Subject: [2G,T] Crankshaft failures
From: Pre
Date: 09 Jul 1998 14:51:22

A month ago, I went to the dealer to order a radiator hose, and while I was there I walked to the service bays and started chatting with a tech working on a 95' GST. I asked him what was wrong with it and he said the crankshaft was "walking". I didn't know what that meant, so he showed me: he had the crankshaft exposed and he pressed a screwdriver between the rods and pushed the crankshaft back and forth by maybe 10 mm. The crank, apparently, is NOT supposed to move horizontally at all. He showed me a spot where there should have been a journal bearing, and the apparent lack thereof on this engine. The whole crank was being replaced along with all new bearings.

Recently, I went to the dealer to replace an airbag, and while I was there, I chatted with the same tech about what he was doing. He had a 97' Spyder GST on the lift and he was removing the crankshaft. I asked him why and he told me it was "walking". I thought that was strange that another car was in for the same thing, and it wasn't even the same year. He told me it was the third car that month with the same problem. He pulled down the crankshaft and showed me the bearings that surround this middle section of the crankshaft. The bearing had horizontal wear marks. This car, too, was getting a new crankshaft and all new bearings.

The symptoms in all the cases seemed to be problems with putting the car into gear. The transmissions in all cases were fine. The problem was faulty crankshaft bearings. The tech told me the factory must have had a bad run of bearings.

Has anyone else heard of this problem? I wonder if there are any with this problem and have had it misdiagnosed.

Paul

95' GST

Subject: [2G,T] Crankshaft Failures 2: This time it's personal
From: Pre
Date: 28 Jul 1998 23:42:14

"Ask and you shall receive"

About a month ago, I posted my recent observations of crankshaft failures occurring with the 2G turbo motor. I had personally witnessed the tear down of a 95 GST and then a 97 GST motor for the removal of the crankshaft, the journal bearings, and the rod bearings. I thought to myself "Wow, would you look at that" and then dutifully posted my query to the digest: "Has anyone else had this problem?" I got a few responses, mostly horror stories of problems never corrected until the crankshaft was removed and replaced. I thought "man, I empathize with those poor souls" "Crankshaft failures come to those who wait"

My car had just turned 60,491 miles on the odometer. I was in a parking lot looking for a spot, when I heard a weird noise. I turn down the radio to hear whose piece of **** car was making that weird noise, when I discover it's MY piece of **** car making that weird noise. HEHEHEH. I jump out of the car and open the hood to listen intently when I realize the noise is coming from underneath the timing belt cover.

HEHEHEHH. The noise is like a tapping noise that varies with RPM. Forget my appointment, I'm going to the dealer to find out what the hell that noise is. I leave the parking lot and begin the 5 mile trek to the dealership. I get about 200 feet when I hear a "snap". HAHHAHAHHAHHAHAH

Now, this is the single, defining moment of my relationship with my 95' GST. I have always taken excellent care of my car. I changed almost everything under the timing belt cover at 50,000 miles. I don't drag race it and I drive it hard, but with care. Oil at 3000 mile intervals (Mobil 1 since the first oil change) and already changed the tranny fluid. The only meanness I've inflicted is a 16G turbo, and only at 15 psi. thus far. I am a GOOD owner. Back to the "snap" About one full second after I hear this snap, I turn off the ignition and pull over. I was only moving at 15 mph when it happened, so I come to a full stop in about 5 feet. Now, the panic ensues. "What the hell is going on here! This kind of crap only happens to people on the digest!" [meant to be read tongue in cheek] I run to a pay phone and call AAA for a flat bed. Now, this post is already turning out to be a novel, so I will spare the details and give all 2G owners these pieces of advice:

~If you have a 2G, check to see if you have tow hooks. I DO NOT have tow hooks and thus was unable to utilize a flat bed. I don't know why my car is missing tow hooks. I bought it new and I didn't remove them.

~If you lower your car REALLY low, with H&R race springs for example, count on a fiasco the next time you are sent any sort of tow truck.

You may have guessed that I went through a fiasco. While waiting for the tow truck, I decide to remove the timing belt cover to either confirm or deny my latent fear: a snapped timing belt. I remove the cover and notice the belt appears completely intact.

HAHAHHAHAHA Four glorious hours later, I'm on my way to the dealership with my car in tow. On the way, I start to ponder a few consequences. My car's power train warranty EXPIRED 491 miles ago. My car has a 16G turbo and a test pipe fitted. Those are NOT original equipment items. This trip to the dealer is going to cost me more than a complete makeover for Janet Reno. It's now 5 pm and the service department is closing. I made a few friends in the pool of techs months ago, so they run a few tests after hours. A 17mm wrench turns the cam sprockets and reveals that the car's mechanical timing is perfect. Also, the timing belt is in excellent condition, as it should be after 10,491 miles. We turn the key and the car turns over, but it won't start. hmmmmmm. They test for injector pulsewidth and coil ignition, and neither is firing. That's why the car won't start. hmmmmm. Why would the car be in time, turn over just fine without any odd noises, but the injectors NOT fire and the coils NOT fire? Among the possible answers is a broken crank angle sensor or cam angle sensor or both.

Fast forward to yesterday. The tech pulled off the timing belt covers, the crankshaft pulley, and all else necessary to expose the crank angle sensor. For those who don't know, the crank angle sensor is basically two poles with a field between them. When that field is disrupted by a projection of metal on the trigger plate (which is behind the crankshaft pulley and turns at the same rate as the crank and pulley), the crank angle sensor reads rpm and sends signals to the ECU for it to decide which ignition coil to fire when, and how to fire the injectors. Well, I took a nice long look at my trigger plate and I noticed there were plastic shavings on it. The trigger plate had come in CONTACT with the crank angle sensor. That's what that the tapping noise was. The SNAP I heard was the damn sensor breaking into little pieces. Why did all of these things happen?

Apparently, the factory had a bad run of CRANKSHAFTS, not bearings. The crankshafts were machined just slightly out of spec, and as a result the main center thrust bearing on the crankshaft wears prematurely. When this happens, the crankshaft will move or "walk" every time the clutch pedal is depressed. Some people have complained of difficulty in getting the car into gear (manual transmissions) and the diagnosis has been the same: a "walking" crankshaft. Well, it seems my crankshaft walked so much that it pushed the crank sprocket and the trigger plate forward and caused the trigger plate to come in contact with the crank sensor.

The bottom line is this is a factory defect. I get a new crankshaft, journal bearings, rod bearings, trigger plate, crank angle sensor, and crankshaft sprocket (along with a few others I can't remember) installed for free, regardless of my mileage. John Hindle made a very good point in a post recently. Make friends at your local dealership. Find out who is competent and who is not. Be friendly and courteous and stop by even when you DON'T have a problem. Get to know the service manager. I've been doing this for the last two years, and when I arrived with my car in tow, the service manager already knew my financial concerns about my warranty and put them to rest. He told me that Mitsubishi rewards those customers who spend the extra dollars to buy the higher models. As a service manager, he has leeway in deciding which repairs he will cover and which he will NOT cover. Now, if I hadn't been coming to him with comments and concerns etc., and he hadn't known how well I take care of my car, there is no way he would have covered a 16G equipped GST that is out of powertrain coverage. But, my situation is different. He knows me and thinks my car is "cool". He made it clear that no matter WHAT was wrong with the car, any and all repairs would be warranty repairs BEFORE the car was even off the tow truck. It may be worth your while to extend a courteous handshake to those in a position to save you money.

Paul

95 GST