My 03 lancer had this same sort of problem. Temp knob extremely difficult to turn. I went to the dealer, and there is a TSB (not a recall) on this. That means if the car is under warrenty it will be free, if not, you will pay out the butt for it (1100 dollars if its what is wrong with mine). The cable goes bad sometimes, the knob breaks sometimes, and in the worst case scenario, the door inside the heater that blends the hot and cold air will break. Crappy design flaw, but they will not do a recall on it. The only things they do recalls on is things that are safety risks. I think we should all send a letter to mitsubishi until they fix this problem for free regardless of warrenty though, because it happens to the majority of 03 lancers.