darkcoupon

I should probably provide an update on this since I said I'd get it done in a few weeks and it's ended up being a few months The holidays ended up being really busy for me with work and family/friend obligations, so I ended up not being able to get the issue checked out until early January. Here's the breakdown of what happened:

I found out the dealership where I originally purchased and serviced the car has closed. I eventually tracked down a new Mitsu dealer in the same area who bought the old dealer's inventory and hired their service people, etc... I got ahold of the service department and explained the issues with the transmission whine and overheating warning and right off the bat the guy says "Oh yeah, that's a really common issue with that model year(2011), just pull over when you get the warning and let it cool down." I eventually talked him into having a tech inspect it just to be safe. Took it in the next week, they called me a few hours later and said they couldn't reproduce the problem, but the car was in 4WD Lock so they switched it into 2WD and that's probably what was causing the transmission whine and poor MPG (I don't typically drive in Lock mode, I was in Lock mode when I dropped the car off because we had a pretty hefty snowstorm that morning and I switched it into Lock in order to get up some hills on the way to the dealership) I told him I usually drive in 2WD or standard 4WD and always get the whining sound up hills or on long freeway drives. They told me to come down and chat with the mechanic about it but he basically told me the same thing when I got there: it's a common issue with these cars and a lot of people drive in 4WD Lock or 4WD mode and those modes burn out the transmission really fast.

I can see why Lock mode can burn out the tranny, but I was confused why 4WD mode would be problematic because every piece of literature I was given on the car seems to say that you should be driving in standard 4WD mode unless you want the efficiency of 2WD or need the traction of Lock mode. Anyway, after discussing it a little further the tech basically said that my powertrain is still under warranty until 100,000 miles, if he can reproduce the issue or if the tranny fails it can be replaced for no cost, but there's nothing he can do since he couldn't reproduce the issue and the transmission hasn't failed. At this point I just got tired with trying to convince him, so I took his word for it and figure if the transmission fails I'll take it back to get replaced.

Since then I've been extremely diligent to drive in 2WD mode whenever possible and the whining still persists at the typical times and my fuel efficiency still hovers in the 22mpg range, although the whining been less consistent but I think that's due to the really cold weather we've had this winter. Either way, I'm pretty disappointed with Mitsu's service on this one. It just seemed to me like they didn't want to do the work on it. I'm still considering taking it to another dealer for a second opinion, but there are only a few in my state and they're much further from my work and home so I'm putting it off until I have a little more time.

Nast_Nas

Have you had the fluid changed yet though? Or changed the serpentine belt? At least get that done and go from there? You have an oem cvt cooler right?

migs647

iTrader: (19)

I don't think it is that they don't want to work on it. I think it's they don't want to leave you with a bill for it.

dealerships get paid (in full by the factory) for doing warranty work. They want to do warranty work. However, they can't simply decide to do the work themselves. A rep approves the work when it is a big ticket item such as an engine or transmission. There needs to be documentation of the issue, how the issue possibly formed, etc. If the dealership does the work, and the rep does not approve, the client is on the hook for the bill (this happens all of the time in the Evo community with the SST for example).

If I were you, I'd get a video of it doing it. Then take the video to them to show it.

darkcoupon

Had the fluid changed at 57k, Mitsu tech said all the belts looked good. Everything is OEM on the car, no mods whatsoever.

I get that, but I also offered to bring the car back and drive him to a spot where it regularly happens to show him what's going on and he didn't seem to think it was necessary. Even if the tranny whine is normal, it doesn't explain the poor gas mileage I get at all times. They really don't seem to think it's a big deal so that's why I'm considering getting a second opinion from another dealer.

14OuttySportSE

Here's what happens when you get some ethanol free gas and a great tailwind - first time Ive seen 40mpg (calculated was around 37)

mRVRsport

Holy smokes.

Impressive!

Landshark

i could get higher than that in my Evo .... after resetting the AVG MPG and coasting down a hill.

mRVRsport

^
your comment conjures up the the image of this dude...