I have never attempted anything like this before, does anyone have the directions for adjusting the valve clearance or would I be better to take it to the dealer to have the valves adjusted?

 

Are you sure they are adjustable? Just going from memory, but I don't think they are.

 

automatically adjusted with hydraulic lasher adjusters.

why do you need to adjust them? if you have persistent clicking noise, tapping, as in rockers noise, run Seafoam through crankcase, to clean lashers.

 

Oh, and 2007-2011 repair manual for non hybrids is out in stores. Same engine.

 

you put shims to adjust the valve clearance, better take it to a dealer if you haven't dealt with camshafts before. This is close to how it looks;

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/10...mz-w-pics.html


It;s recommended to check the valve clearance if the engine is developing a noise at 60k (part of maintenance schedule)

btw "Seafoam" doesn't help, it could actually kill an engine (spun bearing) if used improperly. It's only used if the engine has a sludge problem due to overheating or neglect (no oil changes or bad oil)

 

The hybrid engines have been modified from the conventional gas only. Sure that they have shims? I recall at least the 2012 has roller rockers, but that may be new.

That engine in the photos looks like it has a bit of a varnish problem.

 

the 2007-2011 TCH uses the shim-less valve lifter, to correct the clearance it has to be replaced with a lifter among the 35 sizes which is available only at the dealership. Not sure if they changed it for 2012 TCH but this is how Toyota designed the valve lifters for their engine for years. The picture above uses shims to correct the clearance (for older engines)

For a car that's 18years old and 160+k miles, that is very clean.

 

It is very clean from a sludge point of view, but I would suggest it is showing significant varnish (yellow colour). One of the issues with highly refined synthetic oil is that all the volatile high solvency components are removed. While the solvent components are detrimental to most oil properties, they do keep the engine clear of varnish.

 

35 sizes of hydraulic lifters? What happened to automatic adjustment by oil pressure? And why do we have 96 engine even posted here?

 

The 2.4 engine (2AZ-FE in the TCH) has the bucket tappets that are swapped to get to acceptable clearances. The 2.5 (2AR-FE) has bridged roller rocker/hydraulic lash adjustment. The reduction in internal friction is one of the factors that improved the FE ratings of the newer Camry.