2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution

VERY COLD DAY OUT, ABOUT -15 F, WARMED UP MY VEHICLE FOR ABOUT 5 MINUTES PLUS. ONCE I BEGAN DRIVING, ABOUT 10 MPH MY SERVICE REQUIRED LIGHT CAME ON FOR MY AYC PUMP. DEALER SAID THAT IS WAS NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MITSUBISHI HAS KNOWN THAT IS A COMMON ISSUE IN COLD CLIMATES THAT USE SALT ON THE ROADS. THE SALT CORRODES THE PUMP AND MAKES IT FAULTY/MALFUNCTION. THIS IS A SAFETY ITEM THAT NEEDS TO BE RECALLED DUE TO THE KNOWLEDGE THAT AN EVO DRIVER HANDLES THEIR CAR [THAT THEY PURCHASED AS SUCH] AND LOOSES THAT RIGHT WITH A FAULTY AYC PUMP. *TR

I STARTED MY CAR AND THE AWC SERVICE LIGHT CAME ON. IT WAS ABOUT 0 DEGREES OUT THAT DAY, WHICH IS A VERY UNUSUAL TEMPERATURE FOR S. INDIANA. WHEN I STARTED THE CAR IT SCREECHED FOR JUST A SECOND AND THEN POPPED UP THE CODE. I RESTARTED THE CAR, JUST AS THE MANUAL HAD SAID AND WHEN I RESTARTED IT THE LIGHT WAS STILL ON. I WAS ABLE TO GET THE CODE READ IT THREW A C161E CODE WHICH IS AN ACD/AYC PROBLEM. AFTER DOING A LOT OF RESEARCH I FOUND OUT ITS A COMMON PROBLEM AND ITS AN EXPENSIVE PROBLEM, ABOUT $2,000+. I CALLED THE DEALER AND WAS TOLD MY WARRANTY DOES NOT COVER THIS, IT IS NOT PART OF THE POWER TRAIN. *TR

I STARTED MY CAR AND THE AWC SERVICE LIGHT CAME ON. I CAME TO A CONTROLLED STOP, AND RESTARTED THE CAR PER THE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE VEHICLE MANUAL. UPON RESTART, THE SAME SERVICE LIGHT CAME ON. AFTER THE DEALER RAN A DIAGNOSTIC, IT WAS FOUND THAT THE HIGH PRESSURE PUMP FOR THE ACTIVE STABILITY CONTROL SYSTEM HAD FAILED. I WAS TOLD THAT THIS PART WAS NOT PART OF THE DRIVE TRAIN AND WOULD NOT BE COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. THE DAY THE PUMP FAILED IT WAS VERY COLD AND THERE WAS PACKED SNOW ON THE ROADWAYS. IF I WAS DRIVING AT HIGHER SPEEDS AND THIS PUMP HAD FAILED, I BELIEVE THE AUTOMOBILE WOULD NOT HAVE BEHAVED AS EXPECTED WITH THE AWC STABILITY ACTIVE. *TR

THIS IS REPORT OF A KNOWN FAILURE BY MITSUBISHI MOTOR CORP. AT 50,800 MILES ON 12/17/2013 MY CARS SUPER-ACTIVE CENTER DIFFERENTIAL (S-ACD) STARTED BLINKING AT ME. IT WOULD NOT ALLOW CHANGING OF THE SETTINGS ANYMORE FOR TARMAC/GRAVEL/SNOW. IMMEDIATELY THERE AFTER, THE DRIVER INFORMATION PANEL POPPED UP WITH A YELLOW "AWD SERVICE REQUIRED" INDICATOR. I BROUGHT MY CAR TO NASHUA, NH MITSUBISHI/HYUNDAI FOR DIAGNOSIS ON 12/19/2013. THERE THEY APPLIED TSB-SC11-002. THIS UNFORTUNATELY DID NOT RESOLVE THE ISSUE. I WAS THEN INFORMED THAT THE CAR REQUIRED A REPLACEMENT ACD PUMP AND WAS QUOTED $1,995 FOR THE REPAIR, WHICH CONFUSED ME DUE TO THE FACT THAT MY CAR WAS STILL UNDER MANUFACTURERS POWER TRAIN WARRANTY, AND A PUMP, THAT CONTROLS THE AWD SYSTEM OF A CAR, SEEMS TO BE POWER TRAIN RELATED, AT LEAST IN MY EYES. THE NORTH EAST REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVE WAS CONTACTED ON MY BEHALF BY THE DEALERSHIP TO REQUEST COVERAGE OF THIS ITEM, WHICH WAS ULTIMATELY DENIED. THIS IS A SEVERE SAFETY ISSUE, AS THE CAR NO LONG HANDLES PROPERLY IN CONDITIONS IT WAS DESIGNED FOR. I AM NO LONGER ABLE TO SELECT THE CAR FOR SNOW, LIVING IN THE NORTH EAST, DRIVING A CAR MARKETED IN THE NORTH EAST, THIS IS A HUGE PROBLEM. TO FURTHER THE ISSUE, THIS PROBLEM IS WELL KNOWN BY MITSUBISHI, IT HAS BEEN DOCUMENTED WELL, TRACING ALL THE WAY BACK TO CARS MANUFACTURED IN 2006. 90% OF ALL PUMP FAILURES COULD BE COMPLETELY ELIMINATED BY ADDING A SEAL TO STOP CORROSION INSIDE THE PUMP WHICH LEADS TO THE UNTIMELY FAILURES. IF NO RECALL IS ISSUED FOR THIS FAILURE, AT THE VERY LEAST, MITSUBISHI MOTORS SHOULD BE FORCED TO COVER THIS UNDER POWER TRAIN WARRANTY FOR 5YRS/60K MILES. INSTEAD OF LIMITING IT TO 3YRS/36K BUMPER TO BUMPER. LINK TO DOCUMENTED CASES - HTTP://FORUMS.EVOLUTIONM.NET/EVO-X-GENERAL/655162-THOSE-YOU-ACD-PUMP-FAILURES-MERGED.HTML. *TR

(COMPLAINT IS APPLICABLE ONLY TO GSR TRIM EQUIPPED WITH A 5MT TRANSMISSION) - DIFFICULTY SHIFTING FIRST TO SECOND GEAR, AND SECOND TO THIRD. GEARSHIFT IS NOTCHY AND HARD TO ENGAGE. CAUSES LONGER THAN DESIRABLE TIME-GAP IN POWER TO THE WHEELS, RESULTING IN LOSS OF SPEED DURING ACCELERATION PHASE FROM A STOP. - GEARSHIFT IS NOT SMOOTH IN GENERAL. KEYWORDS : NOTCHY, GRINDING. - IT IS A WIDELY REPORTED PROBLEM IN THIS PARTICULAR MODEL AS EVIDENT FROM OWNER SURVEYS ON A PROMINENT INTERNET FORUM (SEE HTTP://FORUMS.EVOLUTIONM.NET/EVO-X-ENGINE-TURBO-DRIVETRAIN/333385-OFFICIAL-EVO-X-NOTCHY-GRINDING-TRANSMISSION-THREAD.HTML). *TR

THIS VEHICLE IS EQUIPPED WITH AN ACTIVE CONTROL DIFFERENTIAL (ACD) WHICH IS ACTUATED BY THE ACD HYDRAULIC PUMP. THE ACD IS A PART OF THE VEHICLE'S ALL WHEEL DRIVE SYSTEM. AFTER GIVING THE ENGINE AN 8 MINUTE WARM UP ON IDLE, THE VEHICLE WAS BEING DRIVEN ON A 20F OF AMBIENT TEMPERATURE. THE VEHICLE WAS ON A STOP LIGHT, AND UPON GENTLY ACCELERATING THE CAR ON GREEN LIGHT A WARNING LIGHT CAME UP ON THE VEHICLE'S DASH BOARD. THE VEHICLE WAS BROUGHT TO THE NEAREST MITSUBISHI SERVICE SHOP 4 DAYS AFTER THE INCIDENT WITH THE WARNING LIGHT STILL ON THE VEHICLE'S DASH BOARD. AFTER SERVICE TECHNICIAN WORKED ON THE VEHICLE, THE SERVICE MANAGER SAID THAT THE ACD PUMP IS THE PROBLEM WHICH NEEDS TO BE REPLACED AND WILL COST $2100 OF PARTS AND LABOR. 8 MONTHS PRIOR TO THE INCIDENT, THE MITSUBISHI SERVICE SHOP RE-FLASHED MY VEHICLE'S ALL WHEEL DRIVE ECU TO SPECIFICALLY PREVENT THE FAILURE OF THE PUMP ESPECIALLY IN COLD ENVIRONMENTS. MITSUBISHI REPLACED THE ACD PUMP AT MY EXPENSE, AND IT'S BEEN APPROXIMATELY 2 YEARS THAT MY VEHICLE IS ON THE REPLACEMENT PUMP. THE SERVICE MANAGER TOLD ME THAT THE COMBINATION OF THE HYDRAULIC FLUID BECOMING THICK ON COLD WEATHER AND THE CORROSION ON THE HYDRAULIC PUMP THAT THE SALTED WINTER ROADS BRING IS WHAT MAKES THE ACD PUMP FAIL. AFTER RESEARCHING ON THE INTERNET CAR FORUMS, THIS OCCURRENCE WHERE THE ACD PUMP FAILS ON COLDER REGIONS IS NOT UNCOMMON EVEN WITH THE PREVIOUS GENERATIONS OF THIS VEHICLE THAT ARE EQUIPPED WITH THIS ACD SYSTEM. *TR

BECAUSE OF THE LOCATION (REAR WHEEL WELL) AND DESIGN OF MITSUBISHI'S ACTIVE CENTER DIFFERENTIAL PUMP, THEY ARE PRONE TO FAILURE. SEVERAL FACTORS AID IN THE GALVANIZED CORROSION OF THE PUMP'S INTERNAL PLATE, SOME OF WHICH INCLUDE TEMPERATURE FLUCTUATION AND WEATHER. VEHICLES THAT ARE IN SERVICE THROUGHOUT THE SNOW BELT STATES IN THE US AND WELL INTO CANADA SEEM TO BE THE MOST AFFECTED. MY VEHICLE WAS JUST OUTSIDE OF THE VEHICLE WARRANTY RANGE FOR TIME BUT VERY WELL INSIDE THE RANGE FOR MILEAGE. *TR

STARTED MY CAR 1N 30 DEGREE WEATHER AND LET IT IDLE FOR A COUPLE MINUTES PULLED OUT ON MY STREET WHERE I LIVE AND MY ACD/AYC QUIT WORKING I HAD A PICTURE OF ALL FOR WHEELS ON MY INFO CENTER WITH THE FRONT WHEEL ON AN ANGLE . TOOK IT TO THE DEALER AND THEY SAID MY ALL WHEEL DRIVE PUMP WAS BAD AND THAT SINCE MY CAR IS AN EVO IT WAS NOT COVERED.I PAID TO HAVE IT FIXED AND GOT MY CAR BACK AND MY TIMING CHAIN BROKE DEALER SAID IT WAS NOT COVERED ALSO SINCE IT WAS AN EVO 3500.00 IN 1 MONTH. *TR

THE S-AWC OR SUPER ALL WHEEL CONTROL SYSTEM ON THE MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION HELPS THE ALL WHEEL DRIVE TO ACTUALLY WORK. I HAD A SERVICE MESSAGE POP UP ON MY CAR WITH THE S-AWC SYSTEM BEING INDICATED. AFTER REVIEWING THE CAR'S MANUAL AND THE INTERNET TO HELP DIAGNOSE THE ISSUE OF WHY IT WAS CAUSING IT, I'M TOLD THERE IS AN EVER-INCREASING NUMBER OF VEHICLES WITH THIS S-AWC PUMP FAILURE EITHER IN SUPER COLD CONDITIONS OR VERY HOT CONDITIONS. THIS HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE VERY DANGEROUS IF THE PUMP ENDS UP GOING OUT WHEN SOMEONE IS MAKING A TURN OR IS RELYING ON THE ALL-WHEEL DRIVE TO ACTUALLY WORK IN ADVERSE CONDITIONS. THE ONLY NOTABLE CHANGE IS A DIFFERENCE IN STEERING FEEL AND THE SERVICE MESSAGE POPPING UP AFTER SEVERAL MINUTES OF DRIVING, THOUGH DUE TO SAFETY REASONS, I AM TRYING NOT TO PUSH THE CAR TOO HARD UNTIL THE PROBLEM IS ADDRESSED. *TR