I like to set the secondary odometer on the dash to remind me when it’s time for an oil change. I know there are those who change their oil at 1500 or even 2000 mile intervals, but I’m content to stick with the traditional 3000. Now that it’s a new year, I felt it was good timing, so I pulled the RMV out of the garage and rolled [464] in for some TLC.

[464] is plagued by typical 4G63 character flaws – lifter tick and idle surge. I’ve got a good lead on some upgraded hydraulic lifters, but they’re on the far side of town and installing them is a bit more work than I’m ready to do right now, so I considered my oil situation.

Before you switch to that expensive, synthetic oil, it’s a good idea to make sure you’re not losing oil to annoying little leaks here or there. I’d noticed [464] was leaving a couple drips on the driveway every night, so I decided to investigate before changing the oil. If the leak was something really involved, I would stick with cheap oil until I could get the leak resolved. Turns out the most likely culprit was the turbo oil drain where it meets the oil pan.

For reasons beyond me, Mitsubishi decided that this drain fitting should enter the oil pan below the oil level when the pan is full. If you don’t drain the oil before you break this connection, you will drain the oil when you loosen those two bolts. Since this wasn’t going to be a difficult repair, I went ahead with the oil change. Drained the oil, removed the drain line from the side of the pan, and made myself a new gasket.

With the new gasket in place, I installed my new Fram “Tough Guard” filter, a TG6607 model, which is smaller in diameter, helping to maintain oil pressure in the system while still providing adequate filtration and flow. Don’t know why I didn’t get a picture of these two side-by-side, but maybe I’ll do that next time I’m buying filters.

After speaking with Ray Peters (and a number of other owners of turbocharged vehicles), I decided to try out a new oil. Although designed for diesel trucks, Shell Rotella T, synthetic 5W-40 contains more cleaning agents than found in other synthetics and it’s a quality synthetic oil to boot. The downside is that it’s not as good at absorbing acids as more common synthetics, so it’s not a good idea to use this if most of your trips are short. Considering my daily commute consists of 40 minutes or more each way on surface streets, I’m all set.

After changing the oil, filter, and turbo drain gasket, I replaced the spark plugs for the year. I was pleased to find that the plugs installed by the previous owner were the proper NGK BR6ES-11s. They all looked great and were still gapped well within range. I decided to put the old plugs into the box the new ones came in, and set them aside for comparison the next time I change the plugs.

I’ve been home sick for the last two days, but this afternoon I snuck out to Circle K for a Coke and some Cheetos. I was very happy to see there were no new drips under the car and, even though there was still some lifter tick to be heard, it was significantly reduced; I’d say by about 90%.

If I’m not helping my friend Keith organize his shop next weekend, I plan on removing the throttle body and attempting to disable the fast idle air valve (FIAV) in order to eliminate the annoying idle surge. I’ll be sure to share either way.