easterly81

Does anyone out there know of any good valve adjustment write ups floating around. Is there any special tools need, I was looking at the ser manual and they suggest special tools, but they ussaly do. lol

a51young

Let me know what you find, I've found a few little things but not a complete write up yet. I've been thinking about doing this one day...

Gamefreakgc

I wasn't able to dig up much when I did mine. There's a few buildup threads that mention how they did theirs but after doing it, I would have done things differently to save time.

I will say, you will need the SST for the valve adjustment (I'm assuming you mean for a 3VZ-E, since the valve lash adjustment on a 22RE is very simple, just use youtube). You can cause considerable damage with trying to pry things apart with screwdrivers or other tools.

If you really, really, can't find anything, PM me or post here again. I can write up how I did mine but unfortunately, I have very little pics.

TravRich

If you have a 22r or re there is a couple very good YouTube videos, I can't speak for the 3vz myself though.

aviator

Never gone that far into an engine myself... don't know if we have any threads for the 3vze valve adjustment...

easterly81

Yes its the 3vze motor. I'm pulling the vavle covers to replace the cam plugs do to leaking. I change the cover gaskets a year ago but didn't do the cam plugs (lesson learned). And im gonna give "the right stuff" a shot this time.

Gamefreakgc thanks for the offer but i has just feeling it out. Im going to hopfully find the time tonight to measure the clearance. So hopefully I dont need to do it.

If i do have to do it, were is the best place to get the sst or equivalent. Just tring to be prepaired

Doing my timing belt water pump and repairs the engine wire harness while im in there.

scope103

This is the I've used, and you sure can't beat the price. I don't know how much damage you can do to the engine using screwdrivers, but if you don't use a tool like this you'll do a lot of damage to your forehead. Where you keep smacking yourself for not getting the right tool.

If you wanted to do Service on your truck, would you look on Youtube? Or would you look at the Factory Service Manual? It honestly amazes me when people ask around for writeups or Youtube videos when it's all right there. (page EG-2 18)

easterly81

Ok tonight i measured the clearances

tolerances: Intake .18-.28mm Exhaust .22-.32mm

here what i measured;
no2 ex=.23 no6 in=.22
no3 ex=.24 no1 in=.17
no4 ex=.22 no2 in=.22
no5 ex=.21 no3 in=.18
no6 ex=.19 no4 in=.19
no1 ex=.17 no5 in=.24

My question is are these far enough out of spec to do an adjustment?

Gamefreakgc

Yes, I would adjust them. Those measurements weren't as bad as mine, but then again you didn't have the issues I had . It's recommended every 90k miles and you've already done half the work by getting that far. They aren't going to get any better, only worse.

The trick with the valve clearances is that you can sometimes get away with just swapping them around instead of getting new ones. You're going to need the SST mentioned above (it's nigh impossible without it). In the reviews, look for a guy who posted photos of how he did it in a Camry (located here, scroll to page 30 to see photos of it in use), it will save you some time on how to position the wedge. You're going to want to use the thicker side of the wedge for this truck.

If you do need to get new shims, Toyota dealers are the only ones I could find that has the parts (about $12 a shim). You might get lucky and they still keep them in stock, but most have them as special order so you're going to need to wait 24 hours for them to come in (if you order by 3pm, at least that's how mine was). If you are really lucky, they will have them in stock and you can take just pick up the ones you need. FYI, the crush washers on the fuel rails were also a dealer part, DON'T reuse them unless you want fuel leaks.

I hope you're good with algebra, since the FSM calculates which one to buy with the following formula: N = T + (A – 0.23 mm). N = new shim, T = old shim, A = measured clearance. You're going to also need a digital caliper to measure the thickness. You'll notice the shims aren't always exactly .05 mm, but they are close so just round up or down.

A word of advice... once you have the valve spring depressed with the wedge holding it down... don't remove it unless you have to. Take out the shim, measure, put in new one, then remove the tool. I spent hours on mine (I had to replace a lot of shims) and it almost drove me crazy. I also drew a diagram of the valves on cardboard and attached them to it so I could remember which one was which. You're only got four, but they look identical and you don't want to have to take one back out after realizing you put the wrong one in.

EDIT: Also get a small pocket size magnetic retrieving tool. $4 and well worth your time. It makes getting the shims out much easier. To remove a shim (they don't just fall out), you'll need to first rotate the shim seat so that the notch faces out away from the engine. When you do get the valve spring depressed with just the wedge on the edge of the seat (if it's pressing on the shim, you can't get it out), place a small flathead screwdriver underneath and press hard to get it to pop out (The FSM pictures suck for this part, that's why I linked the other guy's photos). You can't hurt anything at this point. Then grab the shim and pull it out.