Mitsubishi: Annoying Lifters, synthetic oil change, mitsubishi eclipse

Question
1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse RS
2.0L DOHC

Ive had this car for a year and a half and was riding it without oil unfortunatly when it starting missing and blowing white smoke after I got off the freeway. Wierd thing is that was due to a bad coil pack and Fuel injection was dirty. Before and after i got it fixed ive been hearing this clicking noise when I push the gas / not  when it idles. My mechanic said it was my lifters but I have tried. Ive got an non-synthetic oil change, oil filter, Lucas oil stabilizer. I have heard they do not need to be adjusted for this problem because mitsu made the lifters too small in the first place and I did have it sit for 3 weeks because i didnt know what was wrong with it. PLease help me with direction on what to do

Answer
Hi Steve,

Well, from what you have told me, because you ran your oil dry, tells me that the lifter noise is due to lack of maintainance. The lifters need oil and are self adjusting. But you mentioned something else. This noise goes away at idle. It could be the gas you are using. Cheap gas will clog injectors also. You need to change your oil every 3,000 miles. If you have been doing that then your engine has other serious issues if you run out of oil sooner than that. If it were a lifter problem, they would tick all the time and if you keep your oil level up they will refill eventually and quiet down. But if the spark advance is not adjusting enough because you are using cheap gas this will give you a ping on acceleration. Keep your oil changed and full and runn a few tanks of branded premium fuel. Let me know how this works out.