BlueBlood

I have a 2001 Toyota Corolla, 1.8L 4 cyl engine, with 54K miles on it. When I first start the engine in the morning it purrs like a kitten. As it warms up I begin to hear what appears to be a "tapping" sound coming from the left hand side of the engine. I have taken the car to 2 separate Toyota dealerships and received 2 different "diagnoses". Both indicated the problem lies in the piston/rod/bearing arena and indicate that I need a new engine (at a cost of $4,000.00+ dollars). To me this simply does not make sense. If the problem is the piston/rod/bearing area why do I only hear the noise when the engine is warm? These components being mechanical parts, I would think that they should be making the noise all the time - they don't. Also, from what I understand, bad bearings would destroy the crankshaft and lock up the engine fairly quickly. This car has been driven over 10+ miles on 3 different occasions since the "diagnosis". It hasn't locked up yet. I'm hoping someone has dealt with a similar issue and can tell me what their resolution was. Replacing an engine with 54K miles on it with one that has 80K - 100K AND paying $4,000.00+ dollars to do it is simply not a very attractive possibility at this point.