Valve clearance adjustment, 1MZ (w/pics)

[Nervous]

Hey, I am back, at least to fix my Camry 96 LE Sedan valve clearances. It has 163Kmiles on the engine and for last 10Kmiles it produces very loud ticking sound. It requires valve clearance adjustment. Plus, it is due to the second timing belt, water pump, camshaft and crankshaft seals, spark plugs, valve cover and plug tube gaskets and wires too. A bunch of work, actually, but I already have experience to do all of it but valve clearance adjustment. This is new for me.
Anyway, first thing first - need to measure clearances. Valve covers off:

^Pay attention to the paper towel I put to clog the well - it is important and it saved me from tearing my motor apart (you'll see later).


The motor looks pretty clean, I put only synthetic oil last 100,000 miles, plus one treatment by Auto-RX (probably unnecessary).

Ok, measuring.
I used a feeler gauge from HF, cheap Chinese crap. BE VERY CAREFUL with it. After I measured several clearances the small nut fell apart and it fell... into the engine! But, lucky me (or smart me!) it fell on that paper towel from pic above:


So, be careful and tap the well if you gonna keep engine open for prolonged period of time. Just don't forget to remove the towels before assembling everything back.

The procedure of measuring is described in FSM very well. I just can add a couple of notes. In FSM they recommend to set TDC by rotating crankshaft until mark on crankshaft pulley matches the mark on lower timing belt cover. But at the moment I started to do this I already remove the pulley and the cover. I found it easier to rotate LH camshaft instead and match the notches on both camshaft pulley with marks on the inner timing belt cover.
The second correction to FSM procedure: after measuring the first group of valve clearances you need to rotate crankshaft by 2/3 rotations (240 degrees) to measure the second group and then another 2/3 rotations for the third group (please, check FSM for details). It is not very convenient to measure 2/3 rotations of the crankshaft, especially w/o the pulley. I found out, that 2/3 rotations of the crankshaft equal (240 deg) to 1/3 rotations of the camshaft pulleys (120 deg). So, I made a simple 120 deg template and used it to correctly rotate the camshafts:



The result of measuring. Absolutely all of intake valves are in specs - 0.18mm - 0.20mm. Most of the exhaust ones are also in specs - 0.30mm - 0.33mm. Only two valves are out of specs, both are exhaust ones. The 6th cyl, the right one - 0.40mm. The 1st cyl, the left one - 0.95mm (!!!). This is the one that produces that loud tick. Interesting, what can cause one clearance to be that out of specs? I measured clearances twice (each time rotating camshafts accordingly) and the results were the same.

I removed the shims without any special tools:


I don't have a micrometer yet, so I roughly measured shims with caliper:

^ the one with 0.95mm clearance


^ the one with 0.40 mm clearance.

Now the complexity. According to measurements I need 2.83 + 0.95 - 0.30 = 3.48 mm shim for the cylinder 1. But the thickest shim available for 1MZ is 3.30 mm. Now the question to gurus: what to do? Where can I get shim 3.45 - 3.5 mm?

[fenixus]

welcome back Nervous
nice DIY (if it was intended to be one), and good job!

you can get new shims from dealer. I think if the clearance is too big and the thickest shim is still too thin, you can actually use 2 thinner shims one on top of another (that's what 73spot did).

however I have some doubt about measurement method of your existing shims. digital caliper might be measuring thickness on edges while in fact the thickness in center is the most important for valves.

I believe, you should use a digital micro meter to get the most accurate results, like this:
http://www.harborfreight.com/0-to-1-...meter-895.html



only problem, this one works in SAE only, no metric so you will have to convert all numbers for ease of calculations.

[Nervous]

Yep, I know - like I said, I measured it *roughly*. I will re-measure it with a proper tool.
However, I do not expect the result to be significantly different. And the problem with Toyota's shims - the thickest shim available for our engines is 3.30 mm. One out of spec shim will be around 3.10 mm, so it is fine to get it from Toyota. But another one, with the clearance 0.95 - I am looking at something like 3.45 - 3.50 mm. It is 28 mm (28mm) in diameter. Any ideas where can I get shims like that?

[fenixus]

Originally Posted by Nervous

Yep, I know - like I said, I measured it *roughly*. I will re-measure it with a proper tool.
However, I do not expect the result to be significantly different. And the problem with Toyota's shims - the thickest shim available for our engines is 3.30 mm. One out of spec shim will be around 3.10 mm, so it is fine to get it from Toyota. But another one, with the clearance 0.95 - I am looking at something like 3.45 - 3.50 mm. It is 28 mm (28mm) in diameter. Any ideas where can I get shims like that?

gotcha. haven't read the whole post before posting my first reply, now I have just did, so edited the post above in meantime. I think you can stack 2 thinner shims one on top of another. search for 73sport thread, he did that in past and seems to work and hold well.

[Nervous]

Ok, the final measurements of the shims by micrometer in the center.
Cyl 1 (the one that had the most clearance) - 2.850mm (it has number 28 on its back, whatever this means)
Cyl 6 - 2.929 mm (it has number 36 on its back, whatever this means)
Therefore, I need 2.850 + 0.95 - 0.30 = 3.50 mm and 2.929 + 0.40 - 0.30 = 3.029 (3.00 or 3.05 mm shim). Like I said, Toyota sells shims from 2.5 to 3.3 mm with 0.05 mm step. So, even combining two shims for the case of 3.5mm one is problematic: the thinnest combination I can get is 5.00 mm.... I'll look for 73port's thread anyway, thanks!

[fenixus]

readings look better with a more precise tool.

huh, I didn't realize the thinnest one they sell is 2.5mm
search the thread for "1mz-fe valve clearance" by 73sport, I forgot what he used (not one of original shims probably), but hey it works for him hehe

good luck!

[Nervous]

Yeah, I found that post and thread: Who has Successfully Adjust Valve Lash 1MZ????
(god, how I hate those inches, especially fractions of them! makes no sense at all, metric is so much better!)
The only question that is still unanswered - where to get that thin (or that thick) shims? I am not sure I can make one myself like 73sport did....

[Nervous]

I think I can try to do the following. If I fail to find the one piece 3.5mm x 28mm shim, I may try to find 1.0mm x 25 to 28mm steel washer or ring shim (with a hole in the middle). Combine it with 2.50mm Toyota shim and here we go. Or, even better, to find 0.65 mm one and combine it with existing 2.85mm shim.... Actually, the thinner that second shim is - the better, since the bucket is not that deep.... Yeah, I think 1.0mm one is not a good idea. But still, sounds doable. Will see.

[fenixus]

yeah, I hate inches and their fractions too ... totally useless ...

I think some thin, hard and heat-resistant washer under the original shim should do the trick

good luck!

[JohnGD]

Nice pics!

If the combustion chamber side is ok (no carbon build up or other valve seat faults), then I'd check valve stem tip for wear and also the valve spring height. You can remove the cams (after locking the pre-tensioned gears with a service bolt, use one from the rad fan) and pull the buckets with a magnet. A quick check on spring height can be done, but the spec is to remove them and measure. Dip the buckets in oil before reinstalling. Also, maybe do a leakdown test?

This would be a good time to change out the valve stem seals as well, for example with a Fel-Pro kit. You'll need special tools (valve spring compressor and a stem seal plier).

Originally Posted by Nervous

what can cause one clearance to be that out of specs? I measured clearances twice (each time rotating camshafts accordingly) and the results were the same.

[Ted Striker]

Buddy, let me save you a lot of time and trouble:

Pull the cams, go to your worst clearances take your magnet and remove the cup off of it. Flip the cup over look at the little tip inside the cup. I'll bet what you'll see is that where the valve tip touches is indented( collapsed). Don't believe me? Pick a cup on a good clearance valve close by, see the difference? Replace the cup or cups depending on how many are out, keep track of where your shims are(an egg carton is great for this). Now put all your shims back where they were, remeasure, fixed!Chances are you don't need new shims.

If it smokes cold and it goes away warm it needs stem seals if not I wouldn't bother.

(yeah I'm that good)

[Ted Striker]

PS take some pics of the inside of the buckets to compare, good info for DIYs to know.

You have to get the lifters( buckets) from Toyota- they're all the same part number

Toyota MDT, vet of the gel(sludge) recall, trust me I know 1MZs like the back of my hand. The collapsed lifters are common on high mileage. It's the proper fix and easier than trying to stack shims.

When you pull the cams look at the cam on both sides with the split looking gear, there's a threaded hole 6x1.0 mm put a bolt in each one(spring loaded) before you take the cam caps off, one is at the bottom one at the top. Mark the gear teeth where the two cams meet. Remember to remove the bolt when you go back together or you'll damage the head and or cams!

[Nervous]

Wow, a lot of good advices here, thank you, JohnGD and Ted Striker. Can't say I was planning to remove the camshafts.... Especially from the RH bank.... Hmm....

[Ted Striker]

Originally Posted by Nervous

Wow, a lot of good advices here, thank you, JohnGD and Ted Striker. Can't say I was planning to remove the camshafts.... Especially from the RH bank.... Hmm....

Believe me, it'll take longer to try to rig something up than it will to fix it right. Once the timing belt is off its not so bad to do. It also makes life easier to replace the cam seals while the caps are off. The liters are like 14 bucks each. You've already got the valve covers off and the timing belt cover off.

[Nervous]

Yeah, to replace the camshaft seals I need to remove only one bearing cap, actually
Anyway, let me measure that camshaft lobe first and compare it with other lobe. There is a possibility that the lobe is just worn, isn't it?
If it will be about the same as others.... Yeah, maybe I'll accept the challenge then.