Well I guess I need a cylinder head rebuild?

I've been attempting to fix a cylinder 2 misfire on my 96 Tacoma 2.7L 4cylinder.

After a long battle, the compression test shows that cylinder 2 is putting out 100psi.
One other cylinder has 130psi while the other two have 160psi.

The mechanics assumption is that I have a burnt valve and need to pull the cylinder head and send it to a machine shop to have the head rebuilt.

Another mechanic is telling me that a simple valve adjustment could be the fix and could return compression in the cylinder?

Is this possible?

 

Doubt a valve adjustment would fix it but worth a shot. Sounds like it very well could be a burnt valve. You dont really need the head rebuilt, you might just need a couple new valves. Labor is gonna be the killer on it though, on my 2rz it books @ 11 hrs labor. So you could figure an easy $1000 in labor. Minumum.

Parts should be @ $300 (all OEM parts) if the head is ok. Go all OEM and ONLY OEM on the head gasket and other gaskets and head bolts, and valves. Worth every penny. Dont mess around with cheap aftermarket stuff.

BUT....before you do ANYTHING, do a cylinder leak down test on all cylinders you suspect to have issues! Rig up a hose and put the engine on TDC compression stroke, then put compressed air the the cyl. If its a burnt valve you will hear and feel air leaking out of the intake or more likely the exhaust.

 

I would HOPE the mechanic already did this, although OP did say the mechanic *assumes* a burnt valve...

 

Valve jobs can 100% restore bad compression intake valves wear lose and could cause compression issues just as an exhaust valve not operating correctly

 

I'm not sure he did a leakdown test. He said he just ran a compression test on all cylinders. So by running a leak down test on cylinder 2 he should be able to determine if there is a burnt valve?

 

Yeah I would hope so too. But yeah, who knows? Just wanted to mention that so the OP can make absolutely sure for himself thats the issue before forking over $1300+

 

By valve job, I'm assuming you mean an adjustment of the valves could do the trick? You can adjust valves without removing the cylinder head, correct?

 

Yes he should be able to. If you have an air compressor I would just run it yourself. All you need is a hose from a compression tester, pull the schrader valve and screw into the spark plug hole and you can pressure up the cylinder easy as pie.

 

Yes you can adjust the valves by just removing the valve cover i did it in a weekend with some basic tools and patience lol

 

Yup, you only have to remove the valve cover to adjust the valves. Definitely worth a shot after doing the leakdown test.

Jcyr, did you buy the tool to depress the bucket? What tools did you all need to replace the shims?

 

If you do end up needing to send the head off to a machine shop you might just want to search for a reman'ed 2.7. They are pretty cheap around here.

 

Ok, well I replaced the valve cover gasket a couple weekends ago, so I could get back in there. I'll start researching on how to do a valve adjustment and leak down test.

 

If you do end up needing a new head for whatever reason, I recommend Allied Motor Parts. Website is cylinderhead.com. Got my 2rz head from them for $455 shipped to my door, complete with valves, camshafts, etc all ready to go. Put it on and it runs awesome. OEM reman, all OEM parts pretty much.

 

Do you think this is the way to go instead of sending the head to a machine shop to rebuild the one I have already? I got a quote of $500 to rebuild my head with all new valves.

 

Im pretty sure just to buy a rebuilt head is like 500$

 

Essentially, that’s what he would be doing for $500, right?

Just rebuilding whole thing, so it’s pretty much like buying a rebuilt head. What would be the advantage to buying one that is different and swapping it instead of just having my head rebuilt?

 

You get it shipped to your house and can just put it on and know it will work, vs sending it to a shop to have what you think neededs to fix ans maybe be more hidden problems they find when they tear it apart, then wait for it to get sent back to you.

 

Very good points. Wish I knew how to remove and install new head myself, seems to be out of my league. For some reason I feel like I would mess up the timing when removing cam shafts.

I don’t know engines well enough to do this job myself. If you know anyone near Jackson, Wyoming, I’ll pay $800 to help me remove my head and install a new one.

Worth a shot ha

 

YouTube it lol, yeah Wyoming is to far for me unless you wanna fly me out there but that’s probably out your budget. Its not that hard to pull a header off, more work to put it back on though

 

Yep I did find a really nice 3 part YouTube instructional on how to remove it. But I couldn’t find much on how to reinstall it.

Is it pretty much just removing it but in reverse? Or is there some timing adjustment that need to be done?

My worry is that I’ll cause damage to the engine block/pistons in some way if I mess up this job.