I am about to replace the valves on my 05 rx330. I see several posts in the forums recommending letting a machine shop do it instead of DIY. I have the proper valve spring compressor tool, the valves and the valve stem seals. Is there any reason I should take the heads to a machine shop instead of doing it myself? What are the primary reasons people choose to have a shop to it instead of DIY?

 

Expertise/experience. Period.

Same reason i went to orthopedic surgeon who does 250 knee surgeries per year for my mcl/acl tear. So go to machine shop familiar with these motors and work on them frequently.

What happened?

 

If there are any problems with the hrads, they'll let you know. Lapping new valves takes practice, wouldn't recomend doing it without making sure the valve seats in the head are the same to match new valves.
Depending how busy a good machine shop is the cost might surprise you, turn around time is another factor.

Also wondering what happened?

Done a few cast iron heads a while ago for small block Chevys and Fords, they had blown head gaskets so I did new seals and cleaned the carbon out.

 

I was hoping I wouldn't have to tell you guys what happened lol. Bad timing when I replaced the timing belt and bent all the valves.

 

Now that's an oh ***** moment!
Might be damage to the piston heads too?

 

I am hoping it is just the valves. Going to tear it apart tonight and have a look.

 

When you take the old valves out, try a new one to make sure the guides aren't bad too.
Sucks!
Time to have it ported and polished :-)

 

Any suggestions on how to tell if the guides are bad? I have seen some posts where people recommend inserting the new valve til only about a 1/4" is sticking out and wiggling it. If it wiggles much, the guides are damaged. Also saw several people who say you can put the new valve in, put your finger over the hole on the top of the guide then pull the valve out. If you dont get suction on your finger, the guides are bad.

Any other suggestions or are these 2 things the best way to test a guide?

 

Are there a lot of miles on the engine or just the oooops?
You can only hope, using either of the ones you've read about will determine if they're good or bad.
Access to a dial indicator? That will show how much they are 'worn', if any.
Don't know what the peramiters for that is on these engines.
Good luck........

 

Can you describe further? Did you get timing marks off?

 

Yes I got the timing marks off. The camshaft marks were fine but I didnt realize there were 2 marks to lineup on the crankshaft. On the crankshaft, I lined up the wrong mark with the mark on the oil pump body not realizing that there was also a mark to be lined up with the mark on the timing belt. Oh well, expensive lesson but no use crying over bent valves.

I got the valve covers off tonight and will be removing the cams and headers tomorrow. I will report back. Just hoping the guides, pistons and rings are all still in good shape.

It has 112,000 miles so the guides really should be ok as far as normal wear and tear is concerned. Just not sure yet whether or not the bent valves damaged the guides.

 

Damn dude good luck. Take pics