Hey everyone,

I recently bought an 2009 Ralliart Lancer from a used car yard.

After only having the car for a day, a check light came on on my dash ( an ! mark in a triangle). I tooked the symbol up in the manual and it referres to the timing chain.
I rang the service department of where I bought the car, and took it back.
When I got it back the next day, they said that it was actually an airhose that had come lose and popped off, so they fixed that. It was also running a bit lean so they fixed that too.

2 days after I picked it up from the service department, the same light came back on.
I took it back, and this time it was the actual timing chain. Because they aren't Mitsubishi specialists, they sent to Mitsubishi, they confirmed the issue and sent it back, so they replaced the timing chain and all seals or something with genuine Mitsubishi parts.

Now, after only having the car back for 24 hrs, the same light has come back on.
I am taking it back this afternoon, but has anyone else had any issues like this or similar? Does anyone have any advice?

It is extremely frustrating because I absolutely love my new car and just want it to be running properly and not have to keep clearing the stupid check light and taking it back.

 

How many miles are on it? Do you have maintenance records?

 

I really feel your pain here. After I only had my car a few months, it gave me a check engine light and my Mitsubishi dealership had a ridiculous hard time diagnosing it. It was at the dealership for a month! Finally just turned out to be a simple boost pill line... I hope you get your issue straightened out though! Run the VIN with www.mitsubishicars.com Click 'owners' and sign up. There you can input your cars VIN and info. You can see what, if any, records are available for it, considering it was serviced at a dealership. Also, you could pay $20 bucks for a full CarFax report just to see if it was serviced at any other garage/shop. That will be a good starting point. If the chain and everything is brand new now, maybe the sensor that measures the stretch is faulty. Or, maybe the car was tuned heavily and maybe the timing was advanced?? (not even sure if thats possible with these cars, but im also sure a competent tuner can change just about anything, given he has the skills, knowledge and tools). Try getting the cars ECM reflashed to a stock map.

 

Is the shop able to prove that the swap was actually done? Ask for the replaced chain. The fault code regularly coming on after a short time leads me to believe they're just clearing it and callingit a day.

 

^this.

 

It's gonna be awkward asking for the old chain, but worth it if they can't supply it.

 

Man I hate awkward situations like that, lol

 

Then they should be able to show you a billing invoice from the dealership for the work (>$400 at least!).

 

Thanks for all your posts and advice guys.
I got the car back last night and 'apparently' there was no error. It was simply a 'low fuel' warning, which is extremely strange.
I've been driving mitsubishis for years and that's not a normal fuel warning. They said after being unable to diagnose the problem, they simply went and put $30 fuel in it and the light cleared.
He said the light just means 'there is something you need to pay attention to.'
I am a little sceptical because 1, it wasn't like it was super low on fuel, i had out fuel in it AFTER the light came on and it was still there.
2, it was a low fuel warning, as most of your probably know. Why does it need to come up with a check light that requires me to hold and clear it EVERY time I start the car?

mike594x, thanks for that. I might do that today.

And Grilla, that's a smart idea actually. Thanks!

 

Can't say I've ever had the low fuel light come on for me. I never let my fuel level drop that low. Lowest I've gotten in fuel 'range' was 30 miles. I don't want the pump sucking up anything that might be on the very bottom of the tank. And you're welcome, hope everything works out.

 

I just realized you're in Australia, correct? www.mitsubishicars.com is the USA site for owners, I'm not sure if its the same for Australia, but I'd still give it a shot anyway.

 

indeed that is the symbol for low fuel, but it usually says right below it "refuel". our car also uses it for other indications too like "maintenance required" and when the temp outside goes below 38F for "possible icy roads", those are the only ones ive ran into thus far on my 2011.