So a little history on this car.... it is a 2003 Chevy Cavalier 2.2L ecotec, basically my room mate went and bought this car dirt cheap from a less than reputable dealership and it has been nothing but trouble. I am a fairly skilled mechanic but dont know much about engine internals, but just looking at this car I can see it was pieced together using junkyard parts after a possible accident. They even used completely shot rotors/pads off a junk car.

Anyway. Up until now the car has actually been a pretty solid runner with no issues in the engine or drivetrain, but driving it home last night I went to stop for gas and started hearing a TON of loud valve/rocker noise... popped the hood and saw a pretty large crack on the far left side of the valve cover and it was spewing oil everywhere... I really didnt want to drive it further but I had to get home, so I put 2 quarts of oil in it and drove home about 5 miles.

I went to start the car this morning after applying a quick patch to the valve cover crack and it idled EXTREMELY rough, banging and metalling slapping noises for about 45 seconds, then died. I could actually feel something hitting the crack in the valve cover pretty hard. Now it wont start at all, and when cranked it sounds like the starter isnt even engaging the motor, just loose cranking.

I really hope nothing big is damaged inside the motor but what little I do know of engine internals leads me to think there was an issue with timing, or the timing chain guide or chain itself breaking and hitting/cracking the valve cover...

This is my daily driver and the car is dead in my driveway Any help is GREATLY appreciated, I need to know where to start and how to go about diagnosing what to fix.

 

First you should not have driven it with a cracked valve cover spewing oil. At this point remove the valve cover and see what is damaged in there. You can't diagnose or fix anything without finding out what the damage is. There may be more damage than you can see under the valve cover, but it is a starting point now.