Help with valve shims!

Hey guys, been meaning to get around to doing valve shims for a while now. I plan to do the entire exhaust side to get it back to factory specs. Most are in range but I never want to do this job again. My question is, did Toyota use all the same size shims from the factory or are they all different sizes? I really don't want to pull the cam just to measure sizes. It'd be awesome if they were all the same size factory. Also how do you go about getting to the rear most intake shims? All of the intakes are at .008 but the farthest 2 are at .005 and .006 because they're dickheads. Thanks! 03 3rz 4 banger

 

No such luck on the "as built" shim sizes.
Some folks can manage the rears with the spring depressor tool, others can't. Some like to move the cams.

 

That blows. So I've gotta pull the cam to get measurements, then pull it again to change shims. Fantastic

 

no, you don't, you use a tool to push down the cap and spring so you can pull out the tappet and on the bottom of it, there is a number that says what size it is.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SCHLEY-8825...:g:6YwAAOSw0JpV5jc9&item=252077279540&vxp=mtr

they usually don't wear much so its mainly the cam that wears so you buy one that is a number larger or smaller then what you have stamped on the under side of the tappet. having a caliper gauge is a good idea just in case the marks on the tappet are unreadable.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-Ele...447518?hash=item33ab4f855e:g:IaEAAOSw14xWJHD3

its also fairly common to be able to shuffle then around to different locations to fit better. if you have one that's tight and one that's loose you might be able to swap them out and one of those should fall into the range needed or if you are very lucky, then both might.

it is my understanding the shims are not something they keep in stock and you just order the size you need and get it a day or two later so its a slow process doing them.

this video shows how you do it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKEkOdQuJR4

 

I've got the tool, just having a hell of a time on the rear shims. The exhaust cam seems relatively easy to remove. And since I'm gonna be doing all of the exhaust shims to get them back to .015 I may as well pull the cam right? Apparently theres a specific way to take them off and put them on but my Haynes only tells me how to take both off not just the exhaust

 

well pulling the cam does you no good at all really because it needs to be reinstalled to check your new clearances but if you think it makes it easier, that's your call. just a little extra work involved in doing it is all.

you just risk messing up the timing chain and all that so my rule is only take apart what you need to.

watch the video, it may help you see something to make the job go easier.

 

on a Mazda Miata I had, the online group had a collection of shims that you could borrow, use what you needed and replace them and forward to the next user, low cost and make to process easy.

 

I'll keep messing around with the tool and see what I can manage. Ive watched that video about 20 times now, makes it look so easy. I think I already know that no is the answer to this question but a local head guy said he would grind the shims down for free if I wanted it done. But I'd think that would weaken them wouldn't it? I saw a video of some foreign guys doing that for a hilux but don't know if it's okay to do or not.

 

no, no, no , no, hell no

you cant grind them, they need to be a perfectly flat, machined and polished, hardened bearing surface, or all sorts of damage will happen, plus more often then not, you will need thicker tappets not thinner ones.

when it comes to removing the tappets without pulling the cam, the tool is just a wedge to compress the valve spring and hold the cup opened up at a gap big enough to be able to remove the tappet. you use a bent screwdriver or other tool to pry it open to get the gap spacer tool in there.

most times its all about getting just the right angle or coming at it from just the right direction to do it. and you need a strong magnet to overcome the suction of the oil holding it in the cup. sometimes it helps to spray something thinner like wd40 to replaced the thicker motor oil in there and break the suction.

 

Ended up having to pull the cam. I said screw it with the intake valves for now, and I'm only gonna do the exhaust. Found the page in my Haynes that told me how to do it so it went smooth as can be. Set it to TDC with the dots and marked them with a sharpie. Took pictures of lobe positions etc etc. It's honestly a good thing I pulled the cam anyway, because even with the shim and bucket in my hand it took a razor with a good amount of force to get them apart. Here's my numbers, gonna have to convert my feeler gauge readings to MM I think but the hard part is pretty much over as long as I don't screw up timing.

 

now you just got to read the numbers on the back of the tappets and then figure out which ones you need to buy to bring the number in line with what you want.

it would have been better to get a mm feeler gauge because sometimes trying to convert inches isn't easy trying to figure if you need to round numbers up or down

 

I just spent a good 1 1/2 hours converting everything and checking the math. These are the numbers I came up with. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CORRECT MY MATH! I am appallingly bad at it and even after double checking I'm not 100% sure. I took my current shim MM readings, converted those to inches, subtracted the feeler gauge readings from the converted shim sizes, then whatever came up as the answer I converted back to MM. What a PITA, for someone who flunked algebra 1 this was super hard haha. If there are 1 or 2 that are at .016 I can't imagine it would anything would it? I think most of my math rounds down but if a couple round up I'd rather not be screwed after I buy new ones. Not sure how specific of a size Toyota can do either, that may be another set back.

 

Rounded the numbers up

 

I suck at math too and converting inches to mm there is always going to be a margin for error which is not what you want and why, if I were you, I would reinstall everything and use a mm feeler gauge to avoid errors.

you want to get everything set right in the middle of the range they give you for clearance and if its off center any, it should be to the larger gap side of center. you also want them all to be within one number of each other so they all have the same gap.

you can usually shuffle the tappets around to get better results so now that you have them out and all cleaned up so they don't stick together any more, put it all back in and then it will be easy to swap tappets around with the cam still in place.

 

She's all back together again. Way easier to put back together than to take apart. 10 minutes for a cam, only in a Toyota.

 

Grinding them down would be perfectly acceptable. It sounds like you aren't familiar with a surface grinder.

Also for future readers what works well is going to a pick-n-pull type salvage yard for shims beforehand. Grabbing all of the shims out of another motor saves the downtime that ordering a specific size usually brings. I have a complete set of shims in my toolbox and I have never not had a size that will work.

 

I hope you're right, because that'd save me a big headache. That's how these guys did it. At 2:20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzrSAQJOugU

 

these hardened parts need special machining and polishing.

there is a reason machine shops do this work and not somebody doing it in their own garage.

now to figure out how much time you are saving, you need to figure out how much you are going to have to pay a machine shop to do it for you, its cheaper and safer to buy them or as mentioned, go grab a set or two from the salvage yard

 

Psst...I am a machinist. Now please tell me more...

 

and yet you tell people they can do machinist work in their own garage with a grinder

that advise says worlds about you.