I have commented on this before. If it were my car, I would take it out, but I am not afraid of voiding the warranty. It's a control thing. I don't want some pinhole restrictor telling me how fast to engage the clutch. If I want to try and bark all four tires, darn it, I should be able to do it. Of course this kind of talk worries Mitsubishi and this is why they put in the restrictors.

If you drive where you are not engaging the clutch real fast, it doesn't matter if you have ther restrictor or not. It is only when you are trying to engage faster than the restrictor will allow that you have problems.

 

Dirk,

Thank you for your response to my question and sorry for making you answer it again. I have had about 10 instances, since purchasing the vehicle last March, of second gear grind, I shift well and when this has happened I have almost crapped my pants because it seemed like everything was going fine and I had just be "locked out" of second gear, could this be an effect of the restrictor?

Thank you,
mitsuorder

 

Please understand that I didn't mean to complain about having to answer twice. Rather I invite you to search to find more information beyond my brief answer.

To answer your current question about gear grind, not a chance. The restrictor only restricts flow as the clutch is engaging, not disengaging. I have a theory on what is causing some of the gear grind issues and based on this theory, incorporated a design change to the clutch. I don't know if it is the total answer, but so far the feedback has been good. The 11 sec. Ultimate Racing EVO was the first to get the change. They claim a dramatic improvment with the new design and so we have been doing it ever since. The first twenty or so parts didn't have the modification.

 

Dirk,

Sorry... I also got a very short question... does the restrictor
restrict flow only one way? Say, it only restrict engaging of
clutch and not disengaging?


Also, I found out that a lot of cars came installed with some sort
of flow restricting mechanism... This includes my E36 M3 and my
friend's S2000.... Both cars have no problem with losing
clutch within few k miles... Both do not have that pause effect with
quick upshifting... And it does seem like the restrictor might be a
necessary part for protecting the drivetrain??

So, why is EVO's restrictor causing so much problem than others?
Maybe it's too restrictive?? I wonder if I just drill out the restrictor
a bit to improve flow will provide a good compromising solution..

 

Hey Dirk, I didn't think you were complaining, I was just being polite, see your opinion means a great deal to me considering the legend you are to my dsm buddies. I purchased one of your clutch kits from RRE with the upgraded disc. UPS has taken a 3 day shippment and turned it into a 17 day shippment pending it comes monday, sorry just had to rant a bit. Do the kits that RRE carry incorporate this design change upon which your theory is based upon?

 

Yes, except the very first ones. I sure they were sold a long time ago.

 

Yes, it only restricts one way.
Necessary part? Not if you have respect for your vehicle.
Possibly too restrictive. AWD is harder on clutches anyway.
Drilling out the restrictor is possibly a good compromise. Some of the faster DSM guys had a "secret" size they liked to use on those cars. Just remember a little goes a long way.

 

some perspective: I put over 360whp, on the stock clutch of my porsche. the clutch had over 90K miles on it. never ever had a hint of problems.

i test drove an Evo, and the clutch slipped during the test drive.

I've never ever driven a car and had the clutch slip, unless it was bad. (at first i thought the e-break was stuck or something!)

Sean

 

I saw posts about clutchs going out early and I saw posts about grinding gears but they were usually separate. At 4043 miles I had to fight tooth and nail with the bastards at Mitsu to fix my transmission because it was grinding into 5th gear and my cluth because it was slipping like an S-10 with 150k on it....but it wasn't consistently slipping, usually just in the morning. (seeing the posts in this thread makes me wonder if the restrictor is messed up on mine...experts please comment!)

At first they tried to tell me I was abusing my car because there was some blueing on the flywheel and that was going to void my warranty. The fifth gear grinding was going to be covered but the clutch wasn't going to be touched. The Service advisor was an a** as well. He told me they determined from the blueing that the car had been abused and he "didn't want to point any fingers" but strongly suggested that I take a good look at my driving habits. This car has never been raced...NEVER...I depend on it to get me to work, period. I felt like beating him silly.....

Soooo.... I called Mitsubishi's North American Corporate headquarters and after a while got to talk to their consumer affairs department. Two hours later the District parts rep called me back and apologized about the situation and assured me that my clutch and the transmission would be taken care of and covered under warranty.

I had to explain to rep at their headquarters that the clucth started slipping before the 1000 mile break-in period was over and I took it to the dealer then but all they did was balance my tires since they couldn't recreate the slipping. I also told him about the smell of burnt clutch after trips longer than 100 miles (I also told the dealer about this). I also had to tell him about the "approved" warranty work on the transmission to replace 5th gear. All these things were neglected to be mentioned by the dealer when they were working with them to get the repairs covered under warranty and I think I figured out why when it came time to pick up my car. The dealership takes a huge hit on the price of labor and parts for warranty repairs. All in all they charged Mitsubishi about $1500 for the repairs. If you or I were to have the same thing done it would cost us $2400 (not including the rental car).

It makes me wonder if thats why they weren't motivated to get all the facts to the district rep??? The morale of that story is to screw the dealer when they say no...You can appeal to corporate and sometimes it works out.

If you are not tired of reading yet here is what they replaced according to the warranty disclosure:

Sleeve,M/T 5th & Reverse Synchro
Spring, M/T Synch Key
Gear, M/T Output Shaft 5th
Ring assy, M/T Reverse Gear
Ring, M/T Synchro
Hub, M/T 5th & Reverse Synchro
Spring, M/T Synch Key
Sleve,M/T Output shaft
Liquid Gasket, M/T
Brake Cleaner
Flywheel Assy
Disc, Clutch
Cover assy, cluth
Bearing, Clutch release
Oil

Still with me....They had the car for 11 days! I recieved a call from the dealer twice during the entire repair. Once to tell me I was screwed for the warranty repair on the clutch and once about 7 days later to tell me to leave work and come get it because they were going to stop paying for the rental since it was fixed.

40 miles later the smell of burnt cluth graced my garage once again...and it is starting to grind into 3rd now!!!!!

Overall I was disgusted by their contempt for their customer from the word go and will never buy so much as a TV from Mitsubishi again. My final question, if you hung in there, is WHAT CAN WE DO?!? Does anybody know if anyone has started to form together owners that have problems like this to force Mitsu to do something about it? I saw a posting for a NHTSA complaint but I think that is only for safety related problems. We have to get them to fix this!

 

this is easily a safety problem, if your clutch slips in traffic it could be bad...

 

That makes sense. I'll get on it. Here is the link again in case anybody else wants to file one. You can see examples if you search the open claims. It is pretty easy, they are broken down by year, make, and model. There are even some FSB's on the site!

 

No really... here it is

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/

 

Someone please start a new thread requesting ppl which have had problems with their clutchs fill the NHTSA complaint form out.

Ppl who've had problems one way or another, whether the dealer replaced the clutch or not, should fill out the form.

I would do it myself, but I think someone who can speak from first hand experience, and currently owns an Evo should do it.
I don't own one.... yet.

Sean

 

I just ordered a Clutch Masters stage III. The dealer is going to install it for $75 when they warrantee the 5th gear synchro problem. I have had no apparent problems with the clutch at 9000 miles but the installation would be about $700 according to the dealer. Wish me luck.

 

yeah that is one hell of a deal, my dealer hear in TX quotes 10hrs @ $75. Now a friend of mine, a mitsu tech, is offering the job for $400 flat, this is great for anyone in the Austin, San Marcos, New Braunfels, San Antonio areas of Texas.