yeah i agree with many others...i know some higher ups in mitsubishi corporate and they all told me we need to band together and get to dealers to at least make them note it and call the tech line otherwise this will never get to TSB

 

Drove a friend's lightly modded GSR yesterday with 14k miles on it and it shifted nearly perfect. He agreed there is definitely something wrong with mine and would be trying to get a replacement trans as well...Car is at Mitsu dealer today getting shift cables, so let's see what happens.

So I can see why some people might not want to bring thier car in...mine is undoubtedly bad.

Thanks for the input.

 

interesting... i've already been without my car for replacing other parts under warranty, it's such a pita to be without a car. mine shifts pretty good, i only have that first to second problem if i start driving right after i turn it on (which i never do).

 

I replaced my underhood shifter bushings with SS ones from AMS and it made quite a bit of difference of shifting feel. When it was really cold here I think it was still a bit notchy at first but it wasn't too bad on my car. There is some adjustment when you tighten down where the shifter cables attach, I think I centered mine after moving through all the gears with it mostly tightened down, then snugged it up. There might be an offical way of doing it but it seemed to work well for me.

I also got the stiffer motor mount and shifting while in a high G corner where engine movement could play a role is now vastly improved. Before if I tried to shift to 2nd during a sharp turn the stock motor mount would allow too much engine movement and it just didn't want to shift easily.

 

Just talked to the Mechanic. He said the Mitsu tech line sent him REVISED shifter cables - not just a replacement. He said that the engineers said the tranny will still feel "stiff" when cold (part of transmission design), but this should fix other issues once warmed up. I am wondering if this is with early build-date cars or not. Anyway he said 50-60% better shift feel with these cables. I would LOVE to see the difference in person (call me skeptical).

We'll see when I pick it up later.

 

can he get you the part number?
dave

 

I second that!

 

Yes, please post up anything that can help us. I have an early build date and my 2nd gear is awful. I got screwed on my tranny in 04 and once again in 08.

 

Update again today. The Mechanic called me back again today concerned with the complexity of installing the new parts. He informed me that he has vacation for Easter and that it isn't just the cables that are being swapped out. He was worried I would be upset about not having a car, but I have a backup and informed him to just keep the car until it's done. While he was on the phone I asked SPECIFIC questions and got the answers below:

The new parts that Mitsu engineers sent (from tech line) are REVISED parts and they include the following:
2 new shift cables
New shift cable bracket at transmission
New shift linkage assembly (levers that protrude from shift cable ends, THROUGH the case to the rails inside the case).

He said it is DEFINITELY a revised part and is (or ends in) # 2460A. He said factory parts have "MR" or "MN" at the end and if it is an "A" it is REVISION "A". Again he reinformed me that he was told that this probably won't FIX the problem it will help it a lot.

I REALLY wish I could get pictures of them. He said that the tech line guys were specific in telling him this is something they are just coming up with as a solution.

Could this be the answer we are looking for? Perhaps this was a mid-production change to the car?? I will keep you guys informed.

Interesting...

 

Please do....very interested!!!!

 

Thanks for posting all your info on here! I've been hoping for some kind of action! But... I don't mean to rain on everyone's parade, but I'm just thinking out loud... Yours may be very similar.

My car is one of the notchy ones. It's very bad in 2nd when cold and improves only slightly when hot. When I'm really hard on the car, it gets better the harder I drive. ??? I was thinking about possible causes and thought of the shifter cables and linkages. But... I always turned this down because when parked, 2nd gear is easy to access every single time. It couldn't be the cables. The other thing I came up with and it may sound stupid, but the car was designed to be RHD. I wonder if this has something to do with it; whether it's the shifter design or whatever. But once again, why would it only do it occationally?

 

Yours and mine sound very similar. The things that would be affected by shift cables and geometry would be if it was trying to go into 2nd and 4th at the same time (or other gear combos for that matter). This means that two different gear's syncros would be trying to speed the gearsets up at the same time and would be fighting each other. You wouldn't notice this with the clutch in at idle situation as mcuh because there wouldn't be any rotational intertia to fight them. This could be caused by the "limits" of the shift cables being reached before the shift levers are in the correct position (if the cable travels out before the lever gets it all the way over to the 1-2 slot).

Another issue is the tranny is probably designed with growth to be effective at RACE TEMPS. This means they are probably VERY tight when the fluid is thick when cold.

See what I mean?

 

^ Okay, yes that does make sense. I see what you're saying. Well then maybe this will take care of our issues. I very much hope it does. Please let us know how everything turns out. Good luck!

 

how much are you spending out of pocket for these revised shifter cables for parts and installation? is it a warranty covered item?

 

Finally there is something happening with this. Took mitsu long enough to come up with something, but better late than never. I've learned to shift in a way to avoid the notchiness, and my tranny has seemingly loosened up a bit over time, but I would still be interested in this. Will this be a recall, or just something that they will cover for those who complain I wonder?