5VZ-FE valve adjustment

Hello all,
My engine has ticked ever since I bought it at 146k. The engine also has a strange tick that is more severe during a hot start but goes away after driving about a block. My main question is regarding to how crucial valve adjustments are to these engines? I know that on the 3RZ,2RZ and 3VZ not performing an adjustment can lead to big trouble with the valves burning up. The truck runs awesome with good power and routinely gets around 20 mpg in the summer with mixed driving it just ticks away while doing so. I've heard its kind of time consuming to perform an adjustment on these engines and beings that the truck is my daily, I don't have anything else to drive in the mean time. Thanks!

 

my 04 ticks like crazy I do regular synthetic oil changes ive noticed no performance issues cause of the ticking,so once it warms up it goes away,no problemo

 

My valve covers leak in the winter, so I'm probably going to get that done at the local stealership this year. Might as well have them do a valve adjustment while they're in there. I have 155k. No ticking that I can tell. I have been running 0W-30 for the last 30k miles.

 

Thats the famous Toyota tick you're hearing. Mine does the same.

 

These motors remind me of the 5 valve yamaha bike motors. They sound like a bag of bolts but just about run forever.

 

Why not do the valve cover gaskets yourself? Really not a hard job. And IIRC, my dealership wanted a ridiculous amount for the job.

 

how does one go about adjusting the valves?

 

Because I want the valves re-shimmed at the same time and I don't want to do that myself because I don't know how. You have to remove the intake manifold to replace the gaskets, also something I don't want to do. Look up the FSM on it. It doesn't look like a weekend mechanic can do it.

 

How to adjust valve clearance:

http://www.yotatech.com/f128/5vz-fe-3rz-fe-2rz-fe-valve-adjustment-tech-226997/

 

I'm mainly concerned with burning a valve. I'm in the same boat of having either the dealer do it or a reputable shop. I would go and try it myself if I had something else to drive but I don't. I'm a pansy haha.

 

That's the thing. If you fuck it up, you're out way more money. If they fuck it up, it's under warranty at the dealer. Just make sure they replace the gaskets too.

 

Even if you can't do the actual adjustment (only necessary if they are out of adjustment), you can check the clearances yourself. Done the same as in the older engines, using a feeler gauge and manually rotating the engine. If they are in spec, then adjustment is not needed, saving yourself $500