Anyone in the East Texas area by chance (Houston/Beaumont) that may be on this site that wants to do a valve and timing job on my 1991 FJ80, I'll pay? I know its a far fetch request but you never know. I don't mind taking it to a shop but I don't trust many mechanic shops and I don't know or understand enough about this to want to attempt it myself. If there is anyone shoot me a pm or post.
3FE valve adjustment (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter theside00
- Start date
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Many thanks for posting this up. I successfully adjusted mine last night. Add a lot of extra time the first try. That valve cover doesn't come off or on too easily, so make sure to remove all of those vac lines and clear the area.
Also a great time to replace the PCV valve and grommet. I also cleaned up the valve cover and engine block a bit. New valve cover was a must as mine was leaking and cracked in various spots.
Next time will be must faster.
Oh, a bump starter didn't work for me. Pulling the plugs and pulling on the belt worked fine. A second set of eyes to view the TDC winow was needed.
Also a great time to replace the PCV valve and grommet. I also cleaned up the valve cover and engine block a bit. New valve cover was a must as mine was leaking and cracked in various spots.
Next time will be must faster.
Oh, a bump starter didn't work for me. Pulling the plugs and pulling on the belt worked fine. A second set of eyes to view the TDC winow was needed.
NCFJ
Supporting Vendor
Are you sure it's not pinging? Generally detonation is the cause when sound goes away with higher octane.
John, dude, hold on. Your noise under load goes away with 93 octane, that's what you told me. We discussed that it's not "crazy valve sounds" but pinging, which was one of the possibilities from the start.
I'm sure that the valve clatter at idle doesn't go away with different fuel.
I'm sure that the valve clatter at idle doesn't go away with different fuel.
Doing some more research.... knocking definitely a better possibility. Seems the place to start though is adjusting the valves, so we can rule that out. Based on the location of the sound and the characteristics of the sound, made me almost sure it was the valves. Now with this new development I'm lost again. Getting
Doing some more research.... knocking definitely a better possibility. Seems the place to start though is adjusting the valves, so we can rule that out. Based on the location of the sound and the characteristics of the sound, made me almost sure it was the valves. Now with this new development I'm lost again. Getting
We talked about this on the phone. Let me list it out:
1. When you brought it over, I noticed excessive valve clatter at idle. At that point, I recommended you adjust the valves. We had Derek's 80 there to compare against and confirmed that your valves are out of adjustment.
2. You brought us for a ride and demonstrated the problem. We discussed the valves possibly causing the noise, but we also discussed the cause being pinging/knocking.
3. You called and said that the noise while driving went away when you put 93 octane in it. This confirms that you were experiencing pinging/knocking. Your valve clatter at IDLE has not gone away, correct?
What are you getting frustrated with? Take it one step at a time.
Your r
Wife put the pressure on when she made the executive decision to take the FJ all the way to ATL and back
Your right, just getting home from a long week at work. Forgot about all that. I'm wondering if the timing being slightly off is causing the knock. Thus doing the valves to solve the valve noise, then the timing to tackle the knock might eliminate all the problem??
Wife put the pressure on when she made the executive decision to take the FJ all the way to ATL and back
I do think so. Valves at idle, knocking under load. Any experience with 3fe knocking?
Yes. That's what we talked about on the phone a week or two ago.
If you can't remember this stuff then write it down
NCFJ
Supporting Vendor
I am not a 3FE guy. There is a reason I put Chevy V8s in Land Cruisers
That said I would take Johnny's advice and adjust the valves and then play with the timing.
Timing that's too far advanced can do it. Follow the FSM and set the timing to what Toyota recommends. You'll need a timing light to do it correctly. It's not difficult but getting a good view of the timing marks through the window can be tricky on a 3FE because of hoses and stuff.
Thank you!
Since this is sort of covering a lot of territory, I thought I'd throw in a little tip I've come to. Once things are at TDC, paint a strip of white paint (white nail polish works well) on the flywheel marker, and another on the bottom of the belt pulley wheel up front where the crank nut is, along with a match-mark on something stationary at the front of the oil pan. Also mark your distributor where the rotor points to #1 at TDC. When I need to get it to TDC, I just pull the distributor cover, put a big wrench on the crank nut, and rotate until everything lines up. A flashlight for the flywheel window is a must. Pretty quick and easy, and makes rotating 180 a no-brainer. I've come to this knowledge also chasing the elusive 'excess valve train noise'...
To add on to that, the crank rotates twice for every cycle, so any time you hit that mark, you could be at TDC or 360* out from TDC. This makes a difference when installing the distributor.
Easy way to check to make sure you're at TDC is to line up the mark on the flywheel with the pin in the window, then pull off the distributor cap and make sure the rotor is pointed in the direction of cylinder #4.
Not trying to be a smart ass here, but my understanding is that when the distributor rotor is pointed at the #4 cylinder, that's when you're gauging the second set of rocker arms, not #1 TDC. If I'm wrong, please correct me, I've been doing it incorrectly.
You are incorrect. Check out the dizzy install procedure. TDC is when the dizzy rotor is pointed at #4:
https://www.ih8mud.com/tech/pdf/FSM-3FE/IMG_0150.pdf
Seems like you're talking about something else. What @OSS posted is what we're saying, and is what the FSM shows. When the distributor rotor electrode is pointed at cylinder number 4, you're at, or very near, TDC.
