Went through 3 winters in chicago, car has been through 5 winters total now. I had mudflaps. Vehicle is at 50k miles and still running strong. I drove it all the time in chicago winters.

I believe the mudflaps did help some. The covers seem like good solutions, but you don't want to block cooling to the pump too much either. So it's a crap-shoot. But I think mudflaps make a good compromise and I think they look cool.

 

That guard will NOT work on North American Evo Xs. It only works on RS models without AYC, and thus less hard lines coming to and from the pump.

 

I've done an AYC to RS rear conversion, the only difference would be the left and right channel lines. You could easily make the RS cover fit with not much additional work to it, but yes it's not a direct bolt on solution.

 

how did you bleed the lines? take it to the dealer?

 

No, never done at the dealer as we have our own MUT3 to perform things like air bleeding.

 

Two MN winters here. Winter tires/ mud flaps = tank

 

To OP, another preventive measure would be to put silicone were the pump pieces sandwich together as this is how the moisture gets inside. I don't know why Mitsubishi didn't put some kind of rubber gaskets between the pieces that sandwich together, this is like putting a head on a block without a head gasket. Also if you ever need to do a rebuild on the pump, checkout ACD-tuning.com they offer a rebuild kit. This is how I found out about the silicone idea.

 

There's no rubber between the parts because there's a plate inside that must be hard against the body of the pump or it won't hold pressure. They could have used better O-ring seals, but they can't use rubber between the parts.

Silicone with a layer of heavy grease on top, as Kiki has told us several times.

 

Good info, I never thought about that. Any specific grease to use?

 

Thick and waterproof, e.g., http://www.lucasoil.com/products/dis...id=14&loc=show