There's something different about the RAV4.

Well, the stock 100 HP 3SFE motor is a tad anemic. Oh, it will get it around and all, and it will climb about anything in 1st, but it needed some more, oh, umph. Nothing wrong with the quarter million mile original motor, just needed umph.

That is a 4th gen 3SGTE from a JDM Caldina, around 98-02, COP, air to air, CT20B. The first (ebay) one I bought had a bad turbo. Oh, the compressor wheel spun fine. However, the turbine wheel was in the housing wedged sideways, ruining the housing. "We no galanteee accesserys." Turns out that the CT20B is unique to the 4th gen JDM 3SGTE. It is integrated with the exhaust manifold and made from unobtainium. Anyway, I called them back up and said, "Just send me another motor. AND THIS BERKELEYING TIME, I WANT YOU TO PULL THE BERKELEYING OXYGEN SENSOR OUT AND SPIN THE BERKELEYING TURBINE AND WATCH THAT THE COMPRESSOR WHEEL BERKELEYING SPINS, OK?" They did that while I was on the phone and put it on the next truck smoking. "Made me a deal" because it was a cut harness off an auto box motor. I took the good used turbo off and brought it to G-Pop-Shop, which is local to me, and had it rebuilt. They said it was fine, quite runable as it was, but I said "just rebuild the thing, it's made from unobtainium and that way I know it will last."

There are lots of little things to make it all work. The 3SFE motor had no fuel pressure regulator. The regulator was in the tank just after the puny fuel pump. Needed a new monster fuel pump and remove that FPR, as the 3SGTE has it's own FPR. And it needed a new return line from the FPR back to the tank.

RAV4's of this generation are known for a rear end clunk. The differential mounts return to the dust that they sprung from under the beating from the huge 100 HP motor. So I took them all out, and all the motor mounts and filled them all with castable urethane.

The exhaust down pipe wouldn't fit the "O2 pipe" or whatever they call it, so I had to fab up a new section there. I need to take it all apart and fab the rest over the front cross member, then fab the rest of the exhaust back to the new muffler I have sitting in the shop. I'm going 2-1/4. 3" would be cool and all, but there's no way I could get 3" over the cross member, and I have this 2-1/4" muffler with dual outlets that I want to use. That is all a good solid weekend's work, once I have the rest of the parts, and I put it off for later. I also put off for later the hood scoop(s). If I did everything all at once, this one year project would have taken 2 years.

Oh, that's an TurboSmart Eboost electronic boost controller and TurboSmart BOV. The turbo rebuilders recommended TurboSmart stuff.

The real biatch of the swap, as usual, was the wiring. I had to pull apart 4 harnesses and make 2: Caldina motor harness, Caldina chassis harness, RAV motor harness, RAV chassis harness all apart, put together: Caldina motor harness, RAV chassis harness. Half the Caldina documentation is in Japanese or Japanese translated to Russian translated to Engrish. I do have a BGB for the RAV. Job would have been about impossible without it. And a 6K page PDF on the Caldina. Amazing what you can find on teh w3bz, y0.

So, the AC works, the RAV tach works, the CEL works and IS NOT ON, the oil pressure light works.

My goal is 300 HP. You know, for onramps and E36 M3. I'm probably at about 200 now, SOTP dyno, limiting the boost to <10PSI. My goal is 15 PSI, and I really need that exhaust upgraded.

I also want the cheapest sounding fake BOV I can get. I think it would be hilarious to sit at a stop light next to a ricer and make fake BOV noises in a soccer mom mobile.

Sweet! Can't wait to hear more about this wild beast!

The RAV radiator fans had to be replaced. NFW they were going to fit with the turbo there. I bought some low profile fans on Amazon.

The Caldina fuel pump circuit has a high and low voltage output so that the regulator isn't overrun at idle. There is a resistor that is switched in and out of the circuit by the ECU. That had to be spliced into the RAV harness over in the left kick panel.

I have seen a few (like three) 3SGTE-swapped Rav4s locally, but they are always bodge jobs that are barely functional when they get dumped on Kijiji.

Glad to see someone writing up how to do it right.

I dunno about a how-to write-up. It was a very big job. I really think that was I to do it again, I would just mail the RAV to that outfit the put the 4th gen motor in GRM's MR2, along with a check for six large and have them mail me the RAV back with the 4th gen motor in it. It would probably be quicker and a whole lot easier. My shop and office are still both almost wallpapered with schematics from about 4 different cars. I have just about an entire Europa covered in them. There are a lot of quirks. Like the Caldina schematic for the ECU. The plugs on the ECU are A, B, C and D. The ECU schematic has them renamed as f, g, h and e. Yeah, 'A' is 'f' but 'D' is 'e'. There is no mapping or mention, so to figure it out, it's: pick up a plug, look at the colors on a few pins, look at the schematic and try to match it up, go to the next plug. It was also very handy having a spare motor on a stand. While tracing down problems, like the computer can't find a sensor, easy to test if it is the sensor by just taking the one off of the other motor and plugging it into the harness.

The Clutch: I put a ACT "street" clutch disk in it. I'm using the original 3SGTE pressure plate, flywheel and the RAV4 everything else. I've read that other people have had problems with this swap and the clutch travel not being enough, requiring them to have a longer clutch master cylinder push rod made. I had no problems. I'm using the RAV transaxle too. Oh, looking at the original Caldina clutch and the RAV4 clutch, near as I can tell, they are identical. After about a quarter million miles, the RAV clutch was maybe half worn. I could see that, if they put the same stuff in a Caldina and considered that OK. I've also read that the spline count on the Caldina motor was different than the RAV transmission. Nope, same count. Probably just "net wisdom." I call "net wisdom" that stuff that gets passed around teh intr4w3bz, y0, that is total BS. I ran into it when I did the 20V swap in the MR2. "Net Wisdom" had it that it would never work. This was in about 1998. Oh, it won't run on US gas. Wrong. Won't fit. Wrong. Today everyone knows, but 20 years ago, I was blazing new territory on it.

That is pretty cool! What's it like to drive? I've some pretty wild K24 turbo builds lately and was thinking a turbo CR-V would make a fun daily.

Those stickers are cracking me up! Really cool swap/project

I haven't driven it much yet. Some testing, down to the gas station, etc. The boost controller needs to be tuned. You don't just set it to 15 psi, you have to set the pulse width of the valve and observe what boost you are getting. There are 2 boost maps available in that controller. I have a switch in the dash so I can switch from "mellow" to "ZOMG."

Idling around the driveway and the dirt road, it is very tame. More power than the 3SFE but very tame. When you plant your foot and leave it there, at about 9 PSI and with a really restrictive exhaust, it is pretty interesting. The next turn comes up really fast and you have to remember that it is a soccer-mom-mobile and not an Elise.

This is awesome.

Restrictive exhaust? Needs more like this.

I love me some sleepers, but holy mother of pearl, this thing is evil.

Might I suggest the subtle vanity plate "RAD4"?

Awesome car, I'll follow this closely for sure

rodknock wrote: Those stickers are cracking me up! Really cool swap/project

I call it "suburban camouflage." The Greek letters are kind of a double inside joke. Half the SUV's around here have the Pi Beta Phi stickers on them. The other half have tripple-Delta. Two big national sororities. Phi Beta Pi is a real fraternity. Google points for finding it.

Google points?

Phi Beta Pi

Yup, you found it. I think there's only one chapter left now. When they were recruiting, they had to include a warning notice that they were on probation. That's when I knew they were the frat for me. Actually, I think UTMB created probation only for Phi Beta Pi.

Took it down to the autoparts store. I need a new brake MC for the Truck. Last one only lasted 23 years and 210K miles. Good thing I got the one with the LT warranty. Wish they would make stuff that would last.

So, fiddled with the settings a bit. I'm up to 12.x PSI boost on the ZOMG setting. At 5K RPM, you kinda need to hang on.

Dr. Hess wrote: The other half have tripple-Delta. Two big national sororities.

Triple Delta actually calls themselves The Tri Delts.

I know I tried more than one back in my day.

Yeah, Tri Delts. I recall now. Or something like "Tripple Tits" according to the fraternities. Plenty of them up here.

<--- Proud Razorback alumnus.

When I was up there, the phrase was, "Tri Delt, everyone else has."

I still recall a Frat jingle or two.

I got 2 friends locally who have 3SGTE swapped their rav4 its epic rallyX fun!

If you're ever in town, Lee, holler at me. I'm ~10-15 minutes from the campus.

So, took it into work today. It starts to build boost by 2200 RPM. At a stop sign, I took off easy, got up to 15MPH or so, rolling good, planted my foot and the tires broke loose. Not bad for a 4WD RAV4.

You need a tri-lamb sticker somewhere on there...

This is cool as hell man. You are going to surprise a lot of people with that thing...

Dr.Linda drove it this evening. She laughed every time the BOV let off. She was shifting in the mid 3K range. I told her she could run it up to 7.

Dr.L was driving it around town. Some kid was in a riced out Nissan next to her at the stop light. She dropped the hammer. Much hilarity.