For the last few months my Evo has made a fairly loud clunk on the passenger- side front suspension, when the steering wheel is turned hard right or left. It does not make the sound unless the car is moving (torqued). Mitsu says they cant hear it . My private mechanic took it for a spin and heard it but said all looked fine on static suspension check (Since it only does it while moving it can't be located on the rack). He speculated it was a lower ball joint problem and said there were some service bulletins on older Lancers for this problem. Any ideas what it could be and how to know for sure?

 

Sounds like what I had when I bought my 03 new. If you have alot of miles already, have someone find it and fix it. If the car is still relatively new, it's likely that they'll ignore the issue and play dumb --- because it will eventually fade and disappear as more miles acrue.

My .02 cents. Your experience sounds just like mine.

 

I have 20K miles on it. It developed in the last 3 months. I'd like someone to find it & fix it, but no one can find it.

 

how hard left are you turnign it when this happens? Are you turning the wheel hard until it locks? you'll get a thunk...

 

I have the same problem on my car. My noise actually went away during the summer and now is back. I took my car to the dealer and they heard the noise, but would not fix it unless they new what the problem was. Since they couldn't determine the problem looking at it they were not going to attempt to fix it. F'kn dealer.

 

That sound is probably the spring rubbing against itself and then slipping like mine did. The dealer mechanic just put rubber hose where they meet. Now it squeeks sometimes, but doesn't clunk anymore.

 

This was answered,well sorta, awhile back. It has something to do with the upper spring mounts on the '03. For some reason or another the spring would move a little when you are turning. Some has it when just turning right and some just turning left. Some guys bought the Cusco pillow mounts and they said that the noise went away.

 

I can turn the wheel about 70% of maximum & bring it on, in either direction, intermitantly. The farther I turn it, the more likely it is to clunk. Since it is slowly getting worse, I am sure it wil get so bad that it will eventually be easily located & fixed. But, I am going to VIR for a track day in 3 weeks. Last time there I went thru the uphill S's at 110 mph & was doing 135 mph at other spots. I dont want any mechanical failures in those conditions.

 

Machron & Ex-Honda. Spring shifting or binding was one of my private mechanic's theories. I will try the Cusco spring mounts.

 

It's obviously a suspension component. Previously, Mitsu has described this as a "common sound associated with a high performance vehicle," but since it just started, it's clear that something has been moved from it's factory orientation, requiring repair.

Make sure you document all the encounters with the mitsu service department guys that you would consider negligent or unhelpful. They need to remove and inspect the regional components of the suspension at your request, and you need to watch them do it. If you're not there to verify that they've inspected all the parts, and rebuilt them correctly, they'll just SAY they did it, and log the hours as labor so they get paid for it. Don't forget strut braces, either. Have them do it ALL.

If they refuse, call the Mitsu customer service # available on the web, and try to talk directly to their District Rep and log a complaint about the dealership, but you'll need to stand your ground. It's good to have several instances of non-compliance documented at this point. If you get any push-back, mention your interest in potential litigation for research and repair expenses -- but only mention lawyers as a last resort, and only if you've had your "free consult" with one already. You, as a consumer are protected by federal law in cases like this. Any repair bill is cheaper than uncouching the company lawer. Just know your rights.

Under pressure from corporate, any dealer will be authorized to use as many hours of labor it takes to find, and address the issue. Just make sure they give you a loaner if they keep the evo overnight.

The bottom line is this: Under Warranty + Verified Defect = Repair.
It doesn't matter how tough it is to find. It is THEIR RESPONSIBILITY TO ACCURATELY DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM, AND IMPLEMENT A SOLUTION.
That's it.

This is all just a summation of a ton of other guy's problems with mitsu. You'll need to either be best buds with the dealership guys, or you'll need to know your rights --- your particular situation may not require any harsh words, maybe just the right amount of friendliness --- who knows? Anyway, good luck, and let us know how it goes

 

Crap --- took me so long to type my previous response, you got 6 more! At least you can say all the evom guys are helpful!

I don't think anyone arrived at a pat answer for the clunk, other than replace the offending components. I'm still of the mind that mitsu should do that for you ---with MR components!!

 

Onikaze:

Thanks for the info. When I took it Mitsu, in addition to saying they could find nothing wrong, they did say: " Its a common sound associated with high performance vehicles", which seemed odd since they could not hear the sound. Since I am a lawyer, I know how to play that card.

 

lol, "common sound associated with high performance vehicles" is their excuse for everything.

Hey, I don't hear nothing but the engine when I drove a ferrari 360 modena spyder.

Or z06 vette, of lotus esprite, or ...

I would make sure it's not something in your car that's clunking first to save yourself an embrassement. Take everything out of your car and drive.

Drive with your windows down and windows up. Drive near a concret medium or near a guard rail. Or even close to the shrouded trees, so you could get some echo back from them.

If there is something wrong with your suspension, like a worn bushing or broken struts, then you could hear them pretty good. If its something when you could only hear when you turn the wheel, check all your aftermarket parts and see if they're not doing things that they're not suppose to.

I wouldn't take it to the dealership, unless you figure out what's wrong and make sure you're 100% on your stance when you tell the dealer. They could smell a sucker from a mile away.