3SGTE Rav4

jacubillo

New member
I just bought a Caldina ST215 3SGTE to rebuild and then swap into my Rav4. The car will also have Alltrac drive gear to convert it to AWD.

I will start disasembling the engine tonight and will be posting updates/pictures. I will aim for 350HP with a custom MegaSquirt ECU

Any suggestions for the rebuild?

- Juan
 

jacubillo

New member
Awesome-Trac":30xekplw said:
There's someone on this forum that has a 3sgte rav4 so you might want to check out his build thread

Thanks... I'll look it up!

MWP":30xekplw said:
Which model RAV4?
And is it one of those weird FWD versions??

It's a 1997 RAV4. Manual FWD transmission and a 3sfe engine that can barely pull itself. I started disassembling the exhaust manifold and the turbo is damaged :shock: and needs replacement. Since it's a caldina engine the turbine side comes attached to the manifold so now I need to source a new turbo and a new manifold as well. I'll probably go for an ST205 part since it shares the same bolt pattern. Suggestions for a 350HP capable turbo that is not *THAT* expensive?

I also sold the AWD auto transmission for $150 and the ECU for $400 and bought a megasquirt2 to tune the engine to my needs.

No pics from the progress since the camera was acting weird last night but I'll try to get some today with another camera.

- Juan
 

MWP

New member
Yup, its a weird FWD model :(
Well, weird to me anyway... Toyota werent stupid enough to release a 2WD RAV*4* in Australia :twisted:

IMO you should find a gen3 manifold and ct20b or ct26 and use that for the moment.
It's a relatively big build so you should try to simplify it as much as possible. Do the big power stuff after youve got the engine in and all running.

MS2 has no problems with running two VR sensors, 4 inj & 4 cop in sequential?
Im not familiar with the abilities of the MS2, only the MS3.
 

jacubillo

New member
MWP":3lbmnlsr said:
Yup, its a weird FWD model :(
Well, weird to me anyway... Toyota werent stupid enough to release a 2WD RAV*4* in Australia :twisted:

IMO you should find a gen3 manifold and ct20b or ct26 and use that for the moment.
It's a relatively big build so you should try to simplify it as much as possible. Do the big power stuff after youve got the engine in and all running.

MS2 has no problems with running two VR sensors, 4 inj & 4 cop in sequential?
Im not familiar with the abilities of the MS2, only the MS3.

I always thought Rav4s where all AWD until I got mine to play and noticed it's the couldn't-afford-the-real-one version. So I'm stuck with FWD and can't offroad any more than a few bumpy roads. That's why I decided to swap and "street" the car.

I'll look for the manifold and turbo here in Costa Rica... otherwise I'll buy it in US&A and ship it over here.

The MS2 is capable of handling dual VR sensors, and 4 sequential CoilOnPlugs with minor hacking and a MS2-Extra firmware. My main concern is getting the base map to tune once I get to that stage.

Meanwhile... I have a slight question... Inspecting the damaged turbo and some minor damage on the engine ancilliaries, it seems the car it came from was in a frontal crash (probably also the reason why the engine was sold :x ...). I would prefer to fully inspect the engine prior to installing it just to find out something is not working properly. I already dismantled most of it but got to this point where I can't remove the main pulley. The bolt is simply not moving at all! I remember hearing about some pulley bolts that are screwed backwards... is this the case with the 3sgte?

Pic of my problem:

[album]551[/album]

To remove the main pulley I have to unbolt the center bolt right? clockwise or counterclockwise?
 

88gt4DE

Active member
Should be regular thread. I never know toyota to use backwards on anything. What you using to try to remove it ?
 

jacubillo

New member
Regular 20cm ratchet wrench with a 19mm socket + a #12 wrench to lock the flexplate on the other side of the engine so that it doesn't move. I guess the ratchet is too short and I need more torque... I'm going out to buy a breaker bar to fix this!
 

jacubillo

New member
Ok, I just bought a 50cm breaker bar and the bolt (regular thread) came out easily.

But I still can't get the pulley out! :shrug:

It seems to be stuck in there... is there any special tool or something else I need to get this thing out of my way?!?!

[album]552[/album]

Sorry if I ask lots of questions... I'm mechanically inclined but this is the first time I get into rebuilding an engine.

Should I just spray some WD40 and leave it soaking overnight?
 

MWP

New member
Can pick up late 90's 4WD RAV4s for not much money here now.
$4k will be a half decent one :)
I dont know how popular they were in the America, but there are *heaps* on the road here.

jacubillo":xs7wl75y said:
It seems to be stuck in there... is there any special tool or something else I need to get this thing out of my way?!?!

I use a general purpose puller like this:
Three%20Jaw%20Puller.JPG

Handy to have in the tool box. Cheap and has many uses.
 

jacubillo

New member
Ok, got the puller for about $20 and now the pulley is out! :D
Offtopic: The general purpose puller name in spanish is : Telextractor. Coo huh?

I was adviced not to pull the whole engine apart but rather give it a tuneup... change the water pump, pulleys, spark plugs, etc.

What do you guys think? Remember that my turbo was really damaged... The compresor had it's wheel all f%&ked up and I'm affraid some metal bits might have gone into the valves/cilinders. It kinda looked like this:

dead_cw.jpg


(Not the original image since I already threw it away).

Should I disassemble the whole engine to inspect it? or just a tune up and hope no metal pieces might damage it's internals?
 

88gt4DE

Active member
Well that turbo wheel dont look too pretty. Since yer trying to not take it apart , do you have access to a borescope ?
 

jacubillo

New member
I don't have access to a scope and I also don't have a spare transmission. I guess I'll just pull it apart and check every component. At least I'll have a chance to upgrade certain parts...
 

phattyduck

New member
jacubillo":3kbojatq said:
Ok, I just bought a 50cm breaker bar and the bolt (regular thread) came out easily.

But I still can't get the pulley out! :shrug:

It seems to be stuck in there... is there any special tool or something else I need to get this thing out of my way?!?!

[album]552[/album]

Sorry if I ask lots of questions... I'm mechanically inclined but this is the first time I get into rebuilding an engine.

Should I just spray some WD40 and leave it soaking overnight?
I know it is too late now... but you should use a pulley puller, not the generic puller.

More like this:
00112560.jpg


There is a rubber section between the pulley hub and outer pulley that can be damaged if you use the generic jaw puller.

-Charlie
 

jacubillo

New member
I'll keep in mind the suggestion on the pulley puller! Thkz!

BTW, Some of the parts that I've been pulling apart have some minor surface rust or corrosion. I want to keep dissasembling the engine and clean every part that I take apart, put it in a cardboard box with the part info, and store it until I reassemble the engine.
Any recommendations to remove this rust/corrosion from the parts? And should I store them in cardboard boxes with some silica gel baggies to remove moisture?

- Juan
 
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