Hi guys, in the last few thousand km's my car has developed a noise that is constantly evident.

I know the lifter noise that you guys can get sometimes in the morning until the car is warm but this is there all the time, it sounds like lifter noise but its much more clear...

I dont know if this is going to make much sense but the noise sounds like it is caused by one thing, it is not a very fast paced tapping, on idle it would only be tapping probably 2 times a second, which makes me think if its a lifter or something it may only be one of them causeing the noise.

I did an oil change about 2,500km ago and immediately after that it disappeared, but then started to happen here and there now its all the time again like before i did the last oil change...

What are the possible causes and how much would it possibly cost to fix? I am thiknking of taking it to my local mitsu shop and seeing what they say.

My engine has 190,000km on it and it has been very well looked after i am only the 2nd owner and i baby the thing beyond description, it kind of pisses me off that i have a knock of some sort, i see all kinds of bogan pieces of crap driving around not making a noise... it seems the harder you try and look after something the more things go wrong with it....

any help or advice would be much appreciated.

ok so after a little reading on the net, its either:

1. Idler Pulley
2. Tappets.

What does it cost to have either or both replaced?

You say the noise went away after you changed the oil, and then slowly came back.....to me that would indicate a bad hydraulic tappet (they tap at half engine speed). I'd change the oil and filter again but add a flushing cleaner before draining the old oil and then fill with 20W50 and add a can of "stop lifter noise". The cost of this will be a fraction of what it would cost paying a mechanic to attempt a fix. Good Luck.

You say the noise went away after you changed the oil, and then slowly came back.....to me that would indicate a bad hydraulic tappet (they tap at half engine speed). I'd change the oil and filter again but add a flushing cleaner before draining the old oil and then fill with 20W50 and add a can of "stop lifter noise". The cost of this will be a fraction of what it would cost paying a mechanic to attempt a fix. Good Luck.

yeah i did use a good oil flush and ran it for about 20 min so i know it was nice and de-sludged, the tapping stopped, then i filled it with 15-40 oil... was this the right choice?

It won't hurt it to run 15W50 - that's what Len Patti Mitsubishi recommend for V6's winter and summer for engines with more than 100,000km on them. My previous post said 20W50 which was a typo....sorry. They sell it for just under $30 for 5 litres including a filter so it's not expensive. I've attached a link to a pix of the oil:
http://picasaweb.google.com/oldhako/Oil?authkey=Gv1sRgCKCxvvO86py4WQ&feat=email#5491808141339730114
Good Luck.

15 grade is ok, just remember though that the idea of using thicker oil just becasue the engine is getting older is not a good idea, you really need to understand how oil grades work before you start to go thicker

A better quality oil is a far better option