The TDI Diesel Swapped GMC 1500 Is Back! More Fuel, More Boost, This Thing Moves! 

Exactly!

Truth

Ya hindsight we should have moved the transmission forward a few inches, but most everything is very easy to get to

you can also run leaner to reduce egt's but only if the engines coolant/oil cooling can keep up with hotter lean burn, my tdi DOES have a vgt turbo so that could be further contributing to the extremely good drivability at lower rpm

Yeah there's a ton of options to consider but re-gearing and compounds just aren't in the budget at the moment, we're honestly super impressed with the driveability for the little money we have into this setup, with more funding and time we may consider putting more work into it but 90% of its driving is under 50 mile per hour and it's doing beautiful at that

You will love it man! Thanks for watching!

It could give u more options for stall and diameter

And if u swap to compound turbos for a tdi. Your egts would be even lower and better spool up

@gabrielcouch8415 ya we are talking about it, but it's working perfect for our needs at this point!

Thanks!

Best part about this swap!

@@TDISwaps my diesel sawp isn't quite so empty. I picked up a Hino 4.0L with 5 speed going into a 1990 f150. It actually fits amazing but it takes almost as much room as the 4.9 inline I took out.

@j.danaclark2166 that sounds like an interesting build though!

@@TDISwaps honestly, so far it's going easy. Approximately the same size and shape as the inline 6. I've used chevy small block motor mounts with home made brackets, a modified stock trans cross member and a trans mount from an early 90s dodge Cummins 4x4. Custom drive shafts and divorced transfer case. Everything else is just linkages and hoses.

@j.danaclark2166 yup, once you do one swap, they are all the same 😁 make one model doesn't even matter, just start making parts work!

Yes unfortunately they do not make an adapter to the Chevrolet transmission to that engine, I do not think we ever received that engine in the USA either.

Glad to give you inspiration man! Thanks for watching!

Lol amazing right 😂

@@TDISwaps sure is 🤩

Most of our get issues are from high elevation and hills, I think we would see 25+ mpg easy on flat ground. The few places we drive like that egts are 600-800 now. All my vehicles get 4-8 mpg less than normal averages just due to where we live

Ya 50 I don't believe will ever happen and 30 sounds like maybe a max

@james10739 I agree, I think mid 20s will be about it, but that's still better than we anticipated going into this

I had a 2000 Jetta that had the 1.9 ALH, I go a solid 44-46 mpg. Driving was mostly hwy with small rolling hills in the Pacific Northwest. I think that engine at 68 mph was running at 2200ish rpm. My stints to 80 were temporary, so I dont recall if it was that high (2700ish), as you are seeing. I would think that if you were to increase your differential gearing, say run 4.10s or 3.55s you would be able to lower it, thereby improving mpg. You say you have enough torque and power (again, it’s not going to be a rockets hip), so I’d start there. I dont recall if it was a 4x4, you could change the rear gear and disconnect the front driveshaft to see what it does EGT wise, rpm wise, and if it gave you better mpg.

@talonpilot actually 4.10s would make the RPMs higher, it goes backwards, but once you load up these little TDIs they actually get better MPGs at higher RPMs unfortunately, the load around 2000-2500 they take so much more boost and fuel it has negative results. I started with my jeep at 2600 rpm and 19-20 mpg, now running it at 3000-3100 rpm I am getting 23-24 mpg in the same conditions

Yes we didn't want to go that high but it's looking like that's actually what we need, just waiting for a couple other reasons to have to pull the trans and it will get one!

Haha ya it's definitely a thought, all how much money you want to have in it I suppose 😂

I'm sure that could be arranged! You can PM me on Facebook facebook.com/profile.php?id=100014261163897&mibextid=ZbWKwL

Maybe someday! For now we are staying low budget.

Probably the biggest downside to the Allison would be the cost of the transmission controller. I am using one for my Cummins swap, but that has such a short power band it needs all the gears it can get, where the TDI has useable power from 2500-4500 RPM with just tuning, it can be used with far less gears, and being it ran at 3000 RPM on the highway getting 40-50 MPG, even running as much as 3500 continuous is really not hard on it at all. It is way closer to a gas engine power range than most people realize!

@@TDISwaps wow! I honestly didn't realize they are that high rev engines. I am just now getting into the TDI swaps. I myself is a powerstroke, Duramax and Cummins guy. All I've really messed with. A few Perkins. That powerband definitely changes my way of thinking. Thank you for getting back to me!

@stevenodell9458 ya that are crazy, watch some of my jeep videos on snow play with the 40" tires and gtb2056 turbo, I'm bouncing off 5000 RPM and 25-30 PSI of boost. They are absolute animals lol. It car be harder to keep them cool in heavier vehicles in the heat of the summer though. I'm usually much easier on them once it's over 85° outside

@@TDISwaps have you done anything with compounds on them yet? Think that would help with the cooling in bigger vehicles? Honestly with 40" tires on a jeep and slinging it around, I'm highly impressed with the durability! Lol im just now opening up to the idea of being able to make power with 4 less cylinders. Boy have I been wrong! Only took 31 years haha 😆

@stevenodell9458 yes I do plan on playing with compounds but maybe not til I'm retired haha, the VNT turbos work very well to keep egts under 1000, it's mostly coolant flow that becomes an issue once you try using over 180 HP constantly, I may try an axillary water pump, but I also need a bigger radiator on my Toyota for towing, problem is there isn't anymore room in the engine bay! My summers are short though, it's already back to towing season in Wyoming haha, under 80° I can gross 6-8k lbs and still set the cruise on 75 MPH so I get by for now 😁

They work is just about anything!

Late 90s Golfs have a frontal surface area of about 22 square feet, late 90s Sierras have a frontal surface of about 34 square feet. If you add in the exposed area of the tires (the Golf's tires are covered by body panels, the Sierra's tires are larger and more exposed) that's a lot of wind resistance. The under carriage of the Sierra also has more exposed area and angles than the Golf does. It's an awesome build, all of that space in the engine bay reminded me of the bullnose 85 F-150 I used to have with a 300CI engine and 4-speed manual (technically 3 with overdrive), it was so easy to work on!

@owensomers8572 ya this thing is easy to work on for sure! And it's doing amazing for what it is! Thanks for watching!

I am also in Wyoming with terrible mpg conditions, my cars usually do 35-38 mpg at best. I do think this would be at 24-26 mpg in better conditions, but it's also a huge vehicle compared to the cars lol

@@owensomers8572 We get the gist of what you are saying and as far as I know you are speaking pure truth. One other factor that comes to mind is it takes twice as much energy to push a vehicle to 80MPH as opposed to 50MPH. Then you have to take into account the additional 50+% of frontal area with considerable worse coefficient of drag you are looking at near enough double the total wind resistance. I'm rather amazed that truck gets up to and holds 80MPH.

That sounds interesting, I'm not sure we are having too many issues, the tune slams the turbo vanes closed as soon as you let off even a little and it makes the boost extremely responsive, that and he was changing throttle positions alot, these newer turbos are so much snappier to throttle change. We also have the valve cover vented to atmosphere.

I want my own full size now!!!

It's pretty awesome!

I'm sorry I can't read Spanish, I can't seem to get the translator to work on my phone either.

Straight through 3" exhaust, minimal back pressure, but mostly the turbo is just small for this big of a rig, that and RPMs are not quite high enough in 4th, all my other rigs run about 3000 on the highway and EGTs are usually under 1000 like that, 2400 is just too low for this big of a truck catching so much headwind

Oh definitely, the tuning involved is extensive though, and remote tuning when you live in the middle of nowhere is even worse. I want to play with it eventually, but I need a lot more free time first

@@TDISwaps I have a compound set up on my eagle talon, with gasoline its a bit complicated on the tuning side, but on the diesel side its much easier. Keep the the factory vgt turbo and simply bolt on a larger turbo to force feed the smaller one, im pretty sure you dont need to waste gate the second turbo as the primary turbo is what controls how high the boost goes especially with vgt. My next door neighbor is running compound on his 12 valve cummins, he has no waste gate on the second turbo, just the primary. On my talon I have an atmosphere waste gate that controls the big turbos max boost but the little turbo's waste gate controls how fast it ramps up, From my experience on the talon the smaller turbo must always be running harder than the secondary larger turbo, Fueling has to be exactly right with a gas engine other wise it will run to lean and melt something or break a ring with knock. On a diesel it different, you just need the extra air so that you can utilize all the fuel you want to throw at it so the tuning is less complicated. I think with diesel its easier than you think.

@A2J_Tim well if I'm doing compounds it will be more extensive than that, the HP turbo even VNT will still need an external wastegated to pretty much dump everything to a giant LP that will run like a single once lit up. I'll get there eventually

@@TDISwaps Im currently in the process of puting together a compound sequential set up. exhaust side will be compound, but the intake side will be like sequential where the second turbo assists the other, with out having to force air through the little turbo, they can both pull their own volume and work like twins. I will see how it goes and probably do a video on it.

@A2J_Tim can't wait to see!

Yes this was a budget build so we only went about 30% bigger than stock, I have went quite a bit bigger on my other swaps. Proper tuning is keep to keeping EGTs under control when you are pushing small engines.

And that's the deal really, anything bigger has either limited aftermarket support or costs nearly 3x the price to swap. If you check out my Dakota build, I'm just finishing that up. A higher stall torque converter that slips to nearly 2000 RPM and 5.13 axle gearing is completely transforming the way a TDI can move 5000+ lbs around

We are getting about 18-21 mpg, definitely would do better 60-65 mph, over 70 mph the headwinds are hurting it

@@TDISwaps awesome, thank you

@flux_core_fx thanks for watching!

@@TDISwaps subscribed! If i am moving somewhere with 80mph speed limits, do you think it would be a usable daily? An ls might be a competitive option too albeit not as cool

@flux_core_fx 80 mph is a lot of headwind for a square body haha. I'm gonna be getting some video of a square body suburban swap, but we aren't really expecting it to do much over 70, definitely not with AC on. It's getting to be a lot to ask out of such a small engine. The water pump just really can't keep up I think

Well the problem is it would run almost constantly, and we freeze 6-8 months out of the year, so I would almost be filling washer fluid as much as fuel lol

Thanks for checking out my stuff! Either DCS or TD conversions both make adapters, the TD conversions ones are clockable and give more firewall clearance than the dcs I used on this chevy. Standalone on the 4l60/80 is easy if you manually shift it like my Dakota shifter and switch for lock up, I'm planning to do that on my next build actually.

Ok great I will have to check them out. Ideally I would like the wife to not have to manually shift the truck but its not a deal breaker. What gen yukon/burban would you be looking at doing? im finding some 2007-2010 ish with blown 5.3's on kijiji for relatively cheap lately with decent bodies. im thinking that should be a good range.@@TDISwaps

The 4l60/700r4 before electronics will shift on its own with just the TV cable, but it often doesn't downshift as desired so holding it in gears or manually downshifting is common

Thanks man! I think we are at least 20-40 HP over the factory engine at this point 😂. I think you are referring to the shifter in the Dakota swap from my last video, I have 4 running swaps now to keep track of haha. The gauge on the dash is called an ultragauge, easy to find online. Thanks for watching!

@@TDISwaps ya you are right. I’m so glad I found your channel. I’ve learned a lot in a short time. Question do you think an ALH could run on black diesel? I have a system to centrifuge oil, ran it in my deuce. Thanks again.

I run even my PD engines BEW/BRM on low mixtures of black diesel ha ha. 10-25% doesn't seem to hurt anything!

@@TDISwaps oh that’s good to know. I was thinking only the ALH would be ok with wmo. I really want the BHW engine , minus the balance shaft junk. Thanks again! Can’t wait for the next video!!

@heyyoubuddy6749 glad to help man, thanks for watching!

That is an ultragauge, they have a website

It's still a stock TDI manifold but European spec, also similar to the manifold used on the vnt17 in the 04-05 Passat BHW

Like the power for the pump in the tank?

@@TDISwapsI was speaking ABOUT THE INJECTOR PUMP

@clayton203 so on PD engines there isn't an injection pump, each injector is its own pump

@@TDISwaps ok gotcha, I am so clueless on these, is it as basic as the alh, As far as being run without all the computer stuff

@clayton203 no not at all, these are electronically controlled injectors. I build wiring harnesses for all these swaps 98 AHU all the way through 2015 common rail TDI all are electronic. 89-2003 can be swapped with a mechanical pump, but the electronics are much cheaper when I do it

Ya 4l60 torque converters are all cheap even the high stall ones, mostly we don't feel like tearing it apart again just yet 🤣

Definitely!

TDIs are tiny. They'll fit almost anywhere.

Hmm it worked when I checked last ....

It seems like with my Toyota and the GMC, the TDI really starts to stress over 8k gross weight 10k and I'm limited to about 50-55 MPH without having to really push the engine to climb hills. Hopefully that helps.

@@TDISwaps it does thank you! So that little TDI can actually pull some decent weight for it's size!

@christopherwalker193 no problem! I've had my Toyota at 6k gross with fencing and it drove pretty much like normal at 75 MPH. It was cooler out though, no AC on or anything

Everything is for sale in my book, but these generally aren't in good enough condition to justify the asking process for the swap/labor.

I'm not sure I follow...

Yes sir!

This was a diesel conversion specialist adapter plate

I have a 68 Datsun 1400 pick up I wanna swap and I have 4 gm transmissions laying around I wanna use one of them to save some money

@coltonowens-ex1yh ya the 700r4/4l60 works nice with OD on these things

Just the stock 3.73 gearing front and rear

Just keep saying it over and over again until you believe it 😂

@@TDISwaps waiting for a alh hummer build to really strike fear lmfaooo

@ryancollins3227 🤣🤣🤣 I'll work on that

If you go to the playlists and look at this build, there are whole videos on each step. AC hasn't been finished yet, but you can see how I do it on my Toyota and Dakota swaps.

@@TDISwaps I'll go check it out. I'm wanting to do a Colorado pickup swap.

@crazypeoplearoundtheworld304 nice! Yeah we haven't gotten this k1500 completely finished yet, but the Toyota and Dakota are 100% functioning like original

So how much you charge to do the conversion for me?

@crazypeoplearoundtheworld304 unfortunately I don't have time to take on other swaps right now, it's a goal in a few years though!

Ya it's doing pretty well now, unfortunately over 70 mph I think we are fighting aerodynamics more than weight, my Toyota does better on EGTs even loaded heavier than this truck empty.

@@TDISwaps may need an air dam in the front, like all the newer trucks. they say that gives you about 2mpg on the highway.

@uliwehner ya there's a lot you could do, but it doesn't see the highway much anyways

Haha yeah cuz windshields aren't getting any cheaper though 😂 the speeding tickets are a real deal!