Valve clearance too tight oh no. 1997 2.7 3RZ-FE

Hi everyone. I have a 97 Tacoma 2.7 with 225k miles on it.
I gave it little tune up today. Checked the spark plugs, all looked perfect. Checked the compression, had 132-133psi on all 4 cylinders! I was feeling pretty good. Then I checked the valve clearance for the first time in the trucks 21 year history. All exhaust valves were out of spec.

Exhaust (.01-.014 in spec) Intake (.006-.010 in spec)
1- EX .007 .006 1-IN .008 .008
2- EX .004 .007 2-IN .007 .008
3- EX .007 .007 3-IN .009 .009
4- EX .008 .006 4-IN .008 .006

I am concerned about #2 that is .006 out of spec! This is my daily driver. Am I doing damage to the valve by driving it this far out of spec? I would like to adjust them myself. But it will take a couple weeks to order parts. Should I just take it to a mechanic? And do I need to order the valve shims from Toyota if I do it myself? or are there after market shim kits available?
Thanks for all input!

 

You will risk the chance of burning a valve, and then you have to deal with pulling the head. I would get new shims and adjust them back to spec. The adjusting tool isnt super expensive so you can probably do it yourself.

Also, can anyone explain what causes valves to lose clearance like that? I would have expected the clearance to increase if anything, not decrease.

 

Toyota sells the shims for about 10 bucks a piece. My local dealer orders everything in and usually has it in next day.

Valve cover gasket and throttle body gasket may be all you need?

Do the math and see if any of your shims will work for other valves to get them into spec.

Tight valves need thinner shims.

 

Valve and or valve seat wears, which in turn lets the valve stem stick up higher towards the cam/bucket/shim which makes the clearance tighter.

 

I don't think mixing shims is going to work in my case as all the exhaust valves are way too tight. I would need some loose valves to interchange with.
I am thinking of ordering this kit http://www.cylinderheadsupply.com/kl9512.html and hopefully get it in by next weekend. Remove the exhaust cam and swap out the exhaust shims for thinner ones. Not going to mess with the intake shims. The kit costs $247 dollars but a lot less expensive than taking it to a mechanic, and a whole lot cheaper than ignoring the problem and exploding the motor down the road. Maybe someone locally carries shims in stock but not counting on it.

 

I suggest pulling the whole exhaust cam out if you are going to be adjusting all of the exhaust valves. You can pull the exhaust cam without having to deal with resetting the timing since it is driven off of the intake cam. Just make sure you follow the FSM specs for removing and installing the cam. If you do this you will not need the tool to remove the shims. You just need to measure the clearance before you pull the cam.

 

You need 80-90 bucks worth of shims if you ordered all new shims. Toyota dealer will order them for you if you have one local and should get them in very quick. You need to know the thickness of what you currently have in there to replace them though, not just the clearance.


To know if your current shims can replace any of the others, you need to check your clearances, which you already did, remove your shims and check them with a micrometer. They aren't all the same thickness even though your clearances are all similar.

On the kit, how many of each do you get and are they OEM. I would prefer OEM shims. Aftermarket may be fine, but there is a surface finish, parallel and hardness spec for shims and I like oem knowing they meet the specifications for our vehicles. I'll gladly run aftermarket for lots of things, but some things I like oem.

 

Yea removing the exhaust cam seems to be the easiest way to replace all the shims. Maybe if only one was tight I would work around it. Do you know if the shims will pop out of the bucket with a magnet once the cam is out of the way? Is there still a need to press down on the bucket to free the shims?

 

I'm pretty sure they would come out with just a magnet. There is some suction from the tight fit and oil, but you shouldn't really have much of a problem with the cam out of the way.

 

Im not sure how many of each size come in that kit. Ill post if/when I find out. Im hoping for at least 4 of each size. If there are only 2 of each size that would still get me by. The range of clearance Toyota gives is about 3/10th of a MM between .254-.356mm, and the sizing between each shim on the kit is much smaller than 3/10 of a MM. So I could use a few different sizes and still make every valve be in spec. Of course this is all depending on my math skills which are a little rusty lol. And its a sloppy fix but I need my truck for work as its my only vehicle.

 

A magnet may get them out. If not, there is a slot on the side you can use a fine flat head screw driver on. Or take an air hose and blow air into that slot

 

Compressed air to break suction, magnet to extract.

Some folks have had problems with the factory recommended shim tools, mostly on the 4cyls. A home fabbed "bent screw driver" will work just as well, like a pry bar.

Shim changing stuff. See rare earth magnet glued to wood dowel.

 

go to a junkyard and rob a v6 toyota of all shims, Toyo uses almost a universal diam. across many models.

 

Shim kit is on the way. The kit includes 4 of each size shim.

http://www.cylinderheadsupply.com/kl9512.html

 

Don't forget to measure again after reinstalling exhaust cam back in it.

That's why my preferred method is not to take out cam unless absolutely necessary. (curse you shim UNDER buckets)
It may seem easier, until you hit one that didn't measure out quite like you cyphered.

edit: weren't we real close at the end of the last 'valve clearance thread' to putting together a kit for the membership? $247 bux is a pretty good sum for someone to have to pay for crap we have sitting around gathering dust.

edit 2: Oh yea, don't be afraid of getting more towards the 'loose side' of tolerance. A ticking valve is a happy valve.

 

Got the shim kit just in time for the weekend woohoo! One question I have is how to do you align the exhaust cam split gears to install the service bolt? I am removing the exhaust cam to save head ache and frustration of getting all 8 shims out. I have removed cams before, and know to set cylinder 1 to TDC. Just can't seem to find a straight answer on the exhaust service bolt. Thanks.

 

Hi,
I just removed the cams (and head) on my 2rz. Pretty simple. Set the engine to TDC #1 cyl, make sure that the timing dots line up on the cam gears. The service bolt hole should be at the top of the exhaust cam gear (At least it was for me), there is only one hole it can go into. Take your bolt and thread it in and you are good to go to remove the cams. If the hole is not at accessible I think the service manual says to rotate the cam until you can get the bolt in. Pretty easy. I would get a manual though, it will have all the details, and the proper bolt removal pattern.

 

I've done many models of Toyo. engines and most times the bolt hole doesn't line up @TDC. If it's not obvious (empty threaded hole in cam sprocket) at that point it's because Toyo. thinks it's safer to remove in another position so as not to stress the cam journals as you remove those.
There is a pattern to do it and it's going to be with as little pressure as possible on any 1 valve spring.
You can always make your own paint mark when needed to know where to go back in with it.

Really, this is another reason to leave the cam in when possible.

Read the journal if this is your first time. You'll get a feel for all Toyo's in the future.
VVT won't be as scary looking.

 

subbed

 

Ok just finished. Not too bad. This is my first shim/bucket valve adjustment, and the first time ever touching a micrometer. but got them all .012 clearance! Some were a loose .012 and some a snug .012, but none would fit a .011 or .013 feeler gauge. I took all the measurements straight off of the micrometer without writing anything down. This is where having a shim kit makes the job a lot easier I feel. If I needed to add .006 clearance, I just picked the shim that got me the closest, erring on the loose side. Removing the camshaft was pretty straight forward. When/if I adjust the intake side, maybe not remove the intake camshaft, but loosen the journal cap bolts and remove the chain tensioner to gain a little clearance might make the job a little easier.

As for the shim kit I used, The shims seemed uniform in width, one shim didn't feel quite as snug in the bucket as the others. Probably wouldn't use these shims in a high performance sports car, but ok for my truck.

Thanks for all the good advice and input!! Hopefully someone else finds this useful.

If anyone wants to borrow this kit for their valve adjustment, PM me and I will mail it to you. I would just ask to mail it back in a timely manner and replace whatever shims you use. But its super nice having the shims right there when doing an adjustment.