Ok so we bought a Mitsubishi Galant 2002 one month ago.

It was running fine, but yesterday we heard a tapping noise at idle and whilst driving- we drove it home (50 miles) and it got worse.

We put oil in on the way home, and i must not have put the oil cap back on right because it fell off and oil had sprayed out over the inside of the hood.

We put more oil in- tapping noise remained.

We restarted the engine and then it died.

Now it turns over but wont start.

We are thinking- the timing belt and/or lift valves. Maybe both? Is this fixable or should we replace the whole engine?

Not sure when the timing belt was last replaced.

Any help would be much appreciated!

 

Yeah it sounds like u have a problem w/ the timing belt. There is another thread about replacing it and fixing the valves. Gotta warn u, it's not an easy or cheap fix. Best of luck