a local is getting his warrantied through the dealership. he drives a 2011

 

A 2011 with less than 30k miles or do you have one of those rare, nice regional reps on your side of the river?

 

Just an update (and my apologies for hijacking OP's thread)..

Last week, after the dealership told me they wouldn't even ask Mitsu Corp if the failed pump could be covered under 5-year powertrain, I filed a complaint with NHTSA, and then mailed a copy of that complaint along w/the arbitration form to NCDS (see prev page for links). Corp called me very quickly and said they would cover everything (part, installation & fluid) due to my car having such low miles when this happened (under 30k). Dealership replaced the pump today under warranty claim, with an invoice explicitly stating that the repair was not at all covered under limited warranty, but as a matter of goodwill & customer satisfaction on Mitsu Corp's part.

After reading Samson & Son's recent horror story, I'm assuming the Corp rep fell off his chair in amazement when he saw that I've been driving my Evo 100% stock for the past 3 years, lol. Really don't know the true reasoning for the approval, but I'm very relieved and truly appreciate that they did. On the other hand, I'm still really angered to see so many others dealing with this same problem, that is A) a defect in both material choice & install location, and B) a drivetrain issue that should at the very least be covered under the full 5-year powertrain warranty.

Hopefully, I can figure out a decent method of protecting the new pump (I'm thinking that dielectric spray grease that Iowa mentioned, in combo with a mud-flap style pump guard that I saw being done at EvoXforums).. otherwise, I'll just be back in the same boat in another 3 years.

Anyway, the Evo feels like I'm driving a go-cart again, instead of a sporty SUV.. steering response is once again sharp & predictable. I'll update my post in Iowa's ACD failure thread, and I really do wish everyone lots of luck with this

 

First, I'm very happy for you. This is a nice ending.

But for everyone else...

... the above translates to: "but don't even try to give a copy of this letter to anyone else to use against us."

They really are tools.

 

I had that same problem when we had a week of northeastern cold snap last Dec. 2011 a month after my 3yr warranty expired.
I had it replaced and reflashed = 2K out of my pocket.
I never knew there was a reflash for the pump, mitsu never got in touch, but I didn't go to the dealer for my oil changes though so i wasn't aware at the time.

The mitsu tech told me that with the original flash the pump was always "on" so my pump got burned/overworked.

Now I was wondering if an ACD Pump Shroud like the one on the link below would help with slowing down the corrosion from road salts ( Evo X parts, bottom of the page ).

http://rallytech.co.uk/index.php/pro...i-evo-parts/71

 

Yeah, that's what I gathered from it. Service advisor also made it a point to reiterate exactly what was stated.

For everyone else, I'd highly recommend opening a complaint with NCDS for warranty arbitration, once a dealership has confirmed the issue and refuses to warrant it. It involves a little old fashioned letter mailing, but NCDS was quick to forward copies back and forth, even sending a copy to the dealership I purchased it from (not even sure how they had that info). If explained, hopefully the arbiter will understand that a failed ACD pump & "4WD Service Required" flashing on the dash is a drivetrain issue that should be covered under a powertrain warranty (or at the least, an issue that the consumer should logically expect to be covered when purchasing a car with a powertrain warranty).

And I still believe that contacting NHTSA and filing a safety complaint is also appropriate. Sure, the car can still be driven without a working ACD pump, but will not steer and handle as intended (or as expected, when the pump is in the process of failure, and randomly changing states of operation). Imo, the failure process (with or without cold-flash) is akin to driving around with intermittently working ABS or power steering - ie, the car would be driveable without these assist feature, but is potentially dangerous when the driver is expecting them to be working (or not working).

Maybe if enough complaints are heard, a larger action could be taken. Whether initiating a recall (which I doubt will happen), or definite coverage under 5-year powertrain warranty, or at the very least, a pump revision w/TSB matching the more suitable materials as used by ACD-Tuning that would be less susceptible to corrosion due to winter road treatments.