When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I have a 2007 with 91,000 miles that I purchased new. I have performed all the scheduled maintenance items over the past seven years at home with the exception of a couple items beyond my scope for which I brought it to the dealer.
I am hearing ticking noises from the engine which tells me that my valves need adjusting. In the service manual it has recommended checking the valve adjustment as 60,000 miles which I did not know how to do.
Has anyone performed their own valve adjustment on this engine themselves? If so, can you provide insight and guidance.
I called the dealer and they want $1,072.00 for this task. I'm sure their profit margin is enormously gynormous.
Donaldp, I recommend you call a mechanic who works on Lexus vehicles other than the dealer. I have done this in the past to do a pulse check on what a third party mechanic would charge to perform the same type of task. Since you live in CA, try Luxury Motorworks.
when you have hydraulic lifers there is no real adjustment for them. the lifter may not be pumping up and going bad or the cam lobe is going bad. this can happen.
These use hydraulic lifters so maybe there's a lifter that is not pumping up fully. I'm not sure what adjustment, per se, is available.
i see. So with hydraulic lifters there is no valve adjustment needed because the hydraulic system keeps the valves at the appropriate alignment. Do I understand this correctly?
if a lifter collapse you wound hear it. do you hear a lifter taping or making noise. if you hear a taping sound add a can of lifter cleaner see if that stops the tap. if not you have bad lifter or bad cams or both.
A sticking fuel injector can also sound like a noisy valve...my wife's VW CC sounds like a diesel after a few months of commuter driving. I just run some fuel injector cleaner through it (I like Lucas FI cleaner, but any will do) and it purrs like a kitten again in no time.....
I just wait until the gas tank is down to about 1/4 tank, dump about1/2 the bottle of Fuel Injection cleaner (6-8 oz ) in the gas tank, and then run it until the fuel light comes on (might run a little rough during this phase, but that's normal). I then dump the rest of the bottle into the tank & fill it up like normal. Within a few miles it will be running nice & smooth.
Its not a bad idea to throw a bottle of FI cleaner in the gas tank about every four or five tankfuls to keep it running clean.
Wow. It's amazing the bad and mis-information you can get on the internet.
I have the factory repair manual.
The 2004 SC-430 definitely does NOT have hydraulic lifters. It has cam over bucket and shim lifters. It looks to be virtually the exact same system which has been used in the 4-cylinder Camry since 1987.
Noisy lifters are likely not an indication of a need to check valve clearances, as the concern with valve clearances is valves getting too tight, not loose. Ticking noises are probably something else.
Tight valves=burned valves, particularly exhausts. Tight valves are not noisy, but can cause poor idle.
Our SC430 has 95,000 miles and we've never had the valve clearances checked. I never did on my Camry either. My understanding based on reputation is that the Toyota valve clearances rarely need adjusting. The reason is that with the 4-valve/cylinder bucket lifters the spring load on the valve seats is low and the valve seats don't really wear.
In order to check the clearances, the valve covers and a lot of extraneous items need to be moved out of the way. If the valve clearances are out of spec, the cams have to be removed. $1,000 estimate doesn't surprise me at all. Shims are probably $40 each but it would be rare that you would need more than a few.
Personally, our SC430 runs like new, and I'm not going to worry about it.
07-16-14, 01:47 PM
Valve Adjustment
