Good morning all,

I recently did my timing belt and water pump and after completing I am getting a ticking noise when the car gets warm. From what I've read a good place to check is the valve however I'm having an issue.

2 different articles I have found list the steps the same. Turn the motor to TDC check certain valves and then rotate motor 360 degrees and check the others. My issue is once done checking the first set and you turn the motor 360 degrees you end up back in the same position you were before unable to check the other valves.

Is this supposed to be 180 degrees or am I doing something else wrong. I will link the article I was looking at and if anyone has any other good guides or articles I'd appreciate it.

(The section for valve adjustment is on page 554)

https://zinref.ru/avtomobili/Lexus/230_Lexus%20SC300_Lexus%20SC400_english/554.htm

Cheers!

 

It sounds like your describing a timing check and calling it a valve adjustment. 2 different things. If it wasn’t making any noise before the timing belt and water pump service, then absolutely u want to check the timing and make sure everything has been reinstalled correctly. Did u do the work? Or take it to a shop? I have heard of several causes of ticking noises after a TB change, could be off a degree but that will usually give u a CEL also. I have also heard if the crank sensor tone ring. that goes on the crank before the cover, cause a good ruckus if installed backwards, and destroy the belt too. Did u mess with the cam seals or anything in the head? If the scissor gears aren’t locked out, they will make some noise also.
The first generation 1UZ (pre-vvti) heads use solid lifters, so the valves aren’t hydraulic and require occasional adjustments. There is a shop down in NZ that specializes in 1UZ and 3UZ, he has made countless how to videos on common 1UZ repairs, including making sure the timing belt is installed correctly and how to adjust the valves. The channel is called cartunesNZ, good luck
https://youtu.be/Z4u0wQjNP3c

https://youtu.be/UUp1ILTx8b8

 

A full engine revolution is 720 degrees, the crank rotates 360 degrees twice for one full rotation of the cams.
That is why when you set TDC you turn the crank to zero and check if the cam gear marks are pointing up at the marks on the cover, if they aren't lined up and pointing down instead then you turn the crank over again and it should be lined up.
So turning it 360 degrees and checking the other valves is actually correct!

If you have the valve covers off and turn the motor by hand, it is easy to see which valves are being pushed by the cam lobes and which aren't, you only need to turn it to a few different spots to check all of them.
It is easy to check clearances on these motors but not as easy to adjust them obviously as the cams have to come out for that, but at least you can check them and see if that is the issue.

*edit* just realized from the link you are talking about the v8 so it is a little different than the 2jz.

I am assuming you didn't move any shims or buckets around when you did the timing belt job and you did not remove the cams.
If you did pull the cams also note on the UZ motors there is a "scissor" mechanism (split helical drive) on each set of cams that takes the slack out of the gears that turns the second cam.
going off memory here, but I remember the manual says to use a small bolt to lock the scissor gear before pulling the cams, and you remove it after the cams are reinstalled.
alot of people forget to remove that little bolt and it makes quite a ticking sound also, so I would check that as well if you pulled the cams.
Most people don't pull the cams though for just a timing belt job, but something to keep in mind on the 1uz if you do.

good read
https://planetsoarer.com/camshafts/camshaft2.html

 

Thanks for the reply!

You are correct I'm an idiot, I'm doing the timing check to see if a valve adjustment is needed to remedy the noise. And yes, me and a friend did the work ourselves and replaced the cam and crank seals as well but everything looks to be seated correctly as we checked the seals. No CEL and we didn't mess with anything in the head. The sound really only starts once we have coolant back in it and the car gets to operating temp. One thing I will mention is that I replaced my crank pulley with a FluidDamper and when completed my timing mark was like -5° or +5° off (can't remeber exactly number right now) however the engine was still in time (all marks lined up perfectly and same notches between marks as before.)

I appreciate the insight and will check out your link although I did forget to mention I have a 2jz.

Thanks again!

Cheers!

 

Thanks for the reply!

Good to know about the engine rotation, is that the same for all Lexus engines? 1UZ and 2JZ?

Do the cams still need to come out of the 2JZ to check? and you are correct I did not take cams out for TB job and have not removed any shims or buckets.

Also, another stupid question of mine ,that I'm still kind of confused on. When I check all my clearances and if one if not correct, am I able to adjust it straight from there or I will need to do the math, get the correct length shim and replace it?

Thanks in advance!

Cheers!

 

My apologies if anything I said sounded like I was implying u were “an idiot”. I was simply trying to clarify what it was u were trying to accomplish. I was initially reading a post in the SC430 forum, and scrolled down into the “related threads” without noticing that you had a 1st gen SC. Since there was no mention of what motor you were working on, I replied with the assumption you were working on the 4.3 standard in the SC430. So you can disregard everything I previously said. I am not sure if I am the only one who has been reading about 1 car, and scroll into a related article without much notice, I have replied to the wrong thread a few times, I need to find a way to set it up so it only includes threads from the same forum or something. Good luck

 

2JZ is even easier I just figured 1uz from the manual you linked was for the v8.
Yes mostly all the modern toyota engines and most modern engines in general are two turns of the crank for 1 turn of the cam(s) so 720 degrees is a full cycle.
you do not need to remove the cams to check, just the valve covers and then use a 22mm to turn the crank to where you can check each valve when the cam lobe is not pressing it.

When you find one out of spec, you note the clearance. then you pull the cam and remove the shim that is on that bucket, and you measure the shim. Then you order a new shim based on your old shim size and the difference in clearance you need to achieve.
I always mark the shims before I pull them with a sharpie on the top so you can't mix them up by accident. Also note the buckets are not all the same thicnkess, so don't move buckets around or it will affect your measurements.
So just remove the old shim, and replace with the new shim on the same bucket. once you replace the ones out of spec you torque the cams back down and do a recheck, assuming you didn't mix stuff up and your measurements are good it should check out then, if not then repeat the process.

 

No worries buddy the "idiot" comment us my attempt at humor and making light of a situation, I say it all the time lol

I have done that going into a different car forum by accident but I appreciate any input, thanks!

Cheers!

 

I appreciate the input!

The 360° I was looking at was apparently for the 1UZ but the 2JZ manual I found reports to turn the engine 240°.

Another thing we found out is after doing my buddies IS300 timing belt and water pump he also had a similar noise (a little worse maybe) to mine.

It happens when I put coolant back in after and get the car to operating temp and seems to get louder if I take the cam covers off. (Just reiterating because I can't remember if I mentioned before)

We both replaced our crank pulleys with Fluid Dampers which is now our main point of investigation as both cars were good before and made noise after completing job with the new damper.

I will be getting a crank compass for the degrees just in case and will be doing more this week and weekend.

Thanks again!

Cheers!

 

Has anyone done valve clearance checks before? I'm confused on which nunber to use for my measurement. My intake side #4 seems to be out of spec. When checking the clearance and I can fit .254 in with some force which should not happen as the top of the clearance should be .250. Now to figure out which shim I need to put in to adjust it I need to take the clearance I have now minus the spec clearance to find out the difference. Once I have the difference I take that plus the shim thickness that is currently in the car to find the new shim thickness I need to install or at least that's how I understand it from the videos I've been watching.

My question is how do I find the correct clearance for what my valves are at now. For instance, the intake side #4 is spec between .15 and .25 but feeler gauges from .000 to .254 (or maybe the next size up) all fit. So which is the clearance currently? The one that feels good as I use the feeler guage (i.e. you feel a tiny bit of friction as it passes through the clearance) The size that doesn't fit through at all?

Also is there a way to know when the valve is out of spec on the bottom end (i.e the .15) The top end seems easy as it just won't go through but how do I tell if it is too low on spec? Will I not feel anything as I try to use the feeler guage? Should I feel some friction on the feeler Guage all the way from .15 to .25?

Thanks in advance!

Cheers!

 

The right feeler is the largest feeler you can fit where you can feel some friction and it slides all the way through still. You should not have to force it through especially if it is oiled up in the area.
So if you try the next size up feeler and it requires too much force or simply wont go through, then the previous feeler is the right one.

The intake valve is out of spec on the bottom end if the largest feeler you can fit in there is under .15mm, so if you can only get like a .11mm then that would be out of spec on the bottom.
Usually the shims and components wear to where the gaps grow larger and require thicker shims, it would be unusual to find it tight on the bottom side unless someone has been in there before moving shims around.

 

You're over thinking it. Thickest gauge that fits without forcing is the valve clearance. If a clearance is wrong you need to remove the shim and measure it, then calculate how much more or less clearance is required to be in spec*. Then add/subtract that from the value of the shim that will be the thickness of your new shim.

* You are adding/subtracting the difference not the total thickness of the gauge. If you measure.30 with the feeler gauge but you need to be at .20, you have to add .10 to the thickness of the shim for that valve. The cam lobe is supposed to be just past 180 degrees offset from the valve stem.