Valve Adustment

Catt22 · 04-08-2008, 12:35 PM

I was going through the factory service manual and came across a section on adjusting the valves. I had always assumed that this engine had hydraulic valve lifters and there was no need to adjust the valves. The manual details the adjustment procedure and it appears that the FJ engine has solid lifters instead of the hydraulic design. The procedure also looks to be a major PIA as it requires exchanging the lifters in order to alter the valve lash. That means that you would need to do the measurements and if they are out of spec, you would have to get a different lifter of the correct height. I doubt that the dealers stock all of the myriad lifter sizes that might be required. That means placing an order and waiting. Then install the new lifters and check again. If still out of spec, rinse and repeat. See what I mean about the major PIA? Hopefully I am misinterpreting the service manual and a valve adjustment will only be required after an engine tear down/rebuild or a valve job. Twenty four valves is a bunch to deal with!

bugs1961 · 04-08-2008, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Catt22 previously said:

I was going through the factory service manual and came across a section on adjusting the valves. I had always assumed that this engine had hydraulic valve lifters and there was no need to adjust the valves. The manual details the adjustment procedure and it appears that the FJ engine has solid lifters instead of the hydraulic design. The procedure also looks to be a major PIA as it requires exchanging the lifters in order to alter the valve lash. That means that you would need to do the measurements and if they are out of spec, you would have to get a different lifter of the correct height. I doubt that the dealers stock all of the myriad lifter sizes that might be required. That means placing an order and waiting. Then install the new lifters and check again. If still out of spec, rinse and repeat. See what I mean about the major PIA? Hopefully I am misinterpreting the service manual and a valve adjustment will only be required after an engine tear down/rebuild or a valve job. Twenty four valves is a bunch to deal with!

The lifters are very hard and given proper lubrication, will probably never need adjusting. I have had Toyota engines with this type of valve train for almost 20 years and have needed to change lifters only twice, and on different cars. You can use the charts and procedures in the manual to get the exact size lifter you require so you shouldn't need to repeat the process. On my '94 Camry I adjusted about half of the valves (the others didn't need it) at 110,000 mi and they still don't need any more adjustment at 193,500 mi. I check them every 30,000 mi during routine maintenance. On the FJ, it is a big job requiring the removal of the camshafts so it's clearly not a routine maintenance item. Take care,
Bugs

Catt22 · 04-08-2008, 03:46 PM

Thanks for the reply bugs! It's a relief to know that this is not a routine maintenance item.

**1911** · 04-08-2008, 03:58 PM

Quote:

bugs1961 previously said:

The lifters are very hard and given proper lubrication, will probably never need adjusting. ...it's clearly not a routine maintenance item.

+1

On principle, I just checked the valves on my wife's Sequoia at 90,000 miles and they were still spot-on.

frogeye · 04-08-2008, 04:03 PM

When I had my heads done on my 3.2 v6 Toyota engine the lifters were all still within spec. at 90,000 miles. I think a valve job on our FJ engines is something to worry about way down the road (150,000+ miles). You'll know when you drop an exhaust valve, it will not idle smoothly at all.