[megahiper]

Just bought RAV4L - wonderful car...
But unfortunately it is from USA... so the whole things in the car is not in kilometters but miles, and of course the original Toyota radio and separate (lower) Toyota CD Player is tuning the radio in USA frequencies... so i'm wondering is there a way to tune into european rado stations? And maybe even to change odometter from miles to kilometers?
please advice... and thanx in advance!
p.s. Rav4L, 1999, 2.0, Automatic

 

[megahiper]

huh....
i guess im out of luck
but im still takeing my hope...

 

[Ryo]

You might have to change the stock head unit with an aftermarket one; the frequencies might be different for video (NTSC and PAL), but for the radio, there might not really be any difference. In any other case, it's not that hard to swap out the head unit.

I might still have my diagrams from Crutchfield that show how to change it out. Lemme know if you want it.

As it goes for the gauges, that might be a tough one. The conversion in Km should be on the inner part of the speedometer, although you'll have to squint a bit or have decent vision to see it.

Option 2 would be to check online or the local auto shops to see if gauges in Km is available.

Option 3, salvage yard.

That's just my guess though. Someone else may have a better plan than this.

 

[megahiper]

You might have to change the stock head unit with an aftermarket one; the frequencies might be different for video (NTSC and PAL), but for the radio, there might not really be any difference. In any other case, it's not that hard to swap out the head unit.

in fact im really satisfied with original toyota radio unit... except that one thing that it has US stepping in frequencies... ie its is not tuning like 100.1... 100.2... 100.3... 100.4, but like this: 100.1... 100.3... 100.5 - so its not possible tu tune into 100.2 station ... dammit...

I might still have my diagrams from Crutchfield that show how to change it out. Lemme know if you want it.

Please - if its not too hard for ya - send them (those who are related to toyota or rav4) to my email: megahiper%inbox.lv (replace % with @)

As it goes for the gauges, that might be a tough one. The conversion in Km should be on the inner part of the speedometer, although you'll have to squint a bit or have decent vision to see it.
Option 2 would be to check online or the local auto shops to see if gauges in Km is available.
Option 3, salvage yard.

yeah... thanx for ideas...first option ive tried already... and its too hard... ... so i will try the option 2 and 3... luckily local toyota dealer responded to my email... so maybe im lucky... but ofcourse it will be expensive...

thanx again...

 

[megahiper]

... just created a galery (album)... maybe it will help...
there are some pics of RAV4L and also some of my radio unit which was taken when i was looking for some sort of "frequency switch"

 

[ag0w]

You are really going the reverse of the norm here - there is plenty of gear to convert from Japanese to UK (km/h to mph) because of the import market of old cars from Japan.

The speedo....

Easiest is to get a second hand km/h odometer from a breakers yard and swap it onto your car - in the UK this would cost you about $50 - if you do this be sure to unscrew the actual odometer from the cluster (3 screws on the back if I remember right on the back) as there can be subtle differences between cars on the cluster. - Electrically though everyhing else is the same - Ie - you don't need a different speed sensor.

Radio.

You are on to a looser here - US have a different range but also tune in at 500MHz step difference. so you cannot get it to lock on the frequency. - If the radio is standard equipment you can buy another make of simlair quality for $100 - if it's something fancy - it's a bit of a shame --- maybe worth selling to some-one in the US on e-bay

 

[Tanya]

..well as for the radio I could not get the radio station I wanted
because it was all Japanese frequency which only went up to 90 Mhz
and here in NZ it goes over 100 Mhz so a friend of mine put
a 'FM Radio Freq Converter' on it and now its all good!
I dont think they cost that much at all $40.00 odd dollars.

So I hope that gives you some help.

 

[ag0w]

..well as for the radio I could not get the radio station I wanted
because it was all Japanese frequency which only went up to 90 Mhz
and here in NZ it goes over 100 Mhz so a friend of mine put
a 'FM Radio Freq Converter' on it and now its all good!
I dont think they cost that much at all $40.00 odd dollars.

So I hope that gives you some help.

It shifts the whole tuning range - it won't help with the fact US radio's lock in 500MHz askew frequencies

 

[megahiper]

It shifts the whole tuning range - it won't help with the fact US radio's lock in 500MHz askew frequencies

I think so too... it is not a solution for my problem... but thanks for trying!!! At this time all i figured is that i have to get an european version of the same radio unit... like in ebay or some other junk-yard... but no luck yet...