lexusdog

iTrader: (1)

For anyone looking to replace a lifter bucket from one of the drivers side cylinders, I was able to do so without removing the timing belt.

I had a valve tap from the number 5 cylinder, one of the lifters on the exhaust side had some wear on the inside causing a very large .044 gap when checking the lash between the cam and lifter shim. I first tried a thicker shim which did not work.
The problem with these lifter buckets is that the center of the inside of the bucket, where it fits over the valve spring, gets worn. This is a weak point on these 1mz-fe engines. Shimming it will not fix the issue.

To fix the problem and replace the lifter bucket without removing the timing belt, I had to get a bit creative. What I did was I removed all of the cam caps on the exhaust cam except the last one closest to the belt, and all but the last cap on the passengers side of the intake cam. I loosened the caps on both cams on the ends closest to the timing belt, but only loosened the bolts half way so there would not be excess stress in that area. After the caps are loose and the others are removed, you can slowly lift the cams enough together to be able to pull the lifter bucket on the 5th cylinder and replace it. A magnet comes in handy at this point to pull the lifter up out of the head.
Replace the lifter with a new one along with a new shim, slowly lower the cams back down into place without moving the inside gears out of alignment, then put all the cam caps back down in the order they were removed with assembly lube on the inside cap journals, and torque them down to 12ft lbs from the middle going outward.

Prior to starting this, make sure cylinder one is at TDC and the cam gears inside the head are at 3 and 9 oclock and the tabs are lined up.

Here are a few pictures showing the worn inside of a cam cap and a good one.

Good one on the left, worn one on the right:


Good inside bucket:


Worn inside bucket, take note of the wear in center of cap


Back in business and in spec:

LeX2K

Neat, would not have thought you can remove the bucket without pulling the camshafts. There is a special tool for the job that Toyota makes but who has that? I wonder if the 2VZ-FE (distant cousin to the 1MZ) has the same issue, I have lifter noise on my Camry. Doesn't affect how the car runs but it bugs me.

synrgy350

Wow I'm really interested in this, I have the same problem with an exhaust lifter being waaay out of spec. In fact, I placed custom shims under my factory shim in order to make up the difference. They seem to be holding up OK, but I do want to get the lifter replaced eventually. Do you know how much material there is between where the top of the lifter and the bottom side, where valve stem sits? I'm wondering if its possible for the valve stem to drill through the lifter completely. If so, I should replace it the way you did. What do you mean by the cam gears need to be at 3 and 9 o'clock. Thanks for posting this!

-Lawrence

charley240

iTrader: (6)

They cam gears have dots that need to line up before removing the cam caps. You really should have a service manual as there is a loosening and tightening sequence for the cam bolts. Also the sub gear on the cam pulley is spring tensioned.
I just rebuilt a 1mz abouy a month ago, and i would not recommend this method since there is a lever arm on the cam pulleys. You could pissibly snap your camshaft when tightening because of the tension from the belt
Cool method, but still very gutsy
Charley

lexusdog

iTrader: (1)

Synergy350: This trick will only work on the number 5 cylinder intake and exhaust valves, maybe the middle cylinder as well, but you will have to raise the cams up a good bit to get the proper clearance. The exhaust inner cam gear also has a threaded 10mm hole that you will need to put a long 10mm bolt through because it is spring loaded. Once the crank is turned to TDC on the #1 cylinder, those inner gears will have marks on them and they will be facing 3 and 9 oclock. The 10mm bolt can be put in on the top of the exhuast gear where the hole should be if all of your timing marks are lined up. Once the cam caps were off, I lifted slowly from the gears until I had enough room to remove the lifter bucket. A strong magnet comes in handy at this point to pull the lifter and shim up and out. The cams need to lifted about 4 inches or so. Make sure that the cams gears do not turn. I also left the last cam cap in place on the passenger side and only loosened it about half way so the cam did not pop out on the intake side.

The inner lifter bucket will wear quite a bit in the center where the top of the valve spring pushes up on it. The shim will work temporarily but replacing the bucket fixes it properly.

I took a few more close up pictures of the good lifter bucket and the worn one.

Good lifter:


Worn lifter (take notice of the center wear it is worn in about .030mm):


Top of the valve on the right that presses on the center of the inside lifter bucket and makes an indentation:


Good luck and be careful as this trick is not for the average mechanic.

lexusdog

iTrader: (1)

I concur, gutsy indeed. But with patience and if you take your time, it can be done. The whole procedure only took about 4 hours, but it was the 2nd time I had it torn down. First time was to put in a thicker shim that only worked for a few days because of the extent of the damage.

synrgy350

Wow, this is really great info, thanks for posting the pictures. I probably won't be able to lift the cam to replace my lifter because its the middle cylinder that has a bad lifter. I would probably end up breaking the cam trying to lift it so high. I used a 1 mm shim underneath a factory 3.25 mm shim to get the clearance in spec. It's actually held up fine for over 20,000 miles. I think if it starts ticking again, I'll remove the belt and cams to replace the lifter. I suppose there is a lot of material still left on that lifter considering its gone so long already!

-Lawrence

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

How 'bad' is 'bad' to know the difference between the tick? When my compressor turns on the tick gets worse, but that is due to the compressor. The motor runs fairly quiet, IMO.

I was under the impression the belt is easy to remove on these things, if it took four hours, why not just drop the belt and spend maybe an hour more?

This is neat, if i still have the car until my next timing belt interval, and if need be I'll swap some of these out.

synrgy350

When one lifter had a clearance of more than .8mm it sounded like a diesel. Shimming it with a custom shim under the factory shim has made the engine quiet at operating temperature. The ac compressor shouldn't change the sound of the tick. If it does, you may have a problem with your ac clutch or pulley. Also, my bad lifter is on the back bank which means the intake plenum has to be removed. Taking the timing belt out, the plenum, valve cover and cams is too much for a car with over 230,000 miles.

imherenow

i was been told the same thing that the lifter bucket is outta adjustment..so i had taken a video if it :

synrgy350

I'm not sure if that is a lifter that needs adjustment. A lifter with too big a clearance can be heard at all RPMs, not just a specific band. Also, it sounds more like a rattle, not a clear tap like with the bucket lifters. Did this start after a timing belt change or anything? Perhaps some kind of VVTI issue?

imherenow

well that noise been there for a very long time. and nothing to do with timing belt. i did mentioned to the dealer and even went with them for a test drive and they too heard the noise but none of them could come up with a quick diagnosis. so i knew they would have to investigate and open the engine and so on which would be $$$. so i have left it to that.
Actually it was the two moderators/ tech here in the CL forum that mentioned and was very confident that the lifter bucket is out of adj. and when i saw this thread i thought i had to pitch it