Im pissed off right now, debating on whether or not to take my car in to have the 5th gear grind fixed. The problem is, they cant tell me if they will cover the syncro under warranty untill they already have racked up $1500 in labor. I already dont feel comfortable having them work on my car, let alone running the risk of having them pay to do it. If I pay anyone, I would want it to be someone who would upgrade the transmission, not put the same crappy parts back in.

This morning when I called the dealer to schedule a time to have the 5th gear grind in my lancer fixed, the service manager asked what series of lancer, After hearing "Evolution" he said," If it was caused by abuse we're not covering anything, youll have to pay the bill." I proceeded to ask him if he had a car with 3,000 miles and a grinding 5th gear, which is a common problem, if he would expect to have it fixed under warranty, he said," Not in a Evo. The only reason people buy those cars is to race them. If a Evo owner tells you he has never tested what the car can do then he is lying" He then went on the say that if the syncro had any wear then they wouldnt cover it.


So what do I do? Do I have any rights here? I would just take it to another dealer, but the next closest is 200 miles away. The car has been grinding in 5th since I picked it up with 2,220 miles. 100% stock. ( it has 3,300 now)

 

There is a recall type thing on the syncros. They should fix it for free, i had mine fixed for free. But if i could do it all over again, I'd bite the bullet and have TRE rebuild the tranny. They;ll do a much better job than the dealership and also make it much stronger.

If ur worried, have them diagnose the problem, don't athorize them to do any repairs if you have to pay. If they pull some sh*t and tell you that you have to pay, just say no and get ur car back. Most dealership do ****ty jobs and rip you off.

www.Teamrip.com

 

be prepared to take them to court over the subject... collect as much information you can about the subject, even aggressive driving with no mods can sometimes be considered as "abuse", but it is usually not and with that few miles abuse is usually not the issue.

my advice is to talk to a regional manager or perhaps someone even higher up on the food chain. they are generally more helpful when dealing with warranty cases.

if you have mods be sure for a tough fight. goto SEMA's website it states that aftermarket parts must be proven in court that they caused the problem in order to void a warranty.

good luck

 

The problem is, they are telling me that they have to take the transmission out to diagnose it. If their findings show abuse then im left with no option besides paying. If im paying anyone, I would want it to be TRE, or another company that makes it stronger.


So..... Take it in and have them diagnose it.... or live with it?

The car is a 2005 BTW.

 

I can understand a dealership giving you problems if this was a 1st through 3rd gear synchro -- but cmon now. This is 5th gear!!! How much abuse can you give to 5th gear? Are you by chance doing several 130+ mph runs over and over again? i doubt it. Take it to the dealer and ask them if they are familiar with the improvisions of the Moss Maguson act...they'll prolly fix it right there.

 

Those were my thoughts. I could understand first gear, but 5th? A cruising gear? Obviously a defect.

 

I'll quit my job as a design engineer if a "service manager" (an oxymoron in my view) can tell the difference between abuse and a design flaw. I thought dealers were too dumb or took too long to diagnose problems, they just replace parts?

 

show up at the dealer with a lawyer, and a printout of the syncro TSB. I guarantee they will start doing some warranty work.

 

As far as I know there's only a TSB on the 2003 Evo regarding the 5th gear synchro. There are none on the 2004 or 2005 evos about the 5th gear synchro.
here's the one on the 2003

Make : MITSUBISHI Model : LANCER Year : 2003
Service Bulletin Num : 0322001 Date of Bulletin: NOV 01, 2003
NHTSA Item Number: 10005282
Component: POWER TRAIN:MANUAL TRANSMISSION
Summary:
NEWLY CONFIGURED 5TH GEAR SYNCHRONIZER SLEEVE FOR 2003 LANCER EVOLUTION MANUAL TRANSMISSION.

 

Call up the corporate offices. You shouldn't be able to give 5th gear enough abuse to ruin it.. unless you just floor it in neutral and try to jam it into 5th gear repeatedly without using the clutch, lol. That sux, I hate all car dealerships cause they won't cover defects.. But, I'd insist on corporate that your local mitsubishi dealer covers the problem under warranty since it is part of the powertrain. That way, if they screw your car up so bad that itsn't drivable, they just have to either give you a new one, or an upgrade. Don't take it to a 3rd party shop if its still under warranty, cause then they will just tell you the other person screwed up the car and then for sure they can tell you its not under warranty. They design our transmissions so you would have a hard time messing up the gears anyways with "normal" to moderate-heavy use. The gears are designed in almost a spiralled meshing pattern.. its not like they are straight like a race car gear box where they can actually grind off and break the teeth off if you accidently shift wrong.

 

Theres a TSB on the 5th gear syncro, they should replace it under warranty. Have them check the TSB's, lots of evos have had their syncros fixed under warranty.

 

he said his car is a 2005, last time I checked there's no TSB on 2005 EVOs regarding the 5th gear synchro.

 

The forward gears are always engaged, so shifting does not mesh/unmesh them. It's the synchros spinning up and engaging the dog teeth on the sides of the gears that can wear out or break.
And while helical gears increase tooth contact ratio compared to a straight spur set, they can still break if you attempt to transmit too much torque, especially when shocked.

 

Sounds like you have gone to some ***ty dealers. I don't even use 5th gear Unless I am cruising at speeds like over 50. I don't see how you could abuse 5th enough to do that. They should fix it for free. My service manager told me they would still fix problems unrelated to my mods for free. I won't believe it until I see it though, and hopefully I won't.

 

This is absure .... 1st or 2nd synchro failing due to abuse I can understand but 5th! Take it in and have them fix it for free ... I don't think they can prove abuse on this one ... but it would be wise to get in touch with your district rep ...