Hey, I have some questions about my upcoming valve lash project. want to make sure I have the best parts, cheapest parts and tools, and everything needed.

I have watched Timmy the Toolmans video Toyota 3RZ-FE Valve Adjustment - YouTube
excellent video. side note, Timmy the Toolman is the only youtuber I have subscribed to, ever. ha!

I plan on pulling the cam pucks and reseating with fipg since I need to use some on the top of them anyways.

parts list:
fipg
valve cover gasket, this one? More Information for MAHLE / CLEVITE VS50272
valve pliers for Toyota Engine Adjustment Free Car Valve Adjusting Pliers Tool Adjuster Set | eBay

DO I NEED ANYTHING ELSE? (besides the shims which I wont know what size till after) ANYTHING BETTER OR CHEAPER??


Ive read on this forum that:
Intake valve clearances shrink over time due to deposits
Exhaust valve clearances expand over time

Is this true and do you set your clearance's to the far side to allow shrink/expansion?

Anything else I should know?
Thanks!!

Hey, the valve clearances seem to always tighten. I believe this is because the valve seats wear, so the valve starts to sit higher and higher up into the head and therefore closer to the cam lobes.

I've kept track of my valve clearances from 225k to now, 300k. The intake valves clearances are pretty stable. I've only had to touch 3 of 8 of them ever. The exhaust valves seem to tighten by about 1-2 thou per 60k miles. I've had to adjust all 8 exhaust valves, and one that was adjusted at 225k had to be done again at 300k (it had drifted from 12 thou to 10 thou).

With this in mind I'd shoot for the high side of center with respect to target clearances.

BTW, from what I know the 3RZ and 5VZ shims are the same...

They are the same from 2RZ/3RZ to 5VZ. As your local dealership if they have a 'shim bucket' as almost every Toyota ever made uses the same shim size, 28mm. They are some exceptions but you get the idea. Saves from having to special order them.

I don't have any experience doing a valve adjustment on a 3RZ but error towards the opposite end of the correction you are trying to make. What I mean by that is if the clearances are too tight (small) and if you have the choice between two shims, go with the one that makes it more open to give yourself more usable life out of the shim. DO NOT GO OUT OF SPEC in order to drop another size.

I also suggest doing the whole thing in mm and not in. The new shims will be stamped with the thickness in mm so it makes it so much easier. In fact, some of your intake shims should still have some of the stamp on them from the factory so you know exactly what is coming out. Still measure them though as they tend to wear down over time and not be exactly at 0.05mm increments. You might pull one out that is, say, 2.83mm thick when it used to be 2.85mm when new.

Thanks for subscribing to my channel. Good luck with the Valve Adjustment.

The ship tool will take some practice, and you’ll need to use it for the intake shims.

The exhaust cam can be removed to change the shims. However, if you chose to remove the exhaust cam make sure you put one of the valve cover bolts in the service hole of the cam gear, and line up the correct dots on the cam gears before removing to ensure there isn’t any spring tension on the cam lobes.




How I keep track of my work




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Thanks for all the info!

I will go for the: "if you have the choice between two shims, go with the one that makes it more open"

any better tool or gasket options? cheaper? if you were to order shims online, where?

On the few I've done the valve clearance increased, as state "The intake valves clearances are pretty stable", the exhaust valves all have had increased gaps.

I know that 3.0L has issues with burning exhaust valves from decreased/tightening of the space on said valve

EDIT: Looked back at the notes from my last 3.4L that I DD (making sure I wasn't recall wrg), after @Pyral reply, the exhaust were out of spec with to much space. The engine had 245k ish possibly someone else adj them before I got my hands on it but I doubt it based in the vehicles/engines condition (to say they last owner wasn't spending $ they didn't have to) but who knows for sure. Other then looking at the Cams I didn't spec the out, they looked good, never had a worn out Cam on a 3.4L in the 250k range.

I've done mine twice so far. The valves always tighten as the seats get worn, I have had mine loosen but that was from cam wear which is bad.

A very important note is if you have multiple shims on one cam that need to be measured, you must put them back in before rotating the cam. Otherwise the lobes of the cam bind on the empty shim buckets, and can actually break the shim bucket and potentially damage the cam itself. I even tried pushing them down with the tool as I rotated my cam and it still happened.

If you have multiple shims under the exhaust cam that need to be replaced, it is easier to pull that cam since it doesn't have a chain like the intake. A few notes about removing camshafts:

1. Remove the caps in an X shape working from inside out to balance the clamping force on the cam shaft, it is not a flexible piece of metal. Make sure a valve cover bolt has been threaded through the scissor gear before removing. Have the engine at TDC too.

2. This also applies to reinstallation, tighten it down using the correct order (reverse order of removal I believe). I worked my way up to the torque spec.

3. The cam caps have labels with arrows pointing forward, they must be put back in the same orientation and location.

4. Another note about these camshaft caps, despite their mundane appearance each cam cap is the only one in existence that can work in its place. If you break one, your head is now junk because you can't swap that part off another engine. So treat them with care.

5. If you do want to remove the cam, another required tool is a torque wrench. They don't require much torque, so get a 1/4 inch torque wrench is what you need

Other helpful tool was a telescoping magnet on a stick to pick the shims up, and some flathead screw drivers. A micrometer is required.

You don't have much of a choice between being a little too loose unless you want to sand down shims. The way the shims are is if one shim gets you barely within the spec then the next shim will over correct.

I wish I had pulled the exhaust cam, would have been a lot easier. The rear ones are a PITA.

This kawasaki shim tool came in handy for the #4 valves because the tool you linked to didn't fit under the hood.

Here is the worksheet I used.

Be prepared to curse a lot.

does this kawasaki tool work as well as the other tool for the other locations? or should I get both?

I do have a torque wrench, 1/4 and 1/2 drives. also have a micrometer. thanks for including those in the required tool question. I am hesitant on pulling the cam. I like to swear? ha

what do you guys think about sanding down shims?

No don't buy both. You can make the tool into the Kawasaki tool by disassembling it and using the hook shaped side as a pry tool.

It is much better for getting at the rear shims, that's how I did it.



I think sanding the shims would be a lot of work for little benefit. I'd worry about getting a consistent thickness. If you have a mill, that would be the tool to use. They probably sell after market shims with more thicknesses.

Keep in mind that since you know the shim thickness now, you wont have to remove it to measure it next time it needs replacing. The first service will be the worst, and it get easier as you know the engine.

I would not order them online as you do not know what you need until you have removed it. It is so much simpler to just go down to a place, buy shims, and return to complete. You still have to measure them again after reassembly and I've had a few surprises over all the times I've done it, must have wrote down a calculation wrong somewhere along the line. If this happens to you then you are stuck having to re-order and wait for shipping again. If not a local Toyota dealer, then check with a machine shop that does valve jobs as they will have access to shims as well. I don't know if they will sell them or not so dealer is the first place to check.

Keep in mind also that you can sometimes remove several shims that are out of spec and after measuring, find out they are the exact fit needed on the other valve. You will still need to buy some but I'd say about 1/2 of all that are out of spec can be resolved this way without buying a new shim.

Absolutely do NOT do this. The shims are precision ground and require very exact flatness and surface finish to function correctly. You are saving a bunch of $$$ doing the job yourself, don't cheap-out on the parts.

-Charlie

+1

I meant to chime in with this exact feedback, but forgot about it.

For all we know, these shims may be ground to size and then hardened, so the surface will be different than the center.

I definitely disassembled the tool and it worked for some, but I recall I still had issues with the tool. Overall though the right tool was the better tool.

I also had to modify the holder tool to make the tab stick out more, otherwise the bucket wasn't depressed low enough and the shims wouldn't come out. whacked it with a sledgehammer to elongate it a bit.