New vehicle

[markysparky]

I think lady luck is giving me a right good hiding as of late Purchased an 08 SST EVO X with 39k on the clock FSH, 9 stamps in the book..... Yes 9? All seemed absolutely spot on, and whenever there was an issue it went straight in to Mitsubishi. Ive now owned it 6 days and its dead! And this is why In its life somebody, a company or an owner has fitted a mocal trans cooler and pump (which i have to say is very well installed in behind the front bumper n/s. However the wiring is bl*#dy appalling! From the pump there is a 2.0mm cable run through the bulkhead to a very well hidden switch near the footrest. From the switch the wire runs behind the center console and has a 10 amp inline fuse before it is terminated ...... GET THIS...... Onto a 0.5mm (approx 3-4 amp cable) wire going into the IPDM/fusebox behind the glovebox. I think you can see where this is going..... The last two previous owners have never switched the pump on however i did ooooops, bad electrical smell, engine wont turn off, every warning message for every electrical component on the car flashing in instrument cluster, headlight squirt activated by itself and will not stop so emptied bottle. Engine fans and aircon going full chat. Managed to stop engine by turning off pump switch but then car wouldnt re-start. My heart now resting on my little toe pmsl. Basically the bad wire installation has pulled too much current on an existing circuit and blown 2 components (diodes or caps) on the pcb in the fusebox. In my 20 years of doing auto electrics i have never seen such a blatant disregard of how to wire equipment up!!! It surely cannot be that difficult to pop in a 4 pin 25 amp relay and a feed direct from the battery?? Obviously it is! So second hand fusebox on its way from Leeds £70, but Mitsubishi do not know if the car will start because it may need programming to the car?? So moral is, make sure whoever is doing auto electrics to your pride and joy, that they know what they are doing and have got good reviews! Mark
Pic of the beast

[Davezj]

Oh dear,
That does not sound good.
It is always the most disheartening where it is someone else's bad work that gives you the pain.

I hate the state of newer car electrical stuff that they have to be programmed to the car.
I was working on a direct injection Toyota d4d recently my brother in laws, and I was thinking I might have to change the injectors , they have to be individually programmed to the car. by dealer software.
Luckily it was not the injectors, but really come on.
I the reason for the programming is tiny differences in the impedance of the injector.



Sent from my space-aged gizmo

[markysparky]

Yes Davezj, this is the problem with modern auto electrics, that it is now a throw away society and that dealerships have got you by your whatsits. If something fails and it is pcb controlled, bin fodder, new replacement and program. I am definitely old school and like to get in there and find faults with my eyes and not rely on a laptop! But this is becoming a rare attribute with modern vehicles dde12 And this is what i found, appears to be a surface mount diode (rectifier ?) has let go
Ive sourced a second hand working unit of an identical car, year, model and part number of unit identical. So moment of truth will be when i plug it in this eve. It has a 50 50 chance of working. Best case scenario.... Plugs in and car electrics all communicate and road worthy again.
Worst case..... Car cant talk to replacement fusebox and have to get car to dealership for software input.
Mitsubishi couldn't tell me what is needed and if it will run as he said 'we've never replaced that fusebox'............yes thanks for that!
However i have a third option of removing good diode and replacing cooked diode in original cars fusebox.

[adaxo]

This is one of things which hold me with vr4, its fairly modern with its abs ayc and things like that and old school rest, that I can change brake pads or bulbs without special software available only through dealer where are not mechanics any more, just parts assembles. Would love to drive modern lexus or other bmw but im to scare I would not be able to play with it without king of master degree in software development.

Any way good luck with your fix, sure it will work.

[markysparky]

Fingers crossed adaxo,
I am truly gutted that ive got to part company with the leggy as she has been a pleasure and as you say a user friendly serviceable vehicle.
However test drove the evo x and i was smitten, more creature comforts (yes more to go wrong), more horses, more affordable mpg. Less boot space though.
It is definitely a car with a split personality, normal gearbox mode great for round town, traffic queues etc . Sports mode revs increase per gear, bit more fuel and porka 996 911's are lost in the wake Then theres super sports and umm .... Wow..... Track day use only!

[chris g]

Yes the Lancer RA has same gearbox and flexibility but detuned so less wow...

[markysparky]

Yes Chris i looked at the sports back, they are good in respect of folding down rear seats but 237 horses .... Not enough for me Or were you talking about saloons?
To add no detune on this one!

[markysparky]

Sp people this is a prime example of how not to add equipment electrically to your pride and joy...... No wonder the fusebox let go, just surprised the skinny wire didnt go too!!!

[Davezj]

Yes Davezj, this is the problem with modern auto electrics, that it is now a throw away society and that dealerships have got you by your whatsits. If something fails and it is pcb controlled, bin fodder, new replacement and program. I am definitely old school and like to get in there and find faults with my eyes and not rely on a laptop! But this is becoming a rare attribute with modern vehicles dde12 And this is what i found, appears to be a surface mount diode (rectifier ?) has let go
Ive sourced a second hand working unit of an identical car, year, model and part number of unit identical. So moment of truth will be when i plug it in this eve. It has a 50 50 chance of working. Best case scenario.... Plugs in and car electrics all communicate and road worthy again.
Worst case..... Car cant talk to replacement fusebox and have to get car to dealership for software input.
Mitsubishi couldn't tell me what is needed and if it will run as he said 'we've never replaced that fusebox'............yes thanks for that!
However i have a third option of removing good diode and replacing cooked diode in original cars fusebox.

at least you have three options.
and it is good to see you have option 3 as a backup. i was going to suggest this if you hadn't.
you will get there and it will be all good again.

[Davezj]

Sp people this is a prime example of how not to add equipment electrically to your pride and joy...... No wonder the fusebox let go, just surprised the skinny wire didnt go too!!!

that is terrible,should have been a relay all the way as you said above.

[markysparky]

So you can guess what i'll be doing this weekend.... I'm stripping out all interior and going to check all aftermarket wiring connections alarm, tracker and added cameras!
And yes a massive weight has now been lifted as donor fusebox works. YESSSSSSS!
Just got to clear previous codes with snap on diagnostics and we're good to go HUGE SIGH lol

[Davezj]

well done it is a great sense of relief when things go according your diagnostic reasoning.

it might take a while to do but checking everything that could have been messed with by a previous owner is a very good idea, it is piece of mind if nothing else.

[markysparky]

well done it is a great sense of relief when things go according your diagnostic reasoning. it might take a while to do but checking everything that could have been messed with by a previous owner is a very good idea, it is piece of mind if nothing else.

Yes it certainly is, i'm going to explain what happened, to the previous owner and how lucky he was that he never flicked the pump switch on (he knew it was there). He has 2 small children which were always in the back seat so he obviously never pushed the car hard to turn pump on!

[adaxo]

[markysparky]

So i cleared all the fault codes yesterday, there were faults with everything except airbag and immobilisation equipment. Ive never witnessed so many in one hit
There was one code that the diagnostic equipment couldn't erase.




Basically the passenger fusebox has imbedded into it, the vin number from factory. This is, i assume to reduce the growing market of vehicle theft and the selling on of vehicle parts.
This does not affect the running of the car, just displays a service error message in the instrument cluster. The car knows the fusebox is not its own original........ Clever!
So car going into Mitsubishi Monday for recall on aux belt and to give fusebox cars identity

[giblet]

Glad to hear that it's nearly sorted. I spent a while looking at the Evo X as a replacement for the VR4 but the boot was too small for my needs. Annoying as there is a cracking spec one up for sale on MLR at the moment.

[swinks]

Ha ha ha... I always was saying, avoid Evo X like a plague
TBH, what I hate the most with 10th generation is embedding vin codes in almost every component, constant datalogging for warranty purposes (ecu and tcu), etc... Surveillance era is coming...

[markysparky]

Glad to hear that it's nearly sorted. I spent a while looking at the Evo X as a replacement for the VR4 but the boot was too small for my needs. Annoying as there is a cracking spec one up for sale on MLR at the moment.

Yep i second that, the boot is a tad on the smaller side, but is a good excuse to save fuel and keep tools and the like in the garden shed

[markysparky]

Ha ha ha... I always was saying, avoid Evo X like a plague TBH, what I hate the most with 10th generation is embedding vin codes in almost every component, constant datalogging for warranty purposes (ecu and tcu), etc... Surveillance era is coming...

Lol give it 10-15 years and we'll be driving fully automated cars, they'll be personal taxis
Apart from the added electronic spyware in the X i have to say it is a phenomenal car and it does go like a ballistic missile, ride quality, gadgets and mpg are all a plus compared to the leggy. But theres no way a leggy bonnet will fit in the boot

[swinks]

Glad to hear that it's nearly sorted. I spent a while looking at the Evo X as a replacement for the VR4 but the boot was too small for my needs. Annoying as there is a cracking spec one up for sale on MLR at the moment.

Evo 9 MR estate is your choice, good luck with finding for good price, quest for unicorn or needle in a haystack challenege