98 GT Lifter Tick or Something Worse? Options

[holymatt123]

Hey guys, new to the forums here! I'm not really sure if my Celica necessarily qualifies as a 6th gen, seeing as its a 93 STX body, but it does have a 98 GT engine in it but I digress. The reason for my post today, I haven't been able to drive my baby since I picked her up last week due to (what I'm assuming) is a horrendous lifter tick. I'll link a video so you guys can hear the noise as well.

GT Lifter Tick

I guess my question here is, what do you guys think this noise could be? Its originating from in between cyl 3 & 4 from the head. I'm going to go pick up a set of feeler gauges from AutoZone today so I can measure clearances. I'm kind of dreading a valve lash adjustment on it due to the fact that our cars have shim over bucket style lifters, I've heard it's a major PITA

Anyways, thanks in advance guys I'm looking forward to hearing yalls opinons.

[Box]

Hard to tell from a video, but it could also be a leaking exhaust manifold so I'd check that first since that's easy in comparison.

Oh hey, you're like 30 miles from me, small world.

[holymatt123]

Hard to tell from a video, but it could also be a leaking exhaust manifold so I'd check that first since that's easy in comparison.

Oh hey, you're like 30 miles from me, small world.

Hey, that's awesome. It definitely IS a small world. If you ever need assistance, definitely get in touch. I love a good project every now and then

I know for SURE it has an exhaust manifold leak, seeing as the exhaust is cut right behind the shifter. Not sure why they didn't reconnect the exhaust after the swap and that could be one of the issues with the valves. Hopefully it didn't burn up a valve completely due to the exhaust being basically just header no pipe.

I just went out and finally found the VIN on the engine and looked it up..turns out it isnt a GT engine after all.



THAT was definitely a shock to me LMAO, so turns out it just has the engine that would be stock for the STX. Not too big of a deal, just less horsepower. I know i probably should have double checked the engine VIN as soon as the seller told me it had been swapped w a GT engine just to confirm for parts purchasing and clearance specification sake. I hope that engine doesn't disqualify me from ever posting here again.

Aside from THAT disappointment, I did measure the clearances on exhaust side today since that's where the noise was originating from and couldn't even fit a .010" feeler gauge under the second to left cam lobe, so I know for a fact that one is out of spec something terrible. Something else to note that I forgot to mention in the original post, when I got the car home, I checked the oil. It was ABOUT 4 1/2 QTS over full, and draining it down to the level it supposed to be did quieten the tap a good bit. The video was taken before I checked and drained it. Dumb move, I know, but it just didn't cross my mind at the time. Alas, I didn't run the engine long, just enough to get that video. I sure hope that the previous owner didn't drive it too much with the oil that much overfull, but judging from the godawful noise it sure does seem like he did. In my experience being that overfull on oil would definitely throw some valve clearances out of whack.

What would be my best option for getting that valve back in spec? I've seen others that used a dremel tool with a fine grit grinding wheel and a micrometer to get the shim back down to spec. I would order the shims from Toyota, but I need the car next week to travel to work. Toyota dealership quoted me about 2 1/2 weeks for shipping on the shims so that isn't gonna work.

Sorry for the book