Kjet DX in a T25 Camper Van Questions

Hi guys,

So I have a VW Y25 campervan that I bought years back but due to moving abroad not had a lot of time to fix her up.

It came with a Golf Mk1 Gti DX Kjet engine and after considering changing for a AGG I think I will keep her in and see how she holds up.



I have a few initial questions:

1) Is it possible to have some custom length fuel injection lines made? Mine seem to be custom made from a stiff fuel pipe and brazed together. They work but they are a bit of a pain to reach the injectors and look a little messy. I assume these have been fitted as standard ones couldn't reach from the fuel meter.

2) When I got the van the fuel pump was downright dangerous! (See below). I have since secured it properly and wired it more safely, however it is still very loud. I would like to make it as silent as possible. Do I replace it? If so what with? Do I try and add a foam surround? Or do I ditch it and source a Mk2 pump with the housing? Is a lift pump needed?

Before


After


3) Oil cooler. Would it be advised to add a oil cooler given the load this engine will be shifting? I did buy a Mk1 Gti Oil Cooler off ebay, but not even sure if I can fit to my engine?


4) Exhaust manifold. At present my DX has the manifold below fitted (but not broken). Will this be heavily restricting the engine or did some MK1 have this single outlet? I am not sure what will fit due to my engine mounting bracket but would it be worth going to a twin outlet given it will have such a short run to the exhaust silencer?


Thank in advanced for any advice guys. I appreciate this is a MK1 forum and in the future would love to get one, but seems the best place to ask due to the nature of the engine.

Cheers



 

Is the engine really laying on its side or is it just the photo, if it is, has the sump/oil pick up pipe been modified.  Regarding other issues, i would fit the correct twin port gti ex manifold.

It is fitted at I think a 50 degree angle and uses the T25 Diesel sump, bellhouse, gearbox etc. Apparently a fairly common upgrade back in the day. It runs nicely, just want to improve it as some parts are pretty old.

1. speak to your local hydraulics places, or HEL they may be able to help

2. if its drawing fuel directly from the tank this is probably why, fit a lifter or pre-supply pump and a swirl pot that will probably help a great deal. MK1 pumps are sat in a foam box to dampen the sound so thats an idea. MK2 pumps are a nice package but they are becoming hard to find, as the housings crack with age and are now NLA.  you will also need to hook up a lift/supply pump to keep the housing topped up with fuel else they will be loud and eventually die.

3. case of drive it and see how the coolant and oil temps are, if a bit high then add an oil cooler. by the looks of it you have a MK1 GTI oil cooler housing already, you just need the cooler and some pipes!

4. some gti have a single outlet manifold, if you could go to a 4-2-1 system I'd seriously consider it though

TBH I am not sure if it will be easily possible to add a lift pump to the tank as it is up against the chassis with no headroom and would require cutting, measuring, welding etc. However a pre-supply pump sounds interesting. Can you buy separate pre-pumps and swirl pots? I think the T25 tank has a swirl pot mechanism in it already. Do the early MK1's not have a simple inline pump with no pre-pump?

Sound deadening wise I do not have the foam shroud and they seem rare to turn up. How do you guys sound deaden aftermarket inline pumps? Any alternatives to the VW foam shroud?

Regarding the oil cooler I actually bought one on ebay a good while back. Am I correct in thinking there is 2 ways to cool the oil, a water cooled approach attached above the oil filter, and a oil cooler / radiator approach which I am heading down? Does this use a thermostat at all? Any negatives to fitting it if it was not needed? Would it need a fan or is it a passive radiator?

Having an exhaust fabricated would be pretty expensive, although I will look into it. Do the single Gti manifolds look similar to mine or are they bigger?

 

with the tank where is the outlet, on the top or on the bottom? if its on the bottom then you'll probably be ok so long as the outlet has some kind of pot to keep fuel there under cornering.

The MK1 tintop GTI has something similar and as long as the pot is ok this is fine, there is a rubber seal under the pot which degrades though and means it becomes useless.  Worst case a low pressure pump same as what you would use to supply a carbed engine such as facet or whatever will do you fine to keep your external swirl pot topped up.

I suppose any old foam sheet woudl do it, wrap round a couple times. just need to see how hot the pump gets and make sure the foam can handle it. dont want it to catch fire…

yes you are correct, the earlier mk1 gti has the oil to air cooler, the housing has a thermostat built in to ensure the oil isnt over-cooled. later mk1 and mk2 gti use a water to oil cooler instead, this goes in between the oil filter and housing. it also helps warm the oil up a bit quicker as well as keep it cool. though you may find the water cooler isn't enough with the engine being at the back so less airflow plus it'll be lugging a van around so under more strain. The factory fit ones are passive just mounted behind the slam panel next to the radiator. if you can find a spot that gets good airflow while moving that should be fine.

As I say, get an oil temp gauge on there and see how hot it is getting, you may not even need one. I ran my MK2 gti for a while with my oil cooler bypassed after it split inside, it made no real difference to the temps

the gti manifold looks basically the same as yours but with 2 outlets, the mk2 gti one is also similar but the outlets are offset to the side which might help your packaging. however the outlets are also bigger so that may hinder your packaging

The outlet on my fuel tank is at the bottom and is a 12mm outlet designed for the injection models. I think others have not had any issues so I may try a new pump as mine looks to be an original with the engine!

On a side note I actually managed to contact a previous owner of the van who did the Gti conversion back in 1997 when apparently it was extremely rare to do. He says the Mk1 Gti DX engine he put in was from a 20000 mile showroom standard golf his mate flipped and he had access to the parts. The injection lines are from a XR3i so not home made which is a bit of a relief.

Interestingly I asked about the single outlet exhaust manifold and he said he had actually made a flowed exhaust manifold but when he put it on a rolling road the diesel one fitted produced more torque, but less bhp so went with that.

I will report back when I do some tests (oil temps, compressions etc)


Cheers

- YouTube

This is how she runs at the moment, seems a tad rough don't you think?

Not sure how helpful this may be but….
I have a T25 with a MK3 2.0 2E engine and a MK2 PB 1.8 Digifant head, I did not do the conversion, the previous owner did. What I can contribute is that mine uses the MK2 fuel pump (currently knackered and awaiting replacement ) with a generic low pressure feed pump to keep it primed, this is virtually silent in operation and you certainly can't hear it from inside. I don't have an oil cooler fitted and the engine copes fine with no overheating issues

Ok hopefully with a new pump on the way and foam shroud it might quieten down. That's for advice on that.

On a side note if you watch the video above of my engine, despite the exhaust noise does it sound ok? As its solid tappets does that make it louder with the audible ticking noise? Do they need placing?

Also around 2/3rds way through the video it seems to hesitate a little and you can see the engine move. What could that be? Just warming up issues?

Thanks

if you find you need a cooler why not fit the water to oil cooler like on later cars.

the pic of the new fuel pump setup looks like the pump is higher than it was before so might not be getting enough fuel as its gravity fed and may cause problems on hills and corners. the pump needs to be lower than the outlet on the tank

also i would never use those hose clamps or rubber hose after the pump with a k jet the pressure is too high. i use plastic mk2 golf style fuel lines

it doesnt sound 100% to me no, its a bit sluggish to fire and idle is a little off.

have a read of this guide, ignore the 16v specific parts just concentrate on the basic kjet tips:
http://www.vwgolfmk2.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=25972

for timing markers look at this thread but ignore all the setup procedures:
http://www.vwgolfmk2.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=25972

also I'd make sure all the ignition components arte good quality bosch or beru items, look here:
http://www.classic-vw.co.uk
AVS Car Parts - [The VW - Audi - Seat - Skoda Parts Specialist]

finally when setting up the engine it should be 6 degrees BTDC with the vacuum line to the distributor disconnected and plugged, may be trickier in a van, a timing gun with advance wheel may make this easier? you can usually add a bit more advance too, just make sure its always run on super unleaded.

then set your idle and co up at idle, aim for about 1.5% CO, I'd take it a local garage for that one though as I find the DIY CO meters to be a bit rubbish.

finally a fuel pressure test may be needed to check system pressure, warm up pressure, control pressure and residual pressure. if you click my sig there are various kjet pdf files, plus this guide helps:
http://www.clubgti.com/showthread.php?81658

note the 8v WUR cannot be adjusted so easily as there is no grub screw, so I'd leave that be if its within spec.

also as above you want the pump inlet to be level or below the tank outlet if possible, a small pre-supply pump would take care of this issue though if that isn't possible.

That is great rubjonny thank you, I think I will start with checking the timing when I get the chance in July and see if that quietens her down.

From the video does it have much of a tappet noise? They are solid lifters so wondered if that might need checking and replacing with correct shims, but I never really know if my sound is normal for solid tappets?

if there is any doubt in your mind then I would just check the clearances, not hard to do really and well worth it for piece of mind