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60K-mile valve adjust, Toyota V6 Auto

 

I just got an estimate, sight-unseen, from a local repair shop (call it "Shop A") for $450-$550 to do the 60K-mile valve adjustment.

Another shop ("Shop B"), that specializes in Toyotas but had turned the job down because they are too busy and don't want to work on something that old, told me "If (Shop A) only quoted $500 then they have no clue what they are doing. To do that job correctly will take a long time 10+ hours if they actually make shim adjustments.? Only way to adjust the valves is replace a shim with thicker or thinner shims.".

So what do you all think?? Is $500 ridiculously low for this job and Shop A probably really doesn't know what they are doing?? Note that Shop B had already turned the job down so it's not like they're trying to drum up business.

Shop B (the Toyota specialist) also said "I would save your money and just drive it.".? Is that valid advice?

I'm not hearing any unusual noises that would indicate the valve adjustment is too loose, but someone on this forum mentioned that if the valve adjustment is too tight it could result in a valve not fully closing which can burn the valve while not making any noise.

Is that a valid concern and a good reason to have the service done at 60K miles as recommended?

I get it that Toyota makes these recommendations for a reason... but sometimes the reason is their lawyer told them to.

Eric in NH
1991 Winnebago Warrior V6 auto
 

reference:
https://toyotamotorhome.org/forums/index.php?/topic/12891-adjust-valves-on-v-6-3vze/
 


--compression check is really cheap insurance
rz
 

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Shop A") for $450-$550 to do the 60K-mile valve adjustment.

That would be reasonable for CHECKING the 6 intake and 6 exhaust valve?
clearances. Might be a bit low if some of the 6 exhaust valve clearances are found
to be tight and require adjusting, because the shop will have to special
order the required thinner valve adjusting shims and will need some special
tools to remove and install the shims, unless the shop frequently works
on Toyotas and already has the tools. This video shows how a shim is removed:

This is what your engine’s tailpipe sounds like if it has low cylinder compression by
a burned exhaust valve:?

Is that a valid concern and a good reason to have the service done at 60K miles
as recommended?

Yes because some of the 6 exhaust valves tend to run hot and
wear faster which causes some of the exhaust valve clearances to get?
too tight over time, unless an crossover pipe delete modication is performed.?
Search YouTube using these search words: "3vze crossover delete”.

Shop B (the Toyota specialist) also said "I would save your money and just drive it.".
Is that valid advice?

Bad advice unless the 12 valve clearances are checked around 60,000 and found to
still be within factory specs. ?Then you would know that on your particular
engine the exhaust valves are not wearing excessively fast and there has
been no loss of cylinder compression yet. ?But I would have the clearances
checked again after another 40,000 miles to make sure the clearances on
some of the exhaust valves are not getting too tight.

Paul Cherubini
 

On Fri, Jul 21, 2023 at 01:49 PM, rz wrote:
--compression check is really cheap insurance
Thanks, rz.? Had a compression check done about 4000 miles and 1 year ago and the results were:

1 = 170
2 = 160
3 = 170
4 = 160
5 = 165
6 = 155
 

you're good. most want no more than 15% difference high to low.? you're within 10%
--
rz
 

Yes, the valves on the V-6 engine do need to be kept in adjustment or they can burn, and then it is much more expensive of a repair (several thousand $).? That being said, the damage doesn't?automatically start at 60K miles, but I HAVE seen 3 different V-6 Toyota RV engines this year with burned valves at just over 100K miles.? They don't get noisier when they are getting out of adjustment, so you can't hear a difference like you can on a 4-cyl.

A compression check (as was recommended) is a good way to gauge the need for a valve adjustment.? The way the valves have to be adjusted (by replacing the shims with different sized-ones) is a rather poor concept for the otherwise quite astute Toyota engineers.? If you plan to keep your RV for a long-time, and have the funds, then do the adjustment now and you will be good for quite a long time.? Otherwise if your compression numbers are within range, then it is not really that urgent just yet, but I wouldn't wait to check it again until 100K miles (which by then is usually too late from my experience).

Paul Cherubini is a long-time expert in these engines.? I always appreciate it when he shares his expertise here.?
 

Thanks, Tika and Paul.

I had the head gasket recall done in 2002 at 33,000 miles.??I just now checked my maintenance paperwork again, and now I see they did the valve adjustment at that time (I didn't see that before).

So I should be fine as far a miles go, only about 28,000 miles since the valve adjustment was last done.

BUT... the manual recommends doing it every 72 months (6 years) regardless of miles.? How important is that?
 

On Jul 21, 2023, at 5:24 PM, fld@... wrote:


BUT... the manual recommends doing it every 72 months (6 years)
regardless of miles. How important is that?
Time does not matter. If it was my motorhome I’d still get the
clearances checked now at 60,000 for $500 because back at
30,000 none valves were likely out of adjustment so none
were likely actually adjusted back then.

If you do not want to spend the $500 right now then as Tika mentioned
a cylinder compression test can be done instead.

If any on the cylinders test low (under about 150 psi or low normal
(150-170) then chances are the exhaust valve clearance on that
cylinder is too tight and needs adjusting (loosening) via installing
a thinner valve adjusting shim.

Paul Cherubini
 

On Fri, Jul 21, 2023 at 09:05 PM, Paul Cherubini wrote:
Time does not matter. If it was my motorhome I’d still get the
clearances checked now at 60,000 for $500 because back at
30,000 none valves were likely out of adjustment so none
were likely actually adjusted back then.
Thanks, Paul.? They put in 5 new shims as part of the cylinder head gasket recall (or at least they charged Toyota for 5 new shims), so presumably something got measured and adjusted.

If you do not want to spend the $500 right now then as Tika mentioned
a cylinder compression test can be done instead.
We had a compression check done about 4000 miles and 1 year ago and the results were:? 1=170, 2=160,?3=170,?4=160,?5=165, 6=155.

Anyway, it'll be more like $1000 than $500.? The guy that quoted $450-$550 didn't even know that the valves are adjusted with shims.

He said "on toyotas the exhaust spec measured between the rocker arm and the valve keeper..." but these are OHC engines, no rocker arms, right?? Aren't all Toyota V6 engines OHC?

He went on to say "shims aren't usually used on the toyota motors, but then again it's an old motor...".? So obviously he's inexperienced with our toyhouse engines.

EVERYbody else around here either (a) can't fit the toyhouse into their shop, and/or (b) is booked out to Christmas, and/or (c) just doesn't want to mess with it.? So, it's back to the $165/hr dealer, if I'm going to do this at all.
 

I was told the same thing, just drive it. This was from a Toyota dealership mechanic that said he did hundreds of the head gasket recalls and they would check the shims at the same time and almost never had to do anything. Still it makes me nervous to not know. The estimates that I got were around $1700 .

On Fri, Jul 21, 2023 at 12:21 PM <fld@...> wrote:
I just got an estimate, sight-unseen, from a local repair shop (call it "Shop A") for $450-$550 to do the 60K-mile valve adjustment.

Another shop ("Shop B"), that specializes in Toyotas but had turned the job down because they are too busy and don't want to work on something that old, told me "If (Shop A) only quoted $500 then they have no clue what they are doing. To do that job correctly will take a long time 10+ hours if they actually make shim adjustments.? Only way to adjust the valves is replace a shim with thicker or thinner shims.".

So what do you all think?? Is $500 ridiculously low for this job and Shop A probably really doesn't know what they are doing?? Note that Shop B had already turned the job down so it's not like they're trying to drum up business.

Shop B (the Toyota specialist) also said "I would save your money and just drive it.".? Is that valid advice?

I'm not hearing any unusual noises that would indicate the valve adjustment is too loose, but someone on this forum mentioned that if the valve adjustment is too tight it could result in a valve not fully closing which can burn the valve while not making any noise.

Is that a valid concern and a good reason to have the service done at 60K miles as recommended?

I get it that Toyota makes these recommendations for a reason... but sometimes the reason is their lawyer told them to.

Eric in NH
1991 Winnebago Warrior V6 auto


--
Chuck Bridges
 

On Sat, Jul 22, 2023 at 09:20 AM, Charles Bridges wrote:
Toyota dealership mechanic that said he did hundreds of the head gasket recalls and they would check the shims at the same time and almost never had to do anything.
Thanks, Chuck.? What seems odd is that when they did the head gasket recall (in 2002 and 33K miles) they listed 5 new shims on the list of parts they presumably charged Toyota for (they were all shown on the bill as N/C so I didn't pay for them).? So either they found 5 valves that were out of spec, or they charged Toyota for parts they didn't install.

Seems odd that they would have to replace 5 shims at only 33K miles.

The work order doesn't say which ones they replaced or whether they were intake or exhaust.
 

Maybe that’s what happened with mine. It came with no records because they were going to crush it just to get rid of it. I was very lucky that the wrecker driver knew that I like Toyotas so he called me and I got it basically for the title work costs. But no records?

On Sat, Jul 22, 2023 at 9:13 AM <fld@...> wrote:
On Sat, Jul 22, 2023 at 09:20 AM, Charles Bridges wrote:
Toyota dealership mechanic that said he did hundreds of the head gasket recalls and they would check the shims at the same time and almost never had to do anything.
Thanks, Chuck.? What seems odd is that when they did the head gasket recall (in 2002 and 33K miles) they listed 5 new shims on the list of parts they presumably charged Toyota for (they were all shown on the bill as N/C so I didn't pay for them).? So either they found 5 valves that were out of spec, or they charged Toyota for parts they didn't install.

Seems odd that they would have to replace 5 shims at only 33K miles.

The work order doesn't say which ones they replaced or whether they were intake or exhaust.


--
Chuck Bridges
 

I've had two toy homes one 91 & one 92, basically identical. The 1st one was really nice, but it had 120k miles on it. I bought it in 2010. I joined the forum and learned about the notorious valve adjustment. Even back in 2010 the RV was considered old. I called every dealership within 100 miles of my house. I got different answers from most of them. You could tell that they were not knowledgeable about them. I finally found a dealership, the last call I made. They said that they had an mechanic that was very familiar with those older motors. I asked if I could talk to him, they surprisingly said sure. He got on the phone and I explained what I had, he said, yep, we made some small talk and I remember him saying that you need to check those valves with the motor cold. That was the key for me that he knew what he was talking about. I don't remember what the cost of that one was, I sold that RV and gave the buyer all the receipts with it.

Toyhome #2 is also very nice and it only had 61k miles on it. The 1st thing I did was put 6 new tires on it and made an appointment with the dealership to get the valves adjusted. This was in 2013. I called and luckily the mechanic was still there. I found the parts cheaper from another Toyota dealership, and they didn't mind if I brought my own parts, but they would not warranty them. They just charged me labor to install them. I asked the mechanic to show me the before and after valve clearances. He drew me a picture(see photos)

I drove it until it had 86k on it. I overheated it on a trip to North Carolina in 2019. The fan clutch went bad causing it to overheat and burned a couple valves(compression was low in two cyl). That's when I had a decision, repair the 3.0 or do the 3.4 swap.

If it was mine, I would just keep an eye on your compression numbers. Buy an inexpensive screw in compression tester and monitor your #6 cyl. I think that's the passenger side rear one. I think #6 is the most common to burn. Once a year I would just check it. If it goes down to 150, then I would have them adjusted.?
--
JohnJab01

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