I took the 4-runner to a toyota shop and they said they would replace the valve cover gaskets that are leeking. And while they had that off they would adjust the Valves if they are not to bad. They would do all that for about $350, Is that resonable? I could probably do the Valve cover gaskets myself but I couldn't do anything to the valves(little out of my league). Should I do the gaskets my self and forget about the valves, or pay the pros to do it.

Thanks guys.

 

I dunno but supposedly the 3.0 valves are a bitch to adjust. I'm in your situation where that's out of my league though.

 

I just had my valves adjusted and a new valve cover gasket put in for $100 at a toyota specialist shop. I have the 22re so I'm sure they are a lot easier to adjust than the V6 from what the mechanic told me!!!

 

Do the valve cover gasget yourself. if your valves are in good shape leave um be.

 

both the valve cover gaskets & the valve adjusting are pretty straight forward procedures, what with the valve cover gasket job entailing no more than removing the old & replacing with new, with the exception being that you'll also have to acquire & replace the intake plenum gasket as you'll have to split or separate it in order to get to the valve cover on the passenger side.
whereas the valve adjustment requires a little more effort in that you have to take measurements w/a "feeler gauge" in a certain order of process & check them against a chart, replacing the "shims" as needed to bring everything back into tolerance.
now you could do the valve cover gaskets easily enough & even checking the clearances w/a gauge, but getting ahold of some shims & replacing them, then rechecking the tolerances & replacing again could be a bit more of a headache than you're willing to endure, but you would save yourself about $325 dollars doing it on your own.

-f-

 

In my opinion, adjusting the valve clearances are about as hard (maybe a tad harder) as changing the water pump in a 3.0. I would highly recommend buying the special pliers to do the adjustment (try snap-on). The other issue is the cost of the shims. Unless you have access to a precision grinder, you will likely have to buy some new shims, and they are expensive from the dealer. You will also need the service manual for r&r procedure and adjustment spec's.

I don't think $350 is completely unreasonable, but make sure you trust the shop and they know what they are doing regarding the valves. I would ask for details afterward of the valve clearances before and after, what shims were swapped and bought, etc.

 

Hey thanks for the Info I just cleaned out my garage and I think Ill start replacing the valves my next days off. Thanks for all the help, I'll let you know how it comes out. Seems fairly easy. I'' stay away from the Valves for now I can handle replacing the gaskets again down the road if the valves get too bad.

Duec66