Another TC-SST likely shot

Webman · May 11, 2009, 11:40 AM

Let me preface this story by mentioning I bought this car about 2 months ago, used, with about 6500 miles on it.

I just took my Evo on a nice long road trip. Put about 2k miles on it during the drive. On my way out to NV it started raining really hard. I was about 2 miles from my destination when I got a strange sensation like a slipping clutch in a manual. The service engine soon light came on, and the center display showed "service required" meanwhile, it seemed like the engine was scaling back power to keep the clutches from slipping. Anyway, I reached my destination, and figured I'd check on it the next day and see how the car felt. The rest of the trip, things were fine. I drove it as hard as I normally do. Of course there's no mitsubishi dealer where I was, so trying to get it checked out was out of the question until I got home.

Yesterday I started my trip home and about 60 miles from home I was going uphill when the clutches started slipping again. The tranny started getting VERY erratic and shifting all over the place. I had very little power uphill, and I had to baby the thing the whole way home. Luckily most of the rest of the trip was downhill, otherwise I'm not sure I would have made it. It even showed me the "SLOW DOWN" message once while going uphill.

When I finally made it to my freeway exit, as I was coming to a stop, I noticed that every down shift was causing the whole car to jerk. As I took off from the stop sign, when it went to shift into second, it completely disengaged both clutches, and it caused me to be pushed forward because I was expecting it to continue to accelerate, but it would just stop accelerating like I had taken my foot off the gas. Then there'd be a bang/jerk as it engaged the clutch again. This happened with every shift.

Now, during this trip I discovered something I hadn't noticed when I bought the car. Obviously, whoever owned this car before me, did some serious modding, then took it all off and traded it in for a GSR. However, he didn't take off the nice gorgeous aftermarket downpipe, even though it has the rest of the exhaust as stock. I have a feeling this guy was severely uneducated about the TC-SST and its power handling capabilities, realized it couldn't take it, and decided to make the next owner deal with the backlash of his lack of research. Thanks for that.

So, the Evo goes into the dealer today to get it looked at. If Mitsubishi gives me problems about the mods, all I can say is that none of the mods were mods that I've made. I've not done anything to this car yet. They sold it to me with the factory warranty still in tact, and they'd better honor that for me. If they don't it was likely very smart of me to have purchased the ext warranty (which I'm usually not suckered into) because that will also cover the whole thing.

Youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-4lBExVXdc

mrMTB · May 11, 2009, 12:14 PM

Did you buy it from a Mitsu dealership in that state (with the downpipe)? Please keep us apprised.

Webman · May 11, 2009, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrMTB

Did you buy it from a Mitsu dealership in that state (with the downpipe)? Please keep us apprised.

YES! As a matter of fact I did. And what's funny about that is that they didn't notice it. SO when I went in today I pointed that out to the service tech, and he said they would normally always notice those sort of mods, but this one was NOT noted. I purchased the car here in CO and took it to the same dealer to get serviced today.

Webman · May 11, 2009, 01:39 PM

Youtube video posted: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-4lBExVXdc

So, I took the car to the dealer a few minutes ago, and when I drove into the service bay, the service engine soon light was still on. I shut off the car, then the service guy got in and said there's no check engine light. I find it ridiculous that the car auto clears that light, especially for something that's such a big deal. I Had to create a scene to get them to check the car without charging me the diag fee. So glad I was smart enough to take a video.

mrMTB · May 11, 2009, 02:02 PM

Did they find the trouble codes stored in the computer?

jrsimon27 · May 11, 2009, 02:19 PM

sorry to hear this please keep us updated

Webman · May 11, 2009, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrMTB

Did they find the trouble codes stored in the computer?

I'm waiting to hear back on that one. I'll be even more upset if there is absolutely no code in the computer after everything that happened yesterday.

Webman · May 11, 2009, 04:10 PM

Well, I just called the dealer back, and it looks as if they are swapping out the MAF sensor, as that's the only code that was thrown.

Does it seem like the MAF could really cause this problem? I mean, WOW, for it to be jerking in and out of gears, and causing the clutch to slip seems a tad far fetched.

industry · May 11, 2009, 05:38 PM

wow, hope everything works out for you.

NZEvox · May 11, 2009, 07:05 PM

the same happened to mine. it is the maf

jrsimon27 · May 11, 2009, 07:35 PM

why does the maf mess up? is there a tsb on the maf?
did you have a drop in air filter in your car which could cause oil to go into the maf?

gunzo · May 12, 2009, 02:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrsimon27

why does the maf mess up? is there a tsb on the maf?
did you have a drop in air filter in your car which could cause oil to go into the maf?

Seemed like there was a batch issue with the MAF that affected some of the earlier X's .. there's quite a few guys with this problem already ..

On the SST .. the gears go crazy when the MAF breaks .. you either cannot shift or it felt like gear slippage .. when I had it .. you basically only have 2/4/6th gears .. totally no 1/3/5 .. really does scare the sh1t out of you

You will pull 2 codes .. P113 (or P112 can't remember now) and P1870 .. anything that has issues with airflow will trigger P1870 on the SST

KGHtheII · May 12, 2009, 07:31 AM

Really glad to hear it likely isn't the tranny.

Maybe a mod should edit the title of this thread if that is the case? Append the fact that it was the MAF or something?

Just a suggestion

Webman · May 12, 2009, 08:47 AM

Well, after driving the car last night after having the MAF sensor replaced, it really seems like a different car. I can immediately tell there's a bit more power than before, with a bit more smoothness. Absolutely zero issue with the SST, that I can tell. I'll likely take it for a spirited drive this weekend up in the mountains to get it nice and hot again. I'm just shocked by that.

On another note, this is my second new car that I've had a MAF sensor go out in. I had an 01 Chrysler (too embarrassed to state model) that the MAF sensor went out in TWICE within a year. And both cars with no intake mods. I guess I must have bad MAF luck!

svt04cobra · May 12, 2009, 08:59 AM

Other people on this board had the same issue. Its the MAF.