QuestionI have read several opf your responses and am impressed at your answers.
I have had my ES300 for over 1 year now. I bought it from a friend of mine who's wife bought it new in the fall of 97. She put 140K miles on it. I have put 42K in the past year. It is one of the best (small) road sedans I have ever driven. The point of my question is this. When I bought the car, it had a faint tick coming from where the "lifters" or valves may be. In the last year it has gotten a little louder but has not affected the performance. Since gas prices have gone back down a little, I burn super in it most of the time.
What is your experience with the "tick" and what do you think I can expect. It is not the valves when I start off. I can hear the "tick" even when it is idling.
One more thing, I have the oil changed at the first of every month. This is around 3800-4500 miles. The guy at the oil change place says I am about 1/2 of a quart low when I come in. He says that is normal. We burn Castrol 10W30 for "high mileage cars" What more can I do or what do I not need to be doing.
Thanks,
Marty
Answer*Technically* the valvetrain should be checked & adjusted by now. Off-hand I think it's every 75,000, or 125,000 miles or so. It's not really an item that anyone ever does on a Toyota/Lexus/Scion on schedule. It's more of a "doesn't normally cause issues till real high mileage so noone ever bothers".
It's also relatively expencive. Not because the shims are costly, or it's a difficult proceedure. A basic backyard mechanic with a set of feeler gauges, acouple of tools, a magnet, pencil & paper & patience could do it... It just takes *so* long to do all 24 valves.
You can put 87 in it to no real conciquence but probably a 4 horsepower loss at wide open throttle as the knock sensors pull some ignition timing.
At 3800-4500 mile intervals it doesn't amtter too much what oil you use so-long as it's descent. But I'd swap it to regular 5w-30 Mobil1.
Id put money on your oil is seeping out of the rear valve cover gasket. If you take a look & that's right, you might aswell save up for the lifters b/c they're replaced during the process.
I'll tell you that the ticking really isn't a major conciquence. But I'd be lieing. I've seen just *one* case all time of someone letting valve adjustment ride so long it's a problem. The cam lobe broke through the shim, through the bucket it sits on, down onto the retainer that holds the valve up. The valve dropped into the cylinder & the engine siezed. Go figure. The owner was habitually bad at oil changes also - which caused the problem in the first place. When I saw it there was maybe 2 quarts in the oil pan. (the v6's total have about 5 1/2 quarts)
And if you get to pop the valve covers off, you'll also get to see how the oil change history of the car has been. ;)
Honestly. I'd tell anyone else but *you* to leave it until it drives them crazy, or the rear valve cover is leaking oil - normally on the exhaust y-pipe - and you smell it burning.
But you driving 42,000 miles a year . I'd get it done now.
The good news is that you're 180-190,000 miles. This is a maintenance interval anyway. Water pump, timing belt, plugs (NGK or Denso ONLY).
Normally I strongly suggest just using bottom end NGK, or Denso plugs because they're outrageously inexpencive, but if you drive that many miles a year. You'll be the only person I advise to run NGK, or Denso Iridium plugs. (At around $9-12 each.) They'll last 90,000-120,000 miles with no big deal.
40K/y Wow. I'd be changing the transmission fluid (Just draining & filling the pan) with every oil change. SuperTech Dexron-III is cheap in jugs @ walmart), and swapping the Castrol to Mobil1 synthetic, or EP (Again cheap at walmart in jugs.) Use a Denso oil filter (Toyota dealer. They have real high filtration rates & not that expencive).
If you've got $50 to blow. Install an auxillary transmission cooler. Prefferably a stacked plate cooler, or a big aluminum racing tube.
Clean the Throttle plate, EGR & IAC valves by hand with a cleaner & a brush. Semi-carfully run a q-tip soaked in rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol) on the MAF's sensor wire. Flush the oil system next time you change it to make sure you're not getting any build-up inside it. Try some Seafoam the last day, or few before an oil change in the oil supply. Or do a diesel fuel flush if you change your own oil. (Add a quart of diesel in, let the engine idle for 10min and do nothing else. No driving, no revving, just idle. After that shut it off & finish changing the oil like normal.)
Maybe clean the combustion chambers & ports with water injection, or seafoam. That's always a big hit.
And, at that mileage. The main A/F sensors are *probably* going to start getting lazy & your gas mileage will tank. Just sort of a fact of life. Oxygen sensors last 100,000-150,000 miles on most vehicles. Just a heads up.
Keep a big heads up on your CV joint boots also.
That thing will run forever. When it does break. Go to a Toyota dealer & use parts off a v6 Camry.
