Hey everyone,

So I purchased my eclipse back in 2000 and let me tell you, I fell in love. From the sleek design to the retro sporty look, I had to have it. So I bought it, financed it and it turned out to be a lemon, unfortunately. Everything from a bad starter, cracked dash, head leakage, timing replacement, you name it.

So my most recent job was replacing the head gaskets, valve cover gaskets, machine shopping both heads (because mine is the v6), new radiator, radiator hoses, and a new distributor cap and rotor. Prior to embarking on this MASSIVELY EXPENSIVE job, practically all my savings, my car was leaking oil. Before this job, I replaced the water pump, cam seals, crank seals, and the timing belt, spark plugs, and spark plug wires, which also cost me about $1000; similarly my car was also leaking oil. After the recent head job, my car still leaked oil and we discovered it was coming from the rear head. So I gave my mechanic the job of machine shopping the heads and putting on a new head gasket in hopes of stopping the leak. After about $1000 worth of parts and labor, the rear head continued to leak oil AND there is a very noticeable ticking sound coming from the rear head, the one still leaking oil.

Since the head was taken apart for the machine shopping, I'm assuming the valves were not adjusted properly for the rear one. The front one is not making noise but the rear one is. Note: According to the people from the machine shop, the rear head was warped and had to be shaved down more than the front head. In any case, when the heads were removed, the blocks looked fine and I didn't see any cracks or anything. THE CAR IS STILL LEAKING OIL. I've spent $2000 trying to stop my car from leaking oil, and its still freaking leaking.

But my main concern is this ticking noise after the head job. Given all the information I've provided, I ask the following:

1) any ideas on why the rear head may be ticking?

2) why is the rear head still leaking? My mechanic told me that it might be because the rear block was warped as well by overheating from a previous owner, however it did not look bent or anything by sight. However, my mechanic says that a warp may be so unnoticeably tiny that you cant see it or measure it without special tools. Is this even true?

3) can this ticking sound damage my engine if I keep driving it like this?

I've used synthetic oil (Mobile 1) and premium gas since I bought it back in 2010 and have done every last bit of maintenance you can think of; even driving it like an old lady, NEVER red lining it or abusing it.

Specs: 108900 miles, 2000 Mitsubishi Eclispe GT 3.0 L 24valve