Anyone had valves adjusted on 2005?

Valve adjustment of all my previous cars (Mazda, Subaru, Chevrolet) was at least as easy as on Mendel's older Hondas. There never seemed to be any consistent trend as to wearing looser vs. wearing tighter.

 

toyota designed their shim system that the shim wear offsets the valve seat wear and valve adjustment is rarely needed.
when i checked mine in corolla about 100,000 miles, they were in spec and didn't need to be adjusted yet, but some exhaust ones were neat the limits (on the tight side). keep in mind that tight exhaust valves will not be noisy, but will eventually burn out.

there is one for checking them. most mechanics do that by ear (doesn't always work, see above).

 

Right. When I was about 12, I overheard the mechanic who'd just re-ringed my parents' Chevy warn that the valves would need to be adjusted again, and that they should not be too quiet. As far as I know, they were never readjusted until an exhaust valve burned, about 40,000 miles and several years later, shortly before I got that old car as a hand-me-down.

 

So just checking second gen clearance is not too hard? As long as you're not planning on adjustment, just checking: valve cover off and feeler gauges.

Seems like a good compromise. I wonder if there would be a pdf excerpt from the Repair Manual floating around, on this.

(I'm starting to like the posting delay, allows you to proofread, lol.)

 

CR94 and bisco, an excellent suggestion. The dealer tried to discourage me from getting the valve adjustment, not rip me off, so there is a good chance they've never adjusted the valves on a Gen 3. Where did those hydraulic lash adjusters come from? After all, most of their customers approach vehicle maintenance in a minimal way. The last thing on their mind is preventive maintenance.

In fact, most people never perform a valve adjustment and it rarely causes problems. However, I'm aggressive on maintenance, so I have it done every 60-120k miles. The payoff is an engine that runs smoother, produces more power, and gets better mileage. The improvement is worth it. Unlike Mendel, I'm not the mechanical type, so I request a master technician at the dealer.

ruePrius, avoid the valve adjustment on your Gen 2 unless you're certain it's the valves clicking. Be sure it's not the fuel injectors clicking, dirty oil, or low oil level. At 135k miles, it's probably not misadjusted valves, much less worn or damaged parts. As Mendel says, the shims make it a "relatively stable system." Any procedure that involves disassembling the valvetrain is a major job and expense. I suppose the dealer could measure the valve clearance without adjusting it, but it requires a cold engine and money.

 

Not merely "a good chance," but a certainty!

 

admin: thanks for moving to the 2 gen forum.

 

Do you still have the car? This is my second second generation Prius 136000 on this one other one had less miles both of them make valve noise or at least what I think is valve noise

 

If your car really needs one, I would let the a mechanic do it. Use to do my own back in the day, but hydraulic lifters ended that. Plus, as noted by others in here, doing it on the Prius is not for the faint hearted.

 

Right ... the Gen 3 and later have hydraulic adjusters and don't need adjustment, and the Gen 1 and Gen 2 have prohibitively difficult adjustments if you are not the factory with 70 bins of the different lifter sizes right in front of you to select from.

Typically the Gen 1 and Gen 2 adjustment works like this: if they are not too far out of spec, you adjust to the noise. If they are farther out than that, you adjust the serial number of the engine. It's less work and will take less time.

Edit: I probably shouldn't have said all "Gen 3 and later" are self-adjusting, because the c is in there and still uses the 1NZ engine.

 

great sense of humor along with advice!