lukesmith55,

Basically any 229.** oil should be more than edequate for your car.
However, since your car is 1997, it doesn't need synthetic oil because it doesn't have the FSS (flexiblbe service system). Normal dino oil should be good enough.

The grade is in your owner manual due to your climate but I would imagine a 0W-40 or a 10W-40 should do.
Again, I don't think synthetic oil causes the ticking problem

Regards,
JeffreyP