Mitsubishi Repair: loud knocking sound!, rod bearing, engine knock

Question
I have a 92 eclipse 2.0 gs manual. I started my car the other day and it started making a loud knocking sound coming from the valve cover near the intake manifold. I took off the valve cover and everything seems fine, spark plugs are good and the compression is good. some people have told me it could be the lifters not getting oil or that the timing is off. If the timing was that far off where it made my engine knock wouldnt the car not even run. The car has 140,000 miles and i was wondering if it had to do with something in the engine like a rod bearing or something. Thanks for your help.  

Answer
Chris,
Noisy lifters were a common problem in every Eclipse made between 90-99.  Mitsubishi did not fix this problem until their 2000+ models.  The oil passages in the older lifters were very narrow, and tended to get clogged over time, which caused lots of noise.  There's also a possibility that your fuel injectors are clogged making the noise, but noisy lifters are more common.

There are two typical fixes for this problem.  One, you can remove all 16 of your lifters and clean them out real good.  Then prime them with fresh oil and reinstall them.  Not too difficult.  Your other option is to replace your lifters with new lifters used in the 2000+ Eclipse.  The oil passages are much larger in those, and that noise will not come back again.  But new lifters cost between $9-$16 a piece so that can add up since you need to buy 16 of them.
Good luck!