Personally, I think it's the dealership that doesn't want to do it, and they're using Mitsu as the escape goat. Anytime they do warranty work it involves a bunch of paper work. The repairs come "out of pocket" for them and Mitsu reimburses them afterward...

If you have the ability, I'd take it to a more reputable Mitsu service department, or file a warranty complaint, and possibly a dealership complaint. Instructions on how to do so came with the car's documentation.

 

If they don't have a better answer for me by tomorrow then I will deffinitely be filing complaints!

 

Dealership called, said the problem was my drop in K&N air filter. That if I did not put the stock filter back in, then they are going to void my warranty.......huh? Can someone please explain to me how exactly a drop in cloth air filter would cause my transmission to fail, because for the life of me I can't figure it out! I called K&N, they are investigating and will be getting back with me. To say that I am upset right now would be a gross understatement!!!!!

 

What I don't get, is why more ralliart transmissions are failing than MR transmissions. I'd say it's about a 8:1 ratio. The transmissions can't be that different (cost effective). Did just skimp out on the ralliart clutches? cooling? programming? Hopefully the '10 models have better programming and prevents this from happening. Thankfully I haven't heard of denying a SST replacement yet.

 

Keep in mind it's probably the local rep or your manager calling these shots. Call in a complaint with mitsu corporate (# is in your manual), and tell them your frustration with your dealership. This usually helps quite a bit, especially in your case.

 

Actually this can be true. I've heard of the HKS drop-in on the Xs doing this. If there is any kind of air leak your MAF is going to go wacky, and start reporting to the ECU odd air readings. Put your stock filter back in and see if you can replicate it. If you CAN, then go back there.

Is it possible you put the air filter in wrong?

 

K&N called and said to put the stock back in, and if I can't replicate the problem, then they will refund me my money for the filter.

And, yes, I'm pretty certain I installed it correctly. I even read the instructions to make sure that the arrow was pointing in the right direction.

 

Cool, (wasn't trying to be insulting btw). I just wanted to make sure, because on the X intake, it can be difficult to line up the tabs correctly and can mis-align the bottom without knowing it.

On the JDM Ralliart sports filter it has a rubber ring to prevent leakage, I know on the HKS it doesn't have any ring of sort and leaks slightly. I don't know the K&N enough to comment on it though.

 

The K&N also has a soft rubbery side that should face the engine side of the air box to make the seal. It also has a hard side. If it's put in backward (which it can be very easily), the hard side will be toward the engine and could potentially allow unfiltered air to enter behind the filter.

 

I'm gonna double check it when I pick my car up, but like I said before, I remember when I put it on double checking the instructions to make sure I had it facing the proper direction. Anyway, I'm gonna put the stock filter in and run the hell out of it to see if the tranny holds. I'll keep you guys posted on the results.

 

It didn't take long at all. I picked the car up last night and put the stock air filter back in. On my way to work this morning the tranny acted up again. I turned around and took it right back to the dealership. Now I'm in a Toyota Yaris until they decide what their going to blame it on this time.

 

Is there another dealership near by? I actually remember a story of a FL dealership being very shady about this very topic.

 

The dealer called me this morning and asked me if I could replicate what I've been experiencing with a mechanic in the car. So we get on the highway, I do one hard pull, 4th to 5th to 6th, tranny acts fine for about 20 seconds. The transmission overheating light then came on, the tranny then completely shut down. I had to pull over, turn off the car, then turn it back on before it would move. The mechanic then proceeds to tell me that the reason it's overheating is because of the way I'm driving it. I told him that I would understand if I did hard pull after hard pull after hard pull, but that it should not be overheating and shutting down after one pull. I dropped the car back off at the dealer and went home.

I called the dealer about 15 minutes before they closed to find out what they had determined. I was honestly expecting them to tell me that it was my fault and that they were going to void my warranty because of how I drove the car. To my surprise they told me that they had ordered the new transmission today and that it would be in in about a week. WOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!

 

Congrats. Yah it seems it doesn't take a lot of force to get them to replace your tranny.

 

That's great news.. though I shudder to think what would've happened had this been 3 years down the road with 60000 mi on the car....