Author Topic: abf question  (Read 14757 times)

Offline lostsurferinbc

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abf question
« on: 03 August 2010, 03:52 »
hello from canada!

I just currently got my hands on a bunch of abf parts that will be going on an aba block

abf head with intake and exhaust, pistons, rods, oil pump, drive gear, block off plate and cast aluminium pan.

my question is knowing that the abf injectors and rail will only run on digi 3, how do i get this set up to work in an mk2? can i somehow convert my car to digi 3 with harness and ecu? or will digi 2 injectors fit in an abf head?

How do you get an abf to run in a mk2

pics of car

1989 trophy edition jetta 2.0l cis 16v





Offline Wayne

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Re: abf question
« Reply #1 on: 03 August 2010, 09:53 »
Is the ABA not a 8v if so, I don't think the ABF head will fit.

Offline rubjonny

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Re: abf question
« Reply #2 on: 03 August 2010, 10:09 »
yeah it will all fit ABA block is basically the same as an ABF, just internals are 8v rather than 16v. looks like you have everything you need there!  what I would do if i were you, is buy a complete anf wiring loom and ecu. there arnt many ABF MK2s in the US, so it would be something a bit different :)

the alternative is to wire up the injectors to batch fire as per the mk2 digi. The ABF injectors can be fired indivdually by the ecu, hence the multi pin plug. if you join the 4 separate injector earth wires together it'll work just like a digi2 fuel injector setup.  Then I think the norm for 16v digi swaps in the us is to use a digi 1 ecu and have it remapped, as the digi 2 ecu is pretty locked down in comparison.  The digi 3 option is way better though :)

trouble is your car has CE1 electrics, so you'll need to do a little wire splicing. its not too hard though, plenty of information around to do it and if you get the wiring diagrams you can basically wire it up as per digifant 2 mk2.  only issue is the MK2 ecu relay needs plug R, which wont be there on your fusebox. in this case what i do is get a VAG relay holder clipped above the fusebox, then plug in the factory abf 30 relay and run the wires to it as per the diagrams

for the exhaust your downpipe should bolt right up to the abf manifold, then you can keep the factory mk2 cat. just replace the lambda sensor with a new one, it'll be the same as the stock US MK3 ABA lambda I believe :)
If not, the universal bosch lambda you need is:
Universal 4 wire - 0 258 986 506 (LS06) - 12 watt heater and grounded case
« Last Edit: 03 August 2010, 10:13 by rubjonny »
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Offline lostsurferinbc

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Re: abf question
« Reply #3 on: 04 August 2010, 01:43 »
if i swap over to digi 3 will that intail redoing the whole cars harness, or just the engine managment harness?  I was going to swap the whole car to ce2 anyway because i was going to go the aba 16vt, but then the abf stuff kinda came up for sale, so i figured a mk2 abf here in north america would be a little more unique.  If anyone has some mk2 abf swap links would be a great help  :smiley:  also after ive swapped over to ce2 is swapping to digi 3 plug and play?  or will it intail a bunch of wire sorting and soldering?  one more question  :grin: (sorry if im getting annoying just pretty exited about this)  ill be able to get the abf wiring harness but I need a abf distributer, wheres the best place to buy one

cheers jay
« Last Edit: 04 August 2010, 03:13 by lostsurferinbc »

Offline rubjonny

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Re: abf question
« Reply #4 on: 04 August 2010, 09:01 »
you can do it either way, splice the CE1 plugs to the abf loom or swap whole car to CE2.  If it was me I'd swap car to CE2, but thats because I have a wire fetish and CE2 is the better system. main advantage is all the wiring is modular, rather than it being bundled up in massive multi plugs. so if you have a burnt or damaged wire on 1 part of the loom its much easier to replace that section, rather than having to drag out half the car loom with it!

if you go ce2 you need to change the fusebox hanger and the outer steering column tube, plus some bits in engine bay like indicators and horn need swappign as plug  ends are different.  the abf loom will pretty much plug straight in, though a couple bits on the abfd loom arnt quite the same, on the rhd looms the wiper loom and mfa bits arnt quite right, but can either add length as required or remove all the loom tape and then swap in mk2 wiring for the bits that differ. other thing is on the mk2 the main battery live & earth are in the lighting loom, on the mk3 they're in the engine loom. can either just not use the mk2 battery wires or again open the mk3 loom and remove the battery wires. the mk3 engine loom has a few earths spliced into the battery -ve wire, though many of them can be binned. then whats left just run to the battery.

also the mk3 rev counter signal doesnt work with mk2 clocks, so i convert them to use the mk2 coil. plus this also means you can bin the mk3 coil which is unreliable.  to make the mk2 coil stuff work you need the MK2 coil->tci loom, chop the mk3 coil plug off and splice the red/green wire to pin 6 of the tci unit, then wire the rest in as per factory.  just need an ign live to the +ve side of coil, and run your rev counter wire to the -ve side. basically wire up the tci & coil exactly the same as it is on a mk2 gti with the digifant engine :)

abf dizzy i dont think there are any engines in the us with one fitted, so its going to have to be sourced from Europe or Japan. get it from the same guy you get the abf loom and ecu from.

here's a ce1 and ce2 wiring diagram for the mk2 coil, hopefully that'll help you.
http://vwtech.no-ip.info/images/golf/coilwiringce1.png
http://vwtech.no-ip.info/images/golf/coilwiringce2.png
Hello my name is John and I'm a dub addict.

Offline lostsurferinbc

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Re: abf question
« Reply #5 on: 05 August 2010, 02:57 »
not to familiar with UK lingo  :sad:

UK, loom = Canada, Harness

outer steering column = ? (my guess ignition where the key goes in)

Tci unit = ? (my guess, ignition module- small black box that sits on top of ecu cage like the digi 2 set up)

would be great if some could clear this up,  so far i understand everything else and doesnt seem to overly complicated once i have my car running on ce2.

the only thing is that the guy i bought the stuff from sold the dizzy  :angry: so if someone has info where i can buy a used one from the uk would be an awesome help, google and ebay are coming up with nothing

Offline lostsurferinbc

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Re: abf question
« Reply #6 on: 05 August 2010, 03:44 »
well after abit of more research on the mysterious abf (to us north americans lol) a few guys have retro fitted bosch injectors by adding green O rings to the injectors on a 1.8t with no leaks.   Any thoughts on this?

Offline rubjonny

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Re: abf question
« Reply #7 on: 05 August 2010, 14:51 »
outer steering column tube = black metal bit bolted to dash where the steering column fits into and the ign lock bolts on
tci unit = 7 pin metal thingy bolted to the top of the ecu bracket

to get another just a case of keeping watch on ebay, they come up time to time :)

a mate of mine got std type injectors in by splitting the injector rail in half, the bottom half was bolted to the inlet as std then the std bosh type injectors fit right in.  You would still have the issue of getting the fuel rail in, so you might as well  use a MK2 16v inlet with the conversion kits you can get over there?

didnt you get the oem abf injectors with the inlet anyway, you can just use them :)
Hello my name is John and I'm a dub addict.

Offline danny_p

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Re: abf question
« Reply #8 on: 05 August 2010, 21:21 »
if you need some ABF parts drop me a pm

got lots of bits from dissembled motors in the shed
all the VW's have gone bar 1.

Offline lostsurferinbc

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Re: abf question
« Reply #9 on: 07 August 2010, 03:01 »
will a 2.0l 16v dizzy fit in an abf head or is it a completly different part, besides being a single window?  why im asking is i know you can mod a 16v dizzy with an 8v aba dizzy to make a 16v single window dizzy.