1999 Mitsubishi Diamante

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS 1999 MITSUBISHI DIAMANTE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE TRAVELING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS THE REAR VIEW MIRROR WOULD SHAKE; AND WAS NOT SECURELY ATTACHED TO THE WINDSHIELD. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER WHO STATED THAT THE REAR VIEW MIRROR WAS ATTACHED PROPERLY. ON A SEPARATE OCCASION THE REARVIEW MIRROR BROKE AND DETACHED FROM THE WINDSHIELD. THE REAR VIEW MIRROR WAS REPLACED BY AN AUTHORIZED DEALER. THE CONTACT DETECTED THE PROBLEM SINCE THE PURCHASE DATE OF THE VEHICLE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 200. THE VIN WAS UNAVAILABLE.

THE WINDOWS FOG UP SO BAD THAT IT BECOMES HARD TO SEE. THE VENTS SPEW OUT THE PUNGENT SMELL OF ANTI-FREEZE. I HAVE NOTICED ON MORE THAN A FEW OCCASIONS THAT PUFFS OF VAPOR SHOOT OUT FROM UNDER THE PASSENGER SIDE DASH AND VENTS. I KNOW THAT ANTI-FREEZE IS POISONOUS TO HUMANS AND DON'T THINK THAT ITS SAFE FOR ME TO BE DRIVING THE VEHICLE WHEN I HAVE TO BREATH IN THE VAPORS. *NM

I OWN A 1999 MITSUBISHI DIAMANTE WITH 87K MILES ON THE ODOMETER. MY WIFE WAS DRIVING THE VEHICLE LAST WEEK AND NOTICED THAT THE WINDOWS OF THE CAR STARTED TO FOG UP. THE FOGGING BECAME SO THICK THAT SHE HAD TO PULL OVER (BLINDLY) AND FRANTICALLY WIPE THE WINDOW CLEAN IN ORDER TO SEE OUT OF THE CAR. SHE HAD TO CANCEL HER TRIP SHORT BECAUSE THE PROBLEM KEPT RECURRING THE CAR ALSO STARTED TO SMELL LIKE ANTI-FREEZE, WHICH, ACCORDING TO MY WIFE, CONTINUED TO GET STRONGER AS SHE DROVE IT HOME. I CALLED THE LOCAL MITSUBISHI DEALERSHIP AND WAS TOLD BY THE PERSON IN THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT THAT THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM FOR THIS CAR AND THAT BY NOT REPAIRING IT IMMEDIATELY IT CAN CAUSE THE ECU TO FAIL (THE CAR COMPUTER) WHICH COULD CAUSE A LOSS OF CONTROL IF THIS OCCURS AT SPEED. MITSUBISHI IS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM BUT HAS NOT TAKEN ACTION TO ISSUE A RECALL OF THE DEFECTIVE PART (THE GASKETS THAT ATTACH THE HEATER CORE TO THE COOLING SYSTEM). I AM LOGGING THIS COMPLAINT ONLY BECAUSE I HAVE COME ACROSS A SITE ON THE INTERNET WHERE OWNERS OF THE SAME TYPE OF VEHICLE (BUT DIFFERENT YEARS) ARE DETAILING THE EXACT SAME ISSUE WITH THEIR CARS. *JB

I'M EXPERIENCING A SYRUPY SMELL INSIDE THE CAR WHEN THE HEAT IS ON. PER THE VARIOUS RESEARCH I HAVE PERFORMED, THIS IS A SIGN OF A FAILING HEATER CORE. THIS IS A KNOWN FAILURE BY MITS PER TSB 627114 THAT WAS ISSUED. ADDITIONALLY, ON >2000 MODEL YEAR DIAMANTES, MITS BEGAN PUTTING THE VEHICLE?S COMPUTER (ECU) IN A PLASTIC BAG SO THAT WHEN THE HEATER CORE DOES FAIL, IT DOES NOT RUIN THE ECU AND CREATE ADDITIONAL SAFETY RISKS. THIS IS JUST ANOTHER SIGN THAT MITS IS AWARE OF THE ISSUE AND RATHER THAN DESIGNING OUT THE PROBLEM, THEY PUT A BANDAGE OVER A POTENTIAL EFFECTED AREA. UNFORTUNATELY MY VEHICLE IS 1999 WHICH DOES NOT HAVE THE PLASTIC BAG AND THUS I AM EXPOSED TO THE ADDITIONAL RISKS. THE ESTIMATE I RECEIVED TO FIX THIS WAS $1100. I AM FILING THIS COMPLAINT TO ASCERTAIN THAT THIS IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM IN DIAMANTES AND MITS SHOULD BE AWARE OF 3 MAIN RISKS: (1) THE DEFECT EXPOSES CUSTOMERS TO AN UNACCEPTABLE LEVEL OF TOXIC ETHYLENE GLYCOL WHICH SHOULD NOT EXCEED 10-25PPM LEVELS (2) THE HEATER CORE FAILING COULD RESULT IN COOLANT LEAKING ONTO THE VEHICLE?S ECU WHICH COULD RESULT IN UNEXPECTED FAILURE WHICH POSES ADDITIONAL HAZARDS. (3) FAULTY HEATER CORE MAKES THE VISIBILITY DIFFICULT DUE TO FOGGING OF WINDSHIELD THUS PUTTING THE DRIVER AT GREATER RISK. AS A PRODUCT SAFETY ENGINEER, I AM VERY DISTURBED THAT ALL THE COMPLAINTS ALREADY FILED AND THE ASSOCIATED RISK HAS NOT RESULTED IN ANY ACTION. I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE THE NHTSA TO TAKE PREVENTATIVE MEASURES IN WORKING WITH MITS TO ISSUE A RECALL FOR THIS PROBLEM RATHER THAN WAIT FOR AN INJURY OR DEATH TO OCCUR AS A RESULT OF A POORLY ENGINEERED HEATER CORE DESIGN.*AK

MITSUBISHI DIAMANTE 1999: WINDSHIELD STARTED TO GET FOGGY, INSIDE CABIN SMELLED ON COOLANT AND OCCASIONAL PUFFS OF "SMOKE" EVAPORATED OUT OF THE WENTS. THIS PRESENTED VERY DANGEROUS DRIVING CONDITIONS. COULD NOT DRIVE CAR FOR 2 MONTHS. DEALERSHIP DIAGNOSED AND WANTED $1000 FOR THE REPAIR OF THE HEATER CORE. DUE TO THE LACK OF MONEY, I DID IT MYSELF WITH PROPER INSTRUCTIONS. PROBLEM WAS IN BAD O-RINGS THAT CAUSED COOLANT TO LEAK INTO CABIN AND OVER IMPORTANT COMPUTER MODULE. HALF-YEAR LATER, NO SMELL, NO WAPOR, NO FOG IN THE CABIN. PICTURES CAN BE SEEN AT HTTP://WWW.JOLDIC.COM/GALLERY/HEATER-CORE-ADVENTURE. *AK

HEATER CORE ISSUE WITH MITSUBISHI DIAMANTE 1999 SUMMARY: NOTICE CONSISTENT AND VERY NOTICIABLE FOUL ODOR WHEN CAR IS SHUTOFF. CAN SMELL INSIDE THE VEHICLE AS WELL. SOME FOGGING OF FRONT WINDSHIELD. HAVE HAD THIS PROBLEM IDENTIFIED AS CONSISTENT WITH HEATER CORE'S ISSUES BY OTHER DIAMANTE OWNERS WHO HAVE HAD THEIR CAR SERVICED AT A MITSUBISHI DEALER. HAVE NOT REPLACED ANYTHING YET BECAUSE THE PARTS AND LABOR QUOTES HAVE BEEN ANYWHERE FROM $600-$1000. CAR HAS 56,000 MILES ON IT, BUT HAVE NOTICED PROBLEM SINCE BUYING THE VEHICLE LAST YEAR WITH 36,000 MILES. TRIED ADDING STOP LEAK TO THE GAS WITH NO RESULTS. *LA