VW Quantum 9Q transmission swap

VW Quantum
9Q 5-speed

Purpose

The Fox's stock transmissions are pretty good. I personally have had 2 Foxes, both with the stock 4-speed transmissions. Contrary to what you might think, the 4-speed is not all bad. Acceleration is pretty good, you don't shift as often (so that helps when, uhh, driving competitively with 5-speed cars), the 4th gear is nice on the highway (~2600 RPM @ 100 km/h), and they're virtually bulletproof!

But, when I finally came across a 9Q (the code for the 5-speed manual transmission found in VW Quantum turbo diesels), I decided to go for it. I knew the car would drive differently with a 5-speed, but I wasn't aware of how much a difference it would make. I will hazard to say that this should be among the first modifications one should do, if looking for improving acceleration (the first being removing the exhaust restrictor, and preferably upgrading the entire exhaust - exhaust manifold, downpipe, catalytic converter and cat-back exhaust pipes).

The 9Q's gearing looks like it has the best possible combination of gears to yield amazing acceleration, as well as good highway cruising RPMs. The Audi 2P transmission is geared the same through gears 1-3, but it's 4th and 5th are closer together; this will result in slightly quicker acceleration, but will also provide higher cruising RPMs.

The swap is fairly straightforward, as long as you have all the parts needed. It can be performed over the course of a day, providing you have the skills, parts and access to parts that might be worn (seals, etc.).

Where to find the 9Q?

Junk yards. VW Quantum turbo diesels are very rare these days, so finding this transmission will be very tough.

What to get?

Find the transmission and acquire it.
Grab the complete shifter linkage - you need everything from the transmission to the gear shift lever (even including the "box" at the bottom of the rod that has the knob on top). If the donor car is missing the linkage, shift rod, or any other parts, I am fairly certain that the following cars have identical shifter linkage components (all with 4-cylinder engines and 5-speed manual transmissions): VW Quantum, Audi 4000, VW Fox.
Depending on the mileage of your car, and the state of these parts, it might be a good idea to buy: new clutch disc, pressure plate and throwout bearing, as well as a new rear mail seal, and transmission seals (if they appear to be leaking). My 9Q didn't show any signs of leaks and doesn't leak, so I didn't change any seals. The rear main seal on the engine (the one around the crankshaft) was moist, so I changed it. I also left my stock Fox clutch and all other components.
If you have the money, getting a lightened flywheel will help with acceleration even more. Be aware that no matter what any web site advertises, Foxes do NOT have the same flywheel as other Volkswagens!
VW and Audi do not recommend to change the transmission fluid, ever. Mine was a little bit low, so I added a good additive, and left the fluid that was in there. Redline Manual Transmission Fluid is apparently very good, but costing $8.50 USD per quart, it is not cheap. A friend of mine (whose car eats transverse transmissions several times per year) uses engine oil in his transmissions, due to the low cost of engine oil.
The drive flanges, transmission mounts, flywheel, clutch, and everything else are identical to the Fox transmission, so there's no other work involved. The switch for the reverse lights is in a different location, but the Fox wires reach without any problems.

The swap

Disclaimer: the instructions and information here are for informative purposes only. They are here as a guide and may not contain all pertinent information. If you break something, it's your fault.

Prepare the car:

Disconnect the battery.
Disconnect speedometer cable from transmission.
Take out the floor console and trim around the handbrake.
Take the plastic cover off the handbrake.
Take out at least one seat (I did the swap with just taking out the passenger seat).

Removal of 4-speed

Ideally, raise the car up on a hoist. This is what I did; it may be possible to perform the swap wth the car raised only on jackstands, but since I did not to do this, I cannot say for certain.
Unbolt the shift rod that goes from inside the car to the transmission (access from underneath).
Unbolt the "shifter box" inside the car and remove it along with the vertical an horizontal rods (they're all attached together). This requires raising the carpet a bit, hence the suggestion to remove the seat and handbrake trim. The "box" is held down by 4 nuts seen only when you move the carpet around, and not by the two that are visible once you take the shift boot off. I was able to snake my arm in through the holes in the carpet on the passenger side that are cut for the seat rails. Using patience and a magnetic screwdriver I didn't lose any nuts or washers.
Remove front wheels.
Remove downpipe.

Remove airbox, remove heat shields from exhaust manifold, unplug O₂ sensor, unbolt downpipe.

Remove driveshafts.

Remove big nut from outer CV joint. Unbolt strut from balljoint (undo the bolt+nut, not the two nuts, so you don't have to get the car aligned). Unbolt driveshaft from transmission flange (you need a 12-point socket tool). Don't worry about getting the driveshafts mixed up, they're both of absolutely equal lengths.

Remove transmission.

My father did most of this, while I was inside the car taking the shifter components apart and cleaning up the 5-speed, so I missed some of the steps and tricks.
Take off the small cover on the bottom of the transmission. Unbolt transmission from engine, loosen front engine mount, wiggle transmission off splines. Remove. We had both the engine and transmission supported supported while doing this.

Remove clutch, etc.

Unbolt all the clutch components and inspect.
If swapping flywheel for a lighter one, remove it. Inspect rear main seal, replace if leaky (should be very cheap, ~$10 CAD).

Maintenance/inspection

When taking parts off your Fox, keep an eye out for rust, bent pieces, and such, and fix them now so you don't have to take things apart later.
If any undercoating is missing, get rid of any rust, paint it with rust-paint, and then spray with undercoating. Some more undercoating is bound to get scraped off during the install, so fix that too.
Inspect all bushings on the 5-speed, replace as necessary (they're inexpensive).
Inspect the throwout bearing on the 5-speed. Also make sure each gear engages properly.
Apply grease where necessary, and anti-seize compound on bolts that may be tough to remove in the future.

Installation of 5-speed

Install 5-speed shifter box. Make sure it moves freely, and that the rubber boot sealing the rod from the inside- to the outside of the car is still secure.
Reinstall flywheel/clutch.
Reinstall transmission.

The 9Q has 2 additional switches and a big hex-head bolt sticking out. Maybe we didn't wiggle the 5-speed transmission in the proper directions, because there was a tiny bit of modification to the transmission tunnel required in 2 spots. Both are on the passenger side, and both were needed for a switch and for that big hex-head bolt to clear the tunnel. The tunnel had to be hammered in no more than a few millimeters (pictures below). One way to solve this might have been to replace the switches and bolt with something less extrusive; but the hammering didn't do anything bad, so we did it that way. Just be sure to spray some good undercoating where the factory stuff was scraped off from.

Reinstall downpipe, airbox, etc..
Reinstall driveshafts & wheels.
Connect shifter components to transmission and check for proper alignment. This may require going for a drive, and then readjusting.
Reconnect speedometer cable and battery. (The speedometer uses the same drive gear, so your speedometer and odometer will still be accurate).

Enjoy newfound acceleration. Remember that reverse is under 5th.

Thoughts

I got accustomed to the 4-speed's gearing through driving 4-speed Foxes for about 7 years. So while I understood that the better final drive and tighter gearing would yield better acceleration, I did not realize how much a difference this would make. With the 4-speed, even if I shifted at redline (fuel gets cut at 6000 RPM on my Fox), I'd drop below the powerband in the next gear. With this 5-speed even shifting at about 5000 RPM, I still have good power in the next gear. I'm writing this with only about 2 weeks of driving with the 5-speed, so I will add more thoughts later, as I learn the transmission, as I "test" it out, and more.

In summary: if you have a 4-speed, and can get a 5-speed, get it now! I presume that even with everything else being stock, the 5-speed will help out in the acceleration department.

Isn't it great that Volkswagen's engineers use their heads? In what other make of car will a transmission from a 1983 model fit without any problems into a 1992?

And in case anyone's wondering, the 4-speed will go in my Dasher, so it's not for sale.

Pictures

I tried to take as many pictures as possible, to document what one will see if undertaking the swap.


	PW (type 014) 4-speed	9Q (type 013) 5-speed	Both	Comments

Code				Today's VW Fox is brought to you be the number 9 and the letter Q. :-)

Transmission in car				Sorry for the poor picture of the PW, I didn't realize that I hadn't taken a better one. Mounting points are identical between the two transmissions. The bolt pattern on the bell-housing is identical, and the rear mount and lower "cover" are the same as well.


Transmission out of car				[PW bottom, 9Q top]]
				[PW bottom left, 9Q upper right]
				[PW upper left, 9Q lower right]
				[PW left, 9Q right]
				[PW right, 9Q left]
				[PW left, 9Q right] Note that the 4-speed does not have a spring for the clutch mechanism.

Transmission Tunnel Modification				That rearmost switch got in the way as we were installing the transmission. The tunnel wall was hammered in a few millimeters to aid in clearance.
				As a side note, this switch turns "on" when 5th gear is engaged. If anyone knows why a turbo diesel transmission would have this switch, please let me know (I'm curious).
				Both the switch and bolt be replaceable with something smaller, thereby reducing or negating the need for modifying the tunnel.
				This area (near the front passenger's side) also needed some modification, due to a big hex-head bolt sticking out of the transmission.

Shifter boxes				[PW left, 9Q right] Note that the "stops" inside the shifter box are different between 4-speed and 5-speed transmissions.
				[PW left, 9Q right]
				[PW front, 9Q rear]
				[PW right, 9Q left]
				[PW left, 9Q right] The rod going from the inside to the outside of the car is bent differently as well.
				[PW right, 9Q left]
				[PW right, 9Q left]
				[PW right, 9Q left]

Thanks

Big thanks to the one that sourced this transmission for me! I'd never find one here in Canada! Also thanks to the various online Fox clubs and forums for ideas and tips that I've collected over the years. And to Volkswagen's engineers for designing the 9Q, and to VW do Brasil for continuing to use the type 013s :)

E-mail me with any and all comments, questions, etc..
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