Can I put a EA288 TDI in an Audi A4?

[oregonvw]

Hello,


Have a 2015 Passat TDI (deleted) with a undamaged EA288 engine. Forgetting compontent protection (getting the Audi's VIN into the EA288's ECU with ODIS), just wondering if its even possible? (yes, wiring harness juju would be required).....

Not asking how yet if even possible. It would be really great pissing off all the right people & gov't agencies with a 2017 A4 TDI.

Thanks for your time. (Happy Holidays if thats your thing)
Cheers, Grant

 

[Dr Sheldon]

That would be no walk in the park !!

In fact a Nightmare of Epic Proportions !! If it did happen !!

The man hours spent, the soul destroying, the headaches, sleepless nights would very easily buy you a much newer much better car !!


Unless you know it has been done and who did it !

 

[2kaa52]

Hello,


Have a 2015 Passat TDI (deleted) with a undamaged EA288 engine. Forgetting compontent protection (getting the Audi's VIN into the EA288's ECU with ODIS), just wondering if its even possible? (yes, wiring harness juju would be required).....

Not asking how yet if even possible. It would be really great pissing off all the right people & gov't agencies with a 2017 A4 TDI.

Thanks for your time. (Happy Holidays if thats your thing)
Cheers, Grant

Getting vin into the ECU is possible

 

[oregonvw]

fair enough. just wondering, wouldn't it be great registering a 2017 tdi...... ive got a perfect EA288 deleted TDI with its entire life 5w30 spec 506.0 507.0 oil. just kills me seeing the vehicle used as an HOA decoy / planter for blackberry bushes.

 

[Uwe]

Is it possible, sure. Will it be straightforward and easy? No.

For one thing, the Passat has the engine mounted transversely, and the A4 has it longitudinally. That means you cannot use the transmission from the Passat. What transmission does the A4 have? Other potential hassles are getting the Passat ECU to be happy talking to the very different ABS in a B9 A4, not to mention the rest of the control modules.

It would be really great pissing off all the right people & gov't agencies with a 2017 A4 TDI.

Depending on the emissions testing requirements where you are, you might never get this approved. As a general rule, you can put a newer engine in an older car, but you can't put an older engine in a newer chassis.

Of course, there are places like the Free State of Florida™ where nobody cares. Way back when, we knew a guy who converted a B5 (or maybe B5.5) Passat Wagon to a fully Euro-spec 2.5 V6 TDI with a 6MT and 4-motion. That car was pristine; you'd never know it didn't come from the factory that way. Where he lived, it was no problem. Then he sold it to a guy in state with very fussy emissions testing, either New York or Massachusetts, I don't recall. I'm not sure the new owner ever got it approved...

-Uwe-

 

[oregonvw]

.... this is Oregon .... what emissions? leaded av gas in the car and diesel on the plastic burn pile. Only Portlandian (highest taxes in country) == Calif.

Before everyone goes crazy on me, the major appliances on our porches & front yards have all been repurposed. They're cheaper than tombstone or burial markers.

 

[Sebastian]

...and no, ODIS will not solve the VIN issue because it's not just the VIN but the IMMO that needs to be matched and the vehicle manufacturer id as well as engine power class is part of that. Neither of which will be a fit, so that part needs a 3rd party approach. Nothing factory tools will solve. Long story short, this is not a project we would even remotely recommend and certainly not provide support for.

 

[Uwe]

leaded av gas in the car

Kinda pricey, isn't it? Decades ago, when I owned a small plane, avgas always cost roughly double what mogas did.

-Uwe-

 

[siLc]

A4 B9 has EA288 diesel engines from the factory, but obviously not in NAR. So you can import all the stuff needed like appropriate ECU, engine mounts etc. But if you want to use the EA288 engine block from a transverse engine, then before going any further you'll probably need to see whether that has the mounting locations for longitudinal engine mounts.

 

[Uwe]

You can import all the stuff needed like appropriate ECU

It apparently doesn't matter to @oregonvw where he lives, but a RdW ECU will never get past a US emissions test in areas that have them. When the emissions testing software queries OBD-II PID 1C, the response will not be acceptable. This is the main thing that prevented the B5 Passat I mentioned in post #5 from passing. See:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OBD-II_PIDs#Service_01_PID_1C.

-Uwe-