# CIS to Digifant 2 conversion



## mcdubbin gti (Jun 24, 2011)

Hey everyone I have been doing alot of searching and have come to a small stand still, Im more familiar with newer volkswagens so the older ones arent like second nature to me and Im learning as I tear these cars apart

So what I have is a 1991 Jetta that was CIS,

I received a donor car 1992 VW golf ( Digifant 2)

So I noticed under the dash that none of the connectors would just go together if I used the Digifant engine harness and connected it to the jetta's chassis harness, but no that did not work..

So I pulled the harness out of the golf for the dashboard and some connections have lined up but some do not like (key ignition cylinder, blinkers and some other assorted ones but id say 80% clipped right into place...

Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do? or if I should splice wires to use the old connectors?

Appreciate any help possible to get this project going!

thanks!:beer:


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## B4S (Apr 16, 2003)

The last CIS 8v Mk2 was in 1987, so if you had a 91 that was CIS...someone did a horrible swap of some sort. The 16v was CIS-Motronic from 1991-1992 though. If both cars were newer than 1989, then the wiring would be plug and play.


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## mcdubbin gti (Jun 24, 2011)

ah yeah sorry theres all these different fueling systems in these cars, I first opened the hood on the cabriolet I bought and was like WTF? are all these stainless steel lines..


But anyways, the Jetta actually was wired for a 16v but we did not get the shell with the 16v so I had an 8v car laying around just to get the car going..

I kindof guessed on the date for the donor it actually sorry was early 90's due to the digifant 2 being in it ?

What it looks like so far is the blower fan connectors are different?

The steering wheel stalk connectors are different?

and theres some extra wires in there that do not connect to anything in this Jetta.



Im not sure if that helps decipher what I need to do?


Appreciate all and any of the help everyone :beer:


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## B4S (Apr 16, 2003)

There's no reason to swap the interior harness, the engine harness is the only thing you need to change.


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## mcdubbin gti (Jun 24, 2011)

Hm okay but my problem was that the engine harness had big colored plugs and the original dash harness did not have them to put the two together


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## B4S (Apr 16, 2003)

Ok, I'm confused.

What engine are you putting in what car. If the car is pre-88, then it will be CE1 (Central Electric 1, VW's name for their wiring pre-88). If the car is post-88, it will be CE2 (all wiring from 1988-1999). It's clear you are trying to mate something CE1 to something CE2, which means NOTHING will match up and you have to do the wiring the hard way...pin by pin, cutting and splicing. 

DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES CHANGE THE DASH WIRING! LEAVE IT IN THE CAR, IT FUNCTIONS ON IT'S OWN. ONLY THE ENGINE WIRING NEEDS TO BE ALTERED TO WORK.

Dude, I think you're trying to bite off more than you can chew. Take a bit of time to do some research, IMO .


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## mcdubbin gti (Jun 24, 2011)

That's what I was trying to get at and understand if the car was ce1 and engine was from ce2 and all the conversions I see aren't to helpful


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## WaterWheels (Aug 14, 2005)

mcdubbin gti said:


> So what I have is a 1991 Jetta that was CIS,
> 
> I received a donor car 1992 VW golf ( Digifant 2)
> 
> So I noticed under the dash that none of the connectors would just go together if I used the Digifant engine harness and connected it to the jetta's chassis harness, but no that did not work..


I believe the first step for getting any help will be to nail down just what you are working with as it does not add up. If the model years are correct then you have some questions to answer. How is it that the 91' Jetta has a CIS injection system, did you install it or buy it from someone who converted it? Are you talking about a 2.0L 16v which did have CIS-MOTRONIC? Are you talking about the connections at the rear of the relay panel or other connections? Installing any engine into any car is not all that hard, talking wiring here, but first you have to know 100% for sure what you are working on. Do you have the wiring diagrams for each?


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## mcdubbin gti (Jun 24, 2011)

Okay so what I have is

1991 jetta gli it had the 16v cis system in it but the po tore everything out in hopes of doing a vr swap but obviously didn't do it


So I have a 1992 golf as a donor car why a 8v? Bc its what I have available for free

What does hook up is the connections right after relay box on the new engine wiring harness they are greenred and yellow I believe only 3 of them the old dash harness does not have those plugs on it to accomodate the new engine harness


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## mcdubbin gti (Jun 24, 2011)

And yes I have diagrams for both cars


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## WaterWheels (Aug 14, 2005)

OK, so you have slightly deeper work than just plugging connectors into each other. Problem is the two systems use the same relay panel but different methods of wiring and wiring requirements. To make it "plug and play" you would have to replace the front left and maybe the front right car wiring harnesses (have not looked that close). The Digifant and the CIS Motronic *engine* wiring harnesses are more or less stand alone harnesses. The main connector attaches to the ECU and branches off to recieve or supply information and power to the many sensors/senders/etc. The harnesses only have a few connectors for recieving power (battery) or start signals or feeding some information into the cabin itself but these connectors can be different as they connect to the wire harnesses comming from the relay panel. So unless you want to locate and purchase the other harnesses you would be best to just do a few cut and splice jobs. Digifant II requires only a few non-engine harness connections to work, 5 if I recall. It would just be a matter of matching the two wiring diagrams and locating where you can make your splices. I could look up both systems and make a suggestion or two but it is best you decide just where and how you want to make the connections.


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