Daitonsralliart

Hey guys I just wanted to share my story with you guys so maybe you can learn something from this. I did a search in the Ralliart Forums and couldn't find any specific thread on timing chain stretch... I do know there is an evo one but I figured what the hell!

Ok so on Monday the 19th I was pulling into work just outside Edmonton Alberta. I usually do about 50km/h do to the long gravel driveway being rather rough. Anyways I pull into my stall put the car in park and all of a sudden the Red Triangle of Death pops up (red triangle with red !) I Immidiately call the dealership and let them know about this. The guy I spoke to didn't seem concerned at all, he told me that that symbol can be caused by about 700 different things!

I told him if its all the same to him I would like to get it looked at ASAP because I have done alot of reading and the general concensus is that symbol means timing chain stretch or break. So I bring the car in the following day they give me a ride home and about 45 min later I get a phone call from the service manager.

The Manager continues to tell me that the timing chain is stretched and the repair probably won't be covered because I have some mods!. I told him I highly doubt my mods are what caused the problems, I only have a testpipe, catback exhaust, and a K&N drop in filter. He than tells me that if its not the mods it must be the way I am driving the car. While I do drive the car spirited in the summer I by no means abuse the car enough for the timing chain to stretch at 47,000km. So he gave me the quote for the repairs and parts $1900!!!. I stayed calm and told him to contact Mitsubishi Canada and see if they would honor the warranty, he said he would get back to me ASAP.

So it now Friday the 23rd and I finally get a call back. He told me that after speaking with Mitsu Canada they desided to honor the warranty. Apparently after much debate they desided that the aftermarket parts I have do not increase the HP enough to damage the timing chain, I am so happy guys you have no idea. The only thing that pisses me off is the fact that apparently they can't get a timing chain till the new year and they want the car for a full week for the install which means I probably won't have a care for 3 weeks!!!.

Also he told me that Mitsubishi will not provide me with a rental car of any kind. I find this to be kind of odd since I have been given a rental car for other warranty work done. So if anyone knows how I can go about getting a rental car out of them that would be great.

2muchboost

iTrader: (10)

I'm really glad to see a dealership honor a warranty...

bye2u

had the same issue and the dealer replaced the chain under warranty. They didnt even question me about my mods, full exhaust, intake, ebc or if i drove it hard or not lol.. so was quite happy

p1llar

iTrader: (1)

Good friend of mine is a mechanic at Mitsu, he said he does a timing chain (under warranty) at least every 4 or 5 weeks. He's amazed there's no recall as the failure rate is so high.

sstevojr

iTrader: (7)

What is the general consensus for the failures? Is it the chains themselves, or the system as a whole?

Daitonsralliart

I have read on other forums that there is a run of bad chains from 09-10 in ralliarts and evo's. Its gotta be the chain cause they are suppose to last at least 150,000km. The manager also told me that alot of the timing chains stretching is caused by down shifting to fast in the TC-SST ( like from 5th to 2nd really fast) I have never really done this myself but that is what he told me.

endlesss

iTrader: (1)

Is this a common problem for these cars?

Ralliart Guy

Daitonsralliart,
Call Mitsubishi in Canada yourself and ask about a rental!
I have a quick story, not completely like yours but you will understand why I tell this story. In 2011, I bought a 2007 Saturn Ion for my wife as a “go to work” car. It started to have a very bad fuel smell and got worst, so bad in fact that I could not allow my wife to drive it anymore. I took it in to the dealership and found out that there was a recall for the fuel pump. It was defective at times and would crack, thus leaking fuel which = smelly car. I gave him my VIN number since the recall encompassed 2007. Well, the VIN was not part of the recall (so the batch that was bad was not supposedly put on my car). I told them to find out why I had the smell anyways because it was not safe to drive unless you wanted to pass out while driving from the fumes. Anyways, it turned out I had a bad fuel pump. They told me that my bill would be something like $450.00. I was totally pissed off since the recall was for my year. I called GMC HQ myself (Saturn was once owned by them before they went out of business). The fuel pump fell under another type of warranty since it was known to be defective “possibly.” They called the dealership and told them to send them the bill. Head Quarters was absolutely professional and seem to care about my situation, even though it was a used car. Hope this helps. Get your information straight from the horse’s mouth = Mitsubishi, Canada.

kyoo

iTrader: (29)

of the few problems 4b11 has had, this seems to be one of the relatively more common ones.

rschaffer

Sorry to hear bud glad you got it fixed. I posted this on E-town guys were worried lol

blackralliart09

My timing chain light went on this week brought it in and they replaced it no questions asked. I have a few mods but no tune.

hotkupa

iTrader: (1)

Which dealership?

blackralliart09

LaSorsa Mitsubishi in the bronx.

Fuego

iTrader: (9)

It's the chain themselves. There is a new chain that should not stretch and they put those on the new Evos but all the 09-10 seem to have this problem. Seems to happen often and can readier about it in the Evo X section. They have. A lot more info their on our engine so some good reading. :-)

Ralligrants

Looked for info on this, as my car has been with Mitsubishi service for 2 weeks now. The timing chain was stretched. I had no warning, drove the car to work with no problems, went to start it after work and the engine turned over but would not start. Towed to Mitsubishi, told the timing change had stretched and they had ordered the part and should be back on the road in 4 days. I asked if it could have damaged the engine they told me unlikely as it drove to work ok, not the case. The head is now in for repair as all the valves were destroyed. They are saying that the pistons are OK but will wait and see.
The car is still under warranty and has done 75000 klms and is stock standard. Regularly serviced as per their recommendations.

Also previously had the clutches replaced as had a minor shudder / slip from new that they said was normal. At about 50,000 klms the clutch started slipping so much i could not get out of my driveway. They replaced the ECU first then the clutches under warranty.

The dealer tells me that in both cases the parts used to repair the problems have been upgraded from the original. Would be an expensive exercise if the car was out of warranty.

I have probably got another week before i get it back, i will keep posting on progress or further issues.

I love the car but feel i should sell it before the warranty is out

Ralligrants

Update 18/08/2013

Got the car back with the updated chain and a complete head rebuild, all running well. I was following the local dealers service schedule of 15,000 klm and they should have scheduled it every 7,500 for the Ralliart, so they admitted that they got it wrong and leaving the oil in so long may have contributed to the chain stretch. They have stressed to me to service every 7,500 from now on or the warranty will be void.


Ralligrants