Timing chain replacement

Here is the deal,

September 2007 I purchased my Corolla from a less than upstanding used car dealership (apparently not a smart decision. Live and learn) I purchased an extended warranty (not a dealership, but rather a private warranty)

February of 2008 It starts to make a high pitch banging noise in the engine. (I drive on it for about 2 weeks) I take it into a Toyota Dealership that. I won't be returning to. They tell me that my engine was "essentially torn apart and reconstructed" and that it was the cause of my timing chain slippage. A month later, they were still fighting with the engine as they eventually found out that some gasket had lost a piece and it floated into the oil line (which took time for them to figure out). They instruct me not to tell the warranty company about this update, as it may jeopardize what coverage I was getting from them (about 400 dollars) I paid for the remaining 1300 dollars. My car was out of commission for over 3 months.

March 2009 Around a year after I got my car back (and about 1200 miles out of the warranty the dealership applied to the parts that they replaced) The engine began making the sound again. Well, 20 minutes later as I was driving down the highway the timing chain gets snapped by a bolt that had fallen into that area, sending it through a cascading effect essentially tearing my engine apart. Well, I decide to let the towing company take a look at it (as I didn't really want that dealership touching it) and the conclusion they came to was that some bolts had been stripped, others hadn't been tightened down enough, and others were just missing.

Well, I managed to skate out of a 3k repair bill by the skin of my teeth. The original warranty I purchased sent someone to take a look at the engine and determine if it was something they should cover. They decided it was the fault of the Toyota Dealership (as they were the last people to touch the engine aside from those doing oil changes for me) and refuse to cover it. Well, after talking to the manager at the Toyota Dealership, he grudgingly agrees to take care of it, as it sounded like something that was the fault of someone there. They re manufacture the bent valves, the stripped bolts, replace the ones that are missing, and replaced the timing chain and various other parts that the renegade bolt destroyed. This took about another 2 months to get fixed.

I don't have any documentation from them to prove that they touched my engine this time (as I didn't pay for any of it, they were unwilling to give it to me) so I am not even going to consider calling them, as I can't afford to live without my car for that kind of time again. When I picked the car up, the engine sounded fine for about a week, but then it started to run a little choppier (but not making a terrible noise, or a similar one to the last 2 times)

3 months later, I think my car is starting to sound like its going to happen again soon. (Its a high pitched metal on metal clang, but I can't tell for sure when it is in park, and I haven't had an opportunity for someone to get in and put it in drive to be 100% sure)

I'm about ready to consider replacing the whole engine and be done with it. I won't be recieving any financial aid from the warranty company to do so. (That would be too easy, right?) So I'm trying to put it off for as long as possible. I was also considering taking it to another Toyota Dealership and getting it looked at again. However I'm a bit reluctant to do so, as I am afraid that when I tell them what has happened they will be mildly uncooperative, or at least cover up something the other dealership screwed up.

My questions are: What could possibly be so wrong with the engine to cause it to consistently happen? If it is a problem with the engine, would replacing it be an effective option? Or perhaps would I be better off getting rid of the darn thing and letting it be someone else's problem?

Thank you for your timely response,

I'm having difficulty finding remanufactured engines that have a price tag on them. What kind of cost would be "reasonable" and do you have any suggestions as to a good location/website to get one?

I won't be replacing the engine immediately, however I'd rather not be scrambling to find a new one after the car has ceased functioning.

Okay, well I have had trouble with my car trying to get it to run. I have been on this now for almost 3 weeks and to no avail. My problem was as I thought low compression because of out of spec cylinder bores, but now i'm wondering what the true issue is because I bought a short block from the wrecking yard because it had good compression and it checked out as in spec with my repair manuals specifications that's why I bought it because it passed the spec check. Anyway I get home and install the cylinder head while the engine is on a stand and I take my time with this because I want to make sure it's right the timing that is and I finish and everything looks good. So I turn the motor over using a ratchet by hand about 6 times or so and recheck my timing marks and they are as I set them and I can feel some compression as I turn it over after I installed the spark plugs, but it doesn't feel as strong as it did when this short block was in the car at the wrecking yard. Just as reference the cylinder head I also purchased out of the wrecking yard and it is in good shape too all valves had that grayish carbon coat on them that is telltale of a good running engine. I did however want to make sure that the valves were going to be reliable for me so I lapped them just to ensure that they would continue to operate properly down the road. Now i'm beginning to wonder if my timing is incorrectly set though because each one of these short blocks that I had in this car over the last three weeks has come back with the same compression reading just over 100 psi per give or take 5 psi. Although the first two measured out of spec but just barely out of spec the one i'm working with now should be compressing like it's supposed to these Toyota's wont run unless at least 145 psi is present and its supposed to be at like 215 or something if new or rebuilt. I thought I set the timing right still think I have but is there something anything I did wrong here maybe something to do with the intake VVTI cam gear? Please help because i'm about to throw a flare inside this car and be done with it.

Yes, that is the way I set it. The manual i'm using is a Haynes and it says that 218 psi is standard and 145 is minimum.

I actually can't because I live in a community that is noise sensitive and I don't have a compressor here, but i'm going to get an air tank and do that next for the checking of any leaks anywhere. But if I crank the engine over for like a 15 count the compression will go up to 120 -125. But it should be stronger than that I used to get good readings on cars. I have previously worked on after a three count. Just out of curiosity what is your opinion on that? And thank you for the help by the way.

Hi I had a strong slapping noise coming from the timing chain, so I took off the tensioner and the timing cover. Chain was loose(even b4 taking off tensioner), and I can move the tensioner pretty easily. Sounds like I needs the chain and the tensioner to be safe, but could you tell me how to re-time it, as far as the marks on the cams/crank/chain. Thanx.

It has the 1zz-fe engine.

Could a loose timing chain or other timing parts cause the 1zzfe to sound like a diesel truck when running. Also it will barely go over 20MPH

1998 Toyota Corolla 4 cyl Automatic 114000 miles

My timing cover is leaking. The gasket has to be replaced. How do I do it?

So we received a car from a guy for doing some work for him and the car sat in his driveway for almost 5 years. Upon putting a new battery in and trying to start it. It cranked but would not start. We put a little fuel in the throttle body and it fired up. So we assumed we had a fuel problem. We towed it home and started to work on it and clean it up. We replaced the fuel filter and we found a blown EFI fuse. We replaced but still would only crank but we still weren't getting fuel so we pulled the tank and removed the fuel pump and it did not work so we replaced it and cleaned the tank and flushed and cleaned the lines. Now we have plenty of fuel up to the front with still no start. Checking the ignition we had spark on four cylinders. But after watching some videos we thought maybe it wasn't strong enough so we replaced the ignition coil. Still no change in starting. We are at a loss. We also checked compression which was the same all across the board. So we have compression, we have spark, and the plugs are wet so we definitely have fuel. At a loss of what else it could possibly be. Please help.