Yes I am. I have an associates degree in automotive technology that I obtained while in the General Motors ASEP program and worked as an A tech for 9 years total at Chevy and Saturn. I also have other various classes after college.

 

Your right on both counts. The reflection on the gear tooth of third threw me off. Those chips in the gears are sometimes normal and without knowing if they are in every tooth it's hard to say whether they are normal or not.

input shaft gears are small for low gears and big for high. Output is opposite.

 

This is definitely good news. I know they don't want to pay for any clutches at all so I never expected a big turn around on that. The transmission on the other hand is now right. I think they know of a batch with some issue and swallowed thier pride and said "yeah it's really our fault"
The flywheel is probably not warped or anything and could be resurfaced. .005 would probably clean it up to like new and that little resurface would not translate into lose of travel.

 

budlong, I have to say it looks like you have handeled the given situation very well, cogradulations. You were absolutely correct to go in there with a calm demenor and calmly state your case. I do not think that things are out of line at this point, and I would go ahead and replace the clutch disk while they are doing the rest, might as well do it now while everything is apart even though your old one is not yet worn out. I am glad that everything was taken care of and happy that Mitsubishi came around to recognizing an inherent problem. It makes me feel better to see them take some responcibility in this matter, especially as I have an early build date car as well! I am already having problems with the shifting at higher RPM's ,6400+, and seeing them take care of problems is nice.

 

Ok...

It was really, really, really good to see some pics of the clutch and tranny.

Now...the good part.

WTFFFFFFF are the techs thinking about leaving parts of your tranny 'lying' around!!!? Do they want to repair it and have things put back together, only to wear and tear some more, and BLAMO another tranny failure?

Here were some of the things I didn't like:

1.) Shift fork assy. Lying on the floor?
2.) Shaft and gear assy. Lying on a bare "metal" bench, probably uncovered.
3.) Misc. bolts lying around. Come on people, Glad tupperware for $10.00 for a CASE of these things WILL keep little parts clean and organized!!!!! $10.00 in organization = $1000.00 saved by both customer and dealer alone.

I really h8 dealerships that think they are somehow 'better' than tuner shops and general purpose mechs. just because they ARE a dealership. The only thing they have sometimes is a bit more electronics and a engineer that actually designed something 'maybe' avaliable.

BTW I really hope you end up paying NOTHING for all of the service they do. The clutch looks like standard DSM high output wear and tear. The flywheel has some surface varnish that heated, but the disk itself doesn't have any intense and noticable 'bluing.' Bluing to me looks like 1/4 or more of the disk just cooked altogether, and the clutch plate like a melted chocolate cookie. I'd resurface the flywheel, and go on with life.

Good Luck,

I hope the tranny gets put back together 'correctly.'

Later,

jcnel.

 

Well, it's not the perfect resolution, but certainly acceptable, right?? It's too bad that you had to go through all that just because of the dealership. But, I'm glad you got it taken care of! Just remember how they treated you if you have the opportunity to refer, or if you have another problem with your car!

 

this will be the master technicians first evo transmission build supposedly he has done other mitsu's but that doesnt make me feel better. Im expecting troubles

 

Manual trans are so easy to put together. As long as he usees the shop manual for all the settings it will be fine.
As far as parts all over the place it's no big deal as long as he plans on cleaning them before reassembly. I always stripped them down completely in a big pile of parts and cleaned them then put it all back together.

 

Whats so wrong with the flywheel it can't be turned? if it even needs that? What does the stock clutch disk cost anyways?

 

thats good news

 

I have a question for the more technical guys - do you think that his tranny (in the current state) would actually drive on for much longer and that beside some notchiness it wasn't a big deal?

Also, is he allowed to collect his old clutch after the replace or does it go to the mother mitsu for inspection?
It looks like they are not doing any warranty work on the clutch.
I assume since they are asking to pay for the clutch you are allowed to get the old part back.

Reason asking is because I have a gut feeling they will just put the same clutch back in (since it's good) and charge him for it.

Good luck Budlong!

 

I'm curious too. I've got to take mine in for the 5th gear grind and thought it would be a good idea to throw a new clutch in since they will have it all taken apart. $400 seems kinda steep though.

 

03 Evo with 6400 miles. Same exact thing. I'm putting my money on the the throw-out bearing. There have been other recorded instances where clutch defects have been apparent, most recently with the S2000. Mine's definitely not getting worse (at least I don't think) but its been apparent since very early on. I don't see how it can be anything else. I'm reminded of my old 85 928 with the small diameter double disc clutch. It was and is extremely precise to match and install, frequently resulting in what I describe as a whine, grinding noise, or chatter.
I'm reluctant to go to Mitsu because I've burnt my clutch a few times getting accustomed to the no-wheel-spin take offs. I don't abuse my car. But having said all this, I'll be an SOB if some B-tech or schmuck service writer is gonna play judge and jury while some other regional rep shows up just to say "uh, sorry but there's evidence of 'abuse' on your vehicle." I have my own lift so one day I'll take the unit out myself.