luddite20

Hi All-

I was just doing a valve adjustment on my 98 2wd Tacoma (2.4L). I had removed 4 shims on the exhaust side (cylinders 1,3), and had not put the shims back in when I turned the crankshaft 360 degrees to pull cylinders 2,4 shims. In doing this, the lobes on the camshaft of cylinder one broke through some of the metal on the valve lifter for both valves, since there was no shim to take the force of the lobe. Anyways, I know what shims I need, but is there anyway to replace the shim by removing the camshaft, WITHOUT PULLING THE HEAD?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Chad

luddite20

Anyone out there?!!!

Trents3.slow

Ya, we are here. I'm a little confused about your question. What took metal off of what? Do you have pictures ?

luddite20

Thanks Trent! Ok, so here's what happened, and we can really just focus on the front 2 exhaust shims. So I measured the clearence, and then pulled the shims to measure their thickness (I also did the same for the third cylinder back). Rather than replace the shims, I kept them out,and then rotated the crankshaft 360 to pull the remaining 4 exhaust shims. While I rotated the crankshaft, I felt some resistance and heard a slight crunch. When I came up to look at the valve train I saw that the lobes of the cams on cylinder 1's exhaust had punched through or chipped the side of the valve lifters, I guess because there was no shim present. The normal lifter looks like this right:


But after I turned over the crankshaft the first two looked like this:

In other words, it took out about the width of the metal of the lobe out of the lifter near where the square notch was. Seeing this, I pulled the metal shards and put the shims back in, and THEN pulled the remaining 4 shims and measured them and then put them back. I did drive it and it seems like the chipped lifters are holding the old shims ok. However, I didn't realize this could happen.

So my questions are, can you not rotate the crankshaft without the shims in? Or does the fact that it broke indicate something else wrong with those valves? And can the camshaft be removed to expose the lifters without removing the head?

Thanks!

Trents3.slow

Honestly, I shouldn't even be offering advise about this engine because I have very little knowledge about it, but I can't give you my 2cents.

I wouldn't drive it like that.
Rotating the cams/crank/pistons and valves should always be done with all parts installed and never against resistance.

What's done is done.

The cams can most likely be removed without taking the head off.

I suggest you go get a manual. Haynes makes a pretty good one.

luddite20

Thanks for your input Trent. I appreciate it. I actually have the toyota repair manual, and they only talk about removing the head to do a full valve job. I was just curious if I could undo the camshaft bolts, remove the camshaft, then slip in two new lifts. Hopefully someone else with knowledge of this engine can confirm or deny.

again, thanks man.

luddite20

Looks like you can indeed. Found this:http://workshop-manuals.com/toyota/t...val/page_1013/

The key is to mate the sub gear to the main gear with the service bolt. I'll give er a try!

Trents3.slow

Your welcome. When you get around to removing those cams be sure to pay close attention to removal and installation procedures. There is a right and wrong way to loosening and installing. I hope I goes well for you!

Dirt Driver

Make sure the cam didn't get damaged when it took a bite out of the buckets.