They are press in, you would have a hell of time unless you remove the heads. I admire the effort you are making but you may be forced to pull them off and do this on a bench

 

Verdict is in.... As the experts suggested the valve guides are worn on cylinder 5. I can rock the intake valve stems side to side a tiny bit with my fingers. Cylinder 5 had the most misfires. Cylinder 1 ( no misfires) I wasn't able to discern any valve stem movement.

For cylinder head removal on the 460 does the exhaust manifold stay bolted to the head during removal and installation? If it does, I may attempt to pull the head to have the guides replaced.

Anyone think simply replacing the valve stem seals might eliminate the hesitation for 10k miles? I doubt it after feeling the wiggly valves in cylinder 5.


I did figure out a way to install the exhaust valve keepers. I bought this tool and kinda machined a holder to fit on my valve spring compressor. It takes a bit of fiddling but the valves can be replaced on engine using this setup.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/302574474517
https://www.toyotool.com/index.html


I extended the lever arm by bolting an extension on, requires less force to compress springs. The aluminum part is the tool I purchased.



I modified part of an off engine valve compressor tool in order to attach the aluminum tool onto the spring compressor. Cut it apart and drilled the 2 holes.



The part missing is what I used to make the holder.



I used this picture to gauge how far the new seals should be pushed down. ( using a mirror)



Close up. ( using a mirror)

 

Crap. Wiggle-wiggle scenario... My educated guess is that Cyl5 will suck oil regardless of new seal. As in my case.
I took off exhaust manifold to replace the head but won't be amazed if that can be short-cut'ed.
Your skill level is impressive at this point. Thinking at this level you may be well successful with new guides install. They are friction fit.

 

It runs again! I successfully replaced all the valve stem seals on the left bank. I didn't use my spring compressor setup for the rest of the intake springs. The valve tool as pictured on ebay worked perfectly for removing and installing the intake keepers. I used my modified spring compressor with the business end of the ebay tool to do the exhaust keepers. It really did a great job. The magnets in the tool really help tame the keepers from launching too far. There are a lot of oil drain holes in the head just waiting to swallow a keeper. Even with the holes packed with fabric it is still quite nerve racking.

During my failed search for the oem valve spring tool I stopped at 2 Lexus dealerships. One of them was kind enough to bring up the estimate for valve stem seal replacement. $15,800!! 52 hours of labor.

-Work interruptions make this job even harder.
I had a few errors and accompanying concerns during the seal replacement process. Many times I could only work on it for 15 minutes, then walk away for an hour. While working on the last cylinder I accidentally applied air to only the cylinder I was working on. This forced the piston down and turned the crankshaft. I was extremely lucky the new seals were already in place. The new seals held the valve stems with enough friction to prevent them from falling into the cylinder.

Then the issue became I didn't know which way the crankshaft had turned. Luckily in one of my photo's I was able to spot a mark on the accessory drive belt. I used the time stamp of the picture to find out what day it was taken on. Then compared the pictures taken of the cam gears at a similar time stamp. I knew it would either be 110 degrees before tdc or dead on tdc. I turned the crank so the accessory drive belt was matching the photo. Seemed to match up to tdc. I still had my doubts. Got lucky!

Another time I confused myself...
During the final steps the manual calls out to rotate the crankshaft 720 degrees. It rotated with no issues. As I continued to rotate I realized my paint marks on both the timing chains did not line up with the sprockets. This perplexed me. I turned the engine by hand probably another 3 or 4 revolutions checking my paint marks on the chain each revolution. I started questioning if I had lined the chains up correctly. I stepped away for an hour.

Then I had a brilliant idea to mark my bicycle chain and sprocket. I was able to watch the bike chain rotate around. After 1 chain revolution my paint marks were off by a few teeth too. Some things are a mystery. I understood it must be a gear ratio thing. But why did the small 6" secondary chain that only goes between the cam gears get off? I was under the impression those sprockets were identical ( no gear ratio). I suspect it is the length of the chain itself. In any case, after watching my bike chain marks get farther and farther off I made the decision to reassemble the car and cross my fingers.


-Surprise surprise, another issue.
During the process of replacing the seals I discovered the head gasket is weak (that's my guess). Cylinder 5 has been my problem child with the most misfires. With 80psi of shop air pressurizing cylinders 5 and cylinder 3 some coolant was forced out of the reservoir. However, it wasn't consistently flowing out. I had the air turned on and off a few times while working on those cylinders. A few of the times nothing came out of the coolant reservoir. One of the times coolant was pouring out the overflow in a steady stream ( think a half on faucet). Another time I noticed just a few bubbles. I'd bet this is the true issue behind my random hesitations. I took a video of the valve / guide play. I don't think the wiggle is enough to cause the intermittent misfire especially since it seems to be heat related.


After 2 days of driving, no change. When the engine is warm after sitting it still jerks for a few seconds. I'm not going to pull the head. I'll either sell it or try a can of k seal.


The valves are quite a reach to access.



The trickiest valve is the one to the right / above of the pointer. Not visible in the picture. It's behind the spark plug stack. It's very difficult to see in person. Contending with the mess of fuel lines adds to the fun.



Random picture of a new seal in place.



After rotating the crankshaft the white marks on the chain were at the red marks on the sprocket.



The green snot it assembly lube. I found it interesting the 2 threaded holes didn't get bolts. They must be for engines without direct injection.
- Side note, the assembly lube worked great at holding the valve lifters / rollers in place during reassembly. I didn't have one fall out!



I had a large and small torque wrench. Neither would fit in this spot. I picked up a harbor freight torque wrench and some metric crows feet to properly torque 2 cam cap bolts. After overtightening a bolt I realized the new torque wrench was garbage. I compared it to my trusty old torque wrench by tightening a bolt on my bike. When set at 20ft lbs the harbor freight was actually reaching 40ft lbs! I set the hf wrench to half the desired torque and retorqued the bolts.



In order to torque the exhaust cam bolt I welded an adaptor onto my redneck wrench.



There is an equation to calculate torque when using an extension. Original torque called for 80ft lbs or so. With my extension 47ft lbs was the magic number. I far exceeded 47 ft lbs before realizing something was amiss.



I welded the adaptor onto the inside of the wrench to keep everything in a straight line. I didn't realize at the time I'd be using my torque wrench in reverse. Nor did I realize my old trusty torque wrench only clicks in forward! I ended up loosening the bolt until my wrench barely clicked. Then gave it a slight tug to tighten it. Good enough!



Painted for rust protection. I highly doubt I'll ever use this again lol.



My rattily tire had these dirt ***** inside. They smush with a little finger pressure.


I changed the oil today. Again!



Sparkles?!? Na, just paint from my excessive use of paint markers for the cam timing. The red dots give it away.

 

Any guess on your labor hours vs what the dealer said?

 

The only complaint, I have, is your welding skills!

Other than that, great job as usual. You should never sell that car, otherwise we are going to lose a lot of future content!

 

I'd guess around 25. But I only did 1 bank. The first day I spend about 6 hours taking it apart. Then about 8 hours replacing the seals over many days. 3 hours to mount the cams. Another 3 hours to close it up and mount the hpfp. Adds up to 20 but I probably forgot 5 hours somewhere
The actual spring removal and seal replacement would definitely be a lot quicker if I do it again. Although, if a keeper were to drop in an oil hole I bet hours could double :/

 

Haha, thanks. I do need a new welder. Not that it would improve my skills. The wire feed button on mine only works in a certain position. Squeeze too much, no feed. Squeeze too little no feed. Adds to the excitement!

 

What a journey. SkillZ

PS. Timing is all geared at different ratios. It would take some 100s of revs to realign those marks (or more? math isn't my virtue).

 

Mike, great skills, patience, creativity, and critical thinking. Impressive job! Regarding the marks on the timing chain and crankshaft not lining up after you rotated the crankshaft, I had similar experiences when I replaced the timing belts on my old ES330 V6 engine and Acura TL V6 engine. I marked the crankshaft timing and two camshaft timing points on the timing belt. After I rotated the crankshaft 720 degrees to confirm the timing alignment, the markings on the timing belt were no longer aligned with the timing points on the crankshaft and camshafts. The first time I saw it, I panicked, thinking that I messed up the timing alignment. Then, I realized that there was some design logic for the timing belt not to contact the same spots on the crankshaft and camshafts after the crankshaft was rotated, probably to place even wear and tear on the timing belt. Of course, replacing timing belts on V6 engines doesn't get anywhere near the level of complexity you handled with the 2UR-FSE engine on the LS600.
----

 

Thank you. That's funny you had the same experience with those timing belt marks. I replaced a 1997 es300 belt years ago. Thinking back, I didn't bother spinning it by hand. 97 was pre vvti so the engine was non interference. Worst case scenario take the belt off and try again

As you know with your 330 and TL interference engines add another level to the pucker factor on the first start. I took a video of the first start but I need to edit it a bit before posting. The timing chain was making all sorts of racket until I got the rpm's over 2k. The chain tensioner must not get much pressure at low rpms.

I read in the valve spring recall there is an alternative way to set timing. I didn't dig into it but I imagine the front timing cover has to come off. Just removing the timing cover looks pretty daunting.

Here is a video of the valve wiggle. It's annoying youtube forces videos to be shorts if under a minute.

 

Nice job but that headgasket failure is what I was suspecting the whole time. It seems that 5 is always the one that has that happen for whatever reason.

 

I added K-seal to the coolant on Saturday. After adding it, I drove for 20 minutes at 70mph. Then shut it off for 24 hours. I thought that was better than letting it idle for 5 minutes as the instructions call out.

I'm usually not a fan of recommending stuff like this but the K seal seems to be working. I've tried a few times to initiate the misfire / hesitation on a hot engine. So far, no issues. It has only been a few days, so not holding my breath. Maybe it was k sealed when I bought it 2 years ago lol.

If she continues to drive normally I plan on swapping out my rear air shocks. Over the past couple months one of the rear shocks acts like it doesn't want to compress. Feels like a harsh ride when going over areas like railroad tracks where there is a dip in the road. The rear end doesn't seem to be compressing the rear struts much over road dips. Maybe this is how air struts feel when the inner strut goes out? The height of the car seems normal, no suspension codes.



First I sucked some coolant out. The coolant fitting under the throttle body is pretty handy for adding or removing coolant.



Then I pumped the k seal gunk in followed by the coolant I had pumped out.

Look at how clean the valve cover is Makes me want to attempt the valve stem seals on the other side too.

 

Project continues. No comments on an.. additive.
Half joking but at this skill level you can easily cover heads repair/replacement after like 2 jobs like that for some other UR-FSE's. And I bet there's plenty needing attention top end wise in the wild.

 

Head gasket time!

The K seal lasted 7 months and 6000 miles. It's currently at 212k miles. The slight stumble is back with a hot engine. We now have a spare car so if this one dies on the operating table it's not a huge deal.

I replaced our LS460 starter a month ago. The exhaust manifold nuts were surprisingly easy to access. This got me thinking perhaps the exhaust manifold nuts on the 600 might be doable without a lift after all.

If someone has a 460 / 600 manual for head gasket replacement that would be helpful.