1991 Ls400 Lifters

[sisterpete]

the guy i purchased my 1991 ls400 from several years ago (probably 7 years) recently ask me if i have had the lifters adjusted recently, saying they needed it every 60k.... i said no, since i had no idea they were suppose to be.

having heard that, i called the garage that usually works on it for me, although the one guy that i trust there has been gone the last three times i called, so today i ask the guy on the phone and he said they were not adjustable, not to worry about it....

anyone have any information on this....

thanks

[killerFatty]

The lifters on the valves can be shimmed, but that is only neccessary when your valves are ticking or if for some reason you change out your camshafts. Just to adjust the valves runs about $1200 or at least thats what the previous owner of my car was quoted by a reputable shop five years ago.

[sisterpete]

mercy sakes alive..... well, i think i'm ok cause the lifters are making the same noise they made when i first got it... i actually ask about that quiet ticking sound back then and the machanic said not to worry, these were suppose to sound like that... he said, as a matter of fact, if they don't, then be worried....

thanks for the reply....

[ggemigniani]

There are over ten million late 1980's and 1990's era Toyotas on the road and their owners manuals all say (with a few exceptions): "check valve clearances every 60,000 miles".

The intake valve clearances on the driver side of the early 90's Lexus V8 fairly commonly get too loose causing a ticking noise at idle and up to about 2500 RPM or so. While not seriously damaging, engine power and fuel economy will be below par unless thicker valve adjustment shims are installed to tighten the clearances back to factory specs.

The procedure is laborous so the cost is high (around $1200 if a Lexus dealer does it, and maybe $800 if a Toyota dealer does it. Since only the drivers side clearances tend to get out of adjustment, one way to save money is to tell a Toyota dealer you only want the 16 valves on the drivers side of the engine to be checked for proper clearance and adjusted if necessary via installing a shim of the proper thickness. A Toyota dealer should be willing to do that for $400-500.

[sisterpete]

thanks for the info... would that cause the check engine light "emissions" (cant remember right off hand which number, but for sure the emmisions system) to come on... the car smells horrible from the exhaust when setting at idle and you are anywhere near it... the mechanic took something apart in the engine area and cleaned the little filter (sorry, been sick and im just not thinking straight right now) and also found a couple hoses on that thing that were bad, he replaced... seemed to help for a while but now its back...

[VBdenny]

LIfters? a bunch of hype. Yeah maybe if we were in competition on a rallye circuit but for a 20 year old car, I say the lifters are fine. My 90 has 180,000 and runs so perfect that to spend that much on something I didn't know was real would be ... Nope, won't hurt a thing should they have a slight tap. Remember, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[VBdenny]

oh yeah, regarding the smell. It has a solvent smell doesn't it. Block off the vacuum lines from you PS pump at the 2 points in the manifold and that will go away and probably let you pass emissions. I didn't know anywhere did emissions on 20 year old cars? but we don't have any emissions tests here.

[ggemigniani]

thanks for the info... would that cause the check engine light "emissions" (cant remember right off hand which number, but for sure the emmisions system) to come on... the car smells horrible from the exhaust when setting at idle and you are anywhere near it... the mechanic took something apart in the engine area and cleaned the little filter (sorry, been sick and im just not thinking straight right now) and also found a couple hoses on that thing that were bad, he replaced... seemed to help for a while but now its back...

No, loose intake valve clearances would not cause high tailpipe emissions. Your "mechanic" sounds like a hobo if since he thinks your engine doesn't have adjustable valves lifter clearances and thinks cleaning a filter and replacing a few hoses will make a check engine light go off and solve the horribly smelly exhaust. What is the preventive maintenance history of this car? Especially in regard to tune ups and emission inspections? Driving with a smelly exhaust may have already damaged the pre-cat oxygen sensors and catalytic converters if the source of the smell was an overly rich fuel mixture.