Hey!
I'm thinking about doing the timing belt, water pump, and pretty much anything else preventative on my 98 GS400 while I have it apart. Does anyone have any advice for a 1UZ VVTI timing job?

I watched a few YouTube videos and have a general understanding, but I'm also going to find a service manual to follow the process.

On a separate note ive been hearing a bit of noise under acceleration that sounds like a lifter tick. Are the valve shims easy to adjust? The car has 78k miles and a great service history.

Ive done a bit of work to it so far, mainly lowering springs, a strut brace, a full suspension refresh, and a cat-back exhaust, so I'm pretty comfortable with tools, but not with engine work.

Thanks for any advice!

 

Looking good! Car Care Nut on youtube has great timing videos to reference. They might all be 3uz but the 1uz is similiar enough in that regard.

 

The valves can be directly adjusted, you don’t have mess any shims are the buckets.
U should do the spark plug tube seals, and valve cover gaskets cause they’ll be leaking oil unless they were replaced recently?
Also the power steering system is probably going to be leaking from several places, so you’ll want to inspect the whole system while u have access to it, the pump, hoses and O-rings get brittle and start leaking and leaks fluid fluid into the alternator, so you should give it a good degreasing while it’s out. Be really cautious about the wire harness, the plugs are brittle and can break easily, any that break can be replaced, you’ll find part #’s on them and you can use them to locate replacement plugs.
I would suggest doing the spark plugs, serp belt, and the sensors that don’t work as well when they get older. The O2 sensors, coolant temp sensors, knock sensors, throttle position sensor, and any other ones you can think of