Parts list for Valve Cover Gasket replacement?

I am planning on doing a valve adjustment soon for my 98 4runner. I understand it might only take an hour to check but a friend of mine who did a valve adjustment on his 3RZ engine told me you have to potentially plan on having your rig down for a while. If you have to make adjustments, the shim sizes you need might not be readily available at your local Toyota dealer so you'll have to order them and wait until they arrive.

 

@gunny1005 got me all shims needed in about 2 days

 

Does he work for a dealership? My local dealer can get parts that quick too if their local warehouse has them in stock. Now that I have 2 vehicles, I can have one vehicle down for a while. When you did your valve adjustment, how many miles did you have on your engine and were any of the clearances so far off that you definitely avoided a serious problem like burning up a valve?

 

I had 1 exhaust that was just getting too tight and out of spec and 5 others were on the edge of spec. A few intakes were waring loose too which sucks power but wouldn’t causr a failure.
Gunny hooked me up with all oem valve shims at half the price of my locally dealerships so I adjusted all my exhaust to the loose end of spec and intake to the tight end of spec. Painless procedure once already in there it’s just tedious

 

He works for camelback Toyota

 

How hard is it to check/shim the valves? Any write ups or videos out there? I have a 3.4

 

I wouldn't worry about the bolts unless you overtorqued yours, like I did with mine. If you overtorque you risk snapping the bolt heads off. Pretty sure mine are weakened from overtorquing so that's why I ordered new ones

 

YouTube tacoma valve clearances tons of viedos also haynes has agood write up on it

 

New washers are more important than the bolts

 

Well that's a given since they're part rubber

 

Cool, thanks for getting back to me. I really want to film this in the next couple months. I love Camelback Toyota. I order most of my parts through them and refer people on our YouTube channel all the time to buy parts through them. Does Gunny do this for everyone or just his friends?

I have one more question for you. Could you share with me the tools you used for this job? I bought this kit on Amazon:

Schley Products 88250 Valve Adjusting Tools

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0014DF1AG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I also bought a micrometer and feeler gauges.

 

Yup the tiny tool in that kit is great to hold the shim down but the tool to compress it suck a big dull/deburred flat head screwdriver works way better if you have any questions/concerns pm me and i can explain how to use the screwdriver on the phone if needed. Basically you stick the flathead under the cam and lift like a lever to compress the valve then use the little tool in that kit to hold it compressed while you pry out the valve shim with a tiny but rigid flathead or a pick.. also a strong magnet pen is invaluable for getting the shim out once uou get it lose with the pick

 

@gunny1005 does great deals for anyone just pm him with what you need and be respectful of when he’s not in the office... obviously the dude can’t work 24/7 but sometimes in the gunny thread some people seem to expect him too

 

Also most shims are actually labeled on the back side so if you can find one with the labels on it it’s a good way ti ensure your measuring thickness correctly

 

Alright, thanks for sharing all this. I'll contact you when the time comes and I need some help.

 

@gunny1005 gives the deals to everyone on here!

 

Fwiw low mileage older cars typically have more valves issues ect because when only being used for shorts drives a high percentage of the mileage ends up being high wear miles... also sometimes more residue builds on valves from the lower operating temps

 

About the pull the trigger on parts. Do I really need to buy new plenum gaskets...?

 

It is recommended, with that said, they are metal, I’ve reused mine two or three times now as I was fighting a stubborn leak with one of the rear half moons and cam cap so I had to remove the intake several times. I personally have had no issues or signs of vac. Leak by re using.

 

Tip of the day for your parts for this project.

Break out the dremel with the wand.

The wire brush wheel will make short work of cleaning all the old gasket material that’s stuck everywhere and will look squeaky clean.

The half moons have a ridge that fits into the block,
When removing then PULL STRAIGHT UP!
If you wiggle them the ridge can break off.
If so you can get new ones from the dealership.
I broke one and I wiggled just a little to try and get it free.

The dremel wire wheel will clean the half moons up quickly too.
You need to clean ALL the old gasket material out from any contact areas