valve adjustment

D

derezzed

New member
been a toyota owner all of my life, and i purchased a '99 4-cylinder 4runner a few months back after i sold my tacoma.

i really love it, and it gets great mileage, but about a month ago it started ticking really bad. every so often, it'll tick super bad and smoke like crazy. from all the research i've done, it seems like it's the lifter's knocking and that i need a valve adjustment. apparently, this is pretty expensive. 4-600 bucks.

i'm relatively competent under the hood, and have generally fixed most problems i encounter on my own, and a good buddy who's going to help me is good with engines.

anyway, my question would be to as how hard it would be to adjust the valves myself? what kind of things am i going to need to look for? has anyone done it?

any help would be appreciated!
 
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What color smoke and does it smell sweet? Is it burning oil? How about you oil pressure? Does it tick a lot at first during a cold start?
 
on a timeline, there were a few times where the car would tick loudly and spew out a ton of white smoke... almost sounded like the muffler was falling off.

on the interstate one morning, it just shut off and wouldn't crank back up for a few minutes. it's been ticking ever since. sometime's it'll tick loudly, especially when you start it up, but it'll kind of die down to where you can barely hear it. other times, it'll just be at a consistent volume where you can hear inside the vehicle.

seems like it is burning oil. by the end of the 3000 mile rotation for an oil change, it dropped a lot.
 
I'm don't know if your noise and smoke is valve related or not, but I have done some research on valve adjustments. If you end up getting your valves adjusted, be sure and post the results.

Not everyone loves the 2.7L, but I like mine. Like you, I have had my truck for a few months. I got it pretty cheap, and it runs good. It also gets decent MPG on too big worn out tires, so I’m hopeful it will get better.

I’ve changed out the starter contacts, drained and filled ATF 3X, and done a couple of oil changes. So far, so good. I am looking for some FJ wheels so I can add Tundra brakes in the future.

I haven’t tackled a valve adjustment yet, but I have done it twice on my ’98 Honda VTEC.

On the Honda the valve cover comes off with just a few 10mm bolts. With all the intake hardware on the Toyota, getting the VC off is more involved.

As for the necessity of valve adjustments, I found this link on Custom Taco: Heads up on valve adjustment! - CustomTacos.com Forum All three pages have some good info.

Because this service is involved, and there are lots of possible shim sizes that may be needed, many go to the dealer for this service. Here is a link on some of those experiences: valve adjustment - TTORA Forum

There are special tools needed, at the dealership are $$$ but can be online for $35. They are discussed here: 2002 taco 2.7 L valve adjustment

The tool listed on marlincrawler has gotten some bad reviews. This OTC tool is more $$$, but may work better: OTC , 09248-55040 Valve Adjusting Tool Kit-Toyota 09248-55040

I have bought tools that don't work, and it is not fun. If anyone has used either or both of these tools, that information would be very helpful.

In addition to the valve adjusting tool, a micrometer is also needed. I found this one: Stahlwille , 77411001 12935N-1 0-25mm Micrometer

There are Factory Service Manuals (FSM) available at different sites. Google around and find something to use. I have attached some pages that have details of the procedure.

So when I look at this procedure, I think it a decent amount of time and tool purchases the first time. Of course it will be much faster and less expensive the first time.

Because these adjustments are due every 60k miles, I would like to learn how to do this.
 

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Maybe a valve guide or stem seal problem. You also should do a compression test on all cylinders. Out of adjustment valves don't do what you are reporting. What normally happens is the valve clearance closes up due to the valve seat wearing in. This can cause the valve to burn from not enough time in the seated position.
 
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BTO said:
Maybe a valve guide or stem seal problem. You also should do a compression test on all cylinders. Out of adjustment valves don't do what you are reporting. What normally happens is the valve clearance closes up due to the valve seat wearing in. This can cause the valve to burn from not enough time in the seated position.
Click to expand...

so, you suggest i do a compression test? do i need to take the vehicle anywhere to do that? and if it's what you initially thought, is it a big job to fix?

i suppose i need to just take this to a dealership and get it diagnosed... but i swear i never trust those guys.
 
derezzed said:
so, you suggest i do a compression test? do i need to take the vehicle anywhere to do that? and if it's what you initially thought, is it a big job to fix?
Click to expand...
The compression test is simple. You take out the spark plugs, insert the compression gauge in each hole one at a time and have someone turn the engine over while you take readings. The expensive part is the problems the compression test can find.

Yep, you probably should take it in for diagnosis.
 
derezzed said:
...the car would tick loudly and spew out a ton of white smoke... almost sounded like the muffler was falling off.

on the interstate one morning, it just shut off and wouldn't crank back up for a few minutes. it's been ticking ever since. sometime's it'll tick loudly, especially when you start it up, but it'll kind of die down to where you can barely hear it. other times, it'll just be at a consistent volume where you can hear inside the vehicle.
Click to expand...

This could describe a bad fuel injector as well. Just to double check: does the smoke smell like oil?

The ticking, smoke and oil level going down could be the same or three separate issues.
 
To ME the smoke looks pretty white... as far as the exhaust smell, it smells normal... i think, at least.

i had a buddy at the station just look at it, and he thinks it might be a cracked head gasket. i guess the only thing to do is to just take it in and have it professionally examined.

i swear i'm not buying from a dealership again. i've done plenty of cosmetic work for them, and i know how they'll spray paint the under carriage, power wash the engine bay, and fix it up just enough to pass so it looks ultra clean.

i was hoping that a '99 with only 115k miles wouldn't have been a lemon, but it's starting to look that way. just my luck. should've stuck with the new tacoma!
 
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