Tappets

[kcdusk]

Had my car serviced today. 2008 triton, auto. Mechanic says "no record of having checked the tappets, they must be the new auto kind".

Do i need the tappets checked manually or are they auto-set?

[al coholic]

Seriously?

Yes they need to be adjusted, log book says every 30k.
I've only had mine done at 45k & 90k

You need a new mechanic who has a clue

[snakesoup]

Had my car serviced today. 2008 triton, auto. Mechanic says "no record of having checked the tappets, they must be the new auto kind".

Do i need the tappets checked manually or are they auto-set?

how many klms on it mate??

[coughy]

manual states a audible check and ajust if needed
i had mine done at 45k and mech said what a shit of a job must be stone cold and takes time
he also stated it would be ok for a 90k as alco stated
as mitsy wonted $600 just for that
as my mech said they were perfect
didnt need doing but they had to be for warranty purposes

[GLRkenny]

Audible checks are bullsh1t, tight valves do more damage than loose ones and don't make noise until it's too late, get them checked at the specified intervals

[kcdusk]

180,000km on the clock. My car is diesel and been serviced at all its regular intervals. But, some mechanics haven't ticked the boxes in the log book. So hard to know if/when anything has been done.

I'm no mechanic, i drop car off and expect whatever needs to be done, is done.

Car is still at mechanics so i can't check the book if it says to check tappets at 45k and 90k. But if that the case i'll get it done. He did say he thinks the fuel injectors need to come out to do the job and it might be about 8 hours, would this be right?

Thanks for you comments.

[Cowboy Dave]

Take it somewhere else, this sounds like the beginning of an awfully expensive story of woe.

[GLRkenny]

180,000km on the clock. My car is diesel and been serviced at all its regular intervals. But, some mechanics haven't ticked the boxes in the log book. So hard to know if/when anything has been done.

I'm no mechanic, i drop car off and expect whatever needs to be done, is done.

Car is still at mechanics so i can't check the book if it says to check tappets at 45k and 90k. But if that the case i'll get it done. He did say he thinks the fuel injectors need to come out to do the job and it might be about 8 hours, would this be right?

Thanks for you comments.

Injectors do not need to come out.
8 hours better include a very, very thorough manifold clean, upper and lower.
On an 08 the valve adjustment interval is every 30,000km.

[gspy4u]

time for a new mechanic i think

[triton_guru]

Not being funny but my car has done 245,000kms now and havernt had the tappets done lol and it drives and pulls like the day I bought apart from the 33's and when she's loaded up haha

[trouble]

Same here
Done 130k never had them done! Drives great and tows 2t fine!

[Tony]

Plenty out there with over 160k with tappets not disturbed so don't panic yet.

Just get them done as a precaution and once reset I wouldn't be touching them again for around 45 to 50k.

When mechanic mentioned "injectors", he would have said "injector lines/pipes be removed". Don't write him off yet.

[Cowboy Dave]

8 hours labour though?

[Tony]

Be close with upper and lower manifold clean.

[kcdusk]

thanks Triton heads.

[Roshambo]

Hello all, Can anyone explain the reasoning for the 30000k valve clearance checks/adjustments?

I was shocked when I got my 30k service done, MMA service centre, needed car all day and the cost! So much for 'capped price'

Running a few theories around in my head as to maybe why,
1. Make up for selling cheap cars by raking in on servicing (rocker cover bolts didn't look like they were touched)
2. Issues with EGR grit causing valve recession in the head??
3. Known issues with air filter sealing, maybe dust causing valve recession??

It amazes me that in this day and age of technology this is required, my landcruiser 1HZ, Turboed, had 320,000k on it and never had the valves touched, checked at 200,000, excellent....

Surely the Triton 2.5 diesels aren't like the titanium valved 4 stroke motocross bikes of the early 00's....

Curious as to others thoughts and experiences...

[RHKTriton]

I had my valves done at 90k, hardly worth touching (ml).

The next look will probably be around 170 / 180k.

30k is ridiculous, just a wallet gouging exercise, not a huge improvement on an old air cooled vw!

Note: If you flog the donk then you may be a sucker and have to do regular inspections & adjustments.

[AD07]

"capped price" is just another term for "dealer rip-off".......

[Cowboy Dave]

Err no, it's not. I bought mine before capped price and I can tell you I've paid more than the capped prices every time. A recent survey comparing value across dual cab Utes showed triton servicing costs as comparable or lower than all the leading competitors. Sure they seem high at times but if the work is actually done there is often a fair bit to be done.

[RHKTriton]

All servicing costs could "have" been a lot lower. The stealerships now days have to spend millions on their showrooms, almost a 'Vegas' experience, have killed their income by falling into the lowest price matching.

They then have to claw back every cent to cover all the fruit; charge heaps for the "franchise parts", employ the minimum amount of skilled mechanics, skimp on work, etc.

Why can a virtually identical oil filter range between about $10 to $60?

I assume there are some strings attached to the capped servicing? Largely the service costs are averaged out over a period and some subsidy is probably already built into the vehicle cost.

For certain - nothing is free.

Back to topic - the tappet job is hugely overpriced by bad design. Most of the time involves clearing a path to them and then putting everything back together. Why they didn't use hydraulic lash adjusters is beyond me?

[Bazzer87]

This might be a stupid question. When the tappets need adjusting is it a ticking noise that you hear? My car is quite noisy, I think more so when it's cold.
Done almost 80,000kms so wondering if I should get tappets checked early or wait for the 90K service.

[Cowboy Dave]

They usually tighten up rather than loosen and when they tighten up they go quieter. I've been told the rattle in mine is injector noise rather than valves. Mine has similar kms to yours.

[Longranger1]

Back to topic - the tappet job is hugely overpriced by bad design. Most of the time involves clearing a path to them and then putting everything back together. Why they didn't use hydraulic lash adjusters is beyond me?

Most likely cheaper to make manually adjusted than hydraulic. A bit ordinary really....

[coughy]

price yes and the hydraulic one fail if not serviced regularly due to the oil and snot in the engine.

[har05l]

Mine were last done at 90k, @ 167k now and still runs and sounds the same

If I do get them done again I'll let my bush mechanic mate deal with it