Top end ticking noise 2003 Camry Sportivo

[dclayw]

This car has only done 105,000km. Very well looked after and regularly serviced. I've had this ticking noise for quite a while. Was first picked up during a service and most likely cause was that it needed valve adjustment. I've never had any dashboard warning lights. The noise has gradually gotten worse, particularly this past few weeks. The noise is somewhat similar to this, not quite the same:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekkXQR2AY-s

(Can anyone tell me the best way to post a video on here so I can show exactly what my camry sounds like.)

I've just had the valve clearances checked and some other diagnosis. All valve clearances were within spec and were all even, and slightly loose (being slightly loose is a good thing I believe). The internal condition of the engine was very clean, shows no evidence of wear or sludging. Chain tensions and quides test OK. Inspection of the VVTi solenoid showed no visible fault and was quite clean, no holes blocked or anything like that.

The noise is loudest around number 2 exhaust valve in the top of the engine.

The mechanic says the next step is to remove cam shafts and inspect the VVTi actuator and valve shim buckets. No firm quote on this but minimum $3k, and possibly $5k to diagnose and repair. Those rough quotes seem way over the top to me, are they? Can't you put a new engine in for that price?

I've researched this ticking noise and found a few camrys with similar issue. One was solved by replacing the OCV (VVTi solenoid). My mechanic said the solenoid looked fine, clean and no blockages. With the solenoid out the dashboard warning light came on, so it seems the VVTi system is working. I'm thinking there might be a problem with the solenoid even though it looks OK, thought it might be worth puttiing a new one in just to see. Thoughts? I guess this camry also has a separate OCV filter but the mechanic had no reason to suspect that would be clogged so he didn't check it.

Another cause I found through research was wear on the VVTi actuator, something to do with wear around the lock pin area. I thought this camry had this lock pin set up on the VVTi actuator but my mechanic says it's a different system using a spring or something. Mechanic says cost of the actuator alone is around $2.5k, does that sound right?, sounds completely over the top to me.

One other thing, and I could be imagining this, is that the engine bay seems to get exceedingly hot these days. It may have always been like that but I don't think so. I'm half expecting the thing to blow any minute.

I was actually thinking about offloading this car for around $7k, before this ticking noise became an issue. With the noise the way it is now I expect the car is not worth 5c, I can't imagine anyone would want to buy it at any price in it's current condition. It's a pity really as the car is in pristine condition, no dings/scratches etc.

I would appreciate some advice on where I can go from here. Is it worth getting Toyota to run their diagnostic routines on it? Should I ask Toyota to pay for at least some of the cost of repair?, because a seemingly major engine problem on a camry with 105,000km on the clock is bit rediculous.