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I would get it towed back to your apartment if I were you. One thing I suggest is before the car gets towed out of there open the hood and make sure everything is intact. I had a friend with a 1998 Ford Contour. He was not able to get the car started and pushed it to a shop. They told him that it was the timing belt and gave him a high price. He had it brought to his house for me to look at and when I opened the hood they had left the timing chain cover off, accessory parts and brackets off, etc. I fixed the car for him and all of the parts turned out to be there but there were bolts missing that he had to go and buy in order for me to put everything back together. It also took me longer to do the job since I had to figure out where everything went since I did not get to see it together before doing it.
Ok, thanks for the suggestions, I'll be towing it to my apartment tomorrow.
The technical mumbo jumbo is here.... please let me know what you guys think...
1. Exhaust Camshaft has a lot of play in it.
2. Gear going into the timing "CHAIN" has broken off the retaining pin. Its possible that one of the pistons maybe damaged.
3. Head containing the valves will have to be replaced, major engine components involved.
Ok. I can't say anything about the camshaft having a lot of "play" in it just yet. If the gear broke off of the retaining pin the gear is obviously bad but that does not mean the cam is necessarily bad unless the tab that the gear goes on actually broke since the tab is part of the cam. If the engine is an interference engine the valves probably do have to be replaced. I will start trying to find out if it is an interference motor in a few minutes.
An interference engine means that if the engine goes out of timing the exhaust and intake valves can hit the piston. This happens because since it is out of the correct timing, the valves can be open when the piston reaches "top dead center" which means when the piston is as high as it can go in the cylinder. When the valve hits the piston, the valve(s) can break or bend and the engine will not run since whichever cylinder has the bent or broken valve(s) will not hold compression.
A non-interference engine or "freeewheeling engine" means that there is enough clearance between the valves and the top of the pistons that you can take the timing belt off and spin the camshaft all you want and the valves will not hit the piston.
I found out that the 1999 Toyota Corolla with the 1.8 four cylinder engine is indeed an interference engine. I called five different Toyota dealers and told them that I owned one and that the timing chain broke and that I was trying to find out if the engine is an interference type or not. Four out of the five dealerships service departments told me it was in fact an interference motor. The one that told me it was not an interference engine was a female whom did not even put me on hold to check and just stated that ALL Toyota engines are non-interference which I know for a fact is not true.
Sorry for having to give you the bad news. If it was a non-interference engine I was going to offer doing the chain for free but at this point head work will definitely be involved and there is a good chance you can be looking at around $1,500 between having the head done and buying the parts needed to do the entire job (chain, gears, gaskets, etc.) even if I were to do it for you for free. For the same amount of money you can buy a used car that may not be great but at least runs until you are done with the closing on your house.
Also, the one dealership actually put one of the mechanics on the phone with me and without my saying that the car had gone to a mechanic shop he did tell me that when the timing chain goes on that particular engine that it CAN damage other internal engine parts as well; not just the valves in the head. He did not tell me the reason for this but I am guessing that perhaps if the gears break it can drop little pieces of metal into the oil pan which can get circulated with the oil before the engine actually shuts off. This would not happen with a belt since no oil circulates around it. All of the timing chains I have seen have the oil lubricate the chain and then the oil goes back into the oil pan to recirculate around the engine.
Just for the record, I have found that MOST Toyota engines are non-interference engines. Unfortunately you have one of the few that are.
Hi Egobop,
Agreeing with the last poster.... Thank you so much for all the information that you got for me going out of your way, I sincerely appreciate it.
As it was all technical stuff it went right over my head.... the initial thought is always that the mechanic is ripping me off, but people like you can provide me with 2nd or 3rd opinions so that I can be comfortable, once again.... many thanks.
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