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

[clockwise33]

How much power are you / do you plan to be making?

 

[ghost_03]

How much power are you / do you plan to be making?

Right now I have an APR K04, S3 Injectors, APR HPFP, and that's it for hardware. So stock engine cover, dp, etc. I've made a de-tuned K04 file in Maestro that seems to work. Never had it on a dyno, but if I had to guess, I'd say around 290-300. And then torque is probably about the same, 290-300. I had more power with a P-Flo and AWE DP which were nice, but the P-flo was too loud for me with the turbo-muffler-deleted APR K04, and the extra torque wore out the engine mounts which in turn broke the downpipe flex joint so I went back to OEM.

In an effort to preserve the clutch I'm toying with the idea of writing a tune which limits torque to around 270, keeping it flat from hopefully ~3200-6000 or so. That would drive very nicely IMO and hopefully still keep top end power the same, but it's of course easier said than done.

 

[clockwise33]

Right now I have an APR K04, S3 Injectors, APR HPFP, and that's it for hardware. So stock engine cover, dp, etc. I've made a de-tuned K04 file in Maestro that seems to work. Never had it on a dyno, but if I had to guess, I'd say around 290-300. And then torque is probably about the same, 290-300. I had more power with a P-Flo and AWE DP which were nice, but the P-flo was too loud for me with the turbo-muffler-deleted APR K04, and the extra torque wore out the engine mounts which in turn broke the downpipe flex joint so I went back to OEM.

In an effort to preserve the clutch I'm toying with the idea of writing a tune which limits torque to around 270, keeping it flat from hopefully ~3200-6000 or so. That would drive very nicely IMO and hopefully still keep top end power the same, but it's of course easier said than done.

I'm surprised you went with a stock clutch. I went through 2 stock clutches on just a non-HPFP APR stage 2 tune boosting at most 18psi. The second clutch only lasted 1 year / 12,000 miles. Both clutches started slipping only when ambient temps were <40F, so be especially careful loading up the engine in high gears in those conditions.

I wish I would have read your thread sooner, I would have tried to convince you to spend a little extra and get a Sachs RE clutch/pp for the stock flywheel. Mine has been taking 23psi from a K04 with no hint of slip.

 

[g60_corrado_91]

My stock clutch would slip in 5/6 at 20k with APR Stg 2. However I made it last to 120k before it started slipping in 3-6 with the KO4. But the key is to downshift on highways, when passing, etc. That's what automatics do. Definitely use your gears with the stock clutch and KO4. Not sure how long it'll last. I made 255wtq on a mustang dyno on the stock turbo. Made 270wtq on the KO4 (Unitronic) on a mustang dyno spinning all 4 (AWD dyno day) and it was 95 and humid out. On the stock to the turbo s3 ic, it was heatsoaking bad. I put my estimates around 285whp and similar torque in ideal temps.

 

[ghost_03]

I'm surprised you went with a stock clutch. I went through 2 stock clutches on just a non-HPFP APR stage 2 tune boosting at most 18psi. The second clutch only lasted 1 year / 12,000 miles. Both clutches started slipping only when ambient temps were <40F, so be especially careful loading up the engine in high gears in those conditions.

I wish I would have read your thread sooner, I would have tried to convince you to spend a little extra and get a Sachs RE clutch/pp for the stock flywheel. Mine has been taking 23psi from a K04 with no hint of slip.

You probably would have been able to convince me too lol! Thanks for the tips about the cold weather, we get a lot of that around here. I've got 137k on the motor so 12k would get me to ~150k...maybe I'll pull the whole motor at that point for a rebuild if the clutch goes.

My stock clutch would slip in 5/6 at 20k with APR Stg 2. However I made it last to 120k before it started slipping in 3-6 with the KO4. But the key is to downshift on highways, when passing, etc. That's what automatics do. Definitely use your gears with the stock clutch and KO4. Not sure how long it'll last. I made 255wtq on a mustang dyno on the stock turbo. Made 270wtq on the KO4 (Unitronic) on a mustang dyno spinning all 4 (AWD dyno day) and it was 95 and humid out. On the stock to the turbo s3 ic, it was heatsoaking bad. I put my estimates around 285whp and similar torque in ideal temps.

Thanks for the tips! I guess I'm going to find out how long it lasts lol. Also I think I'm going to put in some time on torque limiting my tune--sounds like especially in the 3k-4k highway range is where I could really eat it up so I'll start there. I drove with the paddles 100% of the time so I know what you mean--the K04 you can leave it in 5 or 6 and still have plenty of wheel torque.

In other news, patched a few more things up last night. First I put the subframe back on. Third time doing that so it went very smoothly.

Next, pulled the "kickdown actuator" from the throttle pedal. I *think* the p/n for the pedals is the same and that's the only difference, but have yet to confirm. The actuator wasn't wired to anything, just a spring. Presumably the ECU does the math.

Next got the clutch line installed and bled the clutch. Pedal feels about like I imagine it should which is good. There was a p/n for a white clip that looked like it went on the clutch line in etka that I ordered, and I wasn't totally sure where it went. On the frame of the car there was a stud near the clutch line that it fit right on, and the line clipped in. So I'm assuming this is right, but I welcome any feedback if anybody has seen this before. Particularly if I have it in correctly or possibly upside down.

I also still need to figure out harness management. The DSG connector in particular...if I can find a rubber cap that fits I'll seal it off...if not I might pull and wrap the pins individually. Not that I want to un-convert it at some point, but I'd hate to chop up a good harness. Also need to hold down the rest of the lines. Haven't checked to see if the bracket from the dsg bolts to the 6spd yet.

edit: fixed a link

 

[ghost_03]

Another question--I'm in no rush to get rid of them, but I'm going to have a DSG and a boat load of DSG parts after this..currently sitting in a bin. Any ideas what i should do with it?

Was thinking about putting it in my GF's jetta...but gave up on that since her tiptronic has 92k vs 137k on the DSG.

Could also sell the transmission complete, but not sure what the market is for high mileage transmissions?

I'm thinking maybe the best thing is to part it out...I could see where someone would want a mechatronic, a gear, a housing, an axle, etc., something that's maybe not as mileage dependent or is unique to the '06 02E. Then just scrap whatever people don't need.

Orrr maybe I could find a GTI/GLI with a blown DSG to fix up cheaply. Dunno. Lots of options, and I bet the golfmkv community has ideas!

 

[donjuan1jr]

Nice progress...looks like you have it fairly under control.

Also, I always get the new guy with the starter bolt, they never believe it's there. And that back bellhousing bolt is difficult for sure, try an 09g 2.5, that's super tight.

 

[ghost_03]

Nice progress...looks like you have it fairly under control.

Also, I always get the new guy with the starter bolt, they never believe it's there. And that back bellhousing bolt is difficult for sure, try an 09g 2.5, that's super tight.

Thanks! Yeah, I didn't believe it either until I reached in there. Pretty sure I literally lol'd.

 

[eurocars]

Another question--I'm in no rush to get rid of them, but I'm going to have a DSG and a boat load of DSG parts after this..currently sitting in a bin. Any ideas what i should do with it?

Was thinking about putting it in my GF's jetta...but gave up on that since her tiptronic has 92k vs 137k on the DSG.

Could also sell the transmission complete, but not sure what the market is for high mileage transmissions?

I'm thinking maybe the best thing is to part it out...I could see where someone would want a mechatronic, a gear, a housing, an axle, etc., something that's maybe not as mileage dependent or is unique to the '06 02E. Then just scrap whatever people don't need.

Orrr maybe I could find a GTI/GLI with a blown DSG to fix up cheaply. Dunno. Lots of options, and I bet the golfmkv community has ideas!

I'd put it on the forums, facebook pages, craigslist. Someone will need one

Or if you have spare cash, wait for one to pop up with a bad DSG, fix it and flip it. I've seen plenty of people selling MKVs for cheap after the DSG goes

 

[avenali312]

Or if you have spare cash, wait for one to pop up with a bad DSG, fix it and flip it. I've seen plenty of people selling MKVs for cheap after the DSG goes

I know that's what I'll be doing whenever that day comes.

 

[ghost_03]

More updates! Lots more progress!

First, convinced that the shifter box was on a boat in the middle of the atlantic, I located a compatible one from an '06 A3 at a junkyard in nearby Cooperstown NY--home of the Baseball Hall of Fame. They would ship but I love baseball and driving so we went to pick it up and walked around the town for a bit. My phone battery was dead so no pictures unfortunately.

Got home and put in the shift linkage and shifter box right away. Adjusted the cables with the factory procedure and they're perfect, each gear goes in like a rifle-action. Here's the S3 short shifter and cables:

The shift box bolted in:

Interior partially reassembled and GTI knob installed:

And the A3 knob that the junkyard left installed (thanks guys!). I'll probably install it and give it a shot at some point:

In an interesting turn of events, the shift box from Germany arrived this morning. So now I've got a spare I guess! Mechanically the car should be all set, save a few finishing touches--I'm almost done with the electrical and hope to test the car out this evening. Biggest pain I think will be getting the reverse signal wire through the firewall.

 

[ghost_03]

Oh, and one more thing--paddle shifter delete! I believe you can unbolt the paddles, but that the plastic backing and leather wrap leave a gap. I purchase a used wheel from a 6mt on the 'tex classifieds. In a little better shape than mine was too.

 

[Joshohol]

Whatcha doin with the tip wheel, looking for an uber cheap tip wheel for my tiguan to see if i can get the shifters to work

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

 

[ghost_03]

Whatcha doin with the tip wheel, looking for an uber cheap tip wheel for my tiguan to see if i can get the shifters to work

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

pm'd

 

[ghost_03]

Update--IT WORKS!!!! Just drove 30 miles and everything is working great, save for a bit of transmission whine. I'll change the fluid tomorrow and see if that takes care of it.

Since all the mechanical was taken care of, I spent the evening wiring up the sensors. There's two new ones to take care of--clutch position sensor, which has 4 pins used out of a 5 pin connector, and reverse sensor, which is 2/2. I spent some time making my own "accessory" harness for those, as seen here:

Once I had all the wires to length and bound at intervals, I wrapped them in corrugated wire loom. I was too anxious to get going so I didn't take a picture of the finished product, but here's one of the in-progress.

On the electronics module in the pedal area, there was already a pin and wire for the clutch sensor, albeit I believe it went to the dsg for park-interlock, not sure. Anyway I spliced into that one. For the reverse lights, however, there was nothing in that pin. I bought the extravagantly priced VW repair wire so I would have the right pin in the connector and wired it up.

Once I was done wiring and had the car buttoned back up, I expected to turn it on to an xmas tree dash, and I was not disapointed.

Fortunately, it took all of 10 minutes to code up the car properly. VCDS had a long-coding helper for the ECU and the CAN-Bus, which left only 1 or two more modules to do the hard way. Basically I just went into every module that was complaining it couldn't see the transmission--and one that couldn't see the paddles--and coded it out. No warning lights, car behaves normal, back-up lights work, car starts with clutch-in but not with clutch-out, etc. Only issue is that after 30 miles I got one "implausible" signal from clutch pedal sensor. I'm guessing the resistance in my harness/crimp connectors is too high. Oh well, don't care.

I even have passing a OBD2, which is good, because my inspection is due in September haha.

I still have a few things to tidy up, and will do some more driving and cataloging and such. I'm also going to watch out for vampire draw in case a module is being left on, but so far, so good!