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Comments
It's possible you do have a horrible dealer but sometimes they honestly can't find anything wrong with the car. I have a friend who is the shop foreman at my local Mitsu dealer (it pays to have friends in the right places). He was working on an 03 Eclipse this weekend with only 900 miles that has a check engine light on constantly. He replaced a few parts on it based on the code that was given and gave the car back to the owner. The light turned right back on. He tried to fix it 3 times and was baffled as to what the problem was and now the owner was trying to claim lemon law on it. Turns out, a small rubber hose had a slight tear in it that could only be seen when bent. Replacing that insignificant hose fixed the problem! I'm sure the owner felt like the dealer was playing games with him or he bought a piece of junk, but honestly, they couldn't find anything wrong and the hose was not a part that normally fails. I'm not saying this is the same as your case, but just keep an open mind. I did ask him about your problem but he had never encountered water leakage problems with the Eclipse. I wish you luck!
eclipseowner,
I agree with ingtongue18 as far as the water flowing through the outside of the window through the door. This is a normal occurrence. The interior panels and mechanicals inside the door are protected by weather proof plastic sheeting for this purpose. There should also be some undercoating on the door panels which protects them against rust.
I say this from experience from seeing the inside of my spyder door panels. I also get water on the sidesill's...but this is normal.
Water on the actual floor board however...is not.
Fact of the matter is, you must have hit something large and high enough to go inside the bumper and puncture the condenser. Do you remember anything like that? An animal, road debris, or piece of wood perhaps? I bet a recent thump is coming to mind? Driven behind any trucks throwing rocks on the road (although I think the rock would have to be large and travelling pretty fast to damage the condenser)? I don't think you should blame Mitsubishi for a freak object hitting your car or your inability to avoid whatever it is you hit. Sorry you got stuck with a high repair bill, but that is no reason to condemn a whole company. Be prepared to be disappointed with many other cars if the same accident happens.
Revka
Host
Hatchbacks & Wagons Boards
You could try coating them with some wax or rain-x. Maybe it would help with sheeting some of the water off?
two major problems have existed since i got it, and my mechanics have tried numerous ways to fix and nothing seems to stick
the first problem:
1) major vibration during accelerations above 40mph
first we thought it was the rims,so i got hub rings, didnt affect anything so i replaced the rims,helped a bit, but still had vibration on accel
all balancing redone, new tires, new ball joints, suspension checked, we replaced a front axle, drove good for a week, after travelling 100 miles with somewhat bent rims, vibration comes back again...so bad the doors look like they are comimg off
maybe the rims bent the axle again?(dont think so) or maybe both axles need to be replaced?(our next step)
problem 2)
speedometer doesnt work
replaced speedsensor, still didnt work
replaced instrument cluster, still didnt work
found a broken plastic speed gear in tranny, dropped it, replaced the gear for around $800 and then worked for a week, broke again on same trip(approx: 100 miles)...
at least now the speedometer jumps up and down at times and even works on occasion
my mechs want to buy another speedsensor, i think it would be too much of a coincidence, plus they lost my original speedsensor that was supposedly ok to begin with
im really hoping its not a differential problem which may explain both problems, but would make no sense to me that it would not have been detected when the tranny was dropped...what else could it be?
someone please help!!!
thanks a million1
eli
when i had the front axle fixed the first time, with the "bent" rims still on, the car drove fine with a very slight vibration at high speeds
i concluded the slight vibration was from the bent rims, and the major vibration during the acceleration was from the axle...
however, since then i have replaced the rims to find that the small vibration is gone(confirming the connection between the small vib. and the bent rims) but the major vibration still exists(10 tims the small vibration)
could it be that keeping the "bent" rims on rebent the axle(i was told this is not possible) or do i have two bent axles?
i dont know, but im hoping its not a differential problem which could possibly explain the speedometer not working, but wouldnt explain why the vibration is not dependent on gear and that it only exists during accelerations and is worse going uphill...
thanks for your replies...
eli
manual transmission, which was recently dropped in order to replace a PLASTIC speed gear in order to get the speedometer to work...which has recently stopped working again, and the transmission must be dropped again to replace the gear...headache!
im getting the axle replaced, which means ill have both in front new...ill have the hub looked at, and hopefully the vibration will be gone
do you think the vibration could be severe enough to be damaging the speed sensing gear in the tranny?
i dont want to have to keep dropping the tranny just to keep the speedometer working, even if it is on warranty
do you think the two problems could possibly be linked?
thanks for your advice
eli
While you're waiting here for feedback, you may also want to plug your vehicle into Edmunds' Maintenance Guide to see if you can find any TSBs that might be related to the items (i.e. rattling) you've mentioned. Good luck, and please keep us posted.
Also, a suggestion for the next time you post a long message: break your message up into smaller paragraphs. This will make it much easier for others to read. People will be more likely to read the entire post if it's easy on the eyes. Okay? ;-)
Happy motoring, and see you around Town Hall!
Revka
Host
Hatchbacks & Wagons Boards
The Elcipse Spyder is nice looking and the features/dollar quotient as compared to other convertibles is great too.
I'm sure this has been discussed, but why had Mitsubishi decided to only puit the SOHC V6 in the car as opposed to their DOHC 24V V6 that last saw a home in the engine bays of 3000GTs and Stealths? That was one sweet engine. My Mom had a 1995 Stealth R/T (no turbo) and even with the slushbox that engine loved to rev.
I'd like to see some better interior bits and design as well as a larger back window for the convertible top as some improvements. But please give us an ultra-performance version of the eclipse with either the NA 3.0L DOHC V6, TT 3.0L DOHC V6, or at least the Turbo 4 (for better weight distribution).
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2022 Wrangler Sahara 4Xe, 2023 Toyota Tacoma SR 4WD
The only models which were capable of reaching near 140mph were the GST and GSX. The GSX topped out at around 137 though. A GST might have been able to hit 140, but they all came with H-rated tires, hence the 130mph governor. Even though the GST spyder's came equipped with V-rated tread, they still kept the governer in them.
As far as it being as simple as removing a chip....well, it would actually require opening up the ECU, pulling out a soldering gun and adding a resistor somewhere.
ummm....no thank you!
Since my car had only 21000 miles on it, the Dealer replaced it at no charge.
Yesterday, the door handle on the passenger side broke.
I contacted Mitsubishi to find out if this was a problem with the 1998 Eclipse.
They advised that it was not.
They stated to ask Dealer to evaluate and possible replace free of charge.
Any comments?
Thanks!
is anyone still buying Mitsu Eclipse nowadays? i did not find a recent discussion on this topic.
what is going on?
I don't know much about cars and since my first car was a Corolla and the past year I had been driving a Volvo S70, I pretty much have nothing to compare to. However I did enjoy the car while test driving it and felt pretty comfortable.
The car has 57K on it and it's selling for 7000, it's a RS with a few extra added options. I am not a racer, not planning to fix it up either. Should I get it? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
I am currently looking at two Eclipse one is a 98 GS w/68K, 5spd for $5500 OBO and 01 GT 17" Rims, is this a good deal and will the rims cause any problems?
The other one is a 96 GS-T convertible, auto, 75K, $6500, good deal? Does crankwalk occur as much on automatics as it seems to on the 5spd's?
What are the symptoms I should be on the look out for and would a mitsu dealership pre-inspection be able to find signs of that problem?
I have had one Eclipse conv 97 GST but it had much lower miles (under 45K).
I am looking for a car that I can get about 20-30K essentially worry-free miles out of without too much more than proper maint. but I don't have alot to spend and I don't like Civics.
What is the opinion on either of these cars, I just sold a 01 Z-24 cavalier and it was a nightmare.
Thanks in advance for any opinons, suggestions and I do plan on getting the vehicle a pre-purchase inspection done by a hopefully reputable mitsu dealership.
I have been researching this and the 98 GS seems like it could be less problems but once again, please give me your opinions, both cars are one owners with the maint/repair records.
I have heard varied experiences about the reliability of the Eclipse, and also the money is a bit too much for me, so I am wavering. I have two questions:
1. Is this a buy that is worth it. I am spending pretty much all the money I have on this car, my budged was actually about 8K. I need the car for 500 mile trips every fortnight for the next 2 years.
2. When I check the car, or get it checked by a mechanic, are there some specific things that I would do well to check?
Thanks in advance,
AK
By the way it sounds like you have a very poor service department that you go to.
My 2001 GT had a defective passenger side airbag replaced under warranty about 2 years ago. A sensor in the seat had failed and they replaced the whole back of the seat. Then a few months back, my airbag warning light came on again. This time they told me that the same sensor in the both the driver and passenger seat had failed and that both would need replacing - a potential cost of about $800 as the car is now out of warranty with 70k odd miles on it.
I thought it odd that both would fail simultaneously especially when one had failed before. I called Mitsubishi corporate and explained the sitsuation with them, that the car had been serviced by the same dealer thought out its history, and that I though that they had a potentially life threatening defect in the safety systems of the car. They looked up in their database, was able to verify the history of my car, the previous warranty replacement, and discussed it with the local regional sales manager.
The next day, they authorised my out of warranty replacement of both side airbags at no cost to me.
So call corporate and state your case!
SO, IF ANYONE CAN GIVE ME ANY REAL ADVICE or any knowledgable opinions that dont start in a "Why dont you just let me handle that, little lady" type of tone, I WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE IT!!!
And I Ddo apologize for my own snappy attitude. I blame it on the weakness of my camels back. Never did take many straws to break it!!