1993 Mitsubishi 3000GT: complete transmission failure

Filed Jul 3, 2006 · Transmission · 61,000 miles · VA

I have a 1993 mitsubishi 300 gt vr4. I am the second owner of the vehicle (purchased 2001) there was a recall on the power train. After being notified I took the car to be service on the transfer case at carmax mitsubishi in sterling, va. When I picked up the car it seemed to be working properly but shortly after started to have a problem again with the transfer gears it was making grinding noises while shifting from first to second or while going in reverse, also there was a clunking noise while reversing, the right side of the rear wheels has all the symptoms that were there before it was taken to be service for the recall. The dealer that serviced my car at the time (7-25-03) added a note on the service slip stating that the transfer case spinds were worn out and needed it to be replaced at my expense. I took the car to another dealer and they said the same but they could not help me because the recall was performed on my car which only included adding transmission oil to the case a $130.00 service. My car has been sitting in my garage for the past 2 years with only 72,000. As many owner's my opinion that the transmission is not designed to handle the horse power, and it is a corporate decision to replace rather than fix the original unit at an unreasonable cost. Many have replaced transmission units more than once which gives a good indication of the inadequacy. Here is the recall number. What should I do? The federal safety agency recall campaign number: 02v143001 component: power train:transfer case (4-wheel drive) details: on certain passenger vehicles, a condition exists that allows oil to leak from the all-wheel drive transfer case. Consequence: low oil levels in the transfer case could cause bearing damage and result in drive train lockup, increasing the risk of a crash. Corrective action: a proposed remedy and owner notification schedule has not yet been provided.

Filed Jan 30, 2002 · Transmission · MN

My transfer case is leaking, and I have replaced/filled it with new transmission fluid. I understand this is a safety hazard if the transfer case goes dry, not only will it lock up and break, but my life and others could be in danger. I have read of other instances where the transfer case has seized at highway speed and caused very dangerous conditions. It would be appreciated that this problem is looked into because I've read it is a very common problem with the awd models of the 3000gt and stealth, which mitsubishi hasn't issued a fix or recall.

Filed Dec 22, 2001 · Transmission · TX

Original transmission was replaced under warranty at 45k due to unexplained noisees as a sign of possible internal failure. This replacement transmission had to be replaced also due to the same problem. At 50k miles the current transmission has bad gear change problems and will fail at some time. Drivetrain also has excessive amounts of slop in it and could potetially fail while the vehicle is in motion causing serious risk of injury

Filed Apr 23, 2001 · Transmission · FL

Consumer was traveling on highway and vehicle started making a noise. Then, it shut off with prior warning. Vehicle was towed to her house. She needed a new transmission.

Filed Jun 12, 2000 · Transmission · MN

The clutch malfunctioned and needed to be replaced with factory new, at which time I was informed that I need to replace the transmission due to a crack in the transfer case. The air conditioner has completly malfunctioned two times in the last six months.

Filed May 29, 2000 · Transmission · MA

Car suffered same defect as reported with the mitsubishi eclipse(awd). Replaced transmission under 30 day(assuming used as dealer would not say). 9 months later the tansmission failed as the out put shaft to tranfer case stripped from unknown reasons. After replacing the damaged parts transmission failed again two weeks after repair. Seems that the fluid kept escaping from the transfer case causing a hot bearing to fail. When this happened the car came to a locking stop in mild traffic. This happened two more times before I decided to purchase another transfer case. I have but I have had to bring it to the shop every couple of weeks to comfirm that there was no fluid leaking out. In the end so far I have spend almost 6000 dollars in repair of that one problem. I hope you guys can help because it put me in a deficit that will take at least a year to get myself out of.

Filed Apr 7, 1999 · Transmission · CT

The original transmission failed while the original owner had the car, it was replaced under warranty at 61,268 miles. Since then I bought the car used at about 72k miles, and again the transmition is failing. It seems to be a very common problem for the syncros on the transmition to go bad , causing grinding when shifting into second gear. Mitsubishi (or anyone else) offers no replacement parts for this transmition. They consider it one part, the whole getrag transmission is a $5000 replacement part. I called mitsubishi and they said the 61,268 mile replacement was warrantied for only 12 months or 12k miles. I feel it is very wrong that they put a transmition in the car that only last about 15,000 miles. There should be a recall on all mitsubishi manual transmitions due to excessive failure rates.

Filed Mar 29, 1999 · Transmission · IL

Dealer will not fix only replace components at the cost of $10,000. This problem exists for many 3000gt owners. It is many owners' opnion that the transmission is not designed to handle the horsepower, and it is a corporate decision to replace rather than fix the original unit at an unreasonable cost. Many have replaced transmission units more than once which gives a good indication of the inadequacy.