DSG to 6spd Conversion -- I'm going for it!!

Back with some more updates after almost 2 months with the car as a 6 spd! Everything is still working well and I am thoroughly enjoying the car. The clutch is pretty well broken in now too. Here's a few pictures of some details I took care of a while ago but haven't had a chance to post until now:

First, some more details on the retrofit harness I made. I wired up the reverse sensor and clutch sensor, which needed a variety of connections to power, ground, the ecu, and the vehicle control module, all referenced from the Bentley manual (the mass of highlighted pages spread out on my floor near the beginning of the thread). I approximated the wire lengths in the car before figuring out the best way to keep most of them together, then cut to length and crimp connected everything in (didn't want to solder anything in the hot engine bay). The wires are then wrapped in the plastic corrugated material, which is held down with white zip ties as seen in the photo. Black zip ties would've looked more OEM I think--I did white on purpose for contrast so I would know where to look if there were any issues. The red wire was then wrapped with OEM tape to the harness part it goes along.


There was a part in etka--crash support beam or something--that I noticed was manual only. I ordered that and from pictures and the repair manual assumed that it went under the dash somewhere to reinforce the clutch pedal in the event of a collision. I found where it seems to fit nicely and after install it looks like this--the black tube/wire bit. If anybody happens to know if their manual car has one that looks similar that info would be appreciated.


Also fixed the leaky hub flange seal. Here's where it went, you can see from the dampness it was leaking alright--some small drips on the floor but no puddles. I had topped it off too and fortunately it did not need much. It's the left flange--I wonder if the junkyard r&r'd the flange it to drop the trans from the donor car and in the process some of the sealing was lost.

And here's what goes in the seal:


Also not shown is the noise insulation piece that goes around the shift lever, can't seem to find that picture but that's a pretty standard part.

Next up is writing a new tune--I think I'm going to shoot for ~290hp with lower torque (say, 270 ft lbs), linear except for a smooth ramp up from the surge line. Basically chiseling the peaky torque to be more even and reducing overall power by 5% or so. I expect the car will feel a bit slower without actually being too much slower, and will hopefully make the oem clutch last a little longer and make the car a little easier to modulate for track days. But more importantly--it's something for me to tinker with!

Oh, one more thing! I was actually out of town on business for about 3 weeks and unable to drive the car. Even tho I'd checked vampire draw with an ammeter, I was slightly worried it wouldn't start with a low battery when I got home. Had no problems whatsoever. Still doesn't rule out vampire draw completely but certainly a good sign. Reason I was concerned is that I'd heard a module might stay 'awake' looking for a transmission that isn't there.

WoW great work, glad everything worked out for you. I don't own a MK5 GTI anymore did a few years back, but I still pop back in here from time to time to see how things are. I wouldn't mind picking up one up again as a beater, i loved mine and it's still one of my favorite cars I've owned. Also as I can see this forum isn't nearly as active anymore, all these guys went to MK7's etc.

I love your rims.

Good work, next time just buy a manual.:smile:

I would love to be able to write a custom low torque tune for my K04. I get a runaway boost spike at about 2700rpm on my APR tune. I have turned down the WGA as a temp fix but low end throttle modulation and boost onset suffer.

I'm going to install a manual boost controller in parallel with the N75 to set a 22psi maximum on the system and put the WGA back to the original setting. Hoping to be able to go full throttle in any situation and not having to keep one eye on the boost gauge.

Fociracr said:

WoW great work, glad everything worked out for you. I don't own a MK5 GTI anymore did a few years back, but I still pop back in here from time to time to see how things are. I wouldn't mind picking up one up again as a beater, i loved mine and it's still one of my favorite cars I've owned. Also as I can see this forum isn't nearly as active anymore, all these guys went to MK7's etc.

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Haha thanks! Yeah it's kind of sad to see the activity go down, but on the other hand, I think we're also seeing way more serious mods now so that's cool.

5aprilc said:

I love your rims.

Good work, next time just buy a manual.

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Thanks! And yeah, it would've been cheaper and a LOT easier just to buy a 6spd from the factory :bellyroll:.

clockwise33 said:

I would love to be able to write a custom low torque tune for my K04. I get a runaway boost spike at about 2700rpm on my APR tune. I have turned down the WGA as a temp fix but low end throttle modulation and boost onset suffer.

I'm going to install a manual boost controller in parallel with the N75 to set a 22psi maximum on the system and put the WGA back to the original setting. Hoping to be able to go full throttle in any situation and not having to keep one eye on the boost gauge.

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Ouch, that stinks. Have you talked to APR about it? If it's in the tune I would think it'd be something they'd want to address; it seems like that could potentially create a dangerous situation.

Updates! Wow it's been over a year, hard to believe. I still have the car and it's still working great. Here it is in winter mode next to my father's F10.


I haven't put as many miles on it as I would like. This is because I got something new!
It's a '17 Sport, this time with a 6MT from the factory. IMO the PP is as good as everyone says. Too bad I couldn't get it in 2-dr but that's another story.

At any rate, on the MKV front, at some point I realized that the DSG crankshaft has a pilot bearing in it and the 6MT crankshaft does not. I never removed the pilot bearing. AFAIK, this did not have any ill consequence. However, it sort of ate away at me knowing it was there. I wasn't about to do anything about that, until I found another O2Q at the same junkyard with lower miles and for dirt cheap. Coupled with the fact that I wasn't a big fan of the 4th gear whine (which was diminished but still present in the old box) I bit the bullet and dropped the trans a 2nd time.

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It went much smoother the 2nd time and I left the subframe in place, instead taking off the axle flanges. Sure enough there was a pilot bearing and that popped out with some coaxing. All was going well until I managed to break off one of the three bolts that hold the throwout bearing when moving it to the 'new' trans. Rather than fish that out, I swapped the bell housing over from the 'old' one to the 'new' one. Oh so tempting to just drop in an LSD at this point, but I already have some other plans I want to save up for.


Everything bolted up great and no leaks from the new case seal job. Car runs like a top and no more 4th gear whine. Now, it's kind of funny that I avoided dropping the subframe. About 1k miles later the torque sensor went on the steering rack. Some of you may have been through that, the fix is a new rack--which of course requires dropping the subframe! Incredibly I got one for $60, had it in on a Sat afternoon, and per VCDS the thing only had about 8k miles on it. Score.

Otherwise, the car is mostly similar. I've pulled off the K04 to sell, but the wheels and suspension will stay on. I figure that horsepower will be redundant with my next project, and I need to fund that. Did I mention that my girlfriend had a Jetta? Well, she has an F22 now and signed the Jetta over to me today, and I have some aspirations for it. Mostly involving a pumpkin sized turbo and a wrecked R32. :drool: Still in the planning phases, and I don't expect to have much to say on that front any time soon, but pics for clicks nonetheless. :thumbsup:

Good Morning from Washington State. I know this string is old as can be but want to reach out. My story is: My son bought a 2008 GTI with DSG and did not realize there was a recall on the tranny. Now, the PRNDS is flashing and it is throwing P1829, P1824 and 00194 codes at me. It goes into limp mode as soon as it warms up with no reverse. (I now own it because I am a good Dad). BTW, the car has only 111,000 miles on it with a new timing chain, water pump etc.

I have studied Bentley's and Youtubes on mechatronic replacement which looks fairly straight-forward but do not know if such a replacement would solve all problems. Cost is 1500 bucks or so. Also, it will likely need a new shifter module which is another 900 bucks.

So, the reason for this post is I have also located an entire 6sp manual from a 2009 GTI at a junkyard that would include the tranny, the ECU, the master/slave cylinders, the clutch pedal assembly, the shifter and shifter box for around 800 bucks. I am very tempted to go this route because it eliminates me worrying about a future failure of the DSG.

My Daily Driver is a slightly hopped up Mk2 Golf that I have been working on for about six months. So, I don't need this vehicle quickly.

I am hopeful I can correspond a bit on this because this string is one of the few with greater details and a positive outcome for a manual swap. Most posts just say don't do it.

jamesm said:

So, the reason for this post is I have also located an entire 6sp manual from a 2009 GTI at a junkyard that would include the tranny, the ECU, the master/slave cylinders, the clutch pedal assembly, the shifter and shifter box for around 800 bucks. I am very tempted to go this route because it eliminates me worrying about a future failure of the DSG.

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You'll definitely need the tranny, clutch pedal assembly, shifter, and shifter box. You'll also need a pressure plate, flywheel, clutch, throwout bearing, the rubber hose that goes from clutch pedal to throwout, the transmission mount, and various replacement stretch bolts. The pedal assembly should have the clutch pedal sensor on it as well. And then you'll need the axles as they're different lengths. DSG has a pilot bearing in the crankshaft which I removed, but AFAIK there is no pilot bearing on the 6MT.

I didn't need the ECU, I coded everything with VCDS. On first startup dash was a christmas tree, I just looked at errors one by one and tried to find the relevant checkboxes to tell stuff there was no DSG it could talk to. If you swap ECUs you may have immobilizer problems, not sure, and you'll still have to code out stuff.

And then you need a wiring harness to connect the clutch pedal sensor and transmission reverse sensor to the ECU. Nobody makes that so you'll have to build it yourself; the Bentley manual has wiring diagrams and pinouts to show you where to connect everything and wire gauge info to show you how thick to make the wires. For the pins, VW sells a 'repair wire harness' that his pins crimped onto wires ready to go into the connectors. They're expensive but worth it.

Thanks ghost_03 and for responding to my PM. I am now convinced that just replacing the mechatronic in the car is the best path to go. Especially for someone with my mechanic's skill set. That is why one should ask questions no?

James