hi, i got my lancer over a year ago and it has a salvage title on it with 28k miles on it. The car was repaired but there are still a couple of problems with it otherwise the car runs fine.

problem #1: Grinding noise
it happens if i reverse the car and when i make a hard right turn. It clearly sounds like grinding noise from the engine or most likely the transmittion.

problem #2: overheating
after a short while when i drive, the temperature level rises all the way up. It only happens when the car is at a stop. To bring the temperature to normal level i constantly have to keep the rpm at 3000 or more.

Im planning to put some mod on the car but i want to get these problems fixed first. PLEASE SOMEBODY HELP!

 

Auto or std tranny?

There was a recall on the Lancer's fan controller relay/sensor/etc etc...but that might cause the fans not to kick on thus the overheating at idle/stopped.

 

Yeah, for #2 I'd say that the cooling fans aren't working. When you drive, you have the wind to cool the coolant, but when you're parked it just sits there and warms up.

As said, if you take the car to any dealership, they have to fix the Factory Recall problems. Take it up to your local place and ask them to run a check for any recalls that might affect the car. Then report back to us so we can tell you if they lied.

#1 - I'd worry about the tranny. But you have two separate problems, which is even weirder. Possibly the tranny/axle connection or CV joint if it's only during right turns. Maybe have a local mechanic check it out and get a rough idea of what they think the problem is.

 

Check your CV axles and your front wheel bearings. I haven't had this problem on my Lancer... yet (knock on wood, I just paid it off) but in my previous Sentra, it had a grinding noise while turning that went away somewhat with the changing of the axles (only one was bad but I had both replaced because the labor was the same so it was just the price of another axle) and then completely with the changing of one of the front wheel bearings.

I know you said it sounded like it was from the engine or trans but when this happened to me, it was from the front end and I could feel it through the steering wheel, and besides that it's something easy to check (the axles anyways). I'm not sure how the mechanic found that the final noise was bearing failure, but a good mechanic should be able to track it down.

If it was hit in the front end when it was salvaged, it could have torn an axle boot (accordion-looking part) possibly causing contamination to the grease inside and eventually a bad axle. Or a wheel bearing could have also been damaged. In either of these cases, it could still be a driveable car for a while. There are two boots on each axle and usually the ones on the outside (closest to the tires) go bad first and more often. I don't know what shape it was when you bought it but the previous owner could have just replaced the boot to make it sellable, so that may need some inspection. See if the boots match, or if one is a split-boot made of two pieces. The OEM piece should be one solid boot and the much cheaper split boot is two molded pieces glued together so people don't have to remove the axle.

Lastly, you may want to have more than one mechanic or shop check it out. Not that yours is bad, but a second pair of eyes could catch something that the other misses. With my problem, it was the second or third mechanic that found the problem and he was very experienced.

 

manual tranny
ok that makes more sense with the grinding noise from the engine. thanks for the replies guys
As for the overheating problem i've already taken it too the mitsu dealer and they correct the recall on the car but the car still overheats even though the fan comes on. When i have the car on park and its overheating, I can bring the temperature level back down to normal just by reving the engine to 3000rmp without driving it.

I'll take the car back into the dealer and have them check it again and at the same time have them check the axel of the car. Thanks again.

 

so u rev it to cool it off??? thats odd i would expect it to get hotter faster.

 

um about the coolling. i would say it might be the waterpump. but at 20something k miles i wouldnt expect it to happen. it is odd tho that it cools off by reving.

about the grinding, i would check that the sway bar end links are in proper place. I had that happen to me in another car where the grinding noise was from an axle rubbing against the end of the sway bar.

hope this helps.