spike_strip

I have recently joined the club, and am now paying for some repairs. My 1991 4runner (6 cylinder) sounds like a diesel (but is not), and needs to have the valves adjusted. I have asked the local mechanic and he has stated he is not interested and I should take it to Toyota. I have gotten a quote of $750 (US dollars not pesos) for the repair and I need to have it there the knight before. I live in Leadville and will come to Denver, which might require an evening spent sleeping under a bridge.


None of this is sounding like fun...


Can anyone hear give me a better idea of where I can get this repair done?


Or any feed back regarding the seriousness of the repair and where it should be place on my to-do-list.


Thanks in advance.

fdp101452

How many miles since they have been looked at? Quite a ways from Leadville to Denver. Is there a dealer closer? I would look at repaceing the timing belt, idlers, and water pump if I were adjusting the valves. Just as well get the thermastat and flush it while you are at it.

spike_strip

Great advice...I did not receive any repair history with the vehicle; therefore, I have to assume the valves have never been checked.


The truck has 130k miles and runs well.


I am not aware of a closer dealership...but I will check before I drive to DEN.



~Corbin

PlugItIn

i hear its a job...but someone closer should be able to do it...and you can do it yourself if you feel up to it...

pb4ugotobed

I would definitely recommend taking it to a dealership for a job like that. While there may be some good mechanics at independant shops, after numerous v06 campaigns you can trust that the poor schmuck at the dealership that gets the ticket for your truck has probably done this once or twice Besides, any independant shop is probably going to have to source the shims from the dealership anyways. Believe me, this is by no means a fun job, and the 3vz is notorious for needing valve lash adjustments. It is extremely tedious and time consuming... Just shimming the valves too me a solid 3 hours or so doing all the math, finding the right shims, etc. That doesn't even include the work to get to this point, or put it back together.

And I agree with the guy above, while they're in there, you may as well have them replace the timing belt and water pump if it hasn't been done already. The T-Belt has to come off to get the cams out anyways, so you'd only be out a little bit of labor, and $75 for a belt for a new timing belt. You'll also want to replace the Cam seals and crank seal, valve cover gaskets. I'd personally also recommend replacing the valve guide seals while they're in there. They're right there anyways, and you may as well save yourself the money in the long run. It would be considerably cheaper to do it all at once than it would be to have someone go back in 6 months or a year down the road.

just my .02

spike_strip

So far we are up to:

• idlers
• water pump
• timing belt
• thermostat and flush it
• Cam seals
• crank seal
• valve cover gaskets
• valve guide seals
• valve adjust

This sound like a huge job that will really set me back but make much sense to do it all at the same time. I will get a quote and post me findings hear.


Thanks for the advise much appreciated!

pb4ugotobed

Well most of that stuff... Valve cover gaskets, cam seals, (make sure they reseal the cam caps on the back of the heads with fipg), timing belt, all the labor should overlap, so replacing all that stuff shouldn't cost much more for labor, if any add'l labor charge at all. All that stuff has to come off to get the heads in a position to be able to adjust valve lash anyways (you can leave the bottom half of the t-belt on still, so there may be a little additional to pull the lower timing cover off and replace the belt completely, but the crank seal is right there so I wouldn't think it would be more than an hour additional for the pair). It is a little extra work to change out the water pump, but not that big of a deal. The Valve guide seals you are 'supposed' to pull the head off to do them, though nobody really does. It really shouldn't be more than 2 or 3 additional hours labor to replace the valve seals. You really aren't getting into it for that much more than you initially intended. If you plan on keeping the truck for a good while, then I'd say it's worth it. If you aren't sure, or don't plan on keeping it for that long then I'd reconsider putting that kind of money into a truck that's almost 20 years old. I did all of the stuff we're talking about to my truck and way more, But it cost me very, very little to do it all. One of the guys at work had an extra V06 (headgasket recall kit) in his toolbox, so that gave me pretty much all the seals, gaskets, knock sensor pigtail, etc for free. I had to put a couple bucks into a part here or there, but I did all of the work myself which saved me a ton of cash. Retail price on the gasket kit that gives you new headgaskets, and every gasket, seal, crush washer, and o ring in the upper half of the motor is about $300 (including valve guide seals). That really isn't that bad. The expensive part is going to be the labor. To do all of that, I'd probably say about 20 hours on the high side of estimation. Shouldn't be any more than that. That would be taking care of pretty much anything you could have had coming at you that's a pain to replace. Once all that stuff is taken care of, the rest is easy But again, before I went dropping a grand into a truck that old, I'd make sure it's something you plan on keeping for a while. Otherwise you're better off just driving it til it breaks


On the flip side, for a little more money you could to a 5vz swap. After all, even after you get it running perfectly, a 3 liter is still a 3 liter. just something to consider

spike_strip

Well all this sounds great and I wish the dealer would have been in-line with your views. They said none of the TB repairs overlap.

I asked this directly and he said this is not the case[?]

So, it would be an additional $1000 to do the TB, water pump, cam seals etc.

And $750 for the valve adjust...

fdp101452

Like the guy above said, most of this stuff does overlap. I would hunt for another dealer. I understand they are there to make money, but they shouldnt need to retire on the proceeds from your truck. And, like he said, if you arent going to drive this thing forever, I would think twice before spending this much on this truck. I also did all the above to my truck about a year ago, but its a pretty slick ride and Ill drive it till the wheels fall off.....regards.......Rick

Keith B.

Is Grand Junction as close as Denver?...there was a dealer in Junction a few years ago...probably still there. Smaller city dealers usually have better, more honest service, probably because they know they're going to meet up with the customer again.

Kiroshu

yea um.... if you lived hearing nc i might do it for a price........ but yea the valves in the 3vze are adjusted using shims. it a tough and time consuming job. it may be hard to get someone to do it other than the dealer. if you buy the shim kit your self and give it to toyota it may knock down the price for labor. but its not fun the shims are so hard to get out unless you have the special tool for it which only toyota has unless you buy it online. you said it sounds like a diesel yes? well is it low on oil? put a thicker weight oil in it may help too.

wii_tarded

can you check and adjust the valves if you just have the heads? dumb quest. I know, but I have a set of 3.0 heads I need checked out. How far are you from the TN/NC border?

spike_strip

Yes, I believe this to be the case; I am not saying that they do not overlap. I am only repeating what the dealer stated. I think I will get a different quote from another dealer.

I like the truck and want to put money into it and keep it. I am a first year college student and need some transportation that is reliable and can handle the daily driving.

pb4ugotobed

Well, I am a tech at a dealership. You have to take the cams out to get to the valve shims. In order to take the cams out, you have to take the timing belt off, the cam pulley off, and take the cam seals out. Then you remove all of the cam caps and they come right out.

I wouldn't say adjusting the shims is difficult, but it is extremely tedious and time consuming. You don't need any special tools, a magnet pulls the bucket off the spring/valve assy, a pick tool pulls the shim off the top of the bucket, and a set of feeler gauges tell you what your current clearance is. the specifications are on a sticker under your hood.

I also wouldn't bother trying to buy a 'shim kit' if such a thing exists. The different thickness shims are ordered individually, in .001 or .002" steps. And going into the job you really can't plan for which ones you think you 'might' need.

You may be able to find someone outselde of a dealer that 'could' do the job, however a dealer, or toyota specialized repair shop would be your best bet. Someone that is familiar with the 3vz engine, experienced with the 3 liter, and has access to all the necessary parts (shims, seals, etc). A job like this, personally I would just take to the dealer. If it were just a t-belt job or something, then there's some very good qualified people there not at a dealership that could do it for considerably less. but when it comes to the internals, then I'd go where the experience is It would be easy to mess this up, and doing so could lead to major problems.

There's no reason they should tell you the jobs don't overlap though. You have to take most of that stuff off anyways... Like I said I could see an extra hour or two labor to add the tbelt, crank seal, and water pump because you don't HAVE to take the tbelt completely off to do the job. But with where you're at, there are only a couple steps extra to do the extra work.

Get on top of them, They should be able to work with you. Just tell them you REALLY want to do the job, but can't come off that much money. I'd tell them you are a poor college student and only have $1200 and see what they say.