Engine change CXFA to CXHA

[Boyo72]

Hi All

So firstly I know there has been a similar thread regarding what I'm about to cover but it did not really come to any conclusion.

I have bought a very good condition 2016 T6 150HP 6 speed which is fitted with the CXFA engine that has the balance shafts but the van is high mileage and the previous owner said its seized but doesn't know why, my investigation's so far have confirmed that the crank will not turn over by placing a bar and socket on the crank shaft nut, the timing belt is ok and not snapped, I removed cylinder 1 glow plug and appears to be ok but cylinder 2 glow plug is mashed and bent and shorter than the other one so I'm not even going to bother any further with this engine as its high mileage and want a replacement with much lower miles including all ancillaries.

So CXFA engines are very rare they appeared to made for the high end T6s like the Caravelle and Ocean campers purely to iron out some vibration, what engines are for sale are high miles and not complete with all ancillaries.

The CXHA engines are more common and i have found a good one at a good price but this engine does not have the balance shaft, both engines are 150HP and both engines had either 6 speed boxes or DSG box fitted to them from 2016 onwards.

All pics I have seen on the internet both engines look the same apart from the bulge in the side of the block for the balance shaft in the CXFA, all engine mounts on both are the same.

Do anyone know 100% if you can fit the CXHA in place of the CXFA and if so do you use your existing engine loom or the loom with the new engine ?

If any VW techs on here who know for sure if the CXHA fits or could maybe ask colleagues that would be greatly appreciated as my local dealers are no help what so ever.

Thanks for Reading.

 

[bluezie]

In the absence of anyone having actually successfully done this conversion, I would say the engine should physically fit the van and gearbox no problem, although some of the engine mounts might be different on the engine block end, but the chassis ends should be identical, so a CXHA with its engine mounts should just bolt straight in.
The rest may be a matter of finding a parts fiche for both engines, and part by part checking for the same part numbers. Particularly things like fuel pump, pressure regulator and sensor, injectors, ECU, turbo, cam sensor, crank sensor, EGR valve and controls, turbo controls, gearbox, gearbox ECU, etc etc etc.
With this information, you might be able to decide whether a CXHA will drop straight in complete with all ancillaries, or whether the CXFA needs to donate some or all of its ancillaries to make it work with the van.
I'd like to think they are essentially the same engine apart from the balance shafts.

 

[BarryLee]

Hi All

So firstly I know there has been a similar thread regarding what I'm about to cover but it did not really come to any conclusion.

I have bought a very good condition 2016 T6 150HP 6 speed which is fitted with the CXFA engine that has the balance shafts but the van is high mileage and the previous owner said its seized but doesn't know why, my investigation's so far have confirmed that the crank will not turn over by placing a bar and socket on the crank shaft nut, the timing belt is ok and not snapped, I removed cylinder 1 glow plug and appears to be ok but cylinder 2 glow plug is mashed and bent and shorter than the other one so I'm not even going to bother any further with this engine as its high mileage and want a replacement with much lower miles including all ancillaries.

So CXFA engines are very rare they appeared to made for the high end T6s like the Caravelle and Ocean campers purely to iron out some vibration, what engines are for sale are high miles and not complete with all ancillaries.

The CXHA engines are more common and i have found a good one at a good price but this engine does not have the balance shaft, both engines are 150HP and both engines had either 6 speed boxes or DSG box fitted to them from 2016 onwards.

All pics I have seen on the internet both engines look the same apart from the bulge in the side of the block for the balance shaft in the CXFA, all engine mounts on both are the same.

Do anyone know 100% if you can fit the CXHA in place of the CXFA and if so do you use your existing engine loom or the loom with the new engine ?

If any VW techs on here who know for sure if the CXHA fits or could maybe ask colleagues that would be greatly appreciated as my local dealers are no help what so ever.

Thanks for Reading.

What did you find out in the end and what did you end up doing?
@Boyo72

 

[Andriusito Mas]

Hi there. Have read this thread and I have almost same thing there. Have cxfa engine with 390k km, broken turbo and glow plug inside. Think swap to cxha engine. Any news regarding to components and harness compatibility between those two engines? Thanks in advance

 

[goewet]

Hi, anyone tried this yet? I have a complete CXHA without balancers cheap on hand, and my CXFA with balancers now has two conrods sticking out

 

[Boyo72]

Hi yes so i changed from CXFA to CXHA around may time 2024 and did it on my drive way with the help of a friend.

So the replacement CXHA engine came with all ancillaries except the dual mass and clutch and air con pump and alternator.

A new dual mass and clutch fitted along with new timing belt and water pump.

Then used my old alternator and air con pump.

Everything was very easy to do and the engine loom plugged straight into my main vehicle loom.

I had an engine management light come on because my CXFA had the flaps in the intake manifold and the replacement CXHA did not, i did not want to change the intake manifolds.

A local guy who maps VWs was able to delete this function out of my ECU.

The only other thing is you have a large amount of coolant hoses on these engines and so just check what you have original and what you get with the CXHA match up.

But my change was very straight forward.

I had it mapped also to 180HP and it went really well.

Hope this helps guys.

 

[goewet]

Hi yes so i changed from CXFA to CXHA around may time 2024 and did it on my drive way with the help of a friend.

So the replacement CXHA engine came with all ancillaries except the dual mass and clutch and air con pump and alternator.

A new dual mass and clutch fitted along with new timing belt and water pump.

Then used my old alternator and air con pump.

Everything was very easy to do and the engine loom plugged straight into my main vehicle loom.

I had an engine management light come on because my CXFA had the flaps in the intake manifold and the replacement CXHA did not, i did not want to change the intake manifolds.

A local guy who maps VWs was able to delete this function out of my ECU.

The only other thing is you have a large amount of coolant hoses on these engines and so just check what you have original and what you get with the CXHA match up.

But my change was very straight forward.

I had it mapped also to 180HP and it went really well.

Hope this helps guys.

Well this is great news!

And if it works well could potentially help on the shortage of CXFA blocks..

I have plenty of parts from both engines, only thing missing on the CXHA is the turbocharger and injectors. (And the valve train is shot)

Was thinking of using as much as possible of the parts belonging to the original car (CXFA), at least externally.

Thank you @Boyo72 for sharing from your experience, it is possible that you will get som follow-up questions later in the process