Rattling in idle and veeerrry slooooow to shift to first

[SafetyThird]

Hello again. Y'all were very helpful in my troubleshooting of overheating of my 1995 Toyota 4 cyl. I had the water pump replaced by my friend, and he used the writeup here as his guidelines. And, indeed, there were impellers broken on the water pump, and the timing belt had been replaced at 100K, so no need to do that.

Right now,tho, I'm afraid it's bad.

At first I thought it was the transmission, which had had a leak, but I made sure was full. It was slow shifting into first, just revs increasing and a high frequency rattling sound. and then finally into first, but the same for second. and then the same for third, but eventually, it seemed, everything warmed up.

What did not make sense to me, tho, was a high frequency sounds at start-up, on idle. Which got more rattley the last week.

A neighbor said it was bad - must be rod sounds from deep in the engine. It gets louder as I rev the engine.

So -- was the transmission good all along, and it was just the unavailability of power to shift? Or could it possibly be something else in combination with a transmission problem that is less than replacing the engine?

With no money for replacement, and ware to trasport to craft fairs this holidays to just pay bils, I'm freaking out.

Thanks.

[SafetyThird]

Well, another friend listened, and noted that the Fresh Air Intake hose was sucking air as I turned off the engine. Huge crack almost all the way across. Duct taping it seemed to help the noise, and shifting.
So I bought and installed a new one ($76 at Napa) and it drove fine for a few days. The noise stopped and my engine sounded normal.
Then intermittent stalling happened, and I thought I needed a tune up. Well, it had been quite a while since. However, after I had loaded all my wares into the car on the way to the craft fair, 5 houses away from home (as it tried to shift into 2nd), noise and car stopped. It would turn over but no spark. I thought the timing belt might have broken, because of the noise under the timing belt cover. So I had it towed to the shop.
They said timing belt was loose, covered with oil, and oil pump seized. When the got into the pump area, they said two bolts from the crank(?) in the area had fallen into the oil pan (?) and that they could fix the bolts, but the fix would not last, and, really, I need a new engine.

Is this true?

And so I'm trying to figure out what to do. it's a 1995 4 cyl 2.2, second engine that's been in there 4 years which I've put most 30K on (it was a 90K replacement). The struts are bad, perhaps the transmission is going (unless that was the engine all along) and I have no a/c. But I also have no money.

Can a 1996 engine go in it? and what about the possibility of a Japanese import the mechanic mentioned? It seems those are 2.0 and need bolts drilled and there's something else that just doesn't fit right?

any and all opinions welcomed right now.

I looked at local prices for 1995's $1600 to $3800. for 1996's the price went up, $2500 to 4200.

and it looks like an engine would be ~$800 and ~800 labor,

what to do, what to do?

[ghettosled]

if a couple bolts from the crank or connecting rods did come out (and not chunks of the block or connecting rods) this would be a first for me.

how about a little background info. when was the last time the timing belt was replaced? was a new one put on when this engine was installed 30k miles ago? did you have any oil leaks? throttle body and idle air control valve ever cleaned out?

there are a lot of things it can be, but if you dont have the vehicle with you or are able to check things yourself, it might be quite difficult to find out answers. what do they mean by loose timing belt? did it have all of its teeth? did the belt fall off a pulley? is the crank seized? i think its rare for a camry to have its oil pump seize. where did these mystery bolts come from? bolts dont just fall out on their own. unfortunately for a mechanic to look further into this, it will cost money. money that may or may not be worth it in the long run.

[SafetyThird]

Thanks for answering. The timing belt had looked OK when the water pump was changed 1K miles ago, in August. And, in fact, when they showed me it covered in oil, it still looked OK.

This is what they said, as I stopped by to get more details.

3 bolts from the balance shaft fell out, two of them lying in the pan, the other loose and just sitting in place. the bushing for the rear (roar?) shaft fell out, and the pump seized up. 3 qts low on oil. Now I had checked the oil the day before, not low, at level, since the Friday before, when I went to Pep Boys for the oil/engine treatment it had been low by 3 again. And I had checked that the week previously, since I check my oil and transmission weekly since I have a leak in both, and top off as needed. no 3 qts worth, ever!!

They say the parts (and labor?) for the balance shaft alone is $1000!!

Why the bolts should fall out was a mystery. They had no idea. The lead mechanic/owner was a Toyota mechanic at a dealer for 20 years before opening his shop. That engine was a replacement 4 years ago (almost to the day), and of unknown status other than 90K miles.