RentonEvoX

I have about 3500 miles on my Evo X GSR, which is still bone stock. I haven't been all that hard on the car - no drag launches, clutch drops, or jerky shifting. I drive it fast on the freeway, take corners pretty fast and such, but definitely no where in the realm of abusive driving (as mentioned in our warranty).

So 2 weeks ago, I filled up the gas tank and I went out for a morning of... "very aggressive" driving. Speeds between 35 and 125mph, extreme braking and cornering. Black-top asphalt. Pretty much like road racing - but not racing - just driving the hell out of the car and enjoying how awesome it handles and drives. Still exercised smoothness in braking, acceleration, and shifting. On some of the tight turns I made, the ASC kicked in - maybe 4-5 times total.

(I refuse to admit to the idea or implication that I was driving laps around a road course with or without a driving instructor in the car with me - considering the close call with my warranty detailed below)

I drove the car like this for about 30 minutes, then drove for a minute or two at reduced speeds to cool it down, then parked it for about 30-45 minutes. I then took it out again. After about 25 minutes of "high performance" driving, my gas light came on (uggh, from full tank to gas light in 55 minutes). Well, the nearest gas station was about 10 miles away, and at the rate I was burning gas, I decided to just stop. So I parked the car (no cool down drive this time) for a bit - maybe 10 minutes - then headed to the gas station.

When I was driving down the local streets heading towards the highway, I heard this whining sound coming from under the car. Speed related (faster = higher pitched whine) only - clutch engagement, gear selection, and engine RPM had no affect on the sound - only the speed of the car. I suspected it was the transfer case and decided to immediately take it to the dealership where I bought it, which was only about 10 miles or so.

After taking the service manager for a ride and letting him hear it, the first thing they did was take it in the bay and inspect it for mods - thankfully the car is still 100% stock. He walked out and mentioned it was good it wasn't modded, but he had some concerns - pointed out the fact that my tires were fried and said it looked as if I'd been road racing the car. I explained that wasn't the case - didn't do any racing, had just been doing some high speed, very aggressive driving/braking/cornering/etc. He told me if he mentioned the tires to Mitsu, they'd void my warranty and deny the claim. He ended up "doing me a favor" and NOT telling them, and in the end replaced the transfer case under warranty - but with the disclaimer that "if the car comes back in again, it's on you."

I know this is long, so who knows who is still reading, but:

WTF? Should the transfer case be going out (they said it was a bad rotational bearing) after only 3500 miles and 2 x 30 minute sessions of high-speed driving on a normal road surface? Could I have done something wrong while driving the car, which again, is BONE STOCK? Could it have been a simply an unlucky bad bearing from the factory? A heat issue? The car had no leaks in my garage, so I'm pretty sure it wasn't from lack of fluid in the transfer case.

My concern here is that I don't want to repeat something that I may have done to cause this to happen.

Several people I've talked to have said what I pretty much feel, and that is if I'm driving this car bone stock and not doing drag launches, there shouldn't be ANYTHING I could do to cause this (outside of gross abuse, such as putting it on SNOW mode and doing wheel-locked figure eights on an asphalt parking lot with traction chemicals on the ground). One would think buying a $40k high performance vehicle like this, you could drive it in a high performance manner without it breaking on you.

I'm hoping to hear more of the same, from more people with experience with these cars - but I just want to be sure.

Any thoughts or ideas?

rolly1818

sorry to hear about ur T-Case i hope this never happens to me....

i have a feeling you may have gotten a defective (in some way) T case from the dealership....

is it the manual or automatic Evo X u got?

goofygrin

iTrader: (5)

GSR = manual.

I've got about 4.3k miles now and I have done some track and autocross, so I'm paying particular attention to my xfer case. My front tires are pretty worn though.

If your front tires are more worn than the rear that can cause the whine... are they significantly different?

Dyno4mance

iTrader: (5)

Low fluid level from the factory would do it as would filling it with the wrong fluid.

rolly1818

should not be a major factor.....

once ur T Case begins to whine its on the way out!

but on an AWD car u should change all ur tires at once and try to rotate them periodically... otherwise you will throw off ur alignment.

sabastian458

iTrader: (25)

if your car is stock and you were driving it the way the manufacture designed it for, then you should be able to take it back the the dealer as many times as it breaks. That is as long as it isnt abused.

On the tires, i would complain to them saying "well my car has 3500 miles and they are worn out already. The alignment is poor and caused acclerated wear on them." regardless of if you were driving spiritedly. We had an 2003 Evo 8 that wore out its tires with in 6000 miles with 0 track or aggressive driving. Guess what? Mitsu paid to put brand new tires on the car.

Good luck on your repairs. I think it might have just been a bad T/c from the start. Tell that service manager you spoke to he is stupid and that he needs to prove 100% with out a doubt that you were tracking your car. Any other issues and you should call the 1-888 number for customer concerns that is in the front cover of your owners manual.

Keepster13

I had something very similar happen to me!(Warranty wise) But my warranty is red-flagged and Freehold screwed me over b/c of that. All I can say is that you are SUPER lucky they touched your car. The mere fact that you told them you "aggressively" drove is clause for a voided warranty. I think you mean driving a sports car normally with no extra strain on any of the components’.

I was driving my car around on some very poorly paved roads and my tires had super wear on them at 1,000 miles. BAM.(The D|ck said :I was racing, doing AWD burnouts and driving aggressively. So my warranty = fail. Why should they believe a 23yr kid eh? It's not like I worked for years to afford my dream car....

I've even spoke to MMA about it. They told me; "Drive slower". Direct response from MMA. I said "I didn't buy a civic did I? I bought a 40,000 dollar sports car" I even talked to a lawyer about it. Nothing could be done. I even went to BMW the next day and asked what they could do with it.

It doesn't matter. If you read your warranty book it merely states "Racing". The definition of racing is not defined. So really, driving 5mph over the speed limit or beating a yellow light is racing?

And damnit people?! How many times have I told people to not go to the dealer with worn tires(or mods on)? Even if you think the dealer is cool.


service is worthless.
Be very happy you're not red-flagged.

Joe's Evo X

iTrader: (4)

I think you got lucky and got a bad T-case. There is companies that has over 70 lauches and like 400- 550 awhp and still running fine.

Atleast you got it covered upder warrenty.

sabastian458

iTrader: (25)

um how many time? you only have 52 posts.


Many dealers only look at the tires when they are trying not to cover something. Regardless of his tire wear, he shouldnt be given the amount of grief he is.

sblvro

iTrader: (2)

it is probably the tires. speed related but no change in noise during clutch, shifting or gear selection.

SpeedI2acerX

iTrader: (2)

I feel you. That's the only thing I hate about mitsubishi. How are you going to have a commercial and show that your cars are race inspire and we get in trouble for doing a little sprinting. That's why I tell everybody that I know to stay away from mitsu cars.

Kracka

iTrader: (49)

We get super sticky tires from the factory but they'll be damned if they let you use them!

STi2EvoX

Well, I think it was a tire issue if the noise wasn't affected by clutch, shifting or changing gears. I think there's a chance this dealer didn't think to check the obvious culprit and replaced a part that wasn't really the problem. Maybe not, I mean if they did find a bad bearing in the t-case then maybe that really was it. As far as the quality of the car is concerned, it's a well made car but mitsu has poor quality control and when defective parts come through the assembly line, which happens to every manufacturer, it isn't caught and gets put into a production car. That's my suspicion, and the only logical explanation as to why mitsu's have so many problems.

RallyDSM

iTrader: (21)

sounds like it's time for a Class Action suit.

Get's media attention, get's your point accross, get's a response from Mitsu.

Point is, they are advertising the car to be driven aggressively. It's in their commercials, their printed materials, their advertising and with the documented cases of service managers and the company voiding the warranty for doing exactly what they advertise for you to do...

I'd say that's bait-n-switch, false advertising and fraud.

Take them to task.

Scott

Thegame

iTrader: (26)

The weak transfer cases were the ones with open diff's and the weakest link was the ring and pinion assembly. Then the spider gears. If none of that was your problem, I'd agree with Sti2EvoX. I think they just took a stab in the dark. In the long run, it saves them money.