Ok....here is the deal. Just picked up the car. The dealer tech said that ALL Evo 9's have an issue with the timing belt rubbing against the crankshaft position blade wheel. Here are the new parts they installed on mine to remedy the issue:
Part Number MR984375 Adjuster, Timing Belt Tension Qty 1
Part Number MD369999 Pulley, Timing Belt Tension Qty 1
Part Number 1091A133 Bracket Cylinder Block Qty 1 *****Updated New Part from Mitsu that supposedly fixes the noise problem. Original bracket was machined incorrectly by supplier to Mitsu*****
Part Number 1145A038 Belt, Valve Timing Qty 1
Part Number MR984778 Belt, Balancer Timing Qty 1
Mitsubishi Techline Case #140114
Service Description: Removed and replaced Timing Belt Adjuster, Tensioner Pulley, and Bracket as per Techline. Replaced Timing Belt and Balance Belt while Tensioner Bracket was replaced under warranty.
They also replaced the crankshaft sensor blade on the car but left it off the reprinted repair bill they gave me. Oh well. Total cost for me was $159.76 for the Tming Belt and the Balance Belt that I had them put in new as opposed to the old ones.

You can have the tech at your dealer call the techline and look at my techline case number to see all the part numbers for your repair if needed.

I'll let you guys know if I hear the noise anymore over the coming weeks!

 

I just called the local mitsu dealer and he told me that my stuff would not be covered since its not a recall. I suppose more people need to bring the issue to mitsu and NHTSU?

 

^^^It's unlikely that Mitsu is going to fix it under a recall. Couple of reasons why...
For them to issue a recall, couple of things have to happen....
1.) The issue has to have numerous cases of people having their lives endangered due to the defect. How many people have had their engines pop or wrecked becasue of the issue? .....probably not many if any at all
2.) The issue has to have happened within the warranty period. Of the people from question 1 above, how many of those had it happen within the warranty period of 100K for the original owner or 60K for subsquent owners? Even smaller number probably if any
3.) On the cars that passed 1 and 2 above, the cars that the issue occured on have to be unmodified. Again, not likely...

In short, for a recall to be issued they need a sizeable occurences of the defects to occur ultimately that lead to potential injury or death to the occupants of the vehicle and this all has to happen within the warranty period of the car..... Statistically it's probably about impossible to get a recall for this. Just buy a new bracket when you replace your timing belt again and call it done.

 

Where does this new updated bracket even go? I'm trying to find it in the service manual.

-Jalal

 

Oh I have very little hope of having my local mitsubishi service department doing ANYTHING for me in terms of supporting their product. That illusion has long since past.

 

Yea, I've been wrestling with this problem for the past year. I've been to the dealership three times and spend approx. 1400 and still no fix. I'm still reading through this thread and hoping to find a solution =/

 

yeah.....I just tried looking it up in the service manual as well with no luck... I also looked on the Mitsubishiparts.net site and it didn't call out the part in the exploded diagram.

However....I searched and saw that Mitsibushiparts.net actually replied to a post here on Evom that the 1091A133 bracket is the tensioner mount bracket that mounts to the block between the two timing covers. The post is here: https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/5843440-post2615.html Look closely at the pic by clicking on it. Note that the bracket is NOT the one circled but the one between the two covers. This makes sense because I came accross a russian website that listed the 1091A133 as the replacement part for the front engine mount for a ton of Mitsu cars. Upon looking at the service manual again, it looks like it's pointed out as item 30 in the diagram on page 11B-11.

Oh yeah....looking back on page 19 of this post somebody had this exact bracket installed at the dealer in Glendale CA and it fixed the problem on that car. https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/6991691-post280.html

 

^^^^ You're a good man! Thanks for helping out the community my friend.

 

^^^Thanks man....BTW, you're going to love the Direzza Star Specs. Not quite as stiff as Azenias but they're grippy ALL through their life with no greasiness like the Azenis exhibit at end of life.

Update: Started the car this morning and it's all nice and quiet!! Problem solved with the work at the dealer! NICE! FINALLY!

 

So the engine mount with the three studs on it actually is causing the problem? Can you describe what causes the noise and how its fixed?

Thank you

 

Wish me luck that I can get them. I called the Discount Tire down the street yesterday, and the guy told me that Tire Rack had bought the exclusive rights to those tires from Dunlop. He then said that they would have to buy them directly from Tire Rack to get them, and he said that's not going to happen, so he then tried to sell me on some other tires that I wasn't at all interested in. So....I told him to check with Dunlop again, and that the only other tires I was interested in was the Hankook Ventus R-S3's or Federal 595 RS-R's. I guess we'll see where that gets me.

Just out of curiosity I wish you were keeping your car long term to see if the noise ever comes back. At 36K miles I'm still a long ways away from needing a new TB, so I'm hoping some others give the new bracket a try and can post up and confirm that it fixes the noise long term before I need to invest in new brackets, pulleys, etc.

 

According to the dealer, the engine mount that attaches to the blosk between the two timing belt covers was machined wrong by the supplier to Mitsu. The bracket pushes against the timing belt cover causing it to rub on the timing belt. The new bracket doesn't push against the cover and displace it and thus no rub. Don't know if that is really the case but that is what they told me. I started it again today and it was all nice and quiet.

GG06, you need to just order the tires from Tire Rack and take them dow to your local "Juans Tire Chop" and get them balanced and installed. You could also take them to Southwest Brake and Alignment off of I-35 just north of splashtown. I took my stuff there when I lived in S.A. They do high end balancing and alignment. They'll even shave tires if you want. They even have a way to balance your tires with them mounted on the car to make for an awesome smooth ride.

Yeah....I'd like to keep the car but business and Tx are calling me. Not to worry, the guy who is going to buy the car will be on here and I'll keep in touch with him. Never know...maybe I'll buy another Evo in the future.

 

Hmmm. Before moving to Texas, Discount was the only place I've ever been that would balance the tires to my liking. If you're sure that SW Brake and Alignment does comparable, if not better work, then I'll definitely give them a try.

 

we need to get a moderator to clean up this thread to leave the problem and the solution... maybe an update of the first post or something. One of the great accomplishments of Evom! Thank you all for contributing. I slept very well last night.

 

Just to verify again, this new updated engine mount bracket is the cure to the annoying noise? I ask because I'm doing a timing belt right now on my IX, and it is the perfect time to replace this bracket. So everything is still good with the noise being gone? Thanks