If you check on a few reputable boards you will see that this crankwalk problem is real, and more common than many people think.

http://www.magnusmotorsports.com/crankwalktheory.htm

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/show...ight=crankwalk


http://www.roadraceengineering.com/w...crankshaft.htm

http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/showth...ight=crankwalk

http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/showth...ight=crankwalk

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/poll...ults&pollid=64

http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/showth...ight=crankwalk


These are just a few samples that are out there for this "non-problem". I will be happy when my 6 bolt motor is in place so that I can make some power without fear of a sticking clutch in a fast corner like I have now and a blown motor. I thought my FD RX-7 was a time bomb(it was) and moving to this car would be better for reliability. Unfortunately in my case this has not happened. Oh well.

Brett Payne
Manager
Vishnu Performance
www.vishnutuning.com

 

My 95 GSX (with moderate modifications)got crankwalk at 62k miles, dealer said they get 4 or 5 per year for the last few years. I could feel it coming, and bought an aftermarket extended warranty, which covered most of the repairs. It is very real, and fairly common, and the Mitsubishi techs were told by Mitsu that it may be due to the oil squirters under the pistons using too much oil at low pressure (i.e. at idle),so the crank bearings do not get enough. Apparently, these squirters are not present on the earlier engines, and were an "improvement" added later. It is no urban myth, and to suggest it is is simply ignorant.

 

Thanks for your info, hope I don't get it, it sounds painfull.

Talking to the mech who services my EVO V, and several other V & VI's in the area, the one part of the car he say's is reliable, is the engine. He actually told me that he has never had to do any work on any engine.

Not sure from your post's but are we talking about the engine in the V that they base the rally car engine on?.

 

when the bearing on the end of the crankshaft wears it will devolope play (crankwalk) start throwing its weight around and just make things worse but it dont alwasy happen

 

Really??...noooo....eventually. Seriously 125K miles and counting. No Crankwalk AT ALL. Had my friend the technician at the dealercheck, dropped the oil pan and checked the crankshaft for end play. And I have 0 crankwalk. I take care of my car as to not ride the clutch like a grandma and change my oil on regular intervals and I have no signs of it. My DSM is VERY reliable. It is a 2G Turbo. And a very SMALL percentage...let me emphasize SMALL again, do get crankwalk. I believe the number was 2-5%
People say it's due to aftermarket clutches, I have an ACT2100 in my car and I don't have crankwalk. Please think before you post, I'm sorry you got it, but you see the internet allows a lot of people to come togther and share their problems and 1 out of 50 people will come and make a big deal on how they got crankwalk and then the 49 people will get scared and then another 1 of 50 comes and says he got crankwalk and so on and so on. ANd eventually what happens people get scared.

 

Let's say for arguments sake that "only" 5% of 2G turbos get walking crank problems (although from what I have read I think it may be a little higher). That means 1 out of 20 cars get it! That is a huge risk. If you knew that before you bought your car, would you still have gotten it knowing that you had a 1 in 20 chance of having a major engine meltdown? I don't think I would have. By the way, the new M3s have a much lower rate of problems, yet BMW just extended the warranty of all the new M3s to 6 years/100k miles, while Mitsu ignored the problem! The problem is real, and you are one of the lucky ones. I will say I still like my 95 GSX, and it has been pretty reliable otherwise. This is, however, part of the reason I am leaning towards the Sti...

 

Take at look at the threads I posted. Then let me know if it is 2%? Didn't think so. More like 20% which is 1 in 5.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/pol...sults&pollid=64


Now as to thinking before I post I believe I did just that. I was totally unaware of this problem with the second gen cars until I was in the market for one. I asked a friend who owns a 92 DSM whether he has seen crankwalk? His response was the same as yours, never seen it himself and it is probably isolated. I go and buy a 1997 GSX and lo and behold 4 weeks into owning the car the clutch falls flat to the floor! Take the car to my local dealer and they give me the greart news, as well as telling me that they currently had 5 cars in the shop for the same problem. I call DSM Motorsports and tell him my situation, his immediate reaction was to get that 7 bolt motor out of there and replace it with a non-crankwalking 6 bolt. Out of 12 people that I have met with 2nd Gen Eclipses, 5 have had crankwalk. Seems like more than 2% to me? Perhaps the Bay Area just has an abnormal amount of crankwalking DSM'S?
Whats not so great for all of us with this problem is that we need to spend thousands of dollars replacing the motor. I am about to do just that in a few weeks and would have rather not have to because of a flaw in build practices. I agree with the comment about the performance clutches(ACT 2600) being a problem and perhaps causing the crankwalking to become worse more quickly. However there are also stock cars(mine) that have the problem as well. Now as for the EVO I don't believe any model year got crankwalk, including the 7. That bodes well for the EVO VIII as it is pretty much the same motor.

Brett Payne
Manager
Vishnu performance
www.vishnutuning.com

 

My car had the stock clutch when I got crankwalk, and it was in awesome condition for a clutch with 60k+/- miles on it (I am very easy on my transmission).

 

Back when Club DSM was going strong, it seemed that there would be one new crankwalk victim posting his story to the digest every week. The problem had specific symptoms and was relatively easy to measure by checking the endplay of the crankshaft. With a few exceptions, the problem was isolated to the 2nd gen DSMs.

I've followed the Evo for several years now and I haven't heard of one case of suspected crankwalk with the Evo engine. I feel that it was a problem specific to the 2nd gen DSM engines and after owning 2 DSMs, I feel comfortable enough to buy the Evo 8.

Let me also add that I fell victim to crankwalk just a few years ago. My car was bone stock and at 30k miles, I noticed the symptoms. I took meticulous care of the car including all of the scheduled maintenance at the dealership. I spent nearly a year trying to convince the dealership that this was a real problem and I talked to a lot of people who had crankwalk on their 2nd gen DSMs (one guy even claimed he had a list of 300+ owners with crankwalk engines). In the end I escalated the problem up the chain to the the regional manager for Chrysler and had to provide documented evidence of the problem. I made a presentation out of the info supplied on Road Race's web site along with stuff from Magnus Motorsports including charts, sound files, NHTSA reports, and over 100 first hand anecdotes. I presented the info to the management and the head serice techs and turned over hard copies and CD ROMs of everything I had. I wasn't invited but there was a closed door meeting that day with the regional director from Chrysler and within two days, I received a call from the service dept. telling me that I would get a new engine though I would have to foot one third of the bill since my 3 yr/36k was up.

 

At least you're optimistic about your crank's future. I personally have a 98 GST with 103K miles on it. 390 Hp to the wheels and a heavy duty ACT 2600 clutch. I still have had no problems with the crank, but that does not mean I'm not worried about it. I have a few friend that were not as lucky as I. Their cars still had the stock clutch and they still developed the walk.

Infinity, it seems that we are the lucky ones that actually have adequate oil flow in our bearings. Don't just turn your head and think that this is just a bunch of people whining about their personal problems. Crankwalk is real. Keep talking about how it will never happen to us, and see how quickly it can develope in our motors.

Jeff

 

I know crankwalk is real, I used to be an intern at a mitsubishi dealership as a technician. I've seens quite a few cases of crankwalk. Many theories, it is possible for me to get crankwalk.
On the other hand ever heard of a Supra get crankwalk?
yep, it's true some supras got crankwalk. One of the members on supraforums posted about getting crankwalk, and boy were they worried about word of this getting out. But regardless. Mitsubishi knows about crankwalk, and they won't fix it. 94-99 cars suffer from. Notice i added 94, even though 94 is a 1G, some 94's have been said to get crankwalk too. Usually a 97 or 98 models get crankwalk. Very few 99 cases, but there are a lot more 97-98 cases of crankwalk. Perhaps because there are more of those year cars running around, and GSXs tend to get crankwalk more than GSTs.

 

Here is a guaranteed anti-crankwalk fix for any 4G63 crank.



Aint walking anywhere now.

Mike W