And yes, I have spent a good amount of time on disasembly and diagnosis.

 

I'm really interested to see how this turns out. I have several comments to make (This is all my opinion, of course) Keep in mind I am not bashing ANYONE, just giving my thoughts.

1. I am a manufacturer that makes a vehicle. I design it, do R&D, etc etc to make it reliable enough that it won't cost me a fortune to fix under warranty (Assuming they are successful). In my opinion, if you modify it to make more power, anything having to deal with that power is now not my responsibility. Engine, drivetrain, etc. How can I be responible if I did not have the chance to test that combination of parts? You are talking about holding ME responsible for something I did NOT design.

2. Here comes the sticky part- How do you prove that the aftermarket part caused the problem? The manufacturer has a couple of choices- A. Warranty it. B. Deny it and hope the customer doesn't complain. C. Deny it and do an investigation.

3. An investigation costs money. Do you expect ME to pay for it? If I do the investigation and find out that it's your fault, I would expect you to pay for it. Look at that pile of parts up there... that costs a lot of money to do. If I find it's my fault, then of course I should pay.... and I have to tear it down anyway to fix it so no extra is lost in that case.

4. Another sticky part - most consumers do not have the knowledge that Stew apparently does (myself included). Most mechanics I have run into lately don't know how to properly change a wheel. Last time I had my car at the dealer, they crossthreaded a freakin lugnut. How do you do that and get it all the way tight? Impact wrench of course... but you know it when it's happening. I didn't find it until I went to put my summer tires on a few weeks back. Good thing I didn't get a flat. Anyway, Good mechanics are a dying breed. It's easy for them to pull the head, say detination (because it's the only diagnosis they know), and most consumers aren't going to know any better. Lucky for Stew, this wasn't the case. I think he has some pull on this merit alone - they attempted to shaft him and lie to him when detonation was not the cause. Most mechanics I have run into lately would NOT know how to do what Stew did above.

5. Disregarding the wording of the warranty and law, what do I think is fair? Well, it's two fold. The ECU was modified, to me this is enough to void the engine/drivetrain warranty in my personal opinion. Why you ask? Well, even if the oil pump caused the issue, you can change the rev limit on the ECU. How would you prove the car was never revved past the limits of the oil pump? I'm not saying he did, but how could Mitsu be held responsible if they had no control over how fast the engine was possibly being run? On the other hand, I think they do owe him SOMETHING due to the fact that the dealer didn't give him the fair shake.

I can't wait to hear the outcome.

 

Very good post rgonyer. It's rare to see well thought out comments & opinions these days, and they are always appreciated.

 

Good luck with that......yea when it comes with car dealerships and warranty, i quicky shut them up and tell them i dont like to listen to bull ****....

 

it isnt necessarily the dealership that causes many of this issues, but the dpsm's of mitsubishi

 

It isn't necessarily the dealers fault. The manufacturer sends reps in to look over some problems to see if they will actually cover them or not. I have seen a dealership actually bring in the reps with two or three Evo's in the shop with the same problems so that the Dealer gets it's customers cars fixed and the manufacturer can't deny warranty work. The trick is finding a dealer who cares enough to actually do that! Dealerships can get a bad rap just because they are the middle man. To be fair though some dealerships deserve it!

 

But many dont. They get grouped together or people expect the world when one tries to help.

 

Good luck Stew.....I do not think you will win, but it would be a great victory for the little guy if you do.

 

Tomorrow is the big day dude. Good luck and give them hell.

 

Yes, the case starts tomorrow... This should be interesting.

 

Good luck bro!

 

you can do it all night long!!!!

 

Good luck stew! I believe you didnt recieve a proper analysis from the get-go! The same thing happened to me I believe at my local dealership. I just bought my evo and the TC is going out, now the dealer I initially bought it from failed to mention the car had a MBC, they told me the car had a factory warranty! So I went to Mitsubishi to have them fix the cat and TC, but they found out my car had a MBC (which I had NO clue it did it was hidden below the lower radiator hose), and denied me warranty on the TC, but not on the cat. Come to find out the MBC was installed improperly and the boost was still stock!

Today is the day you have been waiting for, for a year! I wish the best of luck and hope you win your case!

 

Here is my take on the situation. Was the car modified? Yes. Should Mitsu warranty it? There is the tough one.... the burden of proof lies with Mitsu. If they cannot 100% prove the mods damaged the engine, they should replace it. Honestly end of story.

Personally if it was my car would have just replaced the engine on my own.

That being said, its about time Mitsu gets pounded by the legal system for voiding warranties for no reason. I am sick of reading the warranty thread and finding what trivial crap MMNA will use to get out of warranties. Its pathetic. They clearly under-built & oversold the Evo.

To the OP, its probably way too late but you should edit every single post you have made and shut up until this is all over. Anything you mention to help prove your case gives Mitsu time to prepare a counter for it.

 

Yea I'm well aware that they are all over the internet. I included everything in the world in my documentation though, nothing at all that hasn't been said here. I gave them fuel maps, dyno charts, reasons for taking some mods off before the car hit the dealership, etc.

I did receive a copy of Mitsubishi's documentation in the mail friday. All it says is that the car had modifications, and that it clearly states in their warranty manual that they do not honor the warranty of modified vehicles.

Their "diagnosis" section says, and I quote:

"The vehicle has modifications that were directly related to the engine failure, so therefor we have decided not to honor the warranty."

They even included a picture of my Hankook WS404 winter tire. Yea, that'll help.

weak.