2001 Mitsubishi Montero Sport

ON MY WAY TO A FUNERAL, MY TRUCKS TRANSMISSION STALLED ON THE ROAD. WHEN THIS STARTED MY VEHICLE STARTED TO OVERHEAT. WHEN I FINALLY WAS ABLE TO GET ON THE SHOULDER OF THE HIGHWAY MY TRUCK WAS ON FIRE UNDER THE HOOD. I HAD MY CAR TOWED TO THE DEALER IN RICHMOND, VA. RIGHT NOW MY TRUCK IS STILL AT THE DEALER AWAITING MY APPROVAL FOR MORE REPAIRS TO BE DONE. RIGHT NOW MY REPAIR BILL IS AT A COST OF 2,013.29 AND THEY ARE NOW TELLING ME THAT I NEED TO HAVE MY TRANSMISSION REBUILT. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2001 MITSUBISHI MONTERO SPORT. WHEN ENTERING A HIGHWAY INTERSECTION OR ACCELERATING FROM A STOP AT 5 MPH, THE VEHICLE SLOWLY GAINED SPEED AS IF IT WERE IN SECOND GEAR. THE ONLY WAY TO CORRECT THE ISSUE WAS TO RESTART THE VEHICLE. THE NEUTRAL INDICATOR LIGHT ILLUMINATED WHEN THE FAILURE OCCURRED. THE DEALER STATED THAT THERE WAS A SERVICE BULLETIN FOR THIS FAILURE AND THE TRANSMISSION MAY HAVE TO BE REBUILT. THE VIN, ENGINE SIZE, AND SERVICE BULLETIN NUMBER WERE UNKNOWN. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 92,000 AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 100,000.

IN DECEMBER 2002 I PURCHASED MY CAR (2001 MITSUBISHI MONTERO SPORT XLS 4X4) FROM A LOCAL PRIVATE SELLER. THE CAR HAD ABOUT 38,000 AT THE TIME AND WAS STILL UNDER THE 60,000 MILE MANUFACTURERS WARRANTY. THE SELLER INSISTED HE DID NOT HAVE THE RECORDS OF THE REPAIRS, BUT DID GIVE ME A SPREADSHEET OF ROUTINE MAINTENANCE FOR THE CAR. AFTER HAVING THE CAR CHECKED BY MY REGULAR MECHANIC I BOUGHT THE CAR DESPITE THE LACK OF RECORDS SINCE IT HAD LOW MILEAGE AND WAS STILL UNDER WARRANTY. I THEN DROVE THE CAR AND PERFORMED THE ROUTINE MAINTENANCE. IN DECEMBER 2003 THE CAR REACHED 60,000 MILES AND WAS THEREFORE DUE FOR ROUTINE MAINTENANCE. DUE TO MY LOW INCOME WHILE ATTENDING GRADUATE SCHOOL I COULD NOT AFFORD TO GET THE SERVICE DONE UNTIL THE CAR REACHED 61,000 MILES. I OPTED NOT TO GET THE SERVICE DONE AT THE DEALER BECAUSE OF COST. THE MECHANIC (CAROLINA IMPORT AND DOMESTIC, 4235 CAPITAL BLVD., RALEIGH, NC, 919-872-0350) IMMEDIATELY INFORMED ME THE CAR WAS SLIPPING BETWEEN GEARS AND THE TRANSMISSION FLUID WAS BLACK- MEANING THE TRANSMISSION SLIPPING WAS CAUSING THE FLUID TO BE BURNED. THE MECHANIC TOLD ME THE TRANSMISSION WOULD NEED TO BE REPAIRED SOON BUT SUGGESTED I CHANGE THE FLUID EVERY 15K IN THE MEANTIME. AFTER LEARNING THIS I IMMEDIATELY APPROACHED THE SELLER AND REQUESTED THE SERVICE RECORDS, IF ANY, AND HE FINALLY RELENTED. THE TRANSMISSION FLUID WAS CHANGED AT 38K BY LEITH MITSUBISHI CARY AND IT WAS BLACK THEN TOO- DEMONSTRATING LEITH MITSUBISHI IGNORED THE PROBLEM WHILE THE CAR WAS STILL UNDER WARRANTY. I THEN CONTACTED LEITH MITSUBISHI AND THEY SAID THE FLUID SHOULD HAVE BEEN CHANGED AT 30K INSTEAD OF 38K WHICH CAUSED THE TRANSMISSION TO FAIL AND THEY WOULD NOT FIX THE CAR. FOLLOWING THIS I CONTACTED NUMEROUS MECHANICS AND THEY ALL AGREED THAT CHANGING THE FLUID LATE WOULD NOT CAUSE THE TRANSMISSION TO FAIL, THAT THE TRANSMISSION WAS FAILING BEFORE THE FLUID NEEDED TO BE CHANGED. *AK

I PURCHASED A 2001 MITSUBISHI MONTERO SPORT FROM JACK TAYLOR ALEXANDRIA TOYOTA. ON SEPTEMBER 09, 2002, I EXPERIENCED TROUBLE WITH MY VEHICLE ON THE WAY BACK FROM OUR SOUTH CAROLINA VACATION. WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE IT STARTED HESITATING, SMOKING HEAVILY AND THE A/T TEMP LIGHT CAME ON AND STAYED ON. UNFORTUNATELY, THE STATIONS SERVICE AREA WAS CLOSED, BUT WE WERE ABLE TO PURCHASE TRANSMISSION WE ADDED THE TRANSMISSION FLUID AS RECOMMENDED AND LET THE CAR COOL DOWN. FINALLY, AFTER ABOUT AN HOUR THE VEHICLE STARTED UP, THE A/T TEMP LIGHT WENT OUT AND THE CAR WAS NO LONGER SMOKING. I CALLED THE REPRESENTATIVE BACK AND ADVISED HIM THAT THE TRUCK SEEMED TO BE FINE, THEREFORE WE WERE GOING TO TRY AND MAKE IT HOME. HE SUGGESTED THAT I SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT TO HAVE THE VEHICLE CHECKED. I CONTACTED THE DARCARS DEALERSHIP THE NEXT DAY AND SPOKE TO A MR. WILLARD WHO SCHEDULED AN APPOINTMENT FOR MY CAR. AFTER THE TECHNICIAN CHECKED THE VEHICLE, THE ONLY PROBLEM THEY COULD FIND WAS THAT THE CAR WAS 2 QUARTS OVERFILLED WITH TRANSMISSION FLUID AND NO OTHER PROBLEMS. MILEAGE WAS 35346. ON OCTOBER 21, 2003, I HAD AN OIL CHANGE PERFORMED ON MY VEHICLE AT JIFFY LUBE WHILE DRIVING HOME THE TRUCK STARTED TO HESITATE, MAKING A LOUD KNOCKING AND TICKING SOUND, THE OIL LIGHT CAME ON AND THE VEHICLE STARTED LOOSING ACCELERATION PRESSURE. I CALLED THE MANAGER MIKE AT JIFFY LUBE WHO SERVICED MY VEHICLE AND PERFORMED THE SERVICE, I TOLD HIM EXACTLY WHAT THE TRUCK WAS DOING AND HE STATED THAT HE COULD NOT TELL ME WHY IT WAS DOING THIS BUT THAT THE TRUCK SHOULD HAVE PLENTY OF OIL IN IT. MILEAGE WAS 56292.*AK

I'D NOTICED PREVIOUSLY MY CAR WOULD SHAKE AS IF IT WAS GOING TO FALL DEAD, BUT WOULDN'T OR THERE WOULD BE A THUMP LIKE SOMEONE HAD HIT ME AND THE CAR WOULD MOVE SLIGHTLY. THIS WOULD ONLY HAPPEN WHEN THE CAR WAS STATIONARY AT A LIGHT/STOP SIGN OR IF I WAS WAITING TO MAKE A TURN. ON YESTERDAY, AFTER TAKING MY CAR IN FOR SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE AND HAVING THAT MAINTENANCE COMPLETED, I LEFT THE DEALERSHIP. ON MY WAY HOME, I WAS WAITING TO TURN INTO A PARKING LOT CAR SHOOK AS IF IT WERE ABOUT TO FALL DEAD ,THEN LUNGED FORWARD. I CALLED THE DEALERSHIP TO ALERT THEM AND ADVISED THEM THAT THE INCIDENT FRIGHTENED ME. I WAS TOLD BY THE SERVICE ADVISOR THAT ANOTHER WOMAN WITH THE SAME TYPE OF CAR HAD REPORTED A SIMILAR INCIDENT AND HAD TO BRING HER CAR IN AND THAT THEY HAD TO REPLACE HER ENGINE. I WAS TOLD AT THIS TIME, THEY BELIED IT MIGHT BE THE TORQUE CONVERTER. I DROVE THE CAR BACK TO THE DEALERSHIP AND WAS TOLD THEY WOULD KEEP THE CAR, AND A TECHNICIAN WOULD DRIVE IT TO SEE IF THE SAME THING OCCURRED. I CALLED TODAY 3/19/01 AND WAS TOLD BY GARY, THAT THE TECHNICIAN DROVE THE CAR FOR 1 HOUR AND NOTHING HAPPENED. THEN OUT OF THE BLUE , THE SAME THING I DESCRIBED HAD OCCURRED. I WAS TOLD HE HAD A CALL INTO THE ENGINEERING LINE AND THEY WERE WAITING TO HEAR BACK. I ADVISED GARY I DID NOT WANT THAT CAR BACK UNTIL I WAS COMFORTABLE THIS WOULD NOT HAPPEN AGAIN. HE SAID A TSB HAD BEEN ISSUED ON THIS SITUATION, BUT WHEN I CHECKED THE WEBSITE, I WAS UNABLE TO FIND IT. I LOCATED ONLY RECALL INFO. ON THE HYDRAULIC BRAKE SYSTEM. *AK