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Transmission problems can be caused by electrical, hydraulic or mechanical problems. Only after checking all electrical components (sensors, switches, solenoids, computer and interconnecting harnesses) and measuring hydraulic pressures to rule out problems there should a mechanic attempt to replace any internal parts. I doubt the dealer really did all the tests. Just checking for a trouble code is not enough. If you haven’t already done so, ask for a meeting with the factory zone service manager. Perhaps another Mitsubishi dealer has a better trained mechanic.
By the way, it is a normal feature of the Diamante to have the first speed setting of the wipers speed up with car speed. This is called “speed-variable wipers” and helps in light drizzles where you need intermittent wiping when driving slowly and faster wiping as you speed up and more rain hits your windshield.
Mr. Vivona
Thanks for your help!
Chris
'93 ES
I wish Mitsu did it like they do at Infiniti for my parents. All records are stored by VIN on their national network so no matter where the work was done or when (goes back to 1990) they can pull it up.
Thanks (any more comments apprecaited as well),
Chris
'93 ES
I would consult your owner's manual for the recommended services. There are recommendations for regular service and for severe service, such as driving most of the time in hot, dusty or stop-and-go conditions. I would definitely have the recommended services done according to your driving conditions. Most of the other things a dealer says they are doing are easy for you to do yourself, such as oiling the door hinges, checking fluid levels, looking for fluid leaks, inspecting the tires, inspecting CV Joint boots, etc. Even changing the air filter is very easy to do.
If anything they are going to do involves removing a wheel, make sure they only use hand tools (not an air impact wrench) to remove and replace the wheel lug nuts and that they hand torque the nuts to 80 ft. lbs. in a criscross pattern.
Mr. Vivona
Well, depends though, is it an ES with cloth seats or an LS with leather....
my purchases
2001 ES bought with 11,000 miles on odo for 15,900
2002 ES bought with 12,000 miles for 15,400 (traded the 2001 with 33,000 miles one year to day following for 3000 to boot)
I have seen quite a few listings on ES models with similar miles to mine and have been priced from 13,900 to 16+ thousand.....
LS models will be a couple grand more or so typically.
The Diamante is a reliable car with a standard 5/60 powertrain warranty from the manufacturer so I'm not sure 'spending' additional over market value for an extended warranty is really necessary.
looking on the website for the broker where i got mine, they have an 02 ES with 16k miles for 13,900......
Since then, I have noticed a big improvement (25+ mpg, 26+ on long trips). Any idea why? Not that I am complaining. Another friend of mine also says he gets 20-21 mpg from his 02 VRX. I suggested to him that he should try getting into an accident similar to mine to get better mileage, but quite understandably, he won't take my advice ;-). I am sure there is an easier way.
Also, did anyone try getting a remote starter for these cars? I once spoke with a dealer and he quoted north of $600. I actually found someone who is willing to do this for $300. Is this a good deal? He said that there is a transponder in each key and that requires extra work.
The remote (fob) stopped working, so I bought another from ebay, but I cant seem to figure out how to program it to work on my 1999 diamante, and I don't want to pay the dealer $45 to prgram it, Can any one help me and tell me how to program these remote.
Regards,
Thanks for the advice on my repair questions. I went ahead and got the timing belt done without the 60K service, so that plus the AT gasket leak fix put me @ $760. After recharging the AC system for two years in a row and it leaking out after three months I took it to an AC specialist who confirmed the compressor is cracked (even though the two previous places assured me that there was no leak!) and gave me an estimate of $1275 for a new one installed with an R134 conversion. Yikes! I said no thanks and drove off with the windows down. So glad I didn't do that other service either, but more on that later.
I drove to Oregon (from Seattle) last week to spend a few days with family. On the way back (Saturday) I was cruising along just south of Portland at 70-75mph on cruise when the transaxle started to jerk, and did it again in about 5-10 seconds. Pulled off at the next exit (which was luckily right away) and came to a stop at the stop light at the end of the offramp. When I pulled away from there it was obvious the tranny hadn't shifted out of its higher gear as the engine revved a lot and the car had no power. I pulled into a gas station and put it in park. I then shifted it into reverse and the gear would not engage. It just sat there and the engine revved. The manual recommended putting it through all the gears, but that didn't help.
Long story short, had it towed to the dealer 15 miles away and spent the night in a hotel. Got picked up the next day and the dealer didn't look at it until Monday afternoon. As suspected, it needs a new tranny for $2300. Aamco quoted a base price of $1500, but I am sure it would be more like $1700-2000 when they were done as I am sure the D's tranny is just as complicated, rare, and expensive to repair as every other part I've had to replace on the vehicle. I calculated that I've spent $2000 since last April on repairs only (and not cosmetic kinds of repairs either, necessary ones).
My only real concern is getting through the next year (my last of grad school and being poor) and it seemed to me that $2300 would go a long way to making 12 months of payments on a small, inexpensive new car WITH WARRANTY. As much as I love the Diamante, I am always worried that something else is going to break that I can't afford. And I know I am just waiting for that valve repair that produces the white smoke.
So, long story short (too late), I bought a VW Jetta on Tuesday. Good price, good car. I still think the D looks better (even a '93!), but I think I made a smart choice. Since I can't sell it broken, I called some wrecking yards and I could only get $350 for it! The timing belt was $500! I told the guy, "hey this car is rare, the parts are expensive" and he was like "yeah, I know thats why I bought one 6 mos. ago, but no one has called on it at all, its not in demand."
I will be pulling the CD changer out so if anyone has the ES with the optional sound system (like mine), or the LS, the changer should work for your car if you are interested. Just let me know. I can't think of anything else I can pull from the car, but I am taking the manual & window sticker and all my service records for posterity. I am driving down on Sat to take care of the details. So sad, I love that car.
At least I had one last good drive. The day it died I had just driven the fun and twisty roads between Western and Central Oregon, made me remember why I owned the car... : )
Best to you all, and I'll probably still lurk around and post every now and then.
Chris
'93 ES, 159,000 miles
'03 VW Jetta, 110 miles
I have recently noticed that my city mileage has gone down to 17 from 21 in stop n go driving. The O2 sensors have never been replaced. Will replacing them improve mileage? I have a brand new fuel filter and a very clean air filter (K&N).
Is there something else that needs to be done? Thanks a lot in advance.
This site is more geared toward trouble shooting, repair, and modifications to Diamantes and their overseas counterparts. One of our members is building a 600HP first generation SOHC street/drag car.
For gas mileage, a special fuel injector cleaner was recommended by Harry ('Interceptor' in the forum). BG44 because it doesn't degrade performance when you add it.
There was just a discussion about O2 sensors in the forum so you can search and find that there... replacing them will not improve gas mileage unless one is faulty.
to drop the transmission. After they put the transmission and the wheel back, my Antilock light stays on.
Is there a wire that the shop forgot to connect or is this a sensor problem?
My brakes work just fine. Where is the sensor located? Please help and advise.........
Thanks a lot in advance.
As to the brakes, there is no known design or manufacturing defect that makes a Diamante have brake pulsation every 5-7000 miles. The problem is common with any car with zero-tolerance wheel bearings (a good thing) when a mechanic over torques the wheel lug nuts (almost always). Rather than go into detail here, please read my article at http://www.geocities.com/diamanteowner/article2.htm
35,000 miles is a low mileage to trade, so if you can keep mechanics from using an air impact wrench on your wheel lug nuts and if you trust that the transmission failure was a "fluke" or caused by a mechanic putting the wrong fluid in it (only Mitsubishi brand is called for in the manual), you may want to keep the car and get more out of it before you trade.
If you really have your heart set on the TL, you may be better off with the 2003 model. If you wait for the 2004, you will be getting the first year in a model run and will be subject to all the first year glitches. Look up the technical service bulletins for the 1999 3.2TL (first year of the current design) and you will see the 50 bulletins, some listing issues that may scare you. You can check service bulletins at http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/tsb/tsbsearch.cfm
Mr. Vivona
1. One or more of trunk bumpers could be out of adjustment. The bumpers are rubber bumpers you will see around the sides of the body opening where the trunk lid closes into. They screw up or down as needed to provide a snug fit of the lid. If they are screwed too high, the lid will hit them before the latch fully closes. Lowering the height of the bumpers will allow the latch to close. If you can push the trunk lid down with moderate force and the lid lines up with the top of the rear fenders, then the bumpers are adjusted okay.
2. The striker may not be properly adjusted. The striker is the little loop that the latch closes onto at the bottom of the trunk opening. It is held in place with two screws. If it is adjusted too low, the lid has to be slammed to move the latch down enough to engage the striker. You adjust it by loosening the screws, moving the striker up or down, and re-tightening the screws.
3. Before you try anything else, try this. On the trunk latch there is a little lever that allows you to disable the remote release. It is there if you want to keep your trunk from being opened by someone who has access to the passenger compartment. Switch it to the locked position and see if your problem goes away. Try it this way for a week or so. During that time you will only be able to open your trunk with your key.
If the problem goes away with the latch lever in the lock position, but comes back when it is in the unlocked position, then you may have a trunk remote actuator motor that is sticking. What happens is that you open the trunk with the remote and the motor gears stick and the actuator keeps the latch in the open position. Slamming the trunk lid eventually jars it loose and the trunk closes. The only solution here is to replace the trunk actuator motor/gear assembly. The actuator motor is under the trunk lining on the left side, near the power antenna. The same unit also remotely opens your fuel door. In fact, a way to verify if the actuator motor is the problem is next time the trunk won't close is to push the remote fuel door button on the driver's door. If the trunk then closes easily, that is a good indication that the actuator gearset was stuck in the "trunk open" position. Opening the fuel door reverses the motor and unsticks it. Don't forget to reclose your fuel door.
You can also verify the problem by removing the trunk lid lining and observing if the remote release cable fully extends back immediately after the remote actuator pulls it in to open the trunk. You will probably see that it is still pulled in and you can bull it back out by hand and the trunk will latch.
4. The only remaining item that could cause the problem is the latch itself. It could have been damaged by closing the trunk while something was in the way.
Let me know what you find.
Mr. Vivona
By the way, do you have any ideas of how to program a key fob remote for the keyless entry without having to go to the dealer.
Thanks for all your help.
Mr. Vivona
Mr. Vivona
Thanks and Regards,
Also, between 30-40 mph and 50 -60 mph, there is a strange sort of buzzy vibration in the vehicle and at the same time you hear kind of a wo-wo-wo-wo, sound eminating from the wheel area. Has anyone else experienced this? The buzzy vibration sort of reminds me of wore wheel bearings but no-where as prominent in previous vehicle (1985 camaro). Also, the other sounds I think may be the tires (Goodyear - cant stand). I noticed a similar sound on my previous vehicle with GY's (2000 Pontiac Grand Prix).
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Mr. Vivona
Before replacing the module I would want to be very sure it is bad. Unfortunately all a dealer does is connect a code reader and if it says the module is bad that isn't always conclusive. Since the problem started right after you had some work done, I would look for a broken or loose wire, either to a wheel sensor or the ABS system. If you can buy a module locally with return privileges, try it and return it if it doesn't fix the problem.
Mr. Vivona
If you have your foot even slightly on the gas as you come to a stop, the switch will not activate and the transmission will shift all the way to low and you will feel the bump. You can create this scenario by braking to a stop with you left foot and keeping your right foot slightly on the gas.
If the transmission bumps with your foot off the gas, I would look for a defective accelerator switch. You could also have a sticking throttle cable that is preventing the accelerator from going to a "full off" position. I believe the accelerator switch is mounted on the throttle body in the 1997, maybe even as part of the throttle position sensor. I'd have to check the manual to be sure. I know in earlier models it was a microswitch mounted right at the accelerator pedal itself, but I remember reading somewhere it is on the throttle body in the current generation.
Mr. Vivona
I am a little confused about the two bumps immediately after the TPS was changed and set. If the computer tells the transmission not to shift to first while stopping based on patterns that the computer has learned then it would make sense to me that the bumps would occur immediately after changing and setting the TPS until the computer learned the new pattern. However, if the computer tells the transmission not to shift to first while stopping based on the signal that it immediately receives from the TPS then I am confused since the problem seems to be fixed but the TPS would have sent erroneous signals on the first two stops.
Please tell me that the computer sends a signal to the transmission based on a learned pattern.
Thank you Mr. Vivona.
Any time you replace the TPS and adjust it, you should clean the throttle body first. The procedure can be found at:
http://www.geocities.com/diamanteowner/article3.htm
While cleaning the throttle body, make sure it is not worn in the inside area where the throttle plate closes at idle, or the throttle plate could occasionally be sticking just above idle. By replacing and adjusting the TPS, you may have moved the "switch point" a bit making is less likely to cause the problem. After cleaning the throttle body, readjust the TPS.
Or, instead of cleaning now, just leave everything as it is and see if the problem comes back. If it does, clean and adjust as recommended.
Mr. Vivona
Sam