mzeitlin

Does the 2000 ES300 have hydraulic valve lifters?

I hear a valve tapping when the engine is cold and wonder if valve adjustment is needed?
The car runs great otherwise.

(looks like from the '97 manual that the lifters use shims?)

PFB

Valve adjustments on this car are part of the regularly scheduled maintenance. I'm not at home now and don't remember off hand at what milage Lexus recommends that they be done, (I think every 60k miles)

If you have your owner's manuals it's mentioned there, or someone can chime in and provide the exact milage requirements.

On the other hand I don't know of anyone that has actually done it, but many probably have.

Phil

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

How many miles are on your car? What oil are you using? How did you conclude that it's the lifters?

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

this is typical of all toyota product... Mine's been making that noise since i started driving, and since my old man initially picked it up at 75k.

6N1SC

iTrader: (3)

Common on 1mz's, how many miles you got?

mzeitlin

The car has 93,000 miles. I am the original owner. The oil has been changed every 5,000 miles with 5w-30 Mobil 1 for the first 70,000 miles and 5w-30 mobil 1 high-mileage thereafter.

I don't know if this engine has 'lifters' (hence my question). The valve tapping noise occurs when the engine is cold - after it warms up, the sound fades away. This just started about 2 or so months ago.

From what I have read so far, the engine uses shims to gap the lifters properly.

imherenow

i too had this noise for like ages but no problem in driving or performance. It was Lexus mechanic and people here @ CL that told me they were dealing with lifters and said to check for them/repair is an expensive labor and will take lot of time. To reduce the noise try switching engine oil to different brands and see if the noise subsides. It has happened to me
However in my case the noise is there when its warm. Here i had taken a video. tell me if the noise is similar to what you are having. (check the video description for specific timing)

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

Try going back to regular Mobil 1 5W30. I've never used High Mileage oil, and my car has 190k. At 93,000 miles, it's barely broken in.

randal

Yes, it uses shims and its a major job to change them out. You have to pull the cams from the heads to get to the shims which means you have to remove the timing belt as well. However, if you have 93k miles, you are due for a T-belt (if not already done).

Now, if this just started 2 months ago, might that correspond to an oil change? And I am not sure if you mean it taps just until oil pressure is reached (within 5 seconds or so) or if it actually takes 5 minutes. Oil filters with leaky anti-drainback valves are notorious for long oil pressure build up when starting a cold engine.

Also, is there a possibility that you are hearing a fuel injector clicking rather than a valve? Sometimes injectors can get noisy.

brucelee1

iTrader: (2)

I highly doubt you need a VA. Try a ful synthetic motor oil in the correct weight. I use Pennzoil Platinum. My ES has 112K miles and no worries, no noise.

PFB

Yes indeed it could be injector noise and not valve noise. Try an injector cleaner/lubricant in the fuel tank.

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

That's a good point. OP, what filter are you using?

brucelee1

iTrader: (2)

I use the Toyota filter and there is no such noise present. Cheap and easy.