Dan_P

ok i have searched the site and checked the haynes i cant find anything that would help me check my valves. so i d/led the FSM and its helpful but my question is this.

with the cam lobes pointing strait up do i slide the .013 EX or .011 IN feeler gage in? which i did and there is a little drag felt or do i slide the biggest feeler gauge i can fit under the cam and subtract that from the thickness of the shim to come up with .013 EX or .011 IN?

Thankyou for any help

Dan_P

Ok this is the drivers side head with the biggest feeler gauge i could fit with out having to shove like a s.o.b

#2 cylinder EX .013 IN .012 #4 cylinder EX .011 IN .024 #6 cylinder EX .014 IN .014

Dan_P

Ok Passanger Head #1 Cylinder EX .010 IN .013 #3 cylinder EX .011 IN .015 #5 cylinder EX .011 IN .014

Dan_P

These are the shims off the old heads i'm hoping i can swap between the ones on the heads now and also if i have to use some of these so i dont have to pay $9 apiece and then drive 60+ miles to my Toyota dealer. shim sizes from old head are 1 @ 0.105 3 @ 0.106 3 @ 0.107 1 @ 0.108 1 @ 0.109 3 @ 0.110

Lumpy

Ya you might have to dance them around a bit but you are going at it correctly. Take the old one out and figure what you need to make them right and pop the others in to get it closer...

Much more of a pain than the 22r's but you'll get it closer at least.

nobrainsd

Be methodical about it. Measure the current gap on each valve and make a chart. Then pull all of the shims from the valves that need to be adjusted. Measure them carefully with a micrometer. Enter those numbers on your chart. Then you can figure out what the actual unshimmed gap is and what size shim you need to get the right gap. You have already measured the shims so it easy to sort them into different positions and see what is the best use of your existing shims. If you need to buy shims some Toyota dealers will pull them from their shop kit, but not mine! They were expensive, a special order and the wrong parts came in the properly numbered parts bag. Check out the following link for inexpensive shims and better customer service.
http://www.cylinderheadsupply.com/index.html

Dan_P

ok thankyou all for your help! heres another question i pull both cams back off and now im replacing the ones that need shimmed #6 EX has a 0.110 shim in it and its 0.014 so if i put a 0.109 shim in it i should be at .013 right in the high end of the specs right?
now on the #6 EX should i try and go alittle lower like .011 to allow for streching since it see's so much heat?

Lumpy

but I think you'll do fine with the .109 it's closer than the .110 right...

Dan_P

see i dont understand the doing it warm part because there is alot of stuff on top of the 3.0 that has to come off before you can get to the shims and it cools down right? im sure some of you can tear it all off in 10 to 15 mins but i like to take my time.

OutlawMike

No, for the 3VZE you do not do it warm, you do it cold. There is no possible way of doing this warm on the 3VZE, so, all of the specs are for a cold motor.

Maybe some NASCAR dudes could tear that plenum off there, rip off the valve covers, and check the clearances in 5 minutes flat, but, for the rest of us, it is all done cold.

Fun stuff, well, not really.

My buddy as a 3.4, we did his recently, twice as many shims. Grrrrrr..

betelnut

22R, warm.

3VZE, cold, per the FSM.

Lumpy

Ok, Ok, I made an oops...I fixed all better now.

nobrainsd

Maybe someone can comment on the need to leave a little extra room to accommodate valve wear. I set all of my valves close to the minimum FSM specs. Really quieted down my 3vze. I will be checking the valves again before too long, so I'm not too worried about it, but should I avoid the minimum setting for any real reason? If it is within spec that seems good to me.

betelnut

It's better to set it toward the middle. My truck was probably last checked 70k miles ago, and the clearances were mostly in the middle, so in my case wear wasn't an issue.

But wear doesn't always make the gap widen. Someone around here recently found that his valves & seats were wearing, causing the clearances to narrow.