Mitsubishi Forum - Mitsubishi Enthusiast Forums - Strange puff of smoke and then valve noise.. :-O

Help!! WTF over .. I had a weird puff of smoke while driving my '01 GT 3.0 followed immediately afterward by lifter clatter that hasn't gone away. :(

I have not noticed any performance change from the incident. It runs exactly the same -- with no power loss, and it has the same idle characteristics too -- but the noisy lifter sound hasn't gone away.

I tried some engine treatment designed to remove buildup etc , and for freeing sticking lifters -- but unfortunately that didn't help at all. I put in a fresh change of oil just to see if that might help. but nothing.

The timing belt was replaced 30k miles ago, so I don't think it's valve timing related. I'm pretty baffled. Any ideas? Is there some sort of adjuster these engines have that would affect all the lifters and cause a symphony of light clatter? :cool: