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Mitsubishi Outlander throttle accelerator problem

kcole1kcole1 Member Posts: 4
I have had problems since purchase (9/06) with the check engine light and loss of power. The car will suddenly decelerate and even with the gas pedal to floor will only go ~ 30 MPH. I have had it in the Mitsubishi shop numerous times (8 over 1 yr). They have replaced the pedal position sendor, the throttle body assembly and adjusted numerous things. Haven't had a problem since 10/08 UNTIL this morning when the same thing happened again. Has anyone else had similar problems? The dealer tells me that they have never seen problems like this....guess I'm the only one???

Comments

  • iluvmysephia1iluvmysephia1 Member Posts: 7,704
    edited April 2010
    check with the Better Business Bureau. You have a likely chance to get your car replaced. Your car qualifies under the Lemon Law. Keep your receipts. If they show that you've gone to their manufacturer-backed shop at least 3 times to get that same item repaired, you qualify under the Lemon Law. If it's part of your state's tort laws. Which perty much includes the Lower 48 states, Hawaii and Alaska!

    Do get back to us on this. I wouldn't waste a single minute, though, go call the BBB for help.

    8 times for the same problem qualifies.

    2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick

  • bigdogs5bigdogs5 Member Posts: 4
    Hi, kcole: I have a 2007 Outlander XLS and TRUST ME, you are not the only one. My 07 has 15,000 miles on it. I normally put 15k on my vehicles a year, but I don't trust this car to get me where I'm going so I've continued to drive my other vehicle most of the time. I have had the same problems you have encountered. Dealer has replaced the computer, then the electronic sensors (according to Mitsubishi Technical Service Bulletin that came out this year). Didn't matter. It happened in October 09, it happened 4th of July weekend and 700 miles and 5 weeks later, it happened again. This time they replaced the throttle body something or other. Let me know if you want to compare notes. I can put it in gear, step on the gas, and it will go maybe 15 miles an hour. If there's any kind of a hill with an incline, I hold my breath and hope for the best. Each time I have been assured this will "fix it". My bottom line this time was if it happened again, I'm all done. What's happened with yours since April? I should have kept my Audi.
  • bigdogs5bigdogs5 Member Posts: 4
    Hi: Thanks for the heads-up on the BBB/Lemon law. I have had many cars in 30 years, but this is by far the most unreliable I have ever owned. You buy a new car, you don't expect to have it towed on a regular basis. I am given assurances every time that the problem is fixed only to have it happen again. This has all happened since I hit 11,000 miles last October. It now has 15k. 3 times in 9 months is not expected and not appreciated. If it happens again, I guess I'll be checking with the BBB because while this model gets high marks for reliability, I think there is something wrong with THIS particular car.
  • kcole1kcole1 Member Posts: 4
    It hasn't happened since April. But I still don't trust a long drive. I may have waited too late to take advantage of the lemon law. I am checking with a legal rep. to see.
  • bigdogs5bigdogs5 Member Posts: 4
    Yes, it runs just fine until it doesn't. I know the drill. Got mine back this morning after a week with the usual assurances that this will fix the problem. The dealership I work with is good. Been buying cars from them for years. I think they're doing what they can or what Mitsu tells them to do. I made it clear if it happens again I'm going to unload this car. They agreed to that. I'll have to take the current market value (which is half of what it retailed for 3 years ago), but I will want OUT of this car. BTW, the general manager at the dealership has owned 3 Outlanders and has never had a single problem. I know Mitsu is supposed to be a reliable vehicle (I did some SERIOUS homework before buying this car) but not this one. I will never buy another if I live to be 100. Again, I should have stuck with Audi. If you will, please let me know what happens with you. I have to commute 20-40 miles one way every day to work. Towing 3 times in 9 months is bad enough....you've taken it in 8 times. I can't even imagine how exasperated you must be. Best wishes from Minnnesota
  • batman47batman47 Member Posts: 606
    Few years ago I witnessed a problem with a car that was not a Mitsubishi whereby the engine appeared to lose power even by pressing the accelerator pedal until the vehicle stopped. When the scan machine was electronically connected to the car it gave an error code which was identified that the Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) valve was defective. The car was 4-years old.

    This valve is very important for the performance of the car. The EGR in the Outlander is relatively complicated and needs a mechanic to remove it and replace it with a new one. It is easy to damage adjacent parts. The cost of one-valve is about $250.
    My GT has 17K miles and hasn’t complained so far. I have drove miles and miles in desolated areas in all weather conditions if we would have had a mechanical problem perhaps no-one would have found us for 2-3 days. That is why we loaded our car with all imaginable aids to survive in such inhospitable terrain.

    Please don’t hesitate to ask what error code the MUT scanning machine comes up with. The MUT must be capable of indentifying the problem. You may take your car to another Mitsubishi garage. From my experience A Mitsubishi representative visit every Mitsubishi garage every 15 days. Ask your garage (manager) when this representative will be in your local garage. Talk with him he may advise further actions. I think that many Mitsubishi garages have not the technical skills in their personnel and many garage technicians attend one or two days to classes about Mitsubishi technicalities. For example my dealer has only one technician that knows how to use the MUT scanning machine. No- one other than him has the knowledge to interpret the computer result data. Relax.
  • iluvmysephia1iluvmysephia1 Member Posts: 7,704
    edited August 2010
    are having this same problem? Do I need to go back and read carefully your posts, or is that true? And both of your Outlanders have been "looked at" by your Mitsu dealer's service department by now, with unsatisfactory results? If so, that's too bad. I would read batman47's post above and follow his advice about trying to go there when a Mitsubishi representative come to one of their garages. That is supposed to be where they are earning their big bucks, solving Mitsubishi technical glitches like the one you guys are having here.

    If it happens again, I guess I'll be checking with the BBB because while this model gets high marks for reliability, I think there is something wrong with THIS particular car.

    Bingo! As a 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS owner that is happy with his purchase, I am looking to see what happens with other Mitsubishi owners and what kind of purchase and ownership experience they are having. This is truly regrettable what is going on here, and I would want to think that Mitsubishi Corporate would want this problem to be solved to both your satisfaction and theirs. I am impressed by Mitsubishi's carbuilding prowess and I believe their engineering group is indeed impressive, overall.

    Please get back and let us know how Mitsubishi solves (or does not seem to solve) this problem, and I do hope you are able to get this fixed ASAP.

    2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick

  • bigdogs5bigdogs5 Member Posts: 4
    Well, haven't posted since August the 14th. After replacing the throttle body assembly, it is "so far, so good". I've put 1500 miles on it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed because winter is coming to Minnesota very soon.
  • kcole1kcole1 Member Posts: 4
    OK....it happened again on Sep 3 while driving up an interstate on-ramp. I was so furious that I drove straight to the dealership - at 30 mph I might add- and pulled into the service bay. It was ~ 5:30 pm and the technicians were not there. But I did get the guy who checks you in to drive it. Unfortunately it corrected itself when I turned off the ignition. The check engine light was still on tho'. He advised to bring it back in the next day and I requested to speak to the manager. The manager basically told me that it would be hard to trade now that I had so many miles on the car (~65,000), that I should have traded earlier when we talked about during the previous 7 repairs. I asked for the Mitsubishi customer service number and he said that was basically all I could do. SO I called and they were very accomadating, got right back in touch, created a case file and a case manager was assigned - very nice lady. I told her that I feel the car is not sellable due to the recurring problems it has. After the district manager got involved, I took my car back in last Friday so that the dealership could "fix the problem". I assured them that it was always "fixed" but they wanted their tech support to work with the dealership to find the underlying problem. I think it's just a defective car.....but I did as I was told. Well, they seem to have found the problem! My battery shows a low charge so that is what is causing the issue!!! It needs to be replaced and that should fix everything. They replaced the throttle body after the first 7 repairs and since the issue didn't recur until 2 yrs later, they figure the battery is the problem. In fact they have this documented in a repair guide or something. It is beyond me that the EXACT same problem would be occur because of a faulty battery. I am going to get the battery replaced and wait for it to happen again. I have not called the BBB yet but that is next on my list. Please let me know if any of this makes sense. It just sounds really lame to me.
  • comem47comem47 Member Posts: 399
    I had something similar with a Dodge Dakota. Car would occasionally stall, be hard starting, and have problems staying running without additional pressure on the pedal and I read about how a low battery can cause a lot of these faults despite the ability to crank the engine over (normally it gets to not being able to crank the engine before most people detect a failing battery, but these days with electronics low voltage problems can effect how the car runs long before the inability to crank shows up). In my case It could be temporarily fixed by unplugging the battery and the default mode while the computer was relearning things made the problem appear to go away until the computer had finished relearning (couple of days I think) and then it was back again. Others on the internet with the same problem zeroed in on the battery which indeed permanently fixed it.

    Good luck and I hope it is the true cause.
  • toomanyfumestoomanyfumes Member Posts: 1,019
    I've heard of cars having wierd electrical gremlins caused by a low battery so maybe that is the case. Keep us updated!
    2012 Mustang Premium, 2013 Lincoln MKX Elite, 2007 Mitsubishi Outlander.
  • batman47batman47 Member Posts: 606
    Battery should be changed every 4-5 years. The battery of my SC300 seemed to work fine but the passenger window stop to be operative and the window switch seemed to cease to operate, so I thought that the switch control has gone. Because my battery was close to the 5-years I decided to buy a new one to replace the old one. To my surprise my daughter manipulated the passenger window switch while we just started to go somewhere and I noted that the passenger window started to be operative again. Equally the wireless door control seemed to operate better now. Before the change of battery this control was erratic. The cost of a good battery is between $70-$100.
  • k_olson_08k_olson_08 Member Posts: 4
    I have had similar problems with my '06 Outlander as what I've been reading on this message board, and I think I have gotten my car fixed for real this time. I'm going to recap what happened to my car and hopefully this will help somebody else with an Outlander.

    In July 2011, I was driving on the interstate and my car suddenly lost power and could only drive up to 45 mph, with me flooring it. I managed to drive it home and took it to a Goodyear the next day (closest place for me to go). The code came up for the accelerator pedal position sensor. I had the throttle replaced (this includes the sensor). The car was fine until August 2012. I was driving home from work, and suddenly my car lost power. I drove it to a mechanic in town. The next day they told me that, again, the code for the accelerator pedal position sensor came up. But, they said to take it to a Mitsubishi dealership to get checked and fixed. Since the dealership is far away and my car was maxing at ~30 mph, I chose to have it towed since that was the safer option. Once it got to the dealership, they tested the sensor, and said that there was nothing wrong with it. They ultimately found paint buildup on a wire in the car which was causing this fake code to come up on the diagnostics ... I've never had a paint job or body work done to my car, so the paint build-up must be a factory problem. This is what the dealership wrote on my report, "High resistance on pin 7 connector ZB115. Used multi-meter to check resistance of connector B115 to ECM connector B112. Load tested circuit in question. Ok. Found high resistance caused by insecure ground at ECM due to high paint build-up. Cleaned ground and re-tested. Ok."

    Maybe other Outlanders have this underlying problem, because the posts I've read on here sound a lot like my situation. I only paid for the labor to get this fixed, but shouldn't have had to do that, since this appears to be factory paint. I'm not going to bother fighting Mitsubishi on the cost because I plan to trade my car in sometime in the near future (and probably not for another Mitsubishi). I don't know if paint build-up is common on wires for Mitsubishi or other brands, but this seems like a ridiculous problem, especially since it took 6 years of me having the car for something to happen and then an additional year for a mechanic to identify the underlying problem.

    I hope this information helps someone ...
  • kcole1kcole1 Member Posts: 4
    Good Luck to you - my advice would be to be contact Mitsubishi the very second it happens again. I went through the whole complaint / arbitration process with Mitsubishi and they refused to acknowledge that there was anything wrong with my car because it was in working order at the time I filed the complaint. They ended up replacing the main computer in my car and I never had the problem again. Needless to say I will never again purchase a Mitsubishi and will pass the info along to my friends.
    I traded it this summer thankfully and am very happy with my Hyundai Santa Fe!
  • k_olson_08k_olson_08 Member Posts: 4
    Thanks for the information. The service guy at the dealership told me that if the mechanic/tech hadn't found the paint build-up on that wire that they would have started taking my dashboard apart (to pinpoint where the electrical issue was) and it would have cost thousands of dollars in labor! My brother has a Mitsubishi Lancer and has had some major problems with his car, too. I have been thinking of trading in for a Toyota. It's really too bad, because I do love the car and would love to get another Outlander, but this problem is just too major for me to overlook.
  • batman47batman47 Member Posts: 606
    It is regrettable to read about your description of your Outlander problem. However, without any intention to diminish the occasional problems (electrical & mechanical) that the Outlander may have from time to time, I may say, that if you have come across other car manufacturer forums (see for example the Honda Pilot or the Subaru Forester) Mazda, Honda, Toyota, Suzuki, Subaru, Chevrolet, etc, etc; the number of complaints and re-calls are 2 to 3 times more than the Outlander.

    Equally, respectable car review magazine put the Outlander reliability above average. Perhaps I am a bit biased about the Outlander (I owned 2-cars) for a maximum of 2-years each. The first I took to Alaska to a place called “Dead Horse” with more than 800 miles (return) on gravel (mud, ice, snow) without any electrical or mechanical problems. Furthermore, I took the second one from the US to Argentina (Ushuaia) on 40% of the road without tarmac (called “ripio”) without any problems at all. Those are the facts.

    The Outlander, in my opinion, excels because of its mechanical prowess. The inside finish is poor, the paint is sub-standard, and it scratches easily. As an example, I may say my Lexus SC 300 its interior looks much better than my Outlander in spite of the fact that my Lexus is 16-years old.

    There is no guarantee that changing to another make other than Mitsubishi will ensure that you do not have problems. You may ask yourself why there is a small garage in every corner in the US. There are a lot because there are millions of cars (regardless of make) that need something done. Still having a garage is a good business in the US.

    Buying a new car is like choosing a wife. There is no guarantee that you will not divorce more than one time (presently more than the 40%)
  • solowalkersolowalker Member Posts: 118
    I agree with your Outtie assesment Bat...Yes, the interior is cheap but my dog never complaines..I also enjoyed your past posts from your adventures with your Outtie down in South America...
    I bought a new 2007 Outtie XLS now with 77K miles on the clock and have had no problems the past 5 years....NONE...And, I live at the Continental divide in the Colorado Rockies so this car gets to be my Jeep....I go everywhere with it, even the Jeep adventure roads because I spend almost every day somewhere hiking (I'm retired) on the many trails here and this car gets me up the crummy forest roads to the trailheads with ease.
    Plus, I think the 2007 and 2008 Outties are better looking than the new ones so I will keep this mechanical jewel of a car til I get 100K on the clock and then trade it in for a new Outtie, that is, if they look as good as my 2007 and has the smooth V6...
  • knt2007knt2007 Member Posts: 2
    I am having the same problem with my 06 Outlander. Where was the wire located so we know where to start looking? I just replaced my accelerator pedal positioning sensor and a new battery and still have the problem. Please help! Thank you!!!!
  • batman47batman47 Member Posts: 606
    A faulty Exhaust Gas Recirculation Valve that it is in the engine body is the main cause of loss of engine power even when pressing the accelerator pedal all the way.

    Usually this problem is detected by the electronic scanner by recording a fault code. I have not been in the situation of changing the EGR valve in any of my Outlanders but indeed I changed it in a previous Hyundai Tucson (2005) where the manual recommended changing this valve at 30K miles. I have also changed this valve or equivalent in my Lexus 1996 as a routine job every 40K miles, just to keep the engine performance in good working order.

    I came across to this problem with the small car of my wife when on the highway her car started to lose power suddenly. It was not a nice experience. The same day I took her car to a garage where a scanner was used to find out the problem. The problem was traced to a jammed EGR valve. I had to pay for the finding of the code, the part, and the labor.

    Mitsubishi dealers’ service men may exaggerate the problem or pretend that the problem is unique in order to profit from unaware customers. Without an elementary knowledge of cars, owners are easy prey for exploitation.
  • k_olson_08k_olson_08 Member Posts: 4
    Hi - I just saw your message now, so sorry for this late reply. I wrote down exactly what was in the service report of my car in my post -- ("High resistance on pin 7 connector ZB115. Used multi-meter to check resistance of connector B115 to ECM connector B112. Load tested circuit in question. Ok. Found high resistance caused by insecure ground at ECM due to high paint build-up. Cleaned ground and re-tested. Ok.") -- so if you show that to a Mitsubishi dealership, they should be able to to locate the wire.

    Sorry, again, for the late reply and I hope that you're able to get your car fixed.
  • knt2007knt2007 Member Posts: 2
    Thank you. We replaced the sensor and it didn't work. The garage we went to said it is saying to reprogram the computer and adjust throttle body. The closest dealer is 2 hours away. We have to tow it there to see what they say. The guy that has been helping me at the dealership over the phone trying to get it repaired around here, says he will work me in as soon as I get there. With the holidays it has been hard to
    get someone to tow it and find the money to pay for it all. We have been without it since two Fridays before Thanksgiving. I think we are just going to rent a car dolly and take it ourselves. Bad part about small town living..But thank you and I will print and take what you wrote with me
  • k_olson_08k_olson_08 Member Posts: 4
    Wow, it sounds like you've really been having a rough time. When I had my car towed, I called AAA (I'm a member) and they towed it for me to the dealership. I think the total miles towed was about 25, which cost me $100 after the 5 free miles deduction I have with my AAA membership. However, I then called my car insurance company to ask if any of this was covered in my policy and they reimbursed me for the entire cost. You might want to check with your car insurance company and ask if they would pay for all or part of the towing cost.

    If you have the same problem as I did, then it should take the dealership no time at all to locate the wire and clean off the excess paint. So, your repair cost should be minimal if the paint build-up is what they find. I had to pay 4 hours' worth of labor because they had no idea where the problem was. I've gone on 2 long trips (~800 miles) since I had my car fixed and (*fingers crossed*) the problem hasn't happened again. I'm really hoping it's fixed for good.

    I wish you all the luck in the world and I hope that you are able to get your car fixed and that you have no more problems in 2013!
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