1997 Mercury Tracer Trio Oil Issue

So let me try and break this down. This is my daughter's car. She bought the car a couple months ago and hasn't had any major issues with it until now. She kept complaining that there was no pickup in it and needed us to check it out. We checked the oil and tranny fluid which both seemed to be fine. So she continued to drive it and we just assumed it was time for an oil change and tune up. We bought the stuff for it and waited until she had time to come over for the repair. She said she thought it was from it just being cold since after running it, there seemed to have the pick up issue go away. So she delayed coming by.

Then the valve cover gasket blew out the back. We got her car home and replaced the gasket and cleaned the engine. She said she couldn't get it past 35-40 mph. After cleaning the engine, the PVC blew out and spread oil all over again. We cleaned the hose and bought a new PVC and cleaned the engine again. After cleaning the engine, we tried again.

She drove it home and again had the same pick up issue. If she took it out of OverDrive she could get the take off speed but not the driving speed. She'd put it back into OverDrive and manage getting up to 40 but that was about it. She then heard a "pop" noise and saw that the oil was shooting out of the dipstick... back all over the engine.

So we cleaned the engine and gave it an oil flush and replaced the oil along with a thing of Restore for the oil compression. We replaced the filter as well as the air filter and cleaned everything up. As a safety precaution we used a rubber band to strap down the dipstick.

She drove home... No pick up again. She said it was like she couldn't get over 25 mph. After searching we found 2 broken vacuum lines (one leading to the fuel rail) ... Thought that fixed it.

Then she went to drive it to work. And the oil was almost out of it. We filled the oil again and noticed that it was pouring out the bottom of the engine now. (no oil on top)... We're guessing now that the problem is the oil pan gasket.

But before I make that change... I need to find out WHY these are all going. There needs to be something causing these issues and I need to fix that or we'll keep having these problems....

Has anyone had these same problems on either the 1997 Tracer Trio or another vehicle...? I'm at a loss for what could be going on. I thought the rings were going at one point while reading some of the posts... But wouldn't it blow smoke if that were the issue? There is no smoke ..... confused. Please help! :banghead:

So far to date, we've replaced the valve cover gasket... replaced the PCV and cleaned the hose... gave it an oil flush... replaced the filter and oil... changed the spark plugs... replaced the oil pan gasket... replaced the oil pressure switch... it keeps finding new spots to escape... not sure what it actually is... now we are about to change the rear main seal... This is driving us crazy!

Sounds like excessive oil pressure. Stuck relief valve in the oil pump?

Any way to check it without having to actually replace it?
This vehicle is costing me way too much...