PIMP MY RAV4.1!

[JJCRU23R]

The kit I installed.. i exchanged the $22 gasket from autobarn for some new front wipers and bought this at another local small spare parts business... this one came with the spark plug rings which the autobarn one didnt. $30.

30mm socket for the spark plug rings which hold down the "rocker cover" aka calve cover..

remove the spark plug boots to expose the 4 hex rings that hold down the valve cover. Directly underneith each ring is a gasket.

This piece of plastic with the 73 on it covers the wires that go over one side of the valve cover. needed to be removed.. just partially unscrew the bolts that hold it in place

[JJCRU23R]

Hex rings off... gaskets easily lift up with the help of a screwdriver

Nice to see just how dusty the cover was..

Before lifting off the cover I needed to also remove the bracket that holds the throttle cables just over the valve cover. didnt take a pic of that though..

Valve cover off and old gasket easily came off.. guess the oil that leaked through helped that out..

Surprised how easy it came off.. the surfaces that make contact with the gasket were rubbed down with a clean cloth moistened with degreaser to get all the gunk off and left to dry.

Had to clean the crud off the threads on the spark plug shafts too.. looked like old dried up oil.

After dabbing gasket paste into several key spots the cover which had been also cleaned and had the new gasket installed was returned to its original position.

Had to replace all the wiring and hoses I pulled out of the way. I heard a loud spark which I took no notice of until I started the car.

I turned the car on and to be honest I dont think the car sounded so good. However, I screwed up the very first step - I FORGOT TO TAKE THE NEGATIVE OFF THE BATTERY.

After turning the key, I noticed that the dash cluster, wipers, indicators and radio wouldn't turn on!

I checked every single fuse one at a time pulling them out and sticking them back on until I noticed ALT 100 in the fuse box had gone.

The alternator fuse! Also learnt the hard way that this particular fuse is held down by bolts and doesnt pull up easy like the rest of the fuses..

In order to access the bolts that hold it down I had to take out the airbox.. I also lost a bolt somewhere between the engine bay and the concrete. sucks.

My moment of completion was stuffed up and since its public holiday here, I realised the shops closed earlier than usual and buying a replacement fuse will have to wait until next business day >:(

[JJCRU23R]

Don't know why I can't edit my last post. I meant to say I don't think the engine ever sounded as well as it does now! Guess ultrAtunes engine carbon clean works really well. Doesn't sound like the old car I had before the service.

[JJCRU23R]

Just replaced the alternator fuse and put all the pieces back together again under the bonnet, all the indicators, radio and gauges lit up and test drove the rav FINALLY! There was a fair bit of white smoke initially after startup but none to be seen after the drive around the block. Temperature remained normal while engine was running, all seems back to normal!

Next on the list is radiator and then replace the drivers side control arm behind the tire..

[JJCRU23R]

After much consideration I looked at my last bit of $ and balanced out which should I work on next - broken lower control arm or slightly rusting but still very functional radiator.

I chose the lower control arm. The constant knocking isn't unbearable but very noticeable while driving. The radiator has been consistent up until now and I'll just flush it over the weekend if I get time to do so.

Here's a pic of the broken bit of the control arm on the front drivers side.

If you look where the brace connects to the control arm.. There was a tab that was welded onto the control arm that connected to the brace but has somehow broken off! Didn't notice it up until a few months ago so I musta hit a roundabout real hard to get that to break!

2nd hand control arm - $110 from franks auto wreckers in Smithfield. Not the cheapest but they knew they had the part just seconds after I made the phonecall so top knotch service there! I'd still much rather going pick n Payless but they ran out of rav4's to take parts from.

Looks like I need to take the tyre off and jack it up. I hate working under the car but its something I gotta do!

[JJCRU23R]

Interesting - another individual has asked if I wanna sell the car !

[JJCRU23R]

UPDATE! first weekend after returning to work and the better half told me to get onto the lower control arm after breakfast. I did try to do the job after work on Thursday but I wasn't certain I had a big enough tool for the job, however with a bit of backyard enginuity I came up with this:

First thing: move the car into the backyard for level ground, loosen the lugnuts, jack the rav 4 up and remove the front drivers tire.

Used a few jacks and supports to hold up the car just in case.. Plus a few rocks behind the rear tires helped keep the rav4 in place. Previously I tbew I had the right sockets but thought I'd need a power tool to move the pesky nuts n bolts holding the lower control arm up.

This is the whole reason why I had to get this done:

This joint connects to the sway bar and the control arm.

And here's the bit of the control arm that broke off.

New control arm waiting for installation.

Had to take off the new ball joint (on the right side of the above pic. It's connected to the control arm via 2 bolts & 1 nut)

This long bolt needed the socket wrench & the extra pole for added leverage.

In the pic below you can see where I put the socket. That was the wrong bolt. I instead took off Two other bolts either side of that part to take off the original control arm.

It took a lot longer to take the original control arm off than it did to put the new one on!

I did have both control arms sitting side by side and tried to take a pic but I overheated my iPhone by leaving it in sunlight a bit too long. Next pic I was able to take was the new control arm installed.

[JJCRU23R]

Took it for a test drive and a lot less knocking than before! To eliminate all knocks I'm guessing shocks and springs will need to be replaced. Will consider lowering both as I've been quoted upto $1500 for McPherson shocks and springs lowered and installed.

I'll have the radiator checked up after a couple months since although there is some rust, I can't see any sign of leakage or malfunction since my temperAture is always lower than 1/2 way up the gauge and I regularly check the radiator cap and there is always coolant. Spilling out of it. Will attempt to flush it out next weekend.

Engine shows no visible signs of oil leaking so the new gasket is doing its job!

[JJCRU23R]

Plus I'm definitely reaching around 310-330kms per tank since the ultratune service! Even though this was with a higher amount of highway driving than the usual drive to work, I wasn't getting 290kms per tank.

Fuel Economy ftw!

[JJCRU23R]

Getting more curious now.. What's the go with 3sfe's and mods like extractors, CAI and exhausts? As much as I wish for a newer car, I'm having fun working the engine bay!

Not planning on racing her down the street or anything but it obviously would be nice to improve the stock performance of this car.

Will probebly be passed down to my wife when I'm through with it but right now I'm not owing money on the car since I bought it cash.. Most of what needed fixing to get it back to decent running condition as far as the engine goes has been done.

[JJCRU23R]

K&N Apollo Cold Air intake! Nice colour too...hmm