Selecting and Fitting a Dragon Tuning Box to a PD140 with DSG

[a-nony]

You won't recognise the user name but I am a long term Freedom member who wants his car to remain untraceable during the warrantee period – possible paranoia creping in here

Detailed here are my experiences of selecting, fitting and running a Dragon Digital Tuning Box on an Octavia PD140 with DSG box.

There are a number of other suppliers offering similar digital tuning boxes for the PD140 and the following fitting process should be the same for all boxes that use the round harness connector mounted on the RH side of the engine.

These are my personal experiences on how to upgrade your PD140 to effectively a PD170. All information is offered in good faith but I obviously can offer no warrantee that you will have the same results as me – use this guide with any information you can personally source to make your own decision.

BACKGROUND - After reading all the posts here and following every Google I could find on the maximum torque a DSG box should/could handle and coming to the conclusion that while VAG state that 350nm is the max the DSG can handle, 360/5 is the max anyone is actually running with and then not for any length of time. The PD170 Passat is offered with the DSG and delivers a quoted 350nm.

Most remaps appear to offer 370 to 390nm and all the suppliers say 'they have had no problems' but will not say how many DSGs they have actually remapped and how many miles they have covered without problems. Some remap companies appear to offer a drive train warrantee if their map causes problems but I would expect problems claiming £4,000 for a new box.

Dragons claims of 168bhp and 360nm for a 'Power and Economy' map (though other figures are also quoted for different maps so check with Dragon if concerned) seemed like a good compromise to me – plus the unit is removable for Service and Warrantee and does not change any settings in the ECU which all remaps do.

SO TO THE FITTING.

The Unit comes with instructions but they are far from comprehensive. Following the instructions below should have the unit fitted in about 15 minutes but take your time for the first fitting.

• Read the supplied instructions - these have pictures
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• Only attempt fitting in good light, outside on a bright day is fine, a bright garage is OK but do not attempt this in dim light with a torch.
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• Tools – Medium length Cross Head Screwdriver, 5/7inch Curved Jaw Mole Grips (not parallel jaws type), 10mm Spanner
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• It is essential to Remove the Airfilter Box – Held on by Cross Head Screws.
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• Remove the sensor plug from the air filter housing and place out of the way.
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• Loosen all the retaining screws and free the box BUT do not try to remove it yet as you will need to release the Spring Clip holding the rubber air duct to the rear of the filter housing. Use the Mole Grips for this but do NOT let the spring go – slide it off the rubber duct and clip it onto the air filter housing rear pipe for safe keeping.
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• If you leave the clip on the rubber pipe it WILL spring off as the pipe deforms under its pressure and sods law says it will disappear down the back of the engine (luckily mine sprang out of the engine bay)
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• Lay the Air box over the battery cover so you do not need to remove the vacuum pipe.
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• Now you have clear access to the large round connector on the side of the engine.
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• Slide the Red locking tab to the right, it does not come right off
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• Rotate the connector anticlockwise to release it from the engine block. This may only be about 90 degrees BUT the block mounted socket may rotate in the block itself in which case you may need to rotate the connector about 180 degrees. NOTE that the round outer ring rotates around the central body of the connector and simply acts as a cam driven retainer - the centre connector does not rotate.
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• Once the connector is removed carefully examine the Dragon connector and the Block mounted socket.
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• The key to a straightforward connection is to note the V shaped locator on both plug and socket. These have to be aligned to connect the Dragon connector to the socket.
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• Offer up the Dragon connector to the socket and rotate the outer retaining ring until the 3 cams align with the camways on the socket and gently push the outer ring into the socket and rotate clockwise about 90 degrees to lock the two together. NOTE, if the two do not mate cleanly them you have not got the plug and socket keyways correctly aligned.
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• Now connect the original plug to the Dragon socket following the same alignment guidelines as above.
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• Connect the Digibox to the Dragon Harness.
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• Route the Cables so that the DigiBox is placed in the front of the battery box.
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• Connect the power supply leads directly to the battery – using the 10mm spanner to loosen the battery bolts – the connectors just slide under the bolts, and tighten.
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• Replace the filter housing – possibly fitting a 'sports' panel filter' as per explanation below. Be sure to reconnect the air duct to the housing before finally seating the filter housing.
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• Replace sensor plug
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• Double check everything is connected and that all tools have been removed from the engine bay.
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• Start the car, check it runs OK and go for a short test drive.

NOTE. The Dragon Digibox needs to be powered up and initialised BEFORE the car is started otherwise it will not work properly, this is why it is permanently connected to the battery. If you decide to switch the power to the box then you must switch it on and give it a coupe of minutes to initialise itself before you start the car. The power drain of the box is stated as minimal and Dragon say it should be left connected at all times – though they do recommend removing the fuse from the power loom if the car is to be left unused for several weeks.

IN USE – my experiences.

At first I found that they while there was definitely more power available the motor was a little lumpy in traffic, steady 1500-2000 revs – there was also a slight increase in smoke.

Before changing the internal settings in the Digibox – a jumper is adjustable in 7 positions to increase/decrease fuelling/power – I decided to fit a replacement panel filter even though the car has done less than 7000 miles.

I chose a Pipercross filter from Awsome GTi – see site partners – a foam filter supplied dry with an oil spray if you choose to use it. I only used a tiny amount of spray as other posts warn that too much oil on a filter can cause problems with the sensors.

The result was truly amazing, after fitting the filter the engine felt even stronger, the smoke virtually vanished and the engine runs perfectly smoothly under all conditions.

It should also be noted that I run with the normal dilution of Millers Diesel Sport 4 in Tescos standard deisel, which may help get the best from these simple mods.

Total cost, Box and Filter less than £230 inc postages – I consider this a bargain and a good trade against max power from a much more expensive Remap vs. limiting any potential damage to the DSG, plus removable when needed and has a decent resale value.

[Anony-cat]

Followed this guide and took a few pics which might help others:

With Engine cover removed:

IMG_1117 copy.jpg

Identifying parts, note suggest uncliping of tube before moving filter cover:

IMG_1118 copy.jpg

Position of Engine Connector:

IMG_1120 copy.jpg

Dragon Box in place in front of battery box:

IMG_1121 copy.jpg