[TampaTide]

Hello everyone. First time posting. I joined this club to obtain information and to share some information with other VR-4 owners. Let me begin by giving you some background information. Original owner from back in the day. 1992 black VR-4 bought from the dealer on Christmas Eve with only 8 miles on it. I have loved this car, but not to the extreme as other VR-4 owners. I have never raced the car or abused it in any way. As a matter of fact, my wife has been the primary driver. This VR-4 only has 70,000 miles on it! We have always used Mitsubishi Service to have any and all work done on the car, and the maintenance schedule has been followed wih great detail. My wife was on her way to work a few weeks ago when she began to hear this noise under the car. It sounded as if concrete might be in the transmission. She pulled over to the side and called for a tow truck, which took the car to the nearest Mitsubishi dealership. I called them soon after and explained to them that we had just received a recall notice from Mitsubishi... could this noise be attributed to the recall? After a few days, the service manager called to tell me that my VR-4 needed a WHOLE BRAND NEW TRANSMISSION. New Transmission? Standard? 70,000 miles? How can this be? It would cost $4 - 6 thousand new, or if I wanted to get a used one out of the junkyard it would cost $2500 - $3500. I asked how many miles would be on a junkyard transmission, and he laughed and said "more than yours." I decided to get a second opinion, so I went to the dealership to pick up my VR-4. He told me AGAIN that the recall had nothing to do with my problems and sent me on my way. Never bothering to check the seals, fill the fluid, or replace the transfer case! I was not even told it was leaking! The independent shop I took my VR-4 to charged me $500 to take the transmission out of the car and find out exactly what the problem was. In doing so, guess what he discovered? YEP! A transfer case covered in fluid with the seal cracked and leaking in several places, and I have pictures and serial numbers to prove it. (WHAT WAS THE RECALL ABOUT???) I went back to the dealership to find out why they let me drive away with a transfer case that was proven to be faulty even after I had informed them of the recall. The District Rep (REAL IMPORTANT MAN- a legend in his own mind) who approves or disapproves of this type of work began to explain to me that he had "not heard the news regarding transfer case problems in VR-4's." (YEAH, RIGHT.) He asked me why I did not just bring my car back in and have the transfer caase replaced, because Mitsubishi in California had authorized replacement. I told him if the transfer case were to be changed, then the output shaft would have to be replaced, because of the wear on the splines... and this would leave me in the same position I begain with. A VR-4 that is not driveable! After a lengthy process of calling back and forth with Mitsubishi, one of the rep's there in Califonia made the mistake of giving me the name of the supervisor who was in direct contact with the regional rep here in Florida. I proceeded to call over and over again leaving many messages and finally was able to get a reply from the supervisor there in California. He knew that the local dealership had breached their contract by letting me drive away with a bad transfer case, but he was treading lightly so that he would give himself some wiggle room to negotiate. He knew he was obligated for a transfer case replacement. THIS IS FACT. They (dealers and Mitsubishi) have unspoken guidelines that they try to follow. Deceit. Misdirection. Delay. Anything to convince the owner that Mitsubishi is not liable for their HUGE TOTAL TRANSMISSION ENGINEERING PROBLEM. A direct engineering flaw that THEY have not come to terms with. Pathetic. I spent $1,000.00 labor and $950.00 in parts. Mitsubishi swapped out my transfer case with the new design. 25-spline transfer case. I purchased an output shaft, sync rings, all bearings and seals and topped it off with Red Line. $2,0000 dollars out of pocket directly from a Mitsubishi engineering problem. I have filed complaints with everyone imaginable. This event will be spread to as many people as possible. Mitsubishi with all their money and resources should be held accountable for their products regardless of age. This e-mail has been sent to every imaginable government, state, county and municipal agency as well as Mitsubishi Headquarters and Mr. Richard Donnelson, Director of Mitsubishi Product, Service and Support. In closing, I would like to give each and every one of you a bit of advice. MAKE SURE THAT YOUR TRANSFER CASE TAKES OUT YOUR ENTIRE TRANSMISSION AND DRIVE SHAFTS before you take your AWD for repair. THEN, they will be obligated to replace all, including the entire transmission. That seal needs to leak like HELL. It needs to lock ALL the way up and take everything with it when it goes. If not, they will dick you around endlessly. I checked with my local attorney and he assured me that my local dealer was liable for ANY and ALL problems and accidents resulting from this poorly engineered transfer case and seal. What will happen when a dealer turns someone away and then this person has a multi-car accident with fatalites??
I have really enjoyed my car, but this one problem that has undermined my confidence in Mitsubishi Motor Sales. They are not about customer service. Not now. Not ever. Stick it to them before they stick it to you. And please, feel free to forward this message to ANYONE you know that could benefit from this information BEFORE they have a problem!! Good luck.

 

[TampaTide]

Picture of the TRANSFER CASE

see pic

 

[billvp]

no pic

My t-case did the same thing, had a concrete-grinding noise all of a sudden, totally fubared, but it didn't take anything else out. I got the recall for a new t-case (from Dodge) and went on my way. Tranny is fine, etc.

 

[DC3843]

You might want to push them a little harder for a refund. My tranny had the same thing happen. It got FRIED because of the transfer case leaking, and dodge replaced tranny, drive shaft, and transfer case for free.

 

[Firestorm91TT]

wheres the pic...? gotta see this!

 

[Flasher]

Hey guys, please correct me if i'm wrong. I looked up as much as I could about this whole TC recall and all I see is that it is for the AWD cars. My 91 R/T has no visible probs but again, it looks as if the recall is only for AWD. Is that correct?

 

[lowflier03]

Yes, the front wheel drive cars ...ie the non-turbos do not have a transfer case, as there is no need to supply power to the rear wheels. So the recall is only for AWD models.

 

[Flasher]

:beer:

Thanks!!!!!!!

 

[san ling]

re dodge dealerships...

Ummm mitsu dealerships are just as retarded.

:mitsu: :mitsu: :mitsu:

 

[blusilvr]

As a Stealth tt owner, I must contend that Dodge dealers are idiots, and they think that our car is "totally different" than the VR-4....

So, rather than risk the recall with those idiots, a good alternative is to find the rare Dodge/Mitsu combined dealer. This way, the Dodge people can have the Mitsu techs explain it to them. Paperwork wise, the Dodge folks can get reimbursement- while someone with Mitsu experience can insure that the Dodge techs don't eff things up....


91 TT
92 TT


http://www.3si.org/portal/forums/se...searchid=694161

 

[WhiteFrightTT]

i.e. Peter Fuller Dodge/Mitsubishi in Watertown MA?


I heard Vachon is a great dealer as well as Danvers and Manchester Mitsubishi.

 

[fluegge]

???

Hey is there any way to get them to leak so they will replace the T-case or is there any way to get it to lock up?? I need a new trany anyway. And where would they leak from?

I have a 91 T/T

Thanks anyone who replys

 

[san ling]

fluegge...

That, tempting as it may seem, would be fraud of course....

That said, I think it would also be a BAD idea. ANY of these things that get replaced are gone over with a fine tooth comb by MITSUBISHI, not some grease monkey, but the real deal MITSU boys. They aren't messing around with this one. They want to be SURE that its their fault; bc the more of these they replace, the more they have to replace (eg. if they replace yours, I'm going to bitch even more if they dont replace mine). So I think the odds are with the house on this one buddy. You would at least wind up out a TC, prolly get "marked" by Mitsu and never get another warranty by them again, and at worst, wind up sued or in jail.

hope this helps.

:mitsu: :mitsu: :mitsu:

 

[fluegge]

Well I wasn't getting at commiting fraud. I'm just worried because I already had one replaced about 2 years ago and I got a recall again and called about it and they said it had not been completed. So is this another recall or did I get another bad one or what's going on??? I drive a lot and don't want to get stuck and s(&*@*# in the middle of no where. I don't want it to go out but if it does it better take everything out with it so I can get a drivetrain that works. I've had the car since 40K miles and now has 176k miles and the tranny has always ground going to 2nd and 3rd on hard acceleration. Now it's starting to do it in 5th. And at a stop to get it into 1st it will grind unless I go 2nd to 1st or hold the clutch for a few seconds then put the clutch in. I don't know if I got a lemon tranny or what but Dodge and Mits both have said it's not a bad tranny..?? I love the car but the drivetrain (except engine) is kinda crappy the way it seems.

:ak47: :mitsu:

 

[chrbiele]

the same thing happened to me..they said that they could not put my transfer case back on because my output shaft was stripped and that i needed a whole new tranny...and they are trying to dick my over for 5400 bucks...they are putting the car back together and i am picking it up today but they did not rebuild anything or replace anything because "I am at fault" and i need to get my trany fixed then they can work on my TC....are you telling me that they are responisble for replacing my tranny because the TC caused the tranny to break...they told me that teh tranny cause my TC case to break so that isnt even covvered so i have to pay an additional 1200 for a new TC.

 

[fluegge]

???

Well the way I've known it to be on recalls if the recall item failed and caused something else related to that part to fail that part would also be covered. Is it at a dodge dealer or mitsubishi dealer? Oh and do you have a card if it is a Stealth have your vin # dealer name and and call this # 1-800-853-1403. Tell them it is reguarding campaign notification B17 and they should be able to help you out!!

Good Luck buddy..

 

[chrbiele]

it was a mits dealer...the dealer isnt going to say that the TC case caused it because then they will have to pay to get a new one...they are actually telling me that my tranny caused teh TC to go..

 

[Bandit4142]

Hmmm.....

I just got my VR-4 back from having the 60k done and out of nowhere my T-case started leaking all over. According to Mitsu, the recall was already completed on my car, but they even told me that nothing was done because it wasn't leaking. Does the recall still apply to my 94' because its the original t-case? And how does the t-case cause damage to the tranny? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[fluegge]

Well I had my recall done about 3.5 years ago and about a month ago I got another recall notice I don't know how much different the recall is between dodge and Mits but when I originally took mine to the dodge dealer here they said that we were just supposed to change the seals but they did the whole thing. Well are you sure that T-case went out first? Or could have it been the tranny locking up? I don't really know what to tell you.

Oh bandit. If the t-case locks up the tranny would be turning and all of a sudden it would stop whick could break shafts, shear gears or mess up syncros..

 

[msGTvr418]

i find this very interesting i have the same grinding noise coming from my t-case sand when taken out there was no oil in it and the splines on my output shaft were gone isnt that funny. i called up the regional headquarters, and told them what happened and they said if thats the case and the t-case ruined the tranny, the tranny would be replaced to for free.