Head Gasket Replacement; Valve Question (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Apr 22, 2005
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Here's what's up. I'm replacing the HG on a '93 Cruiser with 190K miles(engine runs like a top, very smooth and strong). I have not removed the head yet. What I am wondering is how I should proceed with regard to the valves. I'm no good with a feeler gage, and don't trust myself to be able to mess with the valve shims without screwing it all up. Should I order new vales and how much are they? Would I still need to order new shims for them? Am I gonna be adjusting my valve lash no matter what?? I looked and could not find a write-up on this proceedure anywhere on Mud. If someone could help me out here that would be really cool. I read about getting the valves tipped before grinding them, but I never heard of this before; can someone illuminate this for me. Is this a possible option for me?

I guess, what I'm asking is, with 190K miles , assuming that I want to keep the truck for ever, and assuming that the vales will need some attention, what is the best course of action? If I need to do something that involves measuring and changing shims, can someone please explain this proceedure? Maybe with pictures? Maybe come do this for me? :p I just want to know what the heck I'm doing before I talk to the guys at the machine shop.

Thanks in advance for any advice!
 
Why are you doing the HG if everything runs good ?
I'm not sure what the valve clearance "maintenance time" is, but I did my HG at 275k and the valve clearances were pretty much in spec, some minor.. "minor" adjustsments, but otherwise wasnt necessary.

"If it ain't broke, dont fix it".

I'd check your compression and everything first, if you havn't already ... if compression is good and even. I'd hold off personally.
 
When you have the valves ground by the machine shop, which you will need at 190k, take the whole head, cams and all to them. they can grind the tips of the valve stems to get everything back in spec. I was offered this service, didn't do it, and wished I had by the time I sourced all the different sizes of shims I needed. Shims are a pain.
 
Although I do agree with the above that if you are showing no symptoms then leave it alone. The only way I would consider doing an HG as PM would be if I was driving into Columbia or up to Alaska or something. If you are showing symptoms and need to do this work, they can do it all at the machine shop. If they can't, then they have no business even working on your head. I just got done doing mine and they ground the valves, replaced the seals, and made whatever adjustments needed to be made in order to set the correct valve lash. You will just need to bring them your cams as well as the entire head assembly. Altogether it cost me 500 bucks. Well worth it if you are serious about keeping the truck.
 
Thanks so much for the helpful replies! I will go ahead and call the machine shop and see if they can do this head. I think they do all the work for the local Toyota dealership.
 
that is a good sign and will mean that they might stock a multitude of shims.
 
I just took my head off of the 93 to a place in Spokane, WA that Idahodoug recommended. They said a valve grind and head resurfacing should run around $500 because this head is relatively complex. However, he tries to make it affordable so he's doing it for $350. The place is called "Cylinder Head Service." I think it's a good thing to do if you already have the head off.

I didn't have any issues with the HG, but the rig has 215K on it and I wanted to do this as PM while I have plenty of time on my hands and a nice, large heated garage to work in. If the HG blows during the next 5 years of residency I'd have to pay someone else to do it because I won't have the time to do it myself. It was a little unnerving tearing apart a perfectly good motor that ran great, but it's better to do it now than be stranded down the road or have to pay 3-4X what it would cost me to do the HG myself.
 
If you want to get your valves adjusted, just take them to some toyota-experienced mechanic and have them adjusted.

Got all mine checked and adjusted for ~125 labor (+shims cost) in Coeur d'Alene. Got the machining elsewhere beforehand.

Took 2 weeks to get the shims shipped from Ohio though... No one in either CDA or Spokane, or anywhere near here, seems to have 1fz shims.
 
If you want to get your valves adjusted, just take them to some toyota-experienced mechanic and have them adjusted.

Got all mine checked and adjusted for ~125 labor (+shims cost) in Coeur d'Alene. Got the machining elsewhere beforehand.

Took 2 weeks to get the shims shipped from Ohio though... No one in either CDA or Spokane, or anywhere near here, seems to have 1fz shims.

Wow, that's cheap. Any idea what the shims cost you?
 
If you have the head tanked, meaning cleaned, make sure you remove both "half moons" on the head beforehand. My machine shop left one at the bottm of the tank. They made good with a new one but cost me time.

Buck
 
Just a side note here. I have the head pulled and it's going to the machine shop today. They do TONS of Toyota heads for the local dealership so they know all about these valve trains.

For people who have never done this or doubt their ability to perform this repair, there is really nothing to it. Well, a lot of patience, a factory service manuel, and time is all it takes. I am actually having FUN! The wiring harness had some stubborn plugs above the starter, but remove the starter, along with most of the rest of the front end of the truck, and you can get to them, and don't forget there is one on the passenger side of the bell housing. So it was no problem to get the harness unplugged and pulled through the intake manifold. I have parts stacked up all over the place because you have to disassemble half the dang truck to get the head off, but it all comes apart pretty easily. If you think it sucks, try working on an MG Midget or something. It could be MUCH worse!

In an earlier thread about doing HG as PM I was a proponent of pulling the whole engine to do the hg. I am still of that opinion. I mean, lets face it, the engine is an oily mess, so is the engine bay. Once you have the thing torn down enough to pull the cylinder head, hell, all you gotta do is unbolt the motor mounts and bell housing and bang, the motor is out and on a stand where it's easy to work on. And then you can haul the truck down and pressure wash the engine bay and engine and parts and stuff and it makes reassembly so much more pleasant.

Unfortunatly I sold my hoist and engine stand (I got away from tinkering and didn't think I'd need them anymore :rolleyes:) so I'm doing this with the block in situ. Putting the head back on sure would be easier with the engine on a stand.......
 
I guess that is one way to look at it. When I did mine I didn't touch the wiring harness or any of the terminations other than the ones that go directly to the head. My exhaust manifolds stayed in the truck as did the lower intake plenum. The head came out just fine with the help of two friends. If I had the engine out on a stand a 1hz would be going in instead. ;)
 
Final Analysis:

Well, we got the truck back together and it runs like a champ!

Car City Engine And Machine in Pensacola Florida did the head/vavle work. Super guys over there and they are real experts with these Toyota heads with the puck style vavle lash adjustments. The engine sounded like a sewing machine before we did the HG, it is silent now. Woot! BTW, there was hardly any carbo build-up on the pistons. This engine burns VERY clean!

We followed the book and pulled the wireing harness, not too bad once you get the lower intake disco'd and pulled back so you can get to the plugs. Get a set of female torx drivers. Trust me on this. You only 2 or three of the set, but fooling with the exhaust manifold is IMPOSSIBLE with the studs in the head. Having two 6' roll out tool boxes full of tools helps, and these were the only tools I needed to buy for this job. Other useful tools might be a stuby ratchet with the swiveling handle, extensions up to 36" and QUALITY swivels ( the swiveling sockets are cool, and you should probably get a 10, 12, 14, 17 and 19mm). You will need a 32mm wrench for the EGR nut and a 30MM for the crank pully bolt (to rotate the engine, we did not pull the harmonic balancer or the timing case cover). I needed a cheater bar for the exhaust and 1/2" drive flex. They were stubborn. A big metric tap and die set is handy for fixing the odd dorked up thread on a bolt or for chasing the bolt holes in the head before reassembly.

The onyl things we forgot to hook back up were the starter and the oil float switch, which were quickly realized and remedied. The darnedest thing was when she hit the (plugged in) starter, the danged ole thing just started right up! Took it a second to settle down into a steady idle and sat there quietly humming to it's self.

This is a big job. I had mountains of parts stacked up all around by the time we had the head stripped off. The headlights and turn signals have to be removed for instance to get the radiator out. It just gets rediculous to think about, so just buckle down and diassemble the truck and do the job.

We deleated the PHH and routed a water line around the brake booster.

It may interest you dudes to know that my little wife did 15 to 20% of the labor on this. She rocks! Thanks for all your help, hun.

Well, I guess that's it. Final cost came in right at $1000. This is high because we bought a bunch of "while you're in there" stuff like a new water pump and fan clutch, etc. Thanks Dan for the parts. Thanks to the people who read and responded to this thread. Glad this job is DONE!
 

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