Valve Adjustment 1FZ-FE - WHEN????

[kmcd]

How does one know when a valve adjustment is necessary on the 1FZ-FE engine? Has anyone experienced a noticeable difference after having this done.

My lx450 has 178k, and I'm guessing this has never been done. It's a little rough at idle and I wonder if this would help. It needs a new valve cover gasket, so it would be a good time to do it. My mechanic says $650 should cover all the parts and labor, his book says 6 hours labor.

 

[Tyler93]

Find a new mechanic.
Way too pricy for just a valve adjust and gasket.
Can you hear valve noise?
Mine has 246K and has never been adjusted to my knowledge.
I just did the valve cover gasket on mine, but wasn't even tempted to adjust the valves since it is running so well and quietly.
I'm not saying it is not a bad idea, I just think these motors don't need it as frequently as some.
Have you ruled out belt/tensioner noise?
Best of luck.

 

[Tyler93]

Now that I have reread your post, after being so quick to comment, I notice you said it runs rough at idle. Is this vehicle new to you? The roughness at idle is more normally associated with plugs/wires/cap/ gen. maintenance stuff than valves needing adjusted. Could you give more info about what has been done to it? When these motors run rough at idle it isn't generally due to Valves out of adjustment.
Tyler

 

[OGBeno]

Valve adjust intervals are 100K kilometers.

 

[Turtle Master]

No rockers or screws to adjust, the cam hits a bucket that sits on the spring. You have a vacuum leak and need a tune-up,best guess. Leave the valve cover alone untill you need a head gasket.

 

[kmcd]

Now that I have reread your post, after being so quick to comment, I notice you said it runs rough at idle. Is this vehicle new to you? The roughness at idle is more normally associated with plugs/wires/cap/ gen. maintenance stuff than valves needing adjusted. Could you give more info about what has been done to it? When these motors run rough at idle it isn't generally due to Valves out of adjustment.
Tyler

Thanks for the tips... I've only had the truck 2 months, and the plug wires are stamped 2008, cap and rotor in good shape, and I have changed the plugs. Other then change all the fluids, that's the extent of the work I've done on it (so far). It's not terribly rough at idle, but does seem to have a consistent miss.

I don't hear any valve ticking, mostly just unsure of how important it is for the longevity of the engine.

 

[Tyler93]

Thanks for the tips... I've only had the truck 2 months, and the plug wires are stamped 2008, cap and rotor in good shape, and I have changed the plugs. Other then change all the fluids, that's the extent of the work I've done on it (so far). It's not terribly rough at idle, but does seem to have a consistent miss.

I don't hear any valve ticking, mostly just unsure of how important it is for the longevity of the engine.

Also Check intake hose for cracking underneath, a fairly common feature on these trucks and could cause some issues like what you are experiencing.

 

[Turtle Master]

Hello Mr head gasket. Its not that hard, don't let them scare you.

 

[outdoort]

Kinda wondering the same thing on my 1997 80. Mine runs fine except for gas mileage that has over a few months gone down to about 10.5 mpg. I need to do a tune up and I thought I could adjust them so to possibly gain a improvement in mpg.
Anyone adjusted their valves and seen a mpg increase?

 

[OGBeno]

Anyone adjusted their valves and seen a mpg increase?

No. No increase in anything except a well running 1FZ-FE.



As stated above, factory valve adjust intervals are every 100,000 KMs.

 

[inkpot]

No rockers or screws to adjust, the cam hits a bucket that sits on the spring. You have a vacuum leak and need a tune-up,best guess. Leave the valve cover alone untill you need a head gasket.

Been seeing a lot of these rigs starting to age enough that many of them are weeping pretty bad on the valve cover gasket. Not a hard job to replace them. Good time to replace the 6 spark plug tube seals also.

 

[rc51kid]

I just want to point out my experience. Today i did my valve cover gasket and distributor gasket. Both were leaking. Both snapped in two like a crumbly cookie. They were completely brittle. My truck is a 9 with 180,000 miles. I also checked my valves. I have no idea if anyone has ever adjusted them but i kind of doubt it. Every intake was .008 except one, every exhaust was .012 except 1. All totally within spec.

 

[darren8413]

How does one know when a valve adjustment is necessary on the 1FZ-FE engine? Has anyone experienced a noticeable difference after having this done.

My lx450 has 178k, and I'm guessing this has never been done. It's a little rough at idle and I wonder if this would help. It needs a new valve cover gasket, so it would be a good time to do it. My mechanic says $650 should cover all the parts and labor, his book says 6 hours labor.

Valves on a 1FZFE should be shimmed every 30,000km`s on dual fuel cars and I wouldn`t exceed 50,000km`s on Petrol, Your Mechanic is spot on! 6 hrs to do the job properly, the job requires measuring all shim clearances,removal of throttle body, rocker cover and both cam shafts, removal of all shims, measuring thicknesses and replacing with correct sized shims, then reassemble cams and recheck clearances, then reassembly! Shimming your valves is a MUST if you wanna prolong valve life span (especially on LPG). Rough idle is an indication! I know it`s an old thread but assuming you haven`t yet done the job, I suggest you do

 

[Howard705]

My '97 checked at 160k-all perfect-within less than .001"

 

[elhombre]

There is a pretty good history of our cruisers having an unexplained miss at idle. Mine had it before and after my HG was done. Hasn't gotten any worse over time (50k miles). Done lots of searching looking for a fix, but doesnt seem to affect milage. 12.5-13.5 mpg, 75 mph, loaded.

"Generally" valves needing adjustment will be noisey (loud tapping) when cold, and get quieter when the engine warms up and the valve stems expands some. Not saying it shouldn't be checked.

 

[Kernal]

For grins I called a local dealer to ask the cost of adjusting the valves, $1200, add replacing the valve seals, $1800 + parts. When replacing the valve seals their book adds the hours to remove the head. FWIW.

 

[darren8413]

A vehicle on LPG will be harder on valve seats and valves stretch so dont be waiting for tappet noise? It's the opposite, you lose clearance, therefore engine runs better cold and worse hot as everything expands! Kernal, you could replace the head for that lol

 

[FJZ80AZ]

Getting ready to adjust my valves. Created an excel spreadsheet to help determine what shims I need. Let me know if anyone wants a copy.

 

[Howard705]

Getting ready to adjust my valves. Created an excel spreadsheet to help determine what shims I need. Let me know if anyone wants a copy.

Why not just pull the valve cover and check them? They should all wear fairly evenly. Some of the wear may even be on the shims so may even have to measure used shims to compare to new. Seems to me the most efficient package is to pull head and do HG and stem seals-if valve/seats/clearances look ok clean/resurface head-reassemble. IF valves/seats need it-grind-set lash. HG is 100x bigger concern than valve clearance-most people would pull cams to set-so while in there...

 

[skhochay]

no need to adjust valves on this rigs till 300K miles or ever , your block gasket will burn faster, so do it then.