kmart888

First let me say that when I bought My MR-T from Glendale Mitsubishi last January the owner of the dealership heaped praise on his technician “Reol” (sp?) who was a specially factory trained evo expert (I was refusing the extended warrantee being offered at the time). Last week I took the car in to them to have the TPMS(s) programmed and SST flushed and filled, I was told by the service advisor to come back for the SST service next week when Reol (the expert) was back from holiday. Again the service advisor went on and on about how he (Reol) was specially trained by the factory and knew just about everything there is to know about the Evo 10.

OK, so today, with 900 mi now on my new replaced TC-SST I take in to Glendale Mitsubishi for a change of fluid and a flush, here is how it went:

Service advisor: “The SST is a sealed unit never to be serviced”

Me: "Let me talk to Reol, I’m sure he can do what I want."

Reol: “The SST is a sealed unit never to be serviced”

(That was all I needed to know, I already decided to somewhere else)

Me: “You mean to tell me you cannot even drain and fill it and that the fluid should last the lifetime of the transmission?”.

Reol: Yes, ...it doesn’t even have a dipstick... how would I know how much fluid to fill it with...where do you pour the fluid in?” (I’m supposed to point out the bolt for him?)

Me: “Bye, have a nice new year”.

Some history:

Last September I took the car into "RRE" (not trusting a dealership and wanted to check out the shop) for a SST fluid change and flush, neither “Sam” the sales guy, nor anyone else at the shop at the moment even new that the Evo X came something other than a 5 speed, he didn't know that the SST had a replaceable filter or that it took special fluid, in fact he argued with me that I was wrong about the filter! After about a half an hour watching Sam call around to various suppliers trying to obtain this mysterious SST filter I left that shop.

Later that day I stopped by SoCoast Mitsubishi see if they knew what an SST filter was (perhaps I had been led astray by the "net"), wow they had one and the parts guy actually new about it so I decided to let them change the fluid. My first concern was when the technician came to me and asked “how much fluid should I put in it?” It was the next morning than my gearbox failed (P1808 fluid temperature failure). On reflection I am not sure he fully drained the box (removed all three bolts) or flushed it.

No wonder folks are starting to have problems with their SST faced with this widespread incompetence!

I do not want to put my car up on stands and do it myself, is there a shop in driving distance of greater Los Angeles or the San Fernando Valley that can correctly flush and fill my SST for me?

2010 MR-T (SST)
OEM intake w/dropin
CBRD BBX full Turbo
AMS DP
RRE Rally test pipe
MXP II CBE
DP 1000 injectors
BlaqOps single pump
WORKS tune using OP
Green relay (that’s it, it MUST be a faulty fuel relay!)

luvboost

iTrader: (15)

yep, sad story. My dealer said they only do a drain and refill. I was just surprised they new how to drain and refill it. Needless to say I didn't have them do it to end with. It's almost like you have to be standing next to the tech pointing out which bolts to remove and how to refill it and replace the filter. Luckily my buddy changed mine before I bought it. Hope you find someone.

jkennedy293

I don't trust most shops to to an engine oil change properly, there is no way I'm letting them near the SST.

05VIII

iTrader: (17)

not trying to bash or anything but why did you want to get it flushed if it is brand new and only had 900 miles?

Widoww

mines been flushed (or so they say from brampton mitsu out here in ontario canada..I can only hope they changed my sst filter..i hightly doubt they washed it out just drain and refill ill ask em next oil change.

But very sad to hear.

kmart888

It is oft times a very good idea to change out the break-in fluid early on in any new componant (motor, gearbox, transfercase, etc). Metal filling accrue rapidly during the initial break-in (seating of gear sets in this case) plus usually some casting debris shakes off in the first few hundred miles. There are pictures on the forum of back contaminated fluid and clogged filters from the first SST fluid change and clean fluid comming out on subsequent fluid changes. It is a big investment, fluid is cheap in comparison.

I going to take it to Jiffy lube to be sure it gets done right!

2010 MR-T (SST)
OEM intake w/dropin
CBRD BBX full Turbo
AMS DP
RRE Rally test pipe
MXP II CBE
DP 1000 injectors
BlaqOps single pump
WORKS tune using OP
Green relay (that’s it, it MUST be a faulty fuel relay!)

jkennedy293

LMAO

05VIII

iTrader: (17)

ok got ya...but lol jiffy lube for the win
they would at least let you down in the pit to make sure it gets done right lol

wonder why the so called master technician doesnt know the procedure for draining and filling

OntRalliart09

Sounds familiar.....

I even printed out the schedule and flush procedure from the manual and brought it in to ask why they're refusing to do what the engineers at mitsu specified. Their answer was that too many of the transmissions were having problems after the flush so mitsu told them (and all dealers) to stop doing it.

Sounds like they have a lot of incompetent technicians as I can't imagine why they would initially write up a procedure with illustrations and all if the design intent was to have a sealed unserviceable unit.

B.S. mitsu, i will sell my car when the warranty is up because that trans is a bank busting time bomb...

kmart888

Rigo of South Coast Mitsubishi PM’d me and said he would do a “by the book” TC-SST service (what some of us have euphemistically been calling a drain and flush). After talking to Rigo he convinced me that he know more about the SST then I could hope to ever know so I took my car in to them yesterday and had the SST serviced. Though I did not watch I am confident it was done right.

Thank you Rigo and please accept my humble apology for yesterday’s flame.

A big thumbs up for South Coast Mitsubishi!

Mike W of RRE also proved he knows his stuff, in fact he copied and pasted the actual TC-SST service procedure in this thread.

Glendale still gets a thumbs down for incompetence!

2010 MR-T (SST)
Stock clutch packs
OEM DiaQueen SST fluid
SSP trans Deep Sump
SSP Front mount trans cooler
OEM intake w/dropin
CBRD BBX full Turbo
AMS DP
RRE Rally test pipe
MXP II CBE
DP 1000 injectors
BlaqOps single pump
WORKS tune using OP (cleaned up by Bryan)
Green relay (that’s it, it MUST be a faulty fuel pump relay!)

kmart888

This is what my SST the filter looked like after only 1000mi, the fluid looked new, So maby I was crazy for servicing the SST early :$:
but the cost was minimal compared to the cost of the SST.

jkennedy293

Filter looks fine.

kozmic27

I would recomend a flush somewhere between 3000 and 5000 miles, possibly even less. The reason is to get rid of the manufacture debris from the trans. My filter was literally caked at 8k miles. I did a drain and flush then. Twice I have drained my transmission since then, once at 18k miles, and once at 28k (ish)miles, and both times the fluid is absolutely spotless, and the filter clean.

I beat the living hell out of my MR. I am sure Jeremy beats his worse, but I doubt there are many that get beaten on like mine does. Spotless fluid still.

I am sure if Mitsu recomended they stop doing the drain and flush, they would have issued a TSB for their manual. No such TSB has been issued. The only reason for an issue after a drain and flush would be failure on the technicians part to follow the instructions that are printed very clearly in the service manual.

migs647

iTrader: (19)

Grats, new signature.