Transaxle Comparisons
Below are a couple pictures of the E53 & E250F Transaxles.
You can see from the last image with the E53 on left that the centre section of the gearbox is 40mm longer than the Rav's E250F trans. Fortunately the bolt holes for all of the mounting points are in exactly the same location from the clutch end (left on last picture), so that all mounts will bolt on & fit up to the Rav perfectly. This means that the E53 gearbox will be 40mm longer, so may have to modify the cover in the wheel well for this which is no big deal. You'll also notice the black 5th gear cover at the right end is pressed steel plate on the E250 while the E53 has cast aluminium which is a lot thicker.
Transfer Box
Left to right; E53 Cover plate, E53 Cover plate removed, E250F Transfer box removed,
The E250F has 2 additional Studs for the Transfer box which might be able to be removed & installed on the E53 Trans.
Dissasembling 5th Gear
You can see the difference in gear size between 5th gears. Left is E53, right E250F. The 5th gears are interchangeable between gearboxes because they are the same height, spline etc... so if I so desired I'd be able to have the 0.775:1 5th instead of 0.82:1, but would loose the strength of having a stronger gear. There is the possibility of putting the 0.731:1 5th gear from the E153, however that paired with a final drive ratio of 3.625:1 would mean I'd be sitting on 2100rpm at 110kph, which is a little low, even for such a big engine in the rav. I'm keeping the 0.82 gearing in the E53.
Posted by ST: 10th May 2013
Great Build!
ReplyDeleteDid you notice a difference in weight between both trans?
and were you able to keep the speed sensor and diff lock using E53?
Probably an extra 5kg (12lb) weight. Diff lock collar inside the transfer case is there as well as the actuating arm, but there is no room for the vaccum diaphragm. Currently i have a rod connected to the actuating arm to keep it unlocked and havent needed to lock it yet and ive done a fair bit of 4wd'ing.
DeleteMy intention is to run a cable with an overcentre lever in the cab to lock/unlock the diff, and connect a heavy spring opposing the cable connected to the actuating arm. That way the spring will keep the diff unlocked, and pulling against the spring will engage the lock.
That makes sense. Good idea! Perhaps there is a way to pair a different size vaccum diaphram or even an electronic one. Would be nice to keep the dash switch.
DeleteDid you install a LSD to your tranaxle setup? If so, which LSD did you uses? Cusco?
ReplyDeleteNo didn't install an LSD. The rear diff & front transfer case would need to be upgraded - probably from Celica GT4 - and forced induction before you'd need an LSD on any AWD. There's just not enough power to get any wheel slip on bitumen. even on dirt you only get the front wheels spinning if you're really trying to. If it were just front wheel drive then it might be worth it.
DeleteMy RAV4 is FWD, 5 Speed E250 Tran-axle, 4 door. 3SFE engine which I'm installing a turbo kit with Microsquirt. But I need the LSD. I use it for Rallies and Solo 1. Any advice or parts I will need to reach this objective will be appreciated.
DeleteSorry no idea on LSD's. the AWD LSD's will be completely different to the FWD though. I wouldn't recommend turbo on 3SFE though as it's not strong enough for constant boost and high revs. these engines are not good for anything over 4000rpm application as the heads don't breathe and crank/conrods/pistons are too weak. also compression is too high. Suggest you'd be better off just buying a grey import 3S-GTE. They are an easy install and you won't spend the earth trying to tune it using a factory ECU. I like the idea of a megasquirt system, but you really need a dyno to properly tune which costs big bucks!
ReplyDeleteNice job and very detailed explanation! Thank you! I also have a Rav's E250F trans which I bought to improve the performance of my Celica ST202 (3S-GE with S54 trans). At first point I though that the S54 and E250F were interchangeable as they belong to 3S family engines (after removing the transfer, installing the cover plate and using a RAV4 shafts because of the different splines of the differential) but the more I read the more I doubt if thats true. Even if thats all I need, the parts are hard to find so I would like to know if the internal gears are interchangeable between these gearboxes. In this case I would keep the S54 case, diff and 5th gear but with the 1st to 4th gear of the E250F. From your experience I think that this would be possible between E56 (Celica with LSD) and the E250F but unfortunately it's not my car... Thank you so much for your attention and carry on!
ReplyDeleteHi Sergio, No I doubt the internal gears would be interchangeable. As you can see the difference in gear width and gearbox length between the E250F and the E53 transmissions meant that all the shafts, gears, selectors etc... were fairly different and not interchangeable. The only thing that was is the differential, but not the ring gear as that matches up with the gearbox.
DeleteReally sad to hear that. I had hope that at least the gears could be interchangeable having the same width but even with that maybe the internal walls of the S54 don't allow bigger gears. In fact S54 and E250F are externally different with a naked eye, even the 5th gear cover... I will continue investigating but it does not look good. Thank you for your fast answer!
DeleteI'm not so sure I understand why this works. So you have the camry gearbox, rav4 front diff with camry ring gear, and rav4 centre diff (which isn't actually a diff)
ReplyDeleteWould the ratios not be different now between the front and rear differential causing driveline issues?
Having read through all of this for maybe a 9th time I think I've worked it out, rav4 front diff with camry ring gear, and magical internal centre diff, which takes the ratio off the ring gear first, so you've actually changed the final drive of the transfer case, not the front or rear diff, meaning they still match. I think.. Haha
DeleteCorrect, drive goes from engine to primary gear shaft > secondary gear shaft > ring gear on centre diff, then equal drive goes to front diff (contained within centre diff) and rear diff. Yes the older models up to MY2000 had proper gear type centre diff that works the same as a normal diff (same as subaru AWD). Later centre diffs are the clutch type slip diff which i believe is really just a wet clutch in place of the centre diff which is able to almost lock but allow some slip and only engages when slip between front and rear wheels is detected. Basically any diff that has a "centre diff lock" function is a normal gear type diff.
DeleteIt's incredible that you're still replying to comments for this build. Do you still have the car? I'm planning on beginning my own 1mz with e153 swap - 1998 awd 2dr - you mentioned you're in Adelaide, I'm just up in Mount Barker if you're still around
DeleteStill have the Rav, shoot me an email.
ReplyDeleteCould the e153 sw20 pinion be matched with e250f differential ring gear (4.3+4.9).?..I’m looking for e250f ring and pinion 4.9 ratio and install in e153 box
ReplyDelete