Toyota Tacoma 2.7L (3RZ-FE) Valve Adjustment 

Impressive! I'm just looking this up to check valves on my tacoma, but its at 190k lol

+thomas7770 Great job on your Prerunner 2.7! Your engine must have been very well cared for if you only had to adjust two exhaust valves at 140K. I use Mobil 1 in my vehicles also. Its a good-value synthetic oil. I still change at 3000 to 4000 miles though. Thanks for your comments.

Just search on the part number for the tool. I've seen these for sale on eBay.

Thank you!

Ok, correction, my bad, I see the p/n at 6:01 of the video. Not sure why some Honda sites don't show it, tho!

This tool has a precisely machined face that is just like the face on the cam that presses down on the bucket. It does not put any marks on the cam or on the shim. Also the motor oil film helps the tool to ride on the film of oil. Finally, the bottom of the cam (called the heel) never touches anything as it spins around. This is the "clearance" part of the interface with the buckets. So, even though this tool does not mark anything up, it wouldn't be of much importance if it did. That's a great question that I also asked many years ago!

There is no way to tell just based on miles on the vehicle. The best thing to do is take the valve cover off and measure all the clearances. Then you'll know for sure. Put on a new valve cover gasket, and replace all of the washers under the valve cover bolts. This truck had about 185K on it and most of the intakes were OK, but all of the exhaust valves were too tight. The engine simply won't run properly with valves out of adjustment, you can really tell the difference, less engine shake, smoother sound, better mileage, etc. The danger is if they tighten up to the point where clearance approaches zero, the valves will not be able to close fully, and they will burn and you will have to replace them. The valves cool when they are fully closed against the valve seats. Zero clearance can also cause cams to become scored because there is no space between the cam and shim to pick up oil for lubrication.

I'm not sure the diameter of the shims, but I really prefer to install brand new shims from Toyota.

Yes, that's what it means. The valve adjustment is simply using what ever thickness shim is required to give you the correct clearance between the shim and the cam heel.

+Sep Mirtazavi The cam lobe and shim never really contact, but rather float (in relationship to each other) on a film of oil between them. You can remove a shim that has been in an engine for a long time, measure it in the center and on the edge and not see any difference to .0001"

Yes, the engine is quiet and smooth running. Adjusting the valves reduces engine shake, and improves mileage.

Replace the shim if the measured valve clearance is not within your desired range. Remove the shim, and measure it's thickness using a micrometer. Add or subtract from that value to calculate the replacement shim size. For example, if you measure a clearance of .007" and you want it to be .010" you would replace the shim with one that is .003" thinner.

No, the shims don't have a part number on them. The shims that are original to the engine will often have a printed 2-digit code like 28 or 30. If they were purchased from a Toyota dealer, they will usually have a thickness listed in mm as a 4 digit number. You should just measure the shims using a micrometer. By the way, the micrometer is a much better tool for this than a dial caliper because you can read a micrometer to 0.0001". You get a much more accurate measurement to help you decide on which shim to select.

Thank you!

I "REALLY" don't like using the Snap-On tool for this (even though I love their tools and most of my took kit comes from them). This is kind of a poorly thought out design. This particular Snap-On tool was designed and is made by "Kent-Moore Tools, a Brand of SPX Service Solutions". K-M/SPX makes some great special tools, but this is not one of them.

Glad you liked the video! I think I was using the wider end of the hold-down tool. When you pull out the bucket depressor (the wedge tool), the hold-down tool is held tightly between the edge of the bucket and the underside of the cam (by valve spring pressure). There is quite a bit of pressure so it's important to place the hold-down tool very accurately on the edge of the bucket. Since the shims stick up above the edge of the bucket, I bring the hold-down tool right up to the edge of the shim.

The "holder" tool has two ends with different widths. I use the widest end that will fit once the bucket is depressed. The bottom of this tool presses against the outer edge of the bucket, and the top of the holder tool presses against the bottom of the rough cast part of the cam shaft that is adjacent to the lobe.

The valve adjustment is done with the engine fully cold. That is how the Toyota service manual says to do it.

You can get them from the parts department at any Toyota dealer. I recommend using the genuine shims from Toyota.

The magnet I'm using is made by Snap-On. You can probably find something very similar on their web site. Sorry, I have not checked this video in a while. Did you manage to get your valve adjustment completed? Another trick I've used in the past if a shim is stuck in the bucket is to use an air blower nozzle with a rubber tip (I use a Snap-On nozzle for this). This is connected to the air line from your compressor. You simply put the tip of the nozzle into the groove that you see me using to pick out the shims, and then give it a blast of air. This will almost always pop the shim out very quickly.

Yes I did. Found myself back at your video for a review. Thanks for making the video that Honda tool is absolutely key.

This is the method for the Toyota 3RZ-FE. The 16 valve dual overhead cam 2.7 L.

Did you have to stack two feeler gauges to measure the .056"? All of the buckets can be moved up and down when the cam is pointed away from them. You probably notice it more in this one because it has more than 5 times the clearance that it should. As hours are put on an engine, the valves nearly always get tighter not looser, so this is an indication of a problem. It could possibly be a bent valve, or one with very heavy carbon deposits. Either of these conditions will prevent a valve from closing completely. It is also possible that the heel of the valve has been shortened previously. Let me know what you find out.

z399y yes, I did have to stack them. We put the thickest shim that lexus offers in the one that was way off, closed things up, turned the engine on. We drove around for a bit and then the engine light and engine oil light started flashing and then stayed on. The ticking noise was also a little worse. We took the car and checked its code which was P0012 - camshaft bank 1 retarded. We figured this was due to the too thick shim, so we opened it up and put a thinner one in. We cleared out the OPC valve and filter as well, cause maybe it was clogged causing the light to turn on. We also changed the oil and the oil filter. We closed things up and the same thing happened again - produced the same code. Any thougts on what we ahould do? My car is a lexus es300 2002. Thanks!

Putting in a shim that is too thick would not cause a 'camshaft retarded' code. Based on what you are describing, I would start by verifying the cam timing. Look in your service manual. There should be a timing mark on the crankshaft pulley, and on each camshaft pulley. If this is off, it is possible that you could have a bent valve, and that would be the reason one valve is not closing all the way (making it impossible to set the clearance using standard shims). Did you get all of the other valves clearances in spec? Make sure you are measuring clearance for each valve with the valve pointed directly away from the bucket. Measure them one by one as your rotate the engine. Always rotate the engine the direction it turns when running. Some engines don't like to be turned backwards, and can skip a tooth on a timing belt. Also, always use the crankshaft pulley to rotate the engine, not the cam pulleys.

z399y Hello, I found what happened. What happen is that my engine had alot of carbon deposit and I clean some out and put brake cleaner a few times which put all the dirt down the engine. So Because it was so much dirt the oil could not travel as normal and mess the oil pressure and the bad oil pressure made to camshaft to react that way. My friend took the oil pump out and clean the filter and everything and now works great. I still have the ticking noise. When I put the thickest shim the sound was louder. (WHY?) I HAVE A CLEARANCE THAT NOT SHIM COULD MAKE UP. WHAT SHOULD I DO WHEN MY CLEARANCE IS WAY TO BIG? Some told me to change the shim bucket and that will help some? Could I put some of that rislone lifters liquid or take the camshaft off and change the shim bucket. PS the car still have the old shim.

+karen trujillo All of the shims in this engine have the same diameter, and are interchangeable in any bucket. They only differ in their thickness.

I would say that if you have the valve cover off, it would be a mistake not to measure all of the valve clearances and replace any that are out of spec. You should able to get them much cheaper than that if you shop around, I think the Toyota shims are around $7.50 each. The formula is this: Measure the valve clearance with a feeler gauge. Determine what change you need to make in the clearance. For example if you measure .007" and you want it to be .010" your shim will be .003" thinner than what is in there. Remove shim, measure thickness with a micrometer, subtract .003" from this measurement. That will give you the thickness of the replacement shim. Good luck!

z399y Do you know where I can find the the specific clearance range for my car. Which has the same engine as a Camry. Last question, how do I get to move the cam to be at top? Ive done brakes,tunes ups and oil changes but never mess with the engine.

camilo11315 You need to look in the service manual to find the valve clearances for the intake and the exhaust valves. On some cars these specs are on the vehicle sticker on the underside of the hood. The crankshaft will have a pulley mounted with a large bolt. Your use a wrench or socket on this bolt to turn the crankshaft, that will rotate the cam. Generally, you only want to turn this in the direction the engine rotates while running.

Sounds good thank you and I thought all engines rotate to the right. Thank you very much for your help. Sorry to bother you. but can a car has lifters and valve shims, because my friends has a Camry same year 4 cylinders and he say he put some liquid to fix the lifters sounds and it went away. apparently 4 cylinders camry's have a lifters and 6 cylinders camry's have shim valves?

Thank you!

I bought a 2000 Toyota Tacoma 4x4 new that year with this 2.7 liter 3RZ motor & automatic trans. I now have 330,000 miles on it. Timing chain is just fine. Same for the water pump. Thankfully, I befriended TWO guys who both are certified Toyota tech/mechanics. In addition to still working for a Toyota dealership, they partnered years ago to operate a nice shop as their own side business, that they still have. ( IMAGINE HOW LUCKY & BLESSED I AM.....AND THESE GUYS CHARGE ME PEANUTS COMPARED TO ANY OTHER SHOP, NO KIDDING. NOTHING ABOUT ANY TOYOTA ESCAPES THESE GUYS. ) Just this past week, I had them replace a leaky valvecover gasket including sparkplug seals, a new exhaust manifold ( old one was cracked ), REPLACED the rear brake adjusters (it's common for those things to malfunction & quit working, resulting in NO back brakes, even though the shoes are fine, and mine has the "factory tow package" which has the bigger rear brake drums ), replaced all of the bushings and 2 new bolts in the front stabilizer bar, replaced the lower radiator hose & new coolant ( I replaced the upper hose myself only weeks earlier ), replaced a broken door handle, and cleaned out the EGR valve. They did all of that.......PARTS & LABOR......for only $500. THAT'S CHEAP!!! They told me the engine is doing GREAT to have 330,000 miles on it, at 18 years old. Good ole tried & true Castrol GTX 10w30 oil, is all I've ever used in this engine, w/NO additives. I'm gonna have them replace my belts & service the transmission next. Ya just can't beat these engines, and they told me: "Yes, there ARE people who are getting 500,000 to 1 MILLION miles out of their original engine & drivetrain with NO rebuild".

See my previous response from over 2 yrs ago. My 3RZ-FE now has 361,000 miles......still running great, but I did just buy an entire timing chain/gears, balance shaft chain, tensioner & guide kit AND new water pump from LC Engineering. My buddy ( the long time Toyota tech ) is going to do the job for me next weekend. ( 11-14-20 ) Might as well replace the water pump because it has to come out anyway to replace the timing chain, gears, etc, etc. That's free labor. I just installed a stainless steel header to finally get rid of the crappy cast iron exhaust manifolds that ALWAYS crack after 6 to 18 months. WHAT A DIFFERENCE IN PERFORMANCE. I have gobs of torque at low rpm's now. Even the automatic transmission behaves much better, because it downshifts much easier for passing slower traffic. The transmission worked fine before, never any slippage.......but it really works better now. Before, ya had to nearly floor the accelerator pedal to kick it down a gear......now, just a mediocre stab of the throttle makes it happen. Even with 361,000 miles, my engine has better performance than it ever had with a cast iron manifold. Had I known this, I would've installed a header years ago.

@@howabouthetruth2157 I wrote this just after selling my 95 4x4 standard with the 22re, was thinking about a Tacoma. Totally regret selling it even though I got 9k for it

@@shckltnebay Oh man, I bet you do regret it. The 22r and 22re are great little motors. The 3RZ is just as good, but in a slightly different way. It actually replaced the 22re, but is found ONLY in the 4x4 and Pre-Runner among the Tacoma's. The 3RZ was offered from 1994 to 2004. I'm damn lucky my timing chain hasn't broken yet, but that'll be replaced next week. Already have all the parts/kit. My Toyota tech buddy says anything newer will NOT be as durable as the 3RZ or 22r/re motors due to simplicity of design. Everything newer has variable valve timing that has too many parts to wear out much sooner. He should know.......seeing as how he works on them all. Cheers.

@@shckltnebay ........and PS.......the timing chain & balance shaft chain should at least be inspected at 120 to 150,000 miles. If it stretches beyond the limits of the tensioner, it starts slapping the chain guide too hard causing both to break, dropping valves on pistons. Now ya need a total engine rebuild. But mine still had plenty of tension at 330k miles when he replaced the valve cover gasket. But we're done "tempting fate" at 361k.