HELP!!!! engine lost power and died on highway, new headgasket, now very loud ticking

ok i was driving my girlfriends talon home and after noticing the car beginning to lose power and slow down i hit the gas, the car downshifted, revved to 6000 rpm and refused to upshift. i let off the gas and the car upshifted then lost all power. i pulled over and smoke poured from under the hood and when i opened the hood i saw antifreeze leaking from below the header. i towed it back home, replaced the headgasket and now it starts fine but immediately starts ticking very loudly. i replaced the lifters thinking maybe it was just their time but it still makes the same noise and i even tried driving it (i know i shouldnt have) and it still has no power and wont go more than 2 mph. it also dies after trying to drive it and smoke comes from the oil dipstick tube...im so confused and consider myself a pretty good mechanic but this one is throwing me for a loop. Please help me im so lost!:banghead:

Welcome to AF!

Sounds like the timing is off. The ticking would be a valve hitting the clyinder. Line it up to TDC and check where the cams are sitting.

ok ive got yet another problem in my long list...i checked the check engine light codes (flashing check engine light with car not running) and it gave me 3 codes...12, 46, and 55... The code 46 is the only one that i have any record of in my haynes manual and its a code for having too high of voltage but the other two do not exist in my manual...i have a code 11 and 13 and a code 54 and 62 but not the ones that flashed on my car. thoughts???:screwy:

1) TDC on cylinder 1, and check timing marks.
2) Do a compression test on all cylinders.
3) A smoke test on cylinder 1 @ TDC will tell if the exhaust valve, or intake valve is bent.

is a smoke test the same as a leakdown test? i have a mechanic telling me that it wouldnt even be running with any bent valves.

I found a good video, see www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JQSQlnWuF0 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JQSQlnWuF0)

Any clues on these codes im talking about? My mechanic i consult with said the 12 code is because the battery was disconnected since the last run but its been hooked up for at least 10 run cycles before i checked the codes. Iim starting to think my ecu is fried. Could this cause everything to be thrown off so much that it starts ticking or knocking because of the lack of signals to and from the cam and crank?

No. Ticking is caused by something hitting something else. A messed up ECU will throw things off, but not to a point of causing items to hit.

Do a compression test. Then go from there.

EDIT: Searching for 12, most companies (although not seeing it for Mitsu/Chrysler) is an 'OK' that the CEL/ECU is working properly

i did a compression check after it was ticking and after i replaced all 16 lifters and it was 160 psi across all 4 cylinders. i starting to wonder if maybe i just have a clogged oil pickup screen or worn oil pump. this ticking is very loud and driving me crazy!

If you got a timing chain, it could be a bad tensioner.
Did you prime the new hydraulic lifters, or cam followers?

its a timing belt. its a hydraulic tensioner and the timing marks still line up when i shut the car off. the new lifters were not able to be primed so i was told to just put them in and run it for a while. i have perfectly even compression so no bent valves here. i think i have a clogged oil passage to my head so im gonna check on that next. Thank you very much david for the codes because i havent been able to find them anywhere. I guess my problem is purely mechanical so im going to take it from there.

Symptoms of Heat, bad head gasket, loss of power, and noise!
I had a plugged catalytic converter raising all kinds of noise after a head job, the bad cat actually choked the engine out.

im not sure a plugged cat would make my oil pressure light come on... And my exhaust seems to be flowing very smoothly to respond to your post. im going to check my oil pressure with a guage and go from there i think unless someone tells me something i dont already know and havent already looked at.

Yes! befor any engine die's, the oil pressure light turns on! ,
also when driving, the head gasket went bad, what did the Temp guage look like?

i wasnt paying too much attention to the guage at the time but i dont think it was reading high. i know when i pulled over and noticed the smoke pouring out from under the hood the guage was reading normal. And im not sure if i was clear or what but the oil pressure light comes on just idling now... while im not even driving it and its not about to die. i can let it idle as long as i want but the light is on which makes me not want to run it. it only dies after i try giving it gas or when i do try driving it and cut a corner too hard or come to a stop. It just barely has enough power to hold an idle and i cant even turn the wheels all the way to one side without the drag ofthe power steering killing the engine.

ok so i drained the oil and found tons of tiny metal shavings in it. Im pretty sure i have a spun bearing or two and my question now is would a spun bearing affect my vacuum readings as it currently reads between 13 and 14 inches of mercury. I know the spun bearing would explain my lack of power, knocking/ticking noise, and low oil pressure but im curious if this would give me a low oil pressure reading as well. ideas?