When I accelerate away from a stop, it feels like the parking brake is still on a little and when the RPM's go past 4,000, all hell breaks loose. There is a VERY noticeable resonance that just intensifies as the revs go up. If I let off the gas and let the revs fall, the resonance is even worse in the 4-5k range. It sounds bad and not the usual Evo noises. I've had the car for several months and I'm used to all the usual noises - gear whine under decel, etc. This is totally new and really loud.

The car is full of oil and has never been run low.
Car has just reached 7,000 miles.
Car has never been overheated nor over-reved.
Car idles fine and will pull strongly all the way to redline.
No other weird noises - no crunching or scraping.
Everything in the engine bay appears ok, although I just did a few cursory looks.

I did a search and came up with nothing. Has anyone experienced this or maybe knows what it is???

If it makes any difference, the car was parked in the snow overnight, but started right up this morning.

I plan on taking it to the dealer ASAP, but would like to have an idea of what's going on beforehand.

Thanks,
Joe
http://www.joe250.com

 

Dealer had the car for the past week. Found that the balance shaft belt had loosened and the balancer had gotten off a tooth. Apparently there was no other damage and the car runs fine now. Strange.

Joe
http://www.joe250.com

 

really?? thats pretty ****ed up if you ask me..

 

Joe, what dealership did you take it to, if I could ask?

 

San Rafael Mitsubishi. They were great. I went out of my way to go there, as they came highly recommended. Wish I bought my car from them as well.

Joe
http://www.joe250.com

 

What is the balance shaft? Is this a drivetrain piece?

 

It's in the engine. It makes the engine vibrate less.

 

what like a harmonic balancer???

 

well this confirms it, looks like the same thing happened to me when we pulled my head to replace the gasket and the studs, scared the **** out of me for sure, now if I can just fix it with one good hand... that's the question. apparently it is very easy for the shaft to rotated 180 degrees because it's counterweight is supposed to be positioned on top, this makes it easy for the shaft to spin placing the counterweight on the bottom, but since things still look tdc it is easily overlooked.

 

I think I may have this same noise. Does it sound kinda like an exhaust rattle? Mines starts even before 4000 rpm and the warmer the car gets the louder it is. At first I thought is was an exhaust rattle or cracked exh. manifold or something. I inspected everything and found no evidence of an exhaust rattle. Is the balance shaft belt something that I can easily check myself by looking under the car? What do I look for?