Just got off the phone with the MMNA (feel free to call them yourself at 714-372-6000) and they said that changing the clutch most definitely does NOT void your warranty. Be prepared to wait on hold for awhile though.

 

^NICE ! ! ! Good info man!

 

Our ACT clutch should be here by monday. We will be taking the transmission apart while it is out to see how we can beef it up. I'm curious to see the differences between the X and the VIII/IX trans. I'm happy that I'll have a good clutch that can withstand the abuse when I take it to the track.

Keith

 

nothing can withstand your abuse keith.

 

The restrictor pill has everything to do with the clutch potentially slipping by directly affecting how quickly it engages.

This is entirely dependant upon the driver and how aggressively they apply throttle, but they are directly related regardless.

My point is that when you lift off the clutch pedal, the engagement is slowed down because of the restrictor. If the throttle is applied too aggressively and too soon, the flywheel will slip against the clutch while it is still in the process of engaging.

This will causing slipping, if only momentarily, but it will slip nonetheless, and is how Mitsubishi achieves such smooth driveability from the factory.

Slipping leads directly to wear.

Remove the restrictor to speed up the engagement and the clutch will seem a bit harsher, but only because it will grip more aggressively initially.

I'm not saying that this is guaranteed to be the cause in this nor every single other potential case, but it is certainly a possible contributing factor when the car is driven aggressively. This same exact sort of thing is incorporated on numerous other cars from the factory and is removed on said cars for the exact same reasons.

 

Are we certain the X has the restrictor? If so, what's involved in removing it?

 

+1 ^ need to know how to remove it...

 

^^Good info!

 

I just called to verify that this is indeed BS and well, as always, it's up to the dealer.

I spoke with a Joe in MMNA and he explained to me that anytime you put ANY aftermarket part on the car, *IF* the part was deemed to cause the malfunction then the part that needs to be replaced will NOT be replaced for free.

This verifies my suspicions that it's totally dependent on the dealership. I've been to South Coast Mitsu and talked with the mechanic there (Riko) and he told me there were many cases where an aftermarket clutch being found would void the warranty on drivetrain.

My take? If you put an aftermarket clutch on the car, expect to pay for any damages to your drivetrain. If you get lucky, then knock-on-wood..

 

Yeah, I don't trust any of the dealers. Some will cover some stuff, other's won't cover anything if you have a sticker on car. They seem too inconsistent and the info given at one dealer almost never matches up with another. One will say, "sure, exhaust and a clutch upgrade is fine, and it won't void your warranty." Then you take it in to the service department and the tech says, "well I don't know who you talked to, but this isn't going to be covered." It's all BS. I say drive the car for a while and mod whatever you want, because chances are even with stock parts, anything that breaks probably won't be covered under warranty anyway. They alwas write everything off as abuse, even if it's not true. The magnusson moss warranty act doesn't help to protect you if you mod your car at all. Manufacturers always say that it's impossible to prove if the part that was modded caused the said damage, and that the opinion of their tech is good enough. If he thinks that it caused the damage, that's it. He doesn't have to prove ****. I hate dealerships, bunch of creeps. Anyway, I'm done venting. Back on topic. About this bleeder pill, where is it and how do you remove it? I'm guessing that's it's similar to the bleed pill in the boost line going to the wastegate actuator, but I'm not sure. Can the pill be "popped" out of the line, or does the line need to be replaced altogether?

 

"You've replaced your valve cover with a different valve cover............your warranty has been voided"

 

Yeah I understand what your saying if the person is racing the car I see how this would cause it to slip. So your saying that with the pill the clutch never locks up completely?? I was saying Ive seen people dyno some cars and never once have they went WOT as soon as they shift into the desired gear for the dyno pull Its always a few seconds for the simple fact they have to get the car to the correct rpm and actually start the test. So I would think that was enough time to let the clutch lock up. I was under the impression they are slipping the clutch on the dyno not racing the car.

 

Its been hit and miss with MMC over this issue for years, going back all the way to the dsm digest and the early 90s. Some people get theirs covered, the vast majority dont.

In theory, the dealer must prove that your part caused the the damage. In reality they will just wear you down and refuse to cover it + when you financed alot of times you sign an agreement to arbitration.

Might as well assume it voids it and run with it from there. On that note, you must admit that some damage should not be covered under warranty. The stock clutch is a driveline fuse, always has been. You put a 4000lb pressureplate from hell on top of a on of switch of a puck clutch, with sticky oversized tires all the way around on a hot tarmac, dump the clutch off the revlimiter and break something, do you honnestly think it should be covered under warranty? F that, not mitsu's fault.

On that note, at least some people were lucky enough to get tcase recalls over the years for both dsm's and 3kgt's. But that was more of a nhsta thing... hrm.. maybe we need to prove to nhtsa that the evo tranny is a danger and should be replaced often..

 

well between that and the clutch, different level of modification you know...

In some places they even want your warranty voided only with a dropp in...
And if you unlucky and stop by one of those dealers...
There are countless "unfair" voiding out there/even in this forum/ and the modification is much lighter then an aftermarket clutch.
That is why ,the MMNA is so famous about they "warranty".

 

I have played with the restrictor and the clutch does fully engage. heres how it works in easy term....... The restrictor is a lil circle plate with a hole though it and a spring attached. It slows the flow a great deal right at engagement, which cause the clutch to not fully engage and "slip". the clutch does fully engage when the approiate amount of fluid has made it though the lil hole in the restrictor.