Guide / DSG swap
DSG swap: DQ200 and DQ250
Connector references and wiring pinouts for DQ200 and DQ250 transmission swaps, including a pin-by-pin mapping for a DQ200 to DQ250 swap.
Before wiring
Disconnect the battery before changing the harness. Confirm the connector orientation and pin numbering on the housing, then verify every circuit against the wiring diagram for the donor transmission and target vehicle before applying power.
DQ200 pinout
Connector part number: 1K0973213
Pin 8 — Ground, Terminal 31 — brown
Pin 9 — Battery positive, Terminal 30 — black/green
Pin 10 — Terminal 15 (battery switched) — white/blue
Pin 12 — Drivetrain CAN Low — orange/brown
Pin 13 — Drivetrain CAN High — orange/black
Pin 14 — P/N check — T14/13 ECU, brown/blue, D107 to T105/8
Pin 16 — Signal for starter inhibitor (P/N) — green/blue, T91/62, D013
Pin 24 — Ground, Terminal 31 — brown
Pin 25 — Battery positive, Terminal 30 — black/green
Pin 8 — Ground, Terminal 31 — brown
Pin 9 — Battery positive, Terminal 30 — black/green
Pin 10 — Terminal 15 (battery switched) — white/blue
Pin 12 — Drivetrain CAN Low — orange/brown
Pin 13 — Drivetrain CAN High — orange/black
Pin 14 — P/N check — T14/13 ECU, brown/blue, D107 to T105/8
Pin 16 — Signal for starter inhibitor (P/N) — green/blue, T91/62, D013
Pin 24 — Ground, Terminal 31 — brown
Pin 25 — Battery positive, Terminal 30 — black/green
DQ250 pinout
Connector part number: 1J0927320
Pin 7 — P/N check — T14/13 ECU, brown/blue, D107 to T105/8
Pins 11 + 18 — Battery positive, Terminal 30
Pin 13 — Terminal 15 (battery switched)
Pins 16 + 19 — Ground, Terminal 31
Pin 10 — Drivetrain CAN High
Pin 15 — Drivetrain CAN Low
Pin 17 — Signal for starter inhibitor (P/N) — T91/62, D013
Pin 7 — P/N check — T14/13 ECU, brown/blue, D107 to T105/8
Pins 11 + 18 — Battery positive, Terminal 30
Pin 13 — Terminal 15 (battery switched)
Pins 16 + 19 — Ground, Terminal 31
Pin 10 — Drivetrain CAN High
Pin 15 — Drivetrain CAN Low
Pin 17 — Signal for starter inhibitor (P/N) — T91/62, D013
Using a donor DQ250 MQB (0D9) mechatronic or transmission for a DSG swap? See the DQ250 MQB immobilizer removal and bench flash guide before installing the replacement TCU.
DQ200 to DQ250 swap: pin-by-pin wiring
The DQ200 and DQ250 do not share a transmission connector, so a DQ200 to DQ250 swap always means putting a DQ250 connector on the gearbox side of the harness. The DQ200 uses connector 1K0973213, the DQ250 uses 1J0927320. Both carry the same set of circuits, so the vehicle wiring itself carries over: each existing wire is spliced to the correct pin of the DQ250 connector using the mapping below.
Battery positive, Terminal 30 — DQ200 pins 9 and 25 — DQ250 pins 11 and 18
Ground, Terminal 31 — DQ200 pins 8 and 24 — DQ250 pins 16 and 19
Terminal 15, battery switched — DQ200 pin 10 — DQ250 pin 13
Drivetrain CAN High — DQ200 pin 13 — DQ250 pin 10
Drivetrain CAN Low — DQ200 pin 12 — DQ250 pin 15
P/N check, T14/13 ECU — DQ200 pin 14 — DQ250 pin 7
Starter inhibitor signal, P/N — DQ200 pin 16 — DQ250 pin 17
Ground, Terminal 31 — DQ200 pins 8 and 24 — DQ250 pins 16 and 19
Terminal 15, battery switched — DQ200 pin 10 — DQ250 pin 13
Drivetrain CAN High — DQ200 pin 13 — DQ250 pin 10
Drivetrain CAN Low — DQ200 pin 12 — DQ250 pin 15
P/N check, T14/13 ECU — DQ200 pin 14 — DQ250 pin 7
Starter inhibitor signal, P/N — DQ200 pin 16 — DQ250 pin 17
Both connectors carry their pin numbers on the housing itself, moulded into the plastic beside each cavity. Work from those numbers and treat wire colour as a double-check, never the other way round: colours vary between platforms, model years and any repair the loom has already had, so a wire of the expected colour can still be on the wrong circuit. If the number on the housing and the colour disagree, the number wins — then confirm the circuit against the wiring diagram for your own car.
Keep both power and both ground circuits separate all the way to the connector. Do not bridge the two Terminal 30 pins or the two Terminal 31 pins onto a single wire, and keep CAN High and CAN Low as a twisted pair for the full run.
Keep both power and both ground circuits separate all the way to the connector. Do not bridge the two Terminal 30 pins or the two Terminal 31 pins onto a single wire, and keep CAN High and CAN Low as a twisted pair for the full run.
Splicing the harness to the DQ250 connector
The vehicle-side wiring stays as it is. What changes is the connector on the end of it: the DQ200 housing comes off and a DQ250 connector goes on, with each wire spliced to the pin the mapping above calls for. Work one circuit at a time so a wire can never end up on the wrong pin.
1. Disconnect the battery and leave the car to sit before opening anything up. None of this is done on a live harness.
2. Start from a DQ250 connector with pre-terminated leads. A pigtail with factory-crimped terminals already in the housing avoids crimping loose terminals into an unfamiliar connector and is the reason the job is a splice rather than a re-pin.
3. Label every wire at the old connector before cutting anything, using the pin number moulded into the housing next to its cavity rather than the colour. Write the colour on the tape flag as well, so you have a second reference to check each splice against later. Once the connector is off, colour alone is not a reliable identifier.
4. Cut the DQ200 connector off, leaving as much length on the vehicle side as the routing allows. Strip back only what the splice needs.
5. Splice each wire to its DQ250 lead according to the mapping above. Solder and adhesive-lined heat shrink, or proper crimp splices with sealed shrink sleeves. Scotch locks and twisted-and-taped joints do not survive the heat, oil and vibration at the gearbox.
6. Stagger the splices along the loom instead of lining them all up at one point. A bundle of joints in the same place is bulky, hard to sleeve and hard to fault-find later.
7. Treat the CAN pair carefully. Keep the twist right up to the joint, keep both splices short, and twist the pair again past them. An untwisted section here is a real source of communication faults.
8. Match wire gauge on power and ground. Terminal 30 and Terminal 31 each run on two circuits and each one carries current — splice them individually, in the original gauge.
9. Sleeve and secure the loom so nothing hangs on the joints, then route it clear of the exhaust and driveshafts.
10. Verify before power. Read the pin numbers off the DQ250 housing and check continuity from each one back to the vehicle side, cross-checking against the colour you noted at the old connector. Confirm nothing is shorted pin to pin, then reconnect the battery.
2. Start from a DQ250 connector with pre-terminated leads. A pigtail with factory-crimped terminals already in the housing avoids crimping loose terminals into an unfamiliar connector and is the reason the job is a splice rather than a re-pin.
3. Label every wire at the old connector before cutting anything, using the pin number moulded into the housing next to its cavity rather than the colour. Write the colour on the tape flag as well, so you have a second reference to check each splice against later. Once the connector is off, colour alone is not a reliable identifier.
4. Cut the DQ200 connector off, leaving as much length on the vehicle side as the routing allows. Strip back only what the splice needs.
5. Splice each wire to its DQ250 lead according to the mapping above. Solder and adhesive-lined heat shrink, or proper crimp splices with sealed shrink sleeves. Scotch locks and twisted-and-taped joints do not survive the heat, oil and vibration at the gearbox.
6. Stagger the splices along the loom instead of lining them all up at one point. A bundle of joints in the same place is bulky, hard to sleeve and hard to fault-find later.
7. Treat the CAN pair carefully. Keep the twist right up to the joint, keep both splices short, and twist the pair again past them. An untwisted section here is a real source of communication faults.
8. Match wire gauge on power and ground. Terminal 30 and Terminal 31 each run on two circuits and each one carries current — splice them individually, in the original gauge.
9. Sleeve and secure the loom so nothing hangs on the joints, then route it clear of the exhaust and driveshafts.
10. Verify before power. Read the pin numbers off the DQ250 housing and check continuity from each one back to the vehicle side, cross-checking against the colour you noted at the old connector. Confirm nothing is shorted pin to pin, then reconnect the battery.
A poor splice in a CAN or Terminal 30 circuit produces intermittent faults that look exactly like a failing mechatronic. If a joint is in doubt, cut it out and redo it now rather than chasing it after the gearbox is in the car.
Next: immobilizer removal and bench flashing
With the connector transferred, the transmission is wired but still will not release drive. A used DQ250 mechatronic carries the immobilizer data of the car it came out of, and it has to be cleared and the unit flashed before it will accept the new vehicle.
On a DQ250 MQB (0D9) unit this is done on the bench, with the mechatronic out of the car and powered on a bench harness, rather than through the OBD port. The full procedure — bench wiring, reading the unit, removing the immobilizer and writing it back — is covered in the dedicated guide.
What a DQ200 to DQ250 swap needs beyond the pinout
Getting the DQ250 connector onto the harness only gets the transmission talking to the car. The rest of the swap decides whether it drives.
Transmission control unit software — the TCU is not coded to the car. It has to be unlocked and flashed with a version compatible with your ECU and your drive layout, front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. A used mechatronic also carries the immobilizer data of its donor car, which has to be cleared before it will release drive.
Gear count in the engine ECU — the ECU has to be changed from seven gears to six, so it expects a DQ250 rather than a DQ200. That is the only ECU-side change the swap needs, and simos.app can make it.
DSG calibration reset — the transmission calibration has to be reset so the mechatronic relearns its clutch and shift points on the new installation instead of running the donor car's learned values. simos.app can do this as well.
Wet clutch service items — the DQ250 is a wet-clutch unit with its own fluid specification, filter and fill procedure. It does not share the DQ200's dry-clutch service parts.
Mechanical fitment — bellhousing pattern, starter position, mounts, driveshafts, shift linkage and final drive ratio all have to be confirmed against the donor unit for your chassis.
Cooling — the DQ250 runs a transmission fluid cooler circuit that the DQ200 installation does not have. Plan for the lines and the mounting before the gearbox goes in.
Gear count in the engine ECU — the ECU has to be changed from seven gears to six, so it expects a DQ250 rather than a DQ200. That is the only ECU-side change the swap needs, and simos.app can make it.
DSG calibration reset — the transmission calibration has to be reset so the mechatronic relearns its clutch and shift points on the new installation instead of running the donor car's learned values. simos.app can do this as well.
Wet clutch service items — the DQ250 is a wet-clutch unit with its own fluid specification, filter and fill procedure. It does not share the DQ200's dry-clutch service parts.
Mechanical fitment — bellhousing pattern, starter position, mounts, driveshafts, shift linkage and final drive ratio all have to be confirmed against the donor unit for your chassis.
Cooling — the DQ250 runs a transmission fluid cooler circuit that the DQ200 installation does not have. Plan for the lines and the mounting before the gearbox goes in.
Terminal reference
Terminal 30 — permanent battery positive
Terminal 31 — ground
Terminal 15 — ignition-switched battery positive
CAN High and CAN Low must remain a correctly routed twisted pair. Do not rely on wire colour alone when identifying a circuit.
Terminal 31 — ground
Terminal 15 — ignition-switched battery positive
CAN High and CAN Low must remain a correctly routed twisted pair. Do not rely on wire colour alone when identifying a circuit.
Common questions
Is a DQ200 to DQ250 swap plug and play?
No. The two transmissions use different connectors, so the harness has to be spliced to a DQ250 connector, and the transmission control unit has to be unlocked, flashed and adapted to the car afterwards.
No. The two transmissions use different connectors, so the harness has to be spliced to a DQ250 connector, and the transmission control unit has to be unlocked, flashed and adapted to the car afterwards.
Do the DQ200 and DQ250 use the same connector?
No. The DQ200 uses 1K0973213 and the DQ250 uses 1J0927320. The circuits are the same, but the housing and the pin positions are not.
No. The DQ200 uses 1K0973213 and the DQ250 uses 1J0927320. The circuits are the same, but the housing and the pin positions are not.
Can the original DQ200 harness be reused?
Yes. Every circuit the DQ250 needs already exists on the DQ200 side, so the vehicle wiring stays in place and only the connector changes: the DQ200 housing is cut off and each wire is spliced to the matching pin of a DQ250 connector using the mapping above.
Yes. Every circuit the DQ250 needs already exists on the DQ200 side, so the vehicle wiring stays in place and only the connector changes: the DQ200 housing is cut off and each wire is spliced to the matching pin of a DQ250 connector using the mapping above.
Does the TCU need coding after a DQ250 swap?
No. The transmission control unit is not coded to the car. It has to be unlocked and flashed with a version that is compatible with your ECU and matches your drive layout — front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive.
No. The transmission control unit is not coded to the car. It has to be unlocked and flashed with a version that is compatible with your ECU and matches your drive layout — front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive.
What has to be changed on the car?
The engine ECU has to be changed from seven gears to six, and the DSG calibration has to be reset so the mechatronic relearns its clutch and shift points. simos.app can do both.
The engine ECU has to be changed from seven gears to six, and the DSG calibration has to be reset so the mechatronic relearns its clutch and shift points. simos.app can do both.
Which CAN bus does the DSG control unit use?
The drivetrain CAN. On the DQ250 connector that is pin 10 for CAN High and pin 15 for CAN Low, run as a twisted pair. Diagnostics reach the unit over that bus.
The drivetrain CAN. On the DQ250 connector that is pin 10 for CAN High and pin 15 for CAN Low, run as a twisted pair. Diagnostics reach the unit over that bus.