The EGR or Exhaust Gas Recirculation Valve is part of the California Emission Standards that some of Canada also has to abide by.
It's a crock of ****. I've pulled a 3S-FE Engine apart to it's pistons, and I can tell you now, that after owning a 3S-GTE for six months, and having seen the workings of the Rav4 3S-FE Engine, that Toyota's emission control system is "Just barely there".
The EGR Portion of the Emission system takes exhaust gas from CYLINDER NUMBER 1 ONLY! It does NOT take exhaust gas from ANY of the other cylinders.
This sytem DOES WORK, but only enough to satisfy the government inspectors who peeked into the engine bay without wanting to get their labcoats dirty.
What happens if you put a hose on your exhaust pipe and suck in the air? That's right, you get poisoned, and you die.
The only difference is that it takes our cars WAY longer to fail due to Exhaust carbon and unburned oil being re-introduced into your engine.
The ONLY thing you want going in your engine is COLD CLEAN AIR, COLD CLEAN FUEL, and CLEAN Engine oil. The engine oil you change each month contains GUNK and CRAP that engines WITHOUT EGR systems will neverf see. Hardened chunks of burned gas and oil.
It's like wanting Fresh scrambled eggs, but your drunken sibling keeps scraping the burned eggs off the frying pan from yesterday's breakfast ontop of your nice yellow eggs, now you get to bite into grit, carbon and disgusting re-fried grease! Sounds disgusting right? Yes, no amount of Salt or Pepper (Environmental Propaganda) is going to change the mind of those who know that these systems Help the Auto Industry's profits more than the environment
Yes, your crankcase will vent oil into the induction system, but hey, Vent that to Atmostphere and you get a clean burning, fresh air breathing engine.
The Japanese Engine I have in my Rav4 was tuned to 105 Octane fuel from the factory (as all are Caldina ST215 3S-GTE's) They burn cleaner than ANY emission controlled USDM Market Engine. More highly refined fuel burns cleaner, think propane, natural gas.
High octane fuel evaporates WAY faster, and burns hotter, meaning more manufacturer money goes into a better cooling system. We should be forcing oil companies to refine better fuel, than force the middle class to "refine it for them" by using our daily driven cars, which we use to make a living.
The emission control systems on our vehicles do more HARM to your engine than good, and are there for a few, stupid reasons, Profit for the EPA, Profit for the Dealers, Aftermarket, and Planned Obsolesence.
NOT running an emission control system doesnt make you an enemy of the environment, it keeps ONE more car out of the scrapyard for much, much longer than your vehicles Manufacturer intended.
Want my advice? Make a block-off plate for your EGR Valve, suffer the check engine light, or find the appropriate resistor to cancel that amber coloured light of furstration and confusion.
Need an E-Test? Take the block off plate off once a year. If you have your injectors cleaned, wipe out your throttle body, hell, take the intake off and clean it out with degreaser and re-install. Drive it WIDE OPEN for at least 100 Kilometers and run HIGH Octane Fuel, it will CLEAN that engine RIGHT OUT!
Then when it DOES come time for an E-TEst, and you put your EGR Valve back on, you will be almost GUARANTEED TO PASS!! Run that stupid EGR Valve all year, and the day you need an inpsection, you're out hundreds of dollars! Why Run around all year wasting the life of your vehicle's Emission components, when Truly you only need it working for the day that you have that inspection?
My Sources for this info? I bought a JDM 3S-FE (does not contain emission controls AT ALL) and it runs 20 BHP faster than the Canadian 3S-FE, weighs less, and is easier to maintain. Even the SOUND of the engine is different.
You know that Clacking or Ticking Noise, that is common with 3S-FE's? GONE on the JDM 3S-FE. That noise is the ticking of Exhaust Valve NO 1 ticking open and closed, projecting the sound through the EGR Pathway up the intake side of the engine, and you're hearing that ticking noise via the open EGR Valve. Its no different than a stethescope being probed into that cylinder.
For some of you who may have changed an EGR Valve but STILL have a Check engine light and a failed test, the PIPE that goes from the EGR Pathway on the Head, UP to the EGR Valve must be removed, and cleaned out, (like the barrel of a rifle, it will be filled with crap, and you can easily ruin and clog a brand new EGR valve by neglecting the Carbon buildup in the pathway enroute to the EGR valve and intake manifold.)
the JDM 3S-FE also does not have a crank position sensor, you have to take the timing cover off the 3S-FE engine ft the crankcase sensor into it, as well as the fuel injectors from the USDM 3S-FE. The JDM ones are High impedance.
The way I learned about all these issues is that the JDM 3S-FE DOES have provisions or Castings for the EGR Pathway, but they are not drilled through the head, so I had to open that path, and upon completing it, and watching the EGR valve work on its newly opened path through the head of the 3S-FE I realized I could help others replace their aging Rav Engines with a BETTER, FASTER JDM one, by just these few tweaks.
I moved west and am lawfully allowed to own a 3S-GTE in this province so I abandoned my 3S-FE Research, HOWEVER, when I am COMPLETED my R&D into running a 4th Gen 3S-GTE off a Rav4 3s-FE ECU and ADAPTING OBD2 and the EGR Valve system to the 3S-GTE I'll let you know.
The kit I build may enable YOU, to have a 3S-GTE in your Emission restricted state or province. By way of simply introducing 1/4'ths of the exhaust gas from the 3S-GTE flow, I should be able to effect a working emissions control intended for the 3S-FE, onto the Caldina 3S-GTE.
Back to the lab.
3S-FE EGR Pathway ONE AND ONLY:
The 2nd last pic is the JDM 3S-FE showing the provisions are there to adapt the Emission system after drilling out this pathway.
In order to keep metal filings out of cylinder No1, while drilling out the JDM 3S-FE head to open the EGR Pathway I used a tampon, yes, a tampon. It worked!
