Just like the title says - where is the leak? I'm guessing no one knows. Prove me wrong.

I got to thinking about this the other day when a poster advised pulling the fender liner and fixing the leak. Do we even know that the source of the leak is under the fender liner? Maybe it is the relay box or loom in the engine compartment.

If you had this fixed under warranty, what was done? Why do people report this problem after their car sat in the rain for several days. It seems like driving in rain would be a bigger problem.

So, yeah, its nice to know that the leak can happen and what to look for. But, what do you do to stop the water from coming in?

 

Uhhh... what?

 

Here is the link.....
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/in...s-how-fix.html

 

Haha... I swear everyone was asleep when they were making the Evos at the factory.

 

I was pretty sure I would get no answer. So, I called the dealership. Well, there is no TSB and the service manager said he had only seen this problem on other Mitsubishi models. Huh!

Anyway, there's just too many places where the water could get in. The thing is, the taped loom is pretty much a down hill run from the relay box to the firewall and all of it under the fender is taped. Get water inside the loom material or inside the tape and you have a pipe to the firewall. Some possible places where water might get in.....

1. Right at the big rubber gourmet at the fire wall. This place looks like a rather dry location even though it is under the fender liner. But, I'm sure it fogs up there when the car is driven at speed in the rain. It looks like it would be dry though when parked in the rain.
2. If the orientation of the slit in the plastic loom stuff is up, and it is up and untaped where it crosses the fender/hood line just outside the relay box, water could drop in there.
3. Maybe water gets in the relay box and then drains into the loom. Do people run without the cover? Probably.

I wish someone would pipe up who had this fixed at the dealership. I'd like to know what was done to stop the leak and if the leak ever came back.

 

I don't know if it is your writing style or you haven't read the thread, but this is covered in that thread and I believe others (they might have been combined into the one thread though). People have detailed re-sealing the grommet with silicone and it fixes the leak. Whether there was already enough corrosion to do damage varies from one person to the next.

Did you just create this thread to try and get an answer from , whether that is from HQ or just some tech? I doubt that will happen, but best of luck.

 

For me and the couple cars I fixed this on. I could clearly feel the water/dampness on the outside of the wire loom inside the car suggesting that water is passing through the gromit and running down the outside of the loom

Im not saying that it's not possible that water can actually gotten inside the loom as well, but I have felt the outside of the loom post sealing that gromit up and it no longer gets wet/damp

Since hard soldering those connectors never had another issue related

 

It's probably a combination of several spots where water gets.

 

Question for you guys: Was this problem fixed with newer models, such as 9's, or was this only an issue with 03's?

 

There's some IX's affected too. You could go to the link I posted above, make a count and figure out a percentage.

 

I wish my writing did have style.

My car does not have any sign (so far) of water getting into the connectors that this leak affects. But, then, my car is mostly garaged. However, I did what I could to prevent this leak preemptively, RTV'ed the grommet and RTV'ed the split in the loom material at the fender/hood junction.

The gremlin thread is great at showing what to do when the damage is done and contains posts from people who point to the grommet, the loom and the the relay box as where they think the water is coming from. The consenses opinion is the gromment but the other places make sense too. Meanwhile reports of afflicted cars keep coming in. Maybe all or most VIII's and IX's will eventually be visited by this problem.

So, what this thread is about is I'm thinking we need to figure out a simple preemptive repair that is guaranteed to work. That would be a great service to this community. Take a look at the repairs in progress pictured in the thread. It doesn't look like fun to me. And, that is why I was wondering if anyone knew the sure source of the leak.

As for dealing with Mitsu, I was involved in the successful recall of DSM's for the transfer case leak. In fact, I was the first to suggest we start writing our complaints to NHSTA. But, unless Evo's start burning down houses I doubt we will have any luck there.

 

Ah got it. Thanks for clarifying!

 

I have read this is a problem evident in the Evo VII as well. A shame there was never a recall or much less a TSB for three generations of a vehicle with the same problem.

 

I had to fix this on my old 03 evo. What a pita!