So I went today to have some service done on my car. It was time for me to get the 15,000 mile maintenance done. I had scheduled this appointment ahead of time and told them that I was interested in meeting with a service representative that could answer some questions that Evo owners had about these cars. If you have ever had any doubts about the drivetrain's integrity, continue reading.


I asked Dean Hauge, a service advisor at Joe Bullard Mitsubishi in Mobile, Alabama if I could enter the service bay and ask some questions to the Evo technicians about the car and take some pictures of the work being done on mine. I told him that I would be posting it in this forum to help put an end to all of the claims of manufacture defects that the Evo's transmission is credited with. He was more than helpful. Below is the story of what I found out today....


Here are my car's stats:

2003 Tarmac Black Lancer Evolution with a build date of Mar 2003. I picked up the car with 8 miles on the odometer. For the first 1,000 miles I followed the recommended break-in procedures religiously - keeping the engine revs under 4,000 RPM, never going WOT, never braking hard, etc.. At 800 miles, I had the oil changed to get rid of any metal shavings as the engine "self-cleared" any of the imperfections of production. I continued to drive it calmly for the next 200 miles until I reached 1,000 miles on the odometer. This was to make sure the clutch had been properly broke in and was ready for the life ahead of it. After 1,000 miles, I started modifying my car and driving it very spirited. At 2,500 miles, the transmission fluid was drained to remove any metal shavings that might have accumulated during the car's initial break in process as well. When the dealership did this, they found that the magnetic transmission drain plug was clean and free of shavings. The car is always serviced as indicated in the Pit Pass schedule book. I take the car up to redline at least once a day. I drive around corners as if I am trying to carve into the asphalt. I never launch the car, I never grind gears, I never miss shifts, I always engine break when slowing down, I never slip the clutch excessively, I always speed match when downshifting, I always warm the car up before taking off on a drive, I always drive the first mile or two under minimal throttle position to allow the rest of the drivetrain time to warm up as well.

My car currently has a Buschur Racing MAS pipe with open element air filter, a Buschur Racing manual boost controler, and an APEXi S-AFC II with Buschur Racing settings. The clutch is stock, the tires are original with about 50% tread left on them, and the brake pads are original with about 50% life left on them as well.

I've ridden in other Evo's that have grinded gears, mainly going from first to second. It sounds like a damn air tool or something. Pretty hideous sound. Every time I've observed it in their cars, I wasn't paying attention to their foot placement while they were shifting. It just seemed to happen every now and then when they were driving aggressively.

When I arrived at Joe Bullard Mitsubishi today, I had many of my questions answered.

 

The first thing that I noticed upon entering the service bay was another Evo. It was in for transmission work. It seems that the 3rd gear synchro had gone out in it. This was some good news to me, because now we have a car in the shop that actually has one of the "defects" that everyone talks about.

 

Here are some shots of the Blue Evo while it was being repaired....

 

The next thing I noticed in the shop was a clutch that looked to be out of an Evo. I asked it where it came from, and they said that it was from another Evo that had been in the shop recently. The technician thought that it had less than 10,000 miles on it, but couldn't remember exactly.

 

By now, they had begun working on my car, draining the transmission first. The Evo Technician, Wayne Chuong, told me that the majority of the Evo's that he serviced were comming in for repairs such as fouled spark plugs and clogged injectors in addition to premature clutch wear and transmission repairs. He said that the owners admited to using octane boosters that were known to contain MMT's or used lower octane fuel than what is required....

 

Here are some shots of my Transmission being drained and the metal that was found on the magnetic drain plug. There really wasn't a significant ammount. I don't think that I have anything to worry about.

 

Next up was the transfer case....

 

Once the transmission and transfer case were drained, they were filled back up with the appropriate fluids...

 

The rear differential was the last to be emptied and refilled....

 

So in the end, I hope I have helped put some issues to rest. I can't speak for every Evo out there, but I know that mine is in good condition. I know how I drive it and how I maintain it. The other Evo's that I have driven that encountered the 2nd gear grind, they never did it when I was behind the wheel. Only when the owner was driving, and it wasn't every time. The blue Evo that was in the shop at the same time as mine was having the transmission rebuilt under warranty, even though he had engine mods that would make most dealerships turn their back on. Wayne said that he beleived the reason for the synchro failure was due to improper shifting techniques, but he could not verify it at the time.


I would like to thank the staff of Joe Bullard Mitsubishi, in particular Dean Hauge and Wayne Chuong, for all their help and patience with me as I took these pictures, asked questions, and got in the way of the mechanics.

Thanks for keeping my car in top shape!

 

your dealer worked on your car even though you had a boost controller installed???!?!?! you have a very forgiving service department..
is all this covered under your warrenty?
BUDLoNG

 

My car wasn't in for repair work. It was in for basic maintenance. The blue Evo was in for repair work. However, he also had mods, and they DID cover his transmission rebuild under warranty. This dealership is by far the best Mitsu dealership I have ever dealt with. If you are in the Mobile, Alabama area and looking to purchase a Mitsubishi or are needing a place to take your current Mitsubishi in for service, I would highly recommend giving them a call.

 

What was the point you were trying to prove Everyone knows that some Evos have problems and some don't. The techs at the dealer are no more knowledgeable than the techs in a speed shop (that specializes on Evos). You should be very happy with your Evo as it sounds like it doesn't have any of the concerns that plague others. The driving technique is way too coincidental to blame the synchro failures on. Some drivers will fall into that category, but with the amount of tranny complaints we get here on the forums I can honestly blame build quality for those failures. Some trannies are in spec and built right and some are not BY the way, I have personally driven over 30 different Evos and this is how I come to this conclusion.

 

My point was simply that not all Evo's are plagued, if any at all. I can't prove that any are for sure. However, I can prove that with my car, and countless others out there, that if you maintain them well, that these cars will not fail. If I had treated my car the same way as I did and it ended up having a problem anyway, then I think we could blame it completely on a defect. I'm just trying to help potential buyers realize that not every Evo out there is ridden with these gremlins. Remember the second generation DSM crankwalk scare? Not every motor was affected with that, but most were. This is just a write up on my experience, my practices, and my opinions. It puts my mind to rest about my car, and hopefully - if nothing else - it provided some good pictures of how the service is performed, in case they want to do it theirselves.

 

Didn't mean to flame you or anything like that. It seems like most newer Evos are doing better than older ones. Most failures do come from abuse during launching and not doing it will definetely give you better reliability . Lots of luck with your Evo, I only wish I never had tranny issues-I had to rebuid it at 5000 miles for failing synchros Then again my Evo was on the first batch here in the east coast- March '03