I'm Lost, 3s-GTE legal or not? Options

[Chrobis]

I keep getting contradicting info. One site says the engine will not meet smog, and yet people have swapped the engine into US Celica's. I Live in California where all the regulations are the strictest, is it legal to swap in the 3s-gte or not?

[Benevolence]

No, not legal in california unless you have illegal connections.

[Chrobis]

Is it legal in other states, and by illegal connections you mean someone to pass it for smog?

[Supersprynt]

Its legal to swap a US-Spec 3sgte, and its not illegal to do the swap with a JDM engine - the illegal part is the fact that JDM engines do not have the EGR, which cuts down visual smog emissions. JDM engines actually run cleaner, however more can be seen out the tail pipe. You can add this but its a pain in the ass to do, and it'll cause you to lose about 25hp.

[Chrobis]

5s-fe with 130 hp or 3s-gte with 250 - the 25... hmmm hard choice

[Benevolence]

In california I hear its nothing but a pain in the ass since for one the engine you get needs to be newer than the vehicle you own (or from the same year), so finding an American 3sgte for your 6th gen just wont happen, then getting a Japanese one, you have to install the smog equipment and even then Im not sure if they would still pass you.

[Supersprynt]

QUOTE (Chrobis @ Apr 21, 2003 - 2:01 PM)

5s-fe with 130 hp or 3s-gte with 250 - the 25... hmmm hard choice

5sfe - 135 yes, 3sgte - US-Spec, 2nd Gen- 200hp; J-Spec 2nd Gen - 225hp.
3rd Gen doesnt come in US-Spec and its 255hp. Good luck getting that because as we have discussed many times before, its expensive, and you cannot get parts on the US for it. 2nd Gen you can (MR2 Turbo, Celica All-Trac). If your in CA and you dont want that much hassle and dont have to worry about it - get a USDM 3sgte out of a 93 All-Trac, and modify it. It will give you plenty of power to make you happy.

[Chrobis]

is it possible to make the 3rd gen 3s-gte smog legal or not? I also heard that it would take some work making a 2nd gen smog legal also... What I heard is that an EGR would be really hard to add because the engine would need recasting in certain areas, and a 2nd gen would be smog legal but only for 93 smog specs, not 97 like my car is... The guy I talked to about all this said that in his 74 toyota the engine head was cracked or something and he went to a junkyard and got a 73 head, but 74 was the first year an egr was added... therefore he had nowhere to put the egr plugs. He said he just put some holes or something and made it look like the egr was made to fit. Would this be possible with a 3rd gen?

This post has been edited by Chrobis: Apr 23, 2003 - 7:18 PM

[zigy]

dude you are always going to have problems... but $50 bill in the pocket should take care of it...


I have a 95 JDM B16A engine (170hp versus 160hp here).... and I can't pass for ****....

.....but $50 bill took care of it.....

[Chrobis]

yeh but this is California, or anal town USA... I also heard if you get caught its not a slap on the wrist, its a very large fine... thousands! Can the third gen be made legal, eg. can the egr be added?

[Guest_Matthew_*]

no it can not well unless you have connections


i would suggest getting the 2nd gen because it was released here in the states.

[Benevolence]

QUOTE (igotta5S-FEturbo @ Apr 23, 2003 - 11:23 PM)

no it can not well unless you have connections i would suggest getting the 2nd gen because it was released here in the states.

that won't be any better in CA since you can't have a engine from an older car in your car.

[Guest_Matthew_*]

oh yea

well sorry.

umm... Chrobis i would say to go to your local smog pass place thingy. I don't know if that is the DOT or w/e.

[XE_Nathaniel]

heres teh CARB Law.../

"Cars may swap engines if it is of same year or above and meets smog blah blah blah"

Which means 94-96 Celicas can 97+ cant (the MR2 turbo was only produced up to 96 in U.S.)

-Nate

[Guest_Matthew_*]

yo nate



the 3s-gte has been produced up till 1998...in 99 is when the 7th gens came out in japan.

it was in the gt-4's...ya know the st205's

i know what you mean. the us 3s-gtes were only here till 96.

[Coomer]

QUOTE (GT2GT4 @ Apr 25, 2003 - 11:36 PM)

yo nate the 3s-gte has been produced up till 1998...in 99 is when the 7th gens came out in japan. it was in the gt-4's...ya know the st205's i know what you mean. the us 3s-gtes were only here till 96.

Actually, there is such a thing as a '99 third generation 3S-GTE. In some European countries, the GT-Four was produced in 1999.

Also, there is a fourth generation 3S-GTE used in the Toyota Caldina that puts out 254 horsepower at 6200 rpm, which is actually more than a JDM third generation 3S-GTE. A JDM 3S-GTE puts out 255 PS at 6000 rpm, which is actually 251 horsepower. To convert PS to horsepower, you need to multiply by .98629.

[Guest_Matthew_*]

oh yea

i always forget about the dang caldina.

sorry

[Chrobis]

So is it feasible for me to do this or not. The law I think doesnt say you have to swap a same or newer engine, it just says the engine has to meet the smog specs of your year model. meaning a 93 all-trac probably wouldnt. I live in LA so I'm pretty sure bribing some one in the ghetto wouldnt be imposible... or I could just get an EGR and mickey mouse it onto the engine (doubt that would work...)

edit: idealy a 3rd gen would be awsome, and smog only comes around every two years, I'll just keep the 5s-fe engine around and just drop it back in for every smog.... :-/ (yes that was a joke)

I guess I should just learn to love the 5s-fe....

This post has been edited by Chrobis: Apr 26, 2003 - 3:50 PM

[Guest_Matthew_*]

you can do the 2nd gen

its less expensive and has pretty much the same power potential and it was released inside the u.s. so you can use it.

[Inferno]

What about this? I heard that if the engine wasn't an option on that chassis, then it's illegal. Just another thought to think about. I don't know if it's true, but I heard it somewhere on these boards.