So I did two Gunk flushes and ended up with Castrol semi-synthetic to see if it would work without the oil pan/pickup clean. It ran fine for longer but eventually the light began to flicker and I heard the slight tick-tick.

Looks like we'll have to pull the pan afterall. Before we go there could it be anything else?

 

Not very likely to be anything else.
And trust me on the diesel oil, it is cheaper than the oil you bought and better than the oil you bought.
A gal is $12 at Wal-Mart.