Once I started figuring out what I was working with, I found that someone had added 'motor honey' or something like it, in mass quantities to the crankcase.
I let it run like that for a while because I still wasn't sure what I was going to start working with first.
There was a clicking tap tap tap that would come and go from the #3 or #5 area. (and now after looking closer and what Frank said, I'm 99.9% sure these are new heads) Reving the engine would clear it, it would return so I figured everything was gummed up with Wal-mart oil. I changed the oil and ran it thin, then I changed it again and ran with two quarts of lite oil, marvel and risoline added. I changed it again and ran 5-30, I have not herd anything... Until 3 days ago.
After going down the highway about 8 miles, I noticed it was back and it was back LOUD. I figured it was a combination of the heat and the oil. It was reaching the 100's (it may have reached 107 yesterday) My temp gauge had been going higher than horizontal. I had just resigned myself to the idea that I was going to have to take the top of the engine off to see just what was going on. It's too hot to open stuff up. It's hot enough that if you leave a socket out in the sunshine, you are going to burn your hand so I just looked at the oil and wow, allot must have been shaken lose. So why not try another oil change. Too many skid plates and too dam messy. We have a HOA nazi who would much rather a speeding car smear children's blood than you get one drop of oil on the concrete. I grabbed a few rags, a filter wrench and a filter, cradled the filter in the rag and slipped it off and the new one back on without dripping more than I could dissolve with simple green and a hose... all left handed.

I cleaned up, looked over a few more things and fired up. No more click tap tap tap.

Dirty filter or weak pump?

Another thing that strikes me odd, The return hose from the radiator to the engine. On most vehicles I have had, there was a spring in the hose to keep it from collapsing from the suction from the water pump. Was there one? I have not looked at the Chilton's yet. When I was cooling the engine off to get to look it over, I had a hose on mist stuck behind the grill with a 20" fan on a chair blowing at it. The water in the return hose was cold up to the point where convection probably stopped it from flowing, the top hose, was still passing hot water and I could feel it on the radiator being hot at the hose and cooling off as you move away. A few times I started the engine and with my hand on the hot part of the hose feeding the engine, I had to rev the heck out of it to get it to draw cool water. I did not check this out last week when I was running with no thermostat, but if I had an easy way to 'fix' whatever stops overdrive from working when there is no thermo, I'd still be running w/o a thermostat. I did replace the 180 with a 195, but put a new 180 back in because I saw no difference on the gauge. I fear the heat and corrosion with these Fe/Al engines.

Use OE filters.

Frank

Don't happen to know who makes the OE filters do ya Frank?
The closest Mitsu dealer closed down here last year, the next closest I know of is is multi dealer (BMW, Nissan, Subaru, Mitsu) and they are a PITA to deal with. I'm 99% sure the Dodge dealers would hand me a MoPar or a Fram, neither one seems to be a full-on company shop. I'll try the interweb. I really dislike the parts stores around here, NAPA has always been good to me, finding parts for everything from my Isuzu to my Yanmar, but Kragen only caries major brands and wal-mart is what it is.
What is the OE spec for oil? is it 5-30?

The Mitsu filters are probably made by some yippenese company over there. I've never had an issue on any vehicle with a NAPA Gold (WIX) filter. The oil weight is specced on a chart in the manual, based on temperature. Here in north GA, I run 5W40 Mobil 1 in mine with 208k on the clock. No tick except for when it's needin a change. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />