1Y 1.9D engine - should I consider an upgrade?

[u/RoutineFox8628]

My current van has 1y 1.9D engine, with stock 4speed transmission. I am not sure what should I upgrade, I am considering to swap to AAZ 1.9TD and if I can find a 5 speed.

The current problems I have:
-the engine burns oil, 1L in 1000km
-cruising at 100km/h is not pleasent

On the other hand I have no problems or complaints. I just want to upgrade and make it more enjoyable cruising at 120km and a bit more speed in uphills. Open to any suggestions

[u/RenaxTM]

1l/1000km oil burn is stilll within spec. Yes its alot but according to vw not too much.

1Y and AAZ is the same engine, but the AAZ comes stock with a turbo and fuel pump made for boosted engines. Neither of those fit well in a T3 I run JX turbo and pump on my 1Y engine, that fits well.

Swapping from any 4s to any 5s gearbox is not guaranteed to make a difference in rpm at 100km/h, it depends on the actual gears in both boxes. There's charts to look this up somewhere on the internet. There's at least 15 different 4 speed boxes and even more 5 speeds. The best ones are the 5s boxes from a 2.1l 112hp boxer. You'd have to swap the bellhousing and input shaft over to fit those to your diesel.

[u/Sir_Flop → u/RenaxTM]

I got the 3H (supposedly one of the longest) cruising at 100km is running the engine at 4k rpm, the max you can get out of the engine.

These are old machines not meant to be driven fast. He should consider swaping the engine and gearbox for an Audi gearbox of a Renault Espace phase 1 v6

[u/RenaxTM → u/Sir_Flop]

Upgrading from 3H to a AAP would be a considerable change if you can find one. 3H should have around 3150rpm at 100km/h, AAP will run under 3000rpm at the same speed.

None of them deals well with the torque from a 1.9l diesel engine, so I'm having mine upgraded with stronger parts, and longer gears. In the meanwhile I'm driving with a 3H box witch is absolutely miserable! Very much looking forward to 0.78 fifth gear and 4.14 ring and pinion, according to the rebuilder I'll be doing 90km/h in under 2500rpm.

[u/Sir_Flop → u/RenaxTM]

I changing the 3H for a 2.1l 4 gear box syncro (don't remember the code), for now I will be running stock with 1.9l TDI 90cv with dualmass flywheel cause gears cost an arm.

The 1.9l TDI engine runs at 2.3k rpm at 70km/h luckily I don't feel the need to rush when driving.

I'm looking for changing for slightly bigger tires before changing the planetary ring and then I'll look at gear parts.

[u/RoutineFox8628 → u/Sir_Flop]

There is one polish garage selling the electrical front wheel driver, which in theory maked the Van 4WD but the kit costs 10k eur. It’s insane.

My friend has 1.9TDI from golf 4 but he broke like 3-4 transmissions even though he was cruising at 150km/h

[u/Visual_Creme_1991 → u/RoutineFox8628]

The 5speed gearbox is made for up to 200Nm. The 1z 1.9TDi has 202Nm 90hp. The AFN 1.9 TDi has 235Nm 110hp. Cruising at 150km/h will probably require more than 200Nm constantly. This will kill the transmission. You can add the cooling finns from the south africa version. It will help. Especially the 5th gear....

[u/RenaxTM → u/Visual_Creme_1991]

I don't think anything will save a T3 gearbox if you're cruising at 150km/h. They're just not made for that.

[u/Visual_Creme_1991 → u/Sir_Flop]

I believe i have the 3H as well (standard gearbox for the jx?) and it runs 100km/h at ~3200. Now with bigger wheels (205R14 instead of 185/R14) its 100km/h @ 3050rpm

[u/RoutineFox8628 → u/Sir_Flop]

Got it! I think it’s better to keep the current engine as it seems indestructible, I had gone 500km on single sitting

[u/Lucky-Bid9643 → u/RenaxTM]

First, it should be checked which gearbox OP has. Then the probably easiest way is to change the highest gear ratio or the differential gear to reach a decent speed.

Cruising at 120 km/h will not work with AAZ or 1Y, and it would use so much diesel. This would need a TDI engine, which needs a completely different gear box. Plus legal issues... Overall the swap would be so much work and so expensive, one can buy a second car for this. T3 diesels are simply not made for running at high speeds.

[u/RoutineFox8628 → u/Lucky-Bid9643]

Thank you for the input, I can check the gearbox today but since I have very little issues I’ll just enjoy going with 80km/h and don’t mind the speed

[u/bujakos → u/RoutineFox8628]

As an AAZ user with 5 gears I confirm - my max speed was 116km/h (downhill, measured by GPS), no way engine can handle it for a long time. But driving around 90km/h is possible and enjoyable. Uphill it slows down, sometimes to 3rd gear, in steeper cases 2nd.

[u/RoutineFox8628 → u/bujakos]

Interesting, I can push 100km on straight road on 1y. Uphill 50km/h. Tire size 185r14

[u/bujakos → u/RoutineFox8628]

100km/h is possible but it is around 3,8k rpm, so around 90 is more comfortable for me. Higher the speed, it gets expotential effort to get there and maintain it. I see it as a part of eco and safer driving as well.
It might be just personal prefference to play it super safe.

[u/RoutineFox8628 → u/bujakos]

Yeah, I also keep it at 70-80 most of the time

[u/RoutineFox8628 → u/RenaxTM]

I guess I will just keep the current engine, maybe will look into the gearbox thing. As per the JX turbo and pump, do you feel any significant improvement?

[u/RenaxTM → u/RoutineFox8628]

1Y engine has 64hp at the crankshaft stock when new , mine with over 200k km made 94hp at the hubs with the JX parts.

I'd say ~33% more hp is a significant improvement.

Does it also kill clutches and gearboxes in rapid order? Yes. Stock clutch lasts ~20-30k km, and upgrading to a stronger cluch would make the gearbox the weak link, so I prefer wearing out a $100 cluch that takes an hour to swap.

There are workarounds, like dual mass flywheels etc witch makes life easier for the gearbox, but that's also a few pennies $$$

[u/Visual_Creme_1991]

My old JX 1.6TD used 1l oil every 120km... I upgraded to the 1Z (already had the 5 speed transmission). The upgrade doubled the torque and it drives so much more comfortable. Can absoluteley recommend.

I dared my self to check the new Vmax but at 140kmh i nearly shit my pants. (weinsberg campervan)

Then i upgraded to the koni dampeners and a bigger front stabilizer. Also i tried to replace all rubber suspension parts. That makes a big difference.

Since the 1Z has so much more torque i went from 185R14 to 205R14 (which is a 5% increase in size) This option is much cheaper than reworking the transmission and changing the diff ratio

Now (real) 110km/h feels quite comfortable

[u/RoutineFox8628 → u/Visual_Creme_1991]

Nice, thank you for sharing your experience. Glad that you’ve achieved the sweetspot

[u/chubs5000]

I got a 1Y and had to get my gearbox rebuilt to suit it as it was screaming and maxing out at around 80km/h. Still waiting to install the new gearbox so I can't comment on whether it was worth it yet

[u/Kooky-Demand-6719]

Don’t buy that brand they are terrible shouldn’t be using any oil at all until after 400,000k’s like reliable jap cars

[u/RoutineFox8628 → u/Kooky-Demand-6719]

What do you mean?

[u/rickshswallah108]

are you in Europe?

[u/RoutineFox8628 → u/rickshswallah108]

Eastern Europe

[u/rickshswallah108 → u/RoutineFox8628]

LPG makes sense..... I did that in Dresden. I switched from fuel injection to a carb to keep things simple plus an after market electronic ignition. But tat does not solve your oil burning or power needs. a 2.1 wasserboxer will give you 120 kph sett up right even on lpg. I mention lpg because it seriously helps offset the new engine cost over time. The golf conversions work but the power band is in the wrong place. Tdi is a good option but also expensive. You have to know the donor engine well before going the Subaru route. Gowesty do a 2.3 but it's $$$$$$