4.2 v8 swap help

[larson3ea00]

Hey guys! I recently acquired a 4.2 v8 out of a 98 a8 so now my parts car is no longer a parts car.. Engine code is abz. My body is an 01 a4 with the 1.8. I cant remember what engine code.. But my car is a drive by wire but the engine is dbc.. How can i go about this? Can i convert my car or engine? Whats easiest and cheapest? What do i have to do? Also, anyone have any ifo on what wires you swapped and spliced to the ecu?

[elduderino200]

Absolutely 0 clue myself, but here's some places to start:

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...512-B5-V8-Swap

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...wap-B5-A4-4-2L

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...V-ECU-Pin-Outs

[bhusted]

I'm not familiar with the A8 engine, but I think it is the 32v variant of the 4.2L. The engine code would be helpful here. IMHO it would be much easier to convert your car to DBC than to convert the engine to DBW. Get back to us with your engine code and we can provide more assistance.

[Nollywood]

Larson's engine is indeed a 32V DBC (ABZ).

Swapping this into a late B5 with DBW requires more patience, work and skill, compared to a 40V motor, which is virtually plug and play. I must ask some questions here, Larson:

Are you retaining aircon?
What transmission do you intend to use?
What flywheel are you planning to use?
What are your plans for engine brackets?
More importantly, is your car Quattro?

Another thing to consider here is communication between the ABZ ECU and the B5's instrument cluster, which is CAN. It's more work, but not impossible or too bad to work around. I am currently working on a similar setup - a 32V DBC swap into a 2000 B5 Quattro, my engine is an AHC from a '98 S8, though my swap will be very different from yours, as it's being boosted, will have a different wiring harness, and the original instrument cluster is not being used.

I will post a chart of the wires from the ABZ harness that need to be connected for the motor to run.

[larson3ea00]

Larson's engine is indeed a 32V DBC (ABZ).

Swapping this into a late B5 with DBW requires more patience, work and skill, compared to a 40V motor, which is virtually plug and play. I must ask some questions here, Larson:

Are you retaining aircon?
What transmission do you intend to use?
What flywheel are you planning to us?
What are your plans for engine brackets?
More importantly, is your car Quattro?

Another thing to consider here is communication between the ABZ ECU and the B5's instrument cluster, which is CAN. It's more work, but not impossible or too bad to work around. I am currently working on a similar setup - a 32V DBC swap into a 2000 B5 Quattro, my engine is an AHC from a '98 S8, though my swap will be very different from yours, as it's being boosted, will have a different wiring harness, and the original instrument cluster is not being used.

I will post a chart of the wires from the ABZ harness that need to be connected for the motor to run.

Nollywood,for the work part, I am very good with working on stuff, however, skillwise, I learn as I go for everything. I am new to engine swaps but not new to this world so I do know my fair share. I may need guidance so I appreciate yours and everyone elses help.

I would like to keep a.c. because I would have my little boy in the car with me
I would be using a 5 speed manual trans from a 2.8
I believe I should be using the 30v v6 flywheel from what ive read. ill be sticking with a dual mass unless I find a solid one cheaper..
for engine brackets, I may build my own unless there is something easier. I am very good at fabricating things. also helps that I run a laser table at work so I can cut parts for myself.
and yes, it IS a Quattro car.

for the instrument cluster, do you know how to wire it up to communicate with the new ecu? or if I used aftermarket gauges, would I still be able to use everything else in my car like factory such as windows, sunroof, heat/A.C. ect....?
also, I hate wiring but it turns out im pretty good at it and keeping it clean and figuring things out. BUT this is my first engine swap and I have no clue how much the ecu talks with the rest of the car. expecially in our german electrical creations.

another piece of info on the car that may help is the whole dash is taken apart so I can get to any wiring I need to..

[Nollywood]

I will try posting the wiring sometime later in the day.

As for the flywheel, the 30V one won't bolt to the ABZ motor.

[larson3ea00]

After looking at the motor i noticed it has a 10 bolt crank.. Any info on what flywheel to use?

[Aragorn]

Cant you just turn canbus off? AJL engined cars in europe run a 00MY cluster without can, its just a setting with VCDS you can adjust to turn it on and off. The cluster then just uses all the normal signal wires the older cars used. I guess those wires might need patched thru to the cluster connectors, but not too hard a job.

The AirCon doesnt require any intervention from the Engine ECU, it'll work just fine so long as you can mechanically fit the parts.