2000 Celica Gt - Won't Start

[transparency67]

I recently had to have my engine rebuilt in a 2000 Toyota Celica GT. Almost everything was replaced. I do not know a lot about cars, and this has been a learning experience even though I have not done any of the work. The mechanic is a friend of my uncle's, and it is just something he does on the weekends for some extra money. Anyways here is the story.

The engine first started misfiring in cylinder 4 only. The very first thing that was replaced was the spark plugs. The cylinder continued to misfire, but the engine ran. The engine had to be taken apart. The mechanic found a crack in one of the valves. The car also burned a lot of oil. A LOT of oil before the misfire began. (about 5 quarts every 1000 miles) I wanted this fixed also. He told me that it would be a good idea to replace piston rings, stem valve seals, and all of the seals in the engine while he had it apart. The cracked valve also meant that the head had to be sent in to have some machine work done on it. NAPA did the machine work and replaced 2 valves. The seals were all changed with new ones and new head bolts. The alternator and water pump were replaced also. Everything was put back together, and the car didn't start. This was only the START of my problems though. I had over $1000 in the repair at this point. The engine had no compression because (you guessed it!) 8 valves got bent. The head was sent back to NAPA and the head was machined/cleaned again and the 8 valves were replaced.Everything was put back together again and then it was taken to a Toyota Dealership. The valves were adjusted for a pretty penny, and they also set the timing. This was all done outside of the car. The engine was not in the car when Toyota had it. (We did not have a tow truck.) The mechanic got the engine back and set it in the car, and (you guessed it again) it would not start. It has great compression now, but every time the mechanic tries to turn the car over it jumps time. Toyota replaced the timing gear hub on the camshaft (I believe it is on the exhaust side). Earlier in the project the lower timing gear was replaced also. The chain and tensioner was also changed at this point, and it is still doing the same thing. The timing jumps about 3 teeth each time. There is one gear on the timing that has not been changed and we are looking into changing that also. At this point, I have around $2000 in this project and a car in worse shape than it was at the beginning. I should have just put a new engine in it, but the project started out as a $600 estimate.

Sorry for writing a book, but I wanted to give you as much information as possible. I could really use some help getting this thing running again. The mechanic said that it sounds like it wants to start after he resets the timing each time. I love this vehicle, and any ideas on why the timing would keep jumping would be a lot of help.

[armoredfist2002]

Are you from the USA?

Just wondering because you used $ for your prices and called the car a GT because here in the UK it's known as a 140.

If you are from USA I would check out newcelica.or if you havn't already, these guys know a lot more about the engines than we do over here, they'll give you more advise and maybe recommend somewhere if you need to get any more work done.

The early engines did suffer with oil burning issues, which was the start of your problems, can't give any help I'm afraid.

[transparency67]

Thanks anyways. I will check that out.