Valve Adjustment

[James100]

My friend has a 1998 Camry 2.2 with 100K. Are the valves suppose to be adjusted on these cars and after how many miles. She got a flyer from Toyota for service and in it it says that they do an audible inspection on the valves every 15K. It does seem to make noise somewhat in this area.
How much do they charge for the valve adjustment if its necessary.

Thanks

[Surfslinger]

James,

Audio inspection... That seems like BS to me, and I have worked Toyota service. Sure if they are loose, you will get a pronounced tap, but what if they are too tight... BURN'T VALVES! I would never consider anything other than an actual measurment of the clearance to be considered OK.

If you do fairly normal oil/pcv changes, the valve clearance is pretty likely in spec. I check mine about every 50k, and looking back at my records, shows them to have not changed at all.

Adjustment of the clearance if needed, is done by adding/removing shims, that are located below the camshaft lobes. The cost of these shims + a new valve cover gasket + labor would be the cost.

There are a lot of possible sounds that could be going on in that area, and if there is some valve train noise, it may well be normal.

For reference is a pic I took a few years back when I did my second valve check, and it really is avery simple procedure to do.

Good luck,
SS

[James100]

Thank you for the reply Surfslinger.

[Surfslinger]

You're welcome James, good luck!

SS