3VZE Valve Clearance Adjustment

[Ctgriffi]

I'm in the middle of this job right now, and, unfortunately, it's every bit as tough as I've heard. Still, I know that a lot of folks have been talking/thinking about doing it, so I'm posting up a few photos that might prove helpful. (I actually have quite a bit of video recorded too, but am not sure now if I'll end up posting that on YT or not...)

Notes:

1. Give yourself a lot of time to do this job. I could see this taking a couple days of labor for the average joe, plus you need to measure and order shims, wait for delivery, etc.
2. Try to label everything well and put parts/bolts/nuts in baggies with notes, to keep track of everything. Plenum has a lot of stuff attached to it and around it.
3. Shims are 34mm in diameter and vary in height, of course, to set the clearance. One source of shims: https://www.yotashop.com/valve-shim-toyota-4runner-pickup-truck-t100-v6-3-0l-3vz-e-1988-1995-valve-shim-3vzvalveshim
4. My 91 Warrior has about 83,000 miles on it and I'm finding that all of the 6 intake clearances are good (borderline, but good), and all of the 6 exhaust clearances are way tight. Pretty much the norm, from what others have said.
5. I think the recommended special tools are a must on this job, but even those can't help on some of the difficult shims, next to the firewall. In those situations, when the brake booster (or something else) is making things very difficult, use a 3/16" allen wrench to lever the bucket down—because there won't be enough room to use this wraparound-the-cam wrench tool.
6. After pulling a shim for measurement, put it back in the bucket before you turn the engine again. I've seen bad stuff happen before when a cam lobe catches the edge of an empty bucket.
    

starting the project

 

driver's side view

 

clearance specs from hood label

 

intake plenum removed (plug those holes immediately and clean/vac surrounding area well!)

 

driver's side valve cover removed: cylinders 2 / 4 / 6

 

Edited January 3, 2023 by Ctgriffi
Updated valve shim link

[redskinman]

Following this thread.Good job on finding the shims for 5 bucks each.I've had a hard time finding anyone that wants to do a valve adjustment,and I'm in a big city! one shop didnt want to do it because of one of the things you pointed out.They didnt want the truck taking up shop space while they waited for shims to come in.

[Skydancer2992]

Uhaul has been selling off V-6 Shims - some as cheap as 4 for $11:

https://www.uhaul.com/TruckSales/Truck-Trailer-Parts/toyota-shim-for-sale/Results/

I've bought a selection for a future valve adjustment.

 

[DanAatTheCape]

I bought my shims at local toy dealer.  Great parts mgr. Good thing - somehow I screwed up measurements and was able to return.  they were able to get them overnight from regional depot.

Do one shim at a time.

 

[Ctgriffi]

21 hours ago, Skydancer2992 said:

Uhaul has been selling off V-6 Shims - some as cheap as 4 for $11:

https://www.uhaul.com/TruckSales/Truck-Trailer-Parts/toyota-shim-for-sale/Results/

I've bought a selection for a future valve adjustment.

 

I definitely didn't see this option when scouring the web. I like the pricing, although I'm a little surprised that they don't seem to mention the shim heights (i.e. 2.65mm, 2.20mm, etc) in their descriptions—absolutely crucial information, unless you plan on buying 50 of 'em and getting lucky.

Edited March 3, 2017 by Ctgriffi
clarification about size variety

[jjrbus]

On 2017-03-02 at 0:00 PM, Ctgriffi said:

I'm in the middle of this job right now, and, unfortunately, it's every bit as tough as I've heard. Still, I know that a lot of folks have been talking/thinking about doing it, so I'm posting up a few photos that might prove helpful. (I actually have quite a bit of video recorded too, but am not sure now if I'll end up posting that on YT or not...)

Notes:

1. Give yourself a lot of time to do this job. I could see this taking a couple days of labor for the average joe, plus you need to measure and order shims, wait for delivery, etc.
2. Try to label everything well and put parts/bolts/nuts in baggies with notes, to keep track of everything. Plenum has a lot of stuff attached to it and around it.
3. Shims are 34mm in diameter, and I found them cheapest here: https://www.fastservsupply.com/search.aspx?tSearch=M34+shim (~$5ea, after you create an account)
4. My 91 Warrior has about 72,000 miles on it and I'm finding that all of the 6 intake clearances are good (borderline, but good), and all of the 6 exhaust clearances are way tight. Pretty much the norm, from what others have said.
5. I think the recommended special tools are a must on this job, but even those can't help on some of the difficult shims, next to the firewall. In those situations, when the brake booster (or something else) is making things very difficult, use a 3/16" allen wrench to lever the bucket down—because there won't be enough room to use this wraparound-the-cam wrench tool.
6. After pulling a shim for measurement, put it back in the bucket before you turn the engine again. I've seen bad stuff happen before when a cam lobe catches the edge of an empty bucket.

Thanks for taking the time to document and post your project, this is on many's bucket list.   JIm

[Ctgriffi]

If these six little boogers could talk... well, they've all been swapped with new, and my clearances all look good. Time to put it all back together and see how she runs. 

[Maineah]

If you check each valve and note the shim and clearance (I used to just write on the head) there is a good chance you can mix and match a lot of them. Just flip them if you reuse them. After awhile you'll get very good with a micrometer. Toyota is just one of dozens that use shimmed valves. Yes you will find the exhaust valves the tightest they take the greatest beating due to the heating.

[jjrbus]

26 minutes ago, Maineah said:

If you check each valve and note the shim and clearance (I used to just write on the head) there is a good chance you can mix and match a lot of them. Just flip them if you reuse them. After awhile you'll get very good with a micrometer. Toyota is just one of dozens that use shimmed valves. Yes you will find the exhaust valves the tightest they take the greatest beating due to the heating.

Would it have to be a micrometer or might a digital Harbor Freight caliper do as good?

[Maineah]

13 hours ago, jjrbus said:

Would it have to be a micrometer or might a digital Harbor Freight caliper do as good?

I find a micrometer to be more accurate and easier to use. The jaws on a caliper can be an issue because in order to be accurate they must remain dead parallel. They make mechanical digital micrometers that makes reading them more user friendly and they are much small and easier to hold on to. A zero to 1 inch micrometer as opposed to a zero to 6 inch caliper. Either one of course would work so if you all ready have calipers that's what you should use this is not some thing you will do on a regular basis.

[jjrbus]

 I have not had a reason to use a micrometer in 30 years or more.  When I learned to use them there was no such thing as a digital caliper! 

I was wondering how accurate a Harbor Freight caliper could be and decided to measure my Harbor Freight feeler gauges.   To my surprise the caliper is dead on!

Now I have to figure out how accurate the Harbor Freight feeler gauges are

Thanks for the response.  Jim

[Ctgriffi]

18 hours ago, jjrbus said:

 I have not had a reason to use a micrometer in 30 years or more.  When I learned to use them there was no such thing as a digital caliper! 

I was wondering how accurate a Harbor Freight caliper could be and decided to measure my Harbor Freight feeler gauges.   To my surprise the caliper is dead on!

Now I have to figure out how accurate the Harbor Freight feeler gauges are

Thanks for the response.  Jim

I use a digital caliper set that I bought at Lowe's a few years ago, and it's worked pretty well for me. (Looks a lot like the HF model, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if they were made in the same factory...)

[Maineah]

I have both they each have their purpose, to measure small things you hold in your hand the micrometer is easier and far faster. Back in the dark ages when I did a lot of automotive work time was of the essence if you wanted to make a living. Things get real tedious when you are in the middle of a 12 cylinder 48 valve engine rebuild.

[darrel]

After reading all these posts I have made an appointment for a valve adjustment with Toyota dealership. My engine has 74K on it. I will get clearance reading of before and after and post them here. Dealership wants 108 Dollars per hour, with a 3.5-4.5 hour job plus parts.   OUCH!!!    But it will be much easier on my back. Any advise to pass on to the mechanic?

Darrel

[Derek up North]

Are you also doing the timing belt?

Ask for your old shims back.

[darrel]

Timing belt, pulleys, water pump, hoses, camshaft seals were done at 63K. Yes I will be requesting the old shims.

[redskinman]

On 3/2/2017 at 11:00 AM, Ctgriffi said:

I'm in the middle of this job right now, and, unfortunately, it's every bit as tough as I've heard. Still, I know that a lot of folks have been talking/thinking about doing it, so I'm posting up a few photos that might prove helpful. (I actually have quite a bit of video recorded too, but am not sure now if I'll end up posting that on YT or not...)

Notes:

1. Give yourself a lot of time to do this job. I could see this taking a couple days of labor for the average joe, plus you need to measure and order shims, wait for delivery, etc.
2. Try to label everything well and put parts/bolts/nuts in baggies with notes, to keep track of everything. Plenum has a lot of stuff attached to it and around it.
3. Shims are 34mm in diameter, and I found them cheapest here: https://www.fastservsupply.com/search.aspx?tSearch=M34+shim (~$5ea, after you create an account)
4. My 91 Warrior has about 72,000 miles on it and I'm finding that all of the 6 intake clearances are good (borderline, but good), and all of the 6 exhaust clearances are way tight. Pretty much the norm, from what others have said.
5. I think the recommended special tools are a must on this job, but even those can't help on some of the difficult shims, next to the firewall. In those situations, when the brake booster (or something else) is making things very difficult, use a 3/16" allen wrench to lever the bucket down—because there won't be enough room to use this wraparound-the-cam wrench tool.
6. After pulling a shim for measurement, put it back in the bucket before you turn the engine again. I've seen bad stuff happen before when a cam lobe catches the edge of an empty bucket.

starting the project

 

driver's side view

 

clearance specs from hood label

 

intake plenum removed (plug those holes immediately and clean/vac surrounding area well!)

 

driver's side valve cover removed: cylinders 2 / 4 / 6

 

Are you going to make a youtube video? That would be cool if you did

[Ctgriffi]

On 3/7/2017 at 5:39 PM, darrel said:

After reading all these posts I have made an appointment for a valve adjustment with Toyota dealership. My engine has 74K on it. I will get clearance reading of before and after and post them here. Dealership wants 108 Dollars per hour, with a 3.5-4.5 hour job plus parts.   OUCH!!!    But it will be much easier on my back. Any advise to pass on to the mechanic?

Darrel

One piece of advice for mechanic, of which they're probably already aware: "Looser is better—so shoot for clearances on the far end of the spec"

Yeah, please post your before-and-after clearances here if possible (or in another thread). Also, I'm sure many people will be interested in hearing the total $$$ damage, when it's all said and done. Thanks!

[Ctgriffi]

On 3/7/2017 at 9:30 PM, redskinman said:

Are you going to make a youtube video? That would be cool if you did

Thinking about it, yes, but I have two concerns: 1) My video recording hasn't been very thorough lately, on the tail end of the job; mainly 'cause we're heading out of town soon, and time is short. 2) I worry a bit that a video might encourage people to try something that they can't successfully finish (meaning: this job is going to be very difficult for a lot of folks).

But, there are not a lot of decent videos out there on the subject... so, I'm still on the fence.  

[darrel]

The engine is being torn down as I speak. Hope to hear what it looks like soon.

[Ctgriffi]

Still need to road-test, but I finally got it all back together and running today. Started up fine after a few seconds and seems to idle well, rev up strong. I'm excited to see how she does at highway speed, etc!!!

Feels like #victory  

 

[jjrbus]

2 hours ago, Ctgriffi said:

Still need to road-test, but I finally got it all back together and running today. Started up fine after a few seconds and seems to idle well, rev up strong. I'm excited to see how she does at highway speed, etc!!!

Feels like #victory  

 

Congratulations, I hope mine goes as well.   What are you doing with the extra parts

[Ctgriffi]

16 hours ago, jjrbus said:

Congratulations, I hope mine goes as well.   What are you doing with the extra parts

Since you asked first... you're welcome to my little stack of old 34mm shims. PM me an address, and they're yours. 

[jjrbus]

I appreciate the offer, but may be some time, if at all till I get to them.    Many thanks  Jim

 

[darrel]

Got my motorhome back this afternoon  "valve adjustment."

All of the intakes were .009 - .010 so they were not touched.

The exhaust were another thing. #1 - #6 were all .005. Too tight. They are now .012 for 5 of them and .013 for the 6th one.

Valve specs are:   Intake: .007 - .011     Exhaust: .009 - .013

The engine does idle smother now, it was a very slight random miss at idle. I had noticed a rougher idle the past year. Don't anticipate any great improved performance.

We bought this motorhome 5-13-2013 at 36,805 miles, it now has 73,744 miles.       

Darrel

[redskinman]

9 hours ago, darrel said:

Got my motorhome back this afternoon  "valve adjustment."

All of the intakes were .009 - .010 so they were not touched.

The exhaust were another thing. #1 - #6 were all .005. Too tight. They are now .012 for 5 of them and .013 for the 6th one.

Valve specs are:   Intake: .007 - .011     Exhaust: .009 - .013

The engine does idle smother now, it was a very slight random miss at idle. I had noticed a rougher idle the past year. Don't anticipate any great improved performance.

We bought this motorhome 5-13-2013 at 36,805 miles, it now has 73,744 miles.       

Darrel

So what were you charged for valve adjustment?

thanks

[darrel]

Oh da-n a lot.

4.5 hours at $108 P/HR=$486

Gaskets $54.51

6 shims $73.08

=$613.59            Got the motorhome back the next day, didn't skin my hands up, my back doesn't hurt, what other excuse can I have. Good for another 60-70K.

[Derek up North]

9 hours ago, darrel said:

All of the intakes were .009 - .010 so they were not touched.

The exhaust were another thing. #1 - #6 were all .005. Too tight. They are now .012 for 5 of them and .013 for the 6th one.

Valve specs are:   Intake: .007 - .011     Exhaust: .009 - .013

So, ASSUMING all the exhaust valves left the factory at the minimum of 0.009" and after 74k miles were 0.005", you've (well, I've) got to wonder about the credibility of those who report going 300k miles without ever adjusting them!

BTW, just thinking out load over morning coffee.

[WME]

And if the factory setting was .012? That sorta means a wear rate of around .001 per 10,000 mi. and that means a burned #6 around 90-100000 mi which matches what we have been hearing.

Musing over a half cup of coffee is not good it leads to falseness, better to muse over the second cup.

[darrel]

Toyota told me,  I doubt that the exhaust valves will be tight. We've seen hundreds of trucks and 4-runners with thousand of miles on them and they were still OK. I said. this a motorhome running down the road with 6500#  on its back all the time.

When I picked up the motorhome the service manager looked   Sheepish  when he told me the exhaust valves were all tight.

When a vehicle normally will get 18-22 mpg but carries a heavy load all the time and gets 13 mpg the engine is working much harder. Therefor a lot more wear on engine parts.

Darrel

[redskinman]

9 hours ago, Derek up North said:

So, ASSUMING all the exhaust valves left the factory at the minimum of 0.009" and after 74k miles were 0.005", you've (well, I've) got to wonder about the credibility of those who report going 300k miles without ever adjusting them!

BTW, just thinking out loud over morning coffee.

Yep.I've said before I've called 4 or 5 garages that deal with toyotas and they did not want to do a valve adjustment,couple of them said if its running fine dont worry about it{it will be good for 2-300,000 miles}.I have not called any toyota dealers yet to see if they would do it.

[Ctgriffi]

11 hours ago, WME said:

And if the factory setting was .012? That sorta means a wear rate of around .001 per 10,000 mi. and that means a burned #6 around 90-100000 mi which matches what we have been hearing.

Musing over a half cup of coffee is not good it leads to falseness, better to muse over the second cup.

That loss of ".001 per 10,000 miles" sounds pretty darn accurate to me too, after just finishing mine: all my EX measurements were .003-.005 on my 83K 3VZE. Glad I didn't wait any longer.

[darrel]

I like to muse.

[Ctgriffi]

Just to follow-up at the end of the job: My initial road-test was not good—missing and really struggling under acceleration, which definitely caused me some stress I can tell you! I got back under the hood, looked over everything in terms of vac hoses, connections, etc and discovered I had a bad spark plug boot and very poor connection on the #5 cylinder. (What are the chances? The only plug I didn't take a good look at the whole time, because it's buried back up under there, and of course that's where the problem was...) Anyway, it was a pretty quick fix, and everything feels strong and smooth now with good power on the highway (thank God). 

Tomorrow we head out on a much-anticipated, week-long Route 66 adventure: Springfield, MO to Amarillo, TX and back. Yahoo!

[redskinman]

On 2017-03-13 at 0:45 PM, Ctgriffi said:

Just to follow-up at the end of the job: My initial road-test was not good—missing and really struggling under acceleration, which definitely caused me some stress I can tell you! I got back under the hood, looked over everything in terms of vac hoses, connections, etc and discovered I had a bad spark plug boot and very poor connection on the #5 cylinder. (What are the chances? The only plug I didn't take a good look at the whole time, because it's buried back up under there, and of course that's where the problem was...) Anyway, it was a pretty quick fix, and everything feels strong and smooth now with good power on the highway (thank God). 

Tomorrow we head out on a much-anticipated, week-long Route 66 adventure: Springfield, MO to Amarillo, TX and back. Yahoo!

So how did the trip go? Where did you buy your shims from? That place you provided the link too told me they don't sell to individuals.