SST bad at 1,400 miles - why I hate German engineering
Apr 8, 2011, 09:06 PM
#1
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SST bad at 1,400 miles - why I hate German engineering
So here's my story:
2010 Evo X SE. I bought it after driving a DSM for 21 years with few (if any) problems that weren't self induced. Love the car, but the kids are getting bigger and...you know the rest. So, I got the Evo.
Driving to work on this past Monday, I was cruising at about 80 MPH, when the engine stumbled a bit and suddenly the RPMs shot up to redline. The Multi Information Display (MID) indicated that I should "Service Transmission Immediately." No brainer, I just coasted the car to the berm and put on my hazards. Depressing the gas pedal resulted in increased RPMs, but NO movement of the car. The transmission was apparently disengaged from the engine and required service immediately. Glad the MID worked!
I shut the car off, let it cool and restarted it. The MID was back to normal , but the Service Engine Soon light was lit. I limped the car to work and had it flat-bedded to the dealer (whole other story there, but we'll save that for another day).
When the car arrived at the dealer, the Service Engine Soon light was no longer lit and they could not reproduce the problem. There were no codes stored in the computer. I left the car with the dealer for several days (told them to go have fun) and no luck - it ran flawlessly.
So, I picked up the car today and within 6 miles my "imaginary" problem resurfaced. I re-booted the car and took it right to the dealer, this time with the Service Engine Soon light lit.
The Master Tech hooked the Evo to what looked like some unpronounceable piece of hardware from the neonatal unit at the local hospital. I was asked to wait in the lobby (insurance reasons or maternity ward procedure - not sure which).
After about 15 minutes, the printer at the service managers desk started pumping out legal sized pages all of which had some very negative things to say about "solenoid #2." Apparently it was "stuck," "intermittent," "potentially damaged," as well as several other unusual descriptors.
At this point the Master Tech came out. I asked the question "what is it doctor." His response was a confident "I think solenoid number 2 is bad."
"What does that mean?" I asked.
"I have no idea..." he replied in a somber yet encouraging tone. "I need to contact the Master Service Network (or some other ominous entity that will likely give birth to the Terminator someday in the near future)".
"I'll give you a call once I know something." were his final words as I departed the dealership without my month old car.
An hour later, I got the call. "Solenoid two is in the transmission; were going to have to replace the whole unit."
"The whole solenoid ?" I asked, envisioning someone taking apart the ringer on my doorbell which coincidentally only rings a single note due to a faulty second solenoid.
"No," the voice replied. "Mitsu is shipping in a new transmission. Should be here by Tuesday and installed by wednesday."
An there you have it. The masters of Teutonic engineering apparently designed a transmission that can be taken down by a sticky solenoid, but cannot be repaired. The folks in Japan, apparently designed a car around this arrogance such that when the transmission does go, it can be swapped out in fairly short order.
More as this develops, but for now look for we in a 21 year old white Plymouth Laser.
2010 Evo X SE. I bought it after driving a DSM for 21 years with few (if any) problems that weren't self induced. Love the car, but the kids are getting bigger and...you know the rest. So, I got the Evo.
Driving to work on this past Monday, I was cruising at about 80 MPH, when the engine stumbled a bit and suddenly the RPMs shot up to redline. The Multi Information Display (MID) indicated that I should "Service Transmission Immediately." No brainer, I just coasted the car to the berm and put on my hazards. Depressing the gas pedal resulted in increased RPMs, but NO movement of the car. The transmission was apparently disengaged from the engine and required service immediately. Glad the MID worked!
I shut the car off, let it cool and restarted it. The MID was back to normal , but the Service Engine Soon light was lit. I limped the car to work and had it flat-bedded to the dealer (whole other story there, but we'll save that for another day).
When the car arrived at the dealer, the Service Engine Soon light was no longer lit and they could not reproduce the problem. There were no codes stored in the computer. I left the car with the dealer for several days (told them to go have fun) and no luck - it ran flawlessly.
So, I picked up the car today and within 6 miles my "imaginary" problem resurfaced. I re-booted the car and took it right to the dealer, this time with the Service Engine Soon light lit.
The Master Tech hooked the Evo to what looked like some unpronounceable piece of hardware from the neonatal unit at the local hospital. I was asked to wait in the lobby (insurance reasons or maternity ward procedure - not sure which).
After about 15 minutes, the printer at the service managers desk started pumping out legal sized pages all of which had some very negative things to say about "solenoid #2." Apparently it was "stuck," "intermittent," "potentially damaged," as well as several other unusual descriptors.
At this point the Master Tech came out. I asked the question "what is it doctor." His response was a confident "I think solenoid number 2 is bad."
"What does that mean?" I asked.
"I have no idea..." he replied in a somber yet encouraging tone. "I need to contact the Master Service Network (or some other ominous entity that will likely give birth to the Terminator someday in the near future)".
"I'll give you a call once I know something." were his final words as I departed the dealership without my month old car.
An hour later, I got the call. "Solenoid two is in the transmission; were going to have to replace the whole unit."
"The whole solenoid ?" I asked, envisioning someone taking apart the ringer on my doorbell which coincidentally only rings a single note due to a faulty second solenoid.
"No," the voice replied. "Mitsu is shipping in a new transmission. Should be here by Tuesday and installed by wednesday."
An there you have it. The masters of Teutonic engineering apparently designed a transmission that can be taken down by a sticky solenoid, but cannot be repaired. The folks in Japan, apparently designed a car around this arrogance such that when the transmission does go, it can be swapped out in fairly short order.
More as this develops, but for now look for we in a 21 year old white Plymouth Laser.
Apr 8, 2011, 11:10 PM
#5
Yea I agree with that "english major" comment. This was much easier on the eyes to read than some of the posts here. Keep us updated on what happens with your new transmission. I guess if they're going to go bad, it's right away or after any sort of tuning. So far I'm almost at 10k miles and no problems yet *crosses fingers* with my '10 MR.
Apr 8, 2011, 11:39 PM
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this has to be the funnies post in the whole evo X section 
, anyway that seems to be the norm with the DCT transmissions, they can't really take it apart for some weird reasons (legal contracts with Borg+Warner, patented technology etc.) and ALL manufacturers that use this design do the same exact, replace the $13,000 unit
, anyway that seems to be the norm with the DCT transmissions, they can't really take it apart for some weird reasons (legal contracts with Borg+Warner, patented technology etc.) and ALL manufacturers that use this design do the same exact, replace the $13,000 unit
Apr 8, 2011, 11:53 PM
#7
An there you have it. The masters of Teutonic engineering apparently designed a transmission that can be taken down by a sticky solenoid, but cannot be repaired. The folks in Japan, apparently designed a car around this arrogance such that when the transmission does go, it can be swapped out in fairly short order.
More as this develops, but for now look for we in a 21 year old white Plymouth Laser.
More as this develops, but for now look for we in a 21 year old white Plymouth Laser.
this has to be the funnies post in the whole evo X section , anyway that seems to be the norm with the DCT transmissions, they can't really take it apart for some weird reasons (legal contracts with Borg+Warner, patented technology etc.) and ALL manufacturers that use this design do the same exact, replace the $13,000 unit
, anyway that seems to be the norm with the DCT transmissions, they can't really take it apart for some weird reasons (legal contracts with Borg+Warner, patented technology etc.) and ALL manufacturers that use this design do the same exact, replace the $13,000 unitThis is Mitsubishi's decision, not Getrag. evo542, Getrag makes the transmission.
This isn't the first time Mitsubishi has done this. They also did it with the 3000GT, also contracted with Getrag. They do this for quality control reasons. They are trying to keep track of every failure. They want to get the transmission as a whole unit, disassemble it, and determine the cause. They planned to have the transmission open and serviceable by 2010 (see Technician Service Training Videos Sticky). Obviously something came up.
Mitsubishi actually had a class action lawsuit over the 3000GT transmission not being serviceable. I have a feeling Mitsubishi will make the SST serviceable sooner than later to avoid the same ordeal.
Out of all the car manufacturers, only a couple have serviceable DCTs. Audi / VW (same transmission) and Volvo. Ford, Nissan, BMW, Mitsubishi, etc all are not serviceable as of yet.
It's unfortunate that your solenoid died, but the good news is, they seem to go out almost immediately if they are bad.
I don't blame you for being bummed, but you must understand there are failures in all new and old technology.
For the record, the desire to buy a house and the SST not being serviceable are the main reasons I sold my MR. I got tired of waiting. It is by far the BEST transmission I have driven. It runs circles around my GSR at this point.
I hope you get it resolved soon.
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Apr 9, 2011, 05:29 AM
#8
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Frankly, I would prefer Mitsubishi require the dealer to replace the whole unit. I don't trust the dealer techs enough to let them to open up the tranny, who know what else they might break.
Apr 9, 2011, 05:54 AM
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That sucks but its good its getting replaced/fixed. Did you have any mods on the car? That would blow if you had something small like an exhaust or tune and they voided it!
Apr 9, 2011, 06:04 AM
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Thanks for the support everyone. In response to your comments (in no particular order):
1. Jkennedy, I agree with your statement. I too would rather have an entire $13K transmission than have someone hack the old one apart and replace the $50 solenoid (OK, that wasn’t fair; he is a Master Tech and a great one at that). The car is NEW; it should be kept that way. As I told the service department, “This is your problem for 5 years, and the next owner’s problem after that.”
2. Suby2Evo, where are you? Is that you in the Gray IX I saw coming out of the condos by Flamingo?
3. Sblvro, I did not get any pics for two reasons.
Reason 1: The first time it happened, I was moving in traffic at over 90 MPH and getting the HELLO of the road was more of a priority (oh yeah, and I’m over 40 which means my ability to multi-task using small handheld electronic devices is remedial at best. I once accidentally ordered a pizza from somewhere in North Dakota while simultaneously talking on the phone and trying to program a multifunction remote).
Reason 2: The second time it happened, I was ready. Unfortunately my Droid found it an opportune time to remind me I should have bought an iPhone.
4. Fittest/lancerarmstrong, no, I am not an English major, but I am married to one (she will likely read this and point out no less than two instances of subject/verb disagreement and/or an unforgivable split infinitive). I am actually a recovering engineer tasked with explaining highly technical thingamajigs to purportedly intelligent beings (such as Congress) during the course of elevator rides. It’s a rough job, but it pays the bills.
That’s all I have for a Saturday. I’m off to go sit through a saxophone lesson (Alto, if you must know) and work on an A3 (more Alsatian angst, I’m sure).
1. Jkennedy, I agree with your statement. I too would rather have an entire $13K transmission than have someone hack the old one apart and replace the $50 solenoid (OK, that wasn’t fair; he is a Master Tech and a great one at that). The car is NEW; it should be kept that way. As I told the service department, “This is your problem for 5 years, and the next owner’s problem after that.”
2. Suby2Evo, where are you? Is that you in the Gray IX I saw coming out of the condos by Flamingo?
3. Sblvro, I did not get any pics for two reasons.
Reason 1: The first time it happened, I was moving in traffic at over 90 MPH and getting the HELLO of the road was more of a priority (oh yeah, and I’m over 40 which means my ability to multi-task using small handheld electronic devices is remedial at best. I once accidentally ordered a pizza from somewhere in North Dakota while simultaneously talking on the phone and trying to program a multifunction remote).
Reason 2: The second time it happened, I was ready. Unfortunately my Droid found it an opportune time to remind me I should have bought an iPhone.
4. Fittest/lancerarmstrong, no, I am not an English major, but I am married to one (she will likely read this and point out no less than two instances of subject/verb disagreement and/or an unforgivable split infinitive). I am actually a recovering engineer tasked with explaining highly technical thingamajigs to purportedly intelligent beings (such as Congress) during the course of elevator rides. It’s a rough job, but it pays the bills.
That’s all I have for a Saturday. I’m off to go sit through a saxophone lesson (Alto, if you must know) and work on an A3 (more Alsatian angst, I’m sure).
