is external from the fuel rail? converting from 89 cise 16v so i have to change the whole wiring harness in the car right?

[MBRACKLIFFE]

You can reuse the stock 16v CTS it is electronically compatible with the digi2 sensor however you should still make sure it is in good working order.
It is popular to swap in the single sensor digi2 flange and use the stock digi2 sensor but I have run my car off both and have found no difference.

Check JEG's or summit racing for external FPR's I am sure there are other places that carry them but I know they do.

You will have to swap the entire digi2 harness into your car which I have not done so I can not answer specifics.

[OhioBenz]

1) if its an 89 GLI it is alread CE-2 so a digi harness is plug-n-play
2) Summit Racing Aeromotive 1000 rrfpr is only $131 - who knows you might take the next step & go Digi-1 and Boost

[rychas1]

as i said b4, she runs!!! i will post pics up as soon as i develop them, but i figured id give some feedback asap. if i sound retarded, its cause im so happy

-first off, this thing sounds mean, has a very deep growl like its pissed
-yes.. its a 3 speed auto, but when u drive it, the pickup is really nice, so u dont really think about it. for example to get from 55-70, my tach stayed just around 2700 rpm, like it was stuck. once i hit 70+, the tach finally reach 3000. o btw, this was by 'accident' on a city street, so i have no real performance feedback yet. i honestly didnt know i was going that fast?
-my mechanic said when he drove it this morning, he hit 7000k, and it held there for a while before it shifted. i said, dood, rev limiter is like 6200? on digi2. he swore up and down that the tach hit 7000k, without hitting limiter. as i am scared to test this myself, i think either of my chips should really set this thing off! (comments on this please, as what the heck will the chips do now if the revs already go to 7000k?)
-need to get a TT or freer-flowing exhaust. the 8v exhaust just feels like im holding back 7hp or so (maybe a stock vr6 muffler will help too)
-im so happy that my car is finally done. praise God!

any questions, hit me up. pics soon!

[mrkrad]

you built that auto? i'd love to see a 2.0 16V t3/t4e with a 50 shot on a 3 speed built with a stall

would be evil indeed.

werd atl

[MotorwerksGti]

so basically find the same style plug that i used in the thermoswitch for that cts or just leave it therre chillin. i have 70 percent of the swap done with all my parts in my hands excpet for the fpr. im gonna go down to sk speed asap and pick up a fpr. is it safe to use rubber fuel line with hose clamps as long as all the connections are deep enough? what should the fuel pressure be set at? somewhere around 30-35psi im guessing? ill let u know how it turns out. thanks alot for making this whole process e-a-s-y.

[mrkrad]

use fuel injection line of course, fuel line can't sustain the high pressure. same with the clamps never use standard clamps on fuel injection line, it will bite into the line

[rychas1]

i was waiting for feedback from yall on how the hell my tach hit 7000 without hitting rev limiter and cutting out? just curious not only how that happened, but will my chips (digifast or sns) do any more good? weird

[MBRACKLIFFE]

In my experience the REV limiter is not set in stone, It may be set at 6200 but not actually kick in until 6400 or 6500. My car pulls up to 6800 before it kicks in however I believe my Tach is slightly inaccurate as well. In general tach's tend not be perfectly accurate.

You can always check your tach against a Tach/Dwell meter to see how accurate it is.

[mxman]

You folks have a ton of problems with your swaps, jesus, i dropped my engine in, fabbed the intake tube for hte vam, lengthened my harness for the fuel injectors, replaced the ecu i fried... used a blue coolant temp sensor in a flange i bought from the dealer, plugged my gauge for the dash into the stock 16v cts... plugged off half the connectors for vacuum, i took the stock 16v throttle body connector off my motronic harness, made sure the idle and WOT switches grounded on idle and WOT to their respective wires, and had infinite ohms when 1-99% throttle... other thant aht really its such an easy swap and i did it in like 8 hours lol the alternator swap was harder than the engien swap for me... my car idles at 950 rpm, sometimes at 1100 (no isv) ...hits fuel cutoff at about 6750 (Stock) i have a digifast chip... oh ya i also tossed the cold start injector and glued a peice of tin over the hole, i still have the connector for the ISV incase i want to hook it up... so far i havent had troubles starting cold, even with NO O2 sensor... it chugs a bit on start up blub blub blub...missing because its rich then its fine... i have the hose that goes to the airbox going to my beer can to catch blowby and the stock hose is going to the intake... really you can do this swap not hook up the o2 sensor, just make sure the vam and CTS are plugged in...or it wont start

maybe these pics will help







Modified by mxman at 10:15 PM 11-6-2004

[redGTInj]

as some one said before...
ANYONE here do the DIGI 2 swap into a CE1
I want to do it...but wiring is not my cup of tea....
any pointers??

[rychas1]

lot of comment has been made about digifast chips on digi2-8vs and digi2-16vs. well, i just wanted to comment how it works on my oddball... the digi2 16v auto! idle is very stable, not so bouncy. 1st gear revs higher without really trying, but still sux rocks. 2nd gear is much better, throttle opens up nicely. and 3rd gear... well, not bragging, but in the comment made by my passenger (has a digi2 16v cabrio)'this thing feels like turbo!' not my words at all. digifast!
netx week, sns! he liked digifast so much, he wants to buy it if my sns gimme me greater pleasure. stay tuned til then. ok sam, this is for u!

[mxman]

honestly unless you have cams and alot of mods a chip wont do anything really ...it will just igonre some sensors no doubt and run like it should stock, i put my chip in, it didnt really do much at all....
it made the rev limiter LOWER...haha

[cdn20VALVE]

Digi2 16v idle speed?

[rychas1]

not sure if u mean me or mxman, but its about 950-999ish. b4 chip, it was about 1000 even and a lil bouncy (very little). now, no bounce. very smooth

[cdn20VALVE]

No I meant all of us in general. What are our idle speeds.

Mine is about 1050. Below that, it does not run well.

Stock 16v 2.0L digi2.

[rychas1]

i take that back about my 1st gear sucking rocks. my dumb ass didnt push the pedal far enuf to engage WOT. did this today holy macaroni! and yes 93 octane does make a huge difference

[BOOFWAH]

For those who have, or are, swapping into a cabriolet. What, or where, are you doing with the oil pressure gauge sender? I like being able to read my oil pressure.