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Opinions on high mileage valve job

9K views 20 replies 11 participants last post by  71Corolla 
#1 ·
Long story short, was given a 95 2.2 with 242,000 miles. Car has been taken care of and runs and drives pretty good, but the head gasket is going south(why car was given to me). I'm for sure going to pressure test the head and have it milled. Debating on a valve job. I'm an old school car guy and remember years ago doing valve jobs on older high mileage cars causing them to later use oil from the extra compression causing blow by(or whatever it was). That said, I've worked on a ton of these old Camrys and have never had one that used oil(but almost all leaked). Curious of opinions if I should do a valve job on the head. Car uses absolutely no oil now. Won't have much money in the car so adding another $150 for the valve job doesn't bother me. Just don't want to cause it start using oil.

If I was real ambitious, I'd also drop the pan, pull the rods and pistons and do a quick ring job and new rod bearings. But, with the miles on is car just want to get it back together for a cheap spare kid car.
 
#2 ·
If you want to go really cheap get the head milled and do everything else yourself. Lap the valves using a vacuum line on the valve stem and the other on a variable speed drill. Use standard lapping compound and go back and forth with the drill until you get a smooth finish on the seat and valve. The valve is married to that seat but doesn't matter. Put in new valve stem seals and slap the head back on.

If you want to go even cheaper sand the head surface yourself.
 
#3 ·
I've lapped valves in before, but question if anyone has experience with the increased compression from a good valve job taking out old rings on these 2.2's. I'm really thinking of dropping the pan and doing a ring job and rod bearings along with removing the balance shafts. Parts are cheap and it's only my time during this cold winter(shop is heated).
 
#4 ·
I did a backyard valve job on a 5S and left the bottom end alone, the power increase was mild but noticeable. The biggest gain is a smoother running engine (also quieter) and no more smoking on startup. If you are going to replace the rings you should pull the block and do it right otherwise leave the block as is or just replace the bearings.
 
#5 ·
DO NOT REPLACE RINGS WITHOUT REBORING. the rings develop a lip at the top of the cylinder wall that will snap a new ring if you don't take it off. If you take off only the lip you lose compression, and you WILL DEFINITELY get Blowby. If you wanna rebuild cheaply and still right, the only money you can save is machining costs.
Glue sandpaper to a flat surface (checked with a precision straight edge) and lay it down, drag it across. Let the weight of the head do the work. Check the head with the straight edge frequently.
Maybe polish the crank, new bearings, new pistons and rings.
The only thing I wouldn't trust myself doing is the boring, as they are obviously precision cylinders. Would possibly take a micrometer to gauge..
 
#6 ·
Car has been taken care of and runs and drives pretty good,....If I was real ambitious, I'd also drop the pan, pull the rods and pistons and do a quick ring job and new rod bearings.
Let sleeping dogs lay. I'd do the HG and valve job. If you clean the piston tops as well then the compression should not increase unless you mill the head.

No reason to believe it will leak oil afterward.
 
#8 ·
I'll be installing the Aisin timing belt/water pump kit along with all new seals. Pretty much standard operating procedure anymore when taking these apart. Cheap parts and easy to do.
 
#9 ·
I'd say you are fine. Any blow by you get was likely gonna happen anyway.

If you want to do a mild bottom end rebuild at the same time (balance shaft delete, new rings, new bearings) I'd say go for it. Nothing wrong with rebuilding a 200K mile + 5SFE engine with a blown head gasket.
 
#11 ·
Removes weight and saves you from the problems associated with their failure.

There is a flip side to the increased harmonics causing major problems. Here is a website that covers that stuff (mostly for DSM but would apply to any balance shafts equipped vehicle):

http://www.jackstransmissions.com/pages/keep-your-balance-shafts
 
#12 ·
The 5S without balance shafts runs just fine in fact it probably has a lower rate of failure seeing it has no balance shaft assembly to explode and take the engine with it.
 
#13 ·
I've taken the balance shafts out of several when replacing rod bearings or during a rebuild and am hard pressed to notice a difference in vibration. As others have posted, I look at removing the balance shafts as eliminating a potential failure mode in the motor plus maybe it improves oiling in other parts of the motor since the oil feed gets blocked.
 
#14 ·
The balance shaft is there to reduce powerful secondary forces which act upon a half balanced crankshaft. I have never heard of anyone removing it. There may be an old recall about the cylinder head lifting off the block due to the studs being pulled out of the block. It is definitely an area to inspect during a rebuild. Believe it or not but the dealership repair is to install timeserts into the block.
 
#16 ·
All the rebuilders remove the balance shafts. A common practice actually. If I remember correctly, the US market was the only one where the balance shafts were added.

You're thinking of the gen 5 issue with the head bolts loosening in the aluminum block when Toyota went to the aluminum block for the 2.4's in 2002. The '01 and older 2.2's have an iron block without this problem.
 
#15 ·
I am glad to see someone else experienced the same phenomena I have years ago. After re-ringing and valve job with milled head on my 78 Toy truck and 80's Mazda trucks I also experienced increased oil consumption. I never connected the dots, I just assumed it was the cylinder machining. "Extra compression causing blow by"...hmmm...maybe that it why my trucks pinged later too. I had to bump up the octane.
 
#17 ·
Long story short, was given a 95 2.2 with 242,000 miles. Car has been taken care of and runs and drives pretty good
Alot depends on what "taken care of" really means specifically. If engine never ran low on oil, was never overrevved, never driven with a severe ignition miss, never overheated, etc., then internal mechanical wear will be extremely minimal, engine compression will still be like new and nothing will need to be "rebuilt" including the valves.
 
#20 ·
Check the valve faces, make sure they aren't grooved too deeply where they contact the seat. If they are, the seats will need to be ground and new valves installed. Make sure the valve has enough margin left too, and won't grind to a razor edge after lapping.

Afterward, you'll need to swap the shims around to set valve lash. Lapping or griding changes the stem height.

Check guide wear as well, but OHC engines are pretty easy on the guides.
 
#21 ·
If the seats and valves are ground the top of the valve stem will have to be machined down to compensate. An easy test to see if you have valve leakage is turn the head upside down and pour some water into the combustion chamber to see if it leaks out.
 
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