2.7L Valve Clearance Check

I've been reading about these engines and reading about how they are interference engines and I have quite a few miles on mine, without knowing if it has had the valve clearance checked on it anytime recent, I have been wondering how often do you guys check valve clearance and could the valves come so out of adjustment that the engine catastrophically fails?

 

Most owners probably never check them. Even my Toyota dealer rarely does a clearance check. I have not done mine, and I'm at 165K, but I do plan on checking.

There was a thread recently about starting a clearance tool kit with shims that members could pass along to each other, but I've not seen an update lately. You would take the shims you need, and add your unused shims back to the kit. It should work except maybe for shims on the extreme ends of the range.

 

You don't need the shims just to CHECK the clearances, only to ADJUST them.
Checking is done the traditional way, with a feeler gauge and appropriate rotations of the motor ( keeping your fingers crossed ).

Adjusting is a pain, even with the special tools. After checking mine (they were off), I paid to have them adjusted ($$$ ).
Luckily, my old Corolla (also with shim/bucket valve train) checked out fine, and did not need adjusting.

 

I don't have personal experience with this. What I've gathered is that the valves end up too tight as they wear and aren't adjusted. This excessive tightness can cause hairline stress fractures in the aluminum head. So as to catastrophic failure, prolly not. But a possible expensive failure, yes.

 

cruiserguy has it right... if an exhaust valve is not just right I will make the effort to get it right, sometimes it is a battle to get the right shim given a limited selection in your supply, they guy next to you, the guy next to him, your parts department, the next Toyota dealership over. The job only pays so much and the shop foreman, service manager, service writer, customer want it YESTERDAY and for next to free. Damn, I am gonna have nightmares over all of that BS I walked away from years ago.

 

I just recently checked mine for the first time (230k miles). I had 5 valves out of spec and most of the other ones were just barely within spec. It's not a hard job its just time consuming. Some guys on here recommend checking them every 50k miles.

 

I checked and adjusted mine at 290k. All of the intake clearance was within spec and only half of the exhaust valves were slightly(.002") under spec. I ended up surface grinding all of my exhaust shims to the upper end of the spec. Here's the thread: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/valve-lash-results-290k-miles.495565/

Like folks have said, checking it is pretty easy and provides an excellent opportunity to replace the valve cover gasket.

How many miles on your truck?

 

280k

 

I'd say its time to check.

 

Clearance check DIY video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9QJ_zVlznA

 

Excellent Thank youyou very much

 

Subd

 

I've wondered about this ever since I got my Taco. Everyone on this forum says they wear tight. I know a guy that was a Toyota mechanic at a dealer for 20+ years and he says they wear loose. The service manager at my local Toyota dealer also says they wear loose. He says that Toyota told them to not mess with the valve adjustment unless they are making noise.

This explains my confusion on the subject. The service manager at the dealer did say that it's not impossible for a valve to get tight with miles but the chances of it are basically slim to none. Therefore, since this is my only vehicle and DD I'm going to just have to arrange a day where I can take it to the dealer and have them check everything out. Which isn't cheap. It's a very time consuming job and something I simply don't have the time to do outside since I have no access to a garage. Not that I would want to mess with it even if I had access to a garage.

If everyone on this forum is right and the service manager and the mechanic I know are wrong then I'll just remain confused on the subject until I have the dealer get in there and measure everything. Mine has 171,800 on it now. The reason I trust this particular dealer is because they have talked me out of every single part I ever wanted to buy that I thought I could keep around in stock for the day I need one. That would be u-joints, radiator hoses, thermostat, alternator, starter, covers for the CV joints. The starter was the only thing they said will need replacement some day. Clearly, they have been right. This Tacoma has needed very little since I bought it 4 years ago with 119,000 miles on it.

 

They run tight.. I replaced all my values just over 100k.. I burnt them up because they got tight.. I heard the same thing and paid the price.. just trying to help you out!

 

I only have 205k on mine and just burnt a valve on Cyl 3. I didn't realize these required the attention that the other Toyota engines don't, but lesson learned.

 

My ex-local dealer told me the same info. "In 30 years I have never seen a vehicle that needed a valve adjustment". I made them check the clearance and they were tight. "This is a first for me". I ended up adjusting them myself.

 

So, what were the symptoms of the tight valves?

 

I'm not sure what the symptoms are but I know my truck ran a lot better after I adjusted them. If they're too tight for too long you could get "burnt valves".