**I have posted this thread in clublexus.com and I want more advice and opinions so here it is.
After the car is started, I noticed there are not so big but easy to notice 'ticking' sound coming out from my 96 ES300's engine compartment (while open the hood and facing the engine, or sitting in the driver seat with door closed, I can NOT hear the ticking neither; I can only hear the ticking while standing beside the front wheels and it is quite noticeable and loud).
So I called my mechanic. Because he has just done some repair on my car and he remember the sound, he immediately concluded that this is caused by the engine's valve lifters (the so call 'valve clearance' problem), and he explain that he had repair many Toyota engines in his life,and such ticking sound is very common for an engine has such mileage (mine are 118k).
He said this problem would not harm the engine much, plus if I want this to be fixed, the cost will be expensive and not many autoshop can perform the repair well enough, so he did not suggest me to touch it (he said he can do it well but it will cost quite many hours of labour), so he let me just live with it. This mechanic is my good friend and he has nearly 30 years experiences of reparing engines, especially for Toyotas, Hondas and Nissians, so I trust what he said.
Now here comes the point: he also told me if I really mind such ticking sound, I can use an oil additive which brand name is 'Restore' (http://www.restoreusa.com/), he said this will work on the problem, although can not completely solve it.
So I want to give a try, with the bottom line 'it should not do any harm to the engine'.
I have done some research on the internet and knew some engine oil additive will harm the engine and accelerate the wear of the components, some other just make no effect. So my questions are:
1. Is there anyone has the experience of using this 'Restore' brand product? Any comments?
2. Does it require the mechanic with very experienced technique to perfome the repair well?
3. If I want get problem fixed within a reasonalbe cost, could someone recommend a repair shop in Houston (cauz I'm in Houston)? Thanks.