[Guest]

Hi Colin,

You have my sympathies mate. I think I saw your car this week when I was at Mill Lane. Dark blue metallic, with a suitably Evo-esque registration?

I may see you tomorrow morning, as my car has to go back for some further investigation. Looks like I may have some major electrical problems http://www.ltregister.f9.co.uk/graphics/sad1.gif border|EQU| 0 align|EQU| absmiddle >

Andy.

 

[Guest]

Yeah mine was on the ramp with all its guts spilled out on the floor!

The Damage:
The engine is a basket case. Bent con-rod on number 2 cylinder, block is holed at the very bottom of the cylinder (on the bottom edge) and a bent valve. I took some of my relatives along as they used to race hot-rods and grass tracking so they know a lot about mechanics and they agreed there was not much that could be done although they thought the head could probably be saved with a new valve. Unfortunately Ralliart don't supply short engines so it was agreed for a complete engine replacement. I won't tell you the cost but lets just say the final figure with labour, sundries and VAT will creep into 5 figures.

The Cause:
Unknown!
The most likely cause is hydraulic effect of water on the piston and thus bending the con-rod but it doesn't explain the valve damage. I was asked whether I had driven through any water lately but I can honestly say that I hadn't so it still remains a mystery as to the cause. There were no foreign objects in the cylinder to suggest were the damage had come from.

The Outcome:
Once the job is completed and the new engine run in I will sell the car and cut my losses. I will also sell the old engine as there are still serviceable items in there (crank, head should be OK with a new valve, pistons etc. so if anybody is after something then email me) I will of course be writing, as suggested, to the warranty company but Darren at Mill Lane doesn't hold much hope as he has dealt with the warranty company before. I will also be writing to Colt Car Company and Trade One Imports but I don't hold much hope on any of these. (Address for Colt Car Company/Mitsubishi please?)

Looks like I will be the shortest running member of the MLR. Great car but with my luck I can't afford to own one.


Blitz SUS filter for sale, not fitted on my car. Tried by the last owner but taken off. £100.

 

[Guest]

HH6
OOOCCHHH !!!
Why not try to off load the car with a nacked engine.?Have the car stripped and sold as second hand spares.You may get more that way than what the cars worth with the engine fitted!!!

 

[Guest]

Sounds horrible.

Have you thougt about trying EARS motorsport in Macclesfield for an engine. I know they were advertising one recently. They break newish cars for spares and do a lot of rally preping etc. Hope it all works out OK.

Adrian

 

[Guest]

I have thought about selling the car without an engine or stripping but I don't think I would get enough for it. Believe me I have weighed up all the alternatives and its given me a headache!

 

[Guest]

i feel very sorry for you man

In holland we have the same prob no warranty it's an import rallycar


A. de Vries

 

[Guest]

I keep reading this and I still cannot believe it.

 

[Guest]

What do you mean by 'ralliart don't supply short engines'?
You can not buy the block by itself,and you have to do a complete exchange?

My suggestion would be to change the block and replace the damaged parts(conrods,valves...)
for more resistant ones as hks,but this won't change a lot if you sell the evo.

I hope that you will find a way to get something under warranty.

 

[Guest]

**** man, you all outta luck http://www.ltregister.f9.co.uk/graphics/sad1.gif border|EQU| 0 align|EQU| absmiddle >

I hope fortune smiles more favourably on you soon.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for all your sympathy.
For the sake of peace of mind on such a highly stressed engine I would only consider a complete engine swap as I am now considering keeping the car. After receiving the news of the extent of damage and repair cost I immediately thought 'get shot of it quick!' but I may change my mind once I have the car back and have driven it for a while. I have been looking through my car mags and thinking what can I get thats a bit more sensible instead of an Evo but there is nothing that would put a grin on my face like an Evo! http://www.ltregister.f9.co.uk/graphics/biggrin1.gif border|EQU| 0 align|EQU| absmiddle > (Integra or Accord Type-R may come close) However once I get the car back I may be too nervous of another disaster and sell the car....who knows!

Anyway the Mitsubishi garage didn't actually say that the parts weren't available as they were actually rebuilding a VR-4 engine using parts but I would have to wait a very long time for the parts to come in. It has taken them 3-4 months to get all the parts for the VR-4!
It may just be me but I would be even more nervous of driving such a highly stressed engine that had been rebuilt whoever had rebuilt it!
I will have to wait and see what comes with the new Ralliart engine to find out exactly what I can salvage and sell from the old one and recoup some money.
I have written to the warranty company today and hopefully a compromise can be sorted over the claim amount but I'm not counting my chickens. Obviously I will be getting a decent warranty now if I do keep it as I have been told the original one is via a crap company anyway and they would only have paid part of the amount!

The Cause continued:
This is still a mystery how it happened in my particular case but it looks like the cause of the failure pretty much boils down to water entering the engine and causing a very high pressure (hydraulric) effect in the clyinder and thus bending the con-rod. I would have thought the position of the air intake on the Evo would pretty much rule out water entering the system easily but who knows? Water can be a funny thing sometimes. Obviously water could have got in from somewhere else and I will be asking the garage to check all the pipework on the intake side for signs of leakage/damage.
I mechanic friend knows of puddle near him where at least 7 engines (yes 7 engines!) have been destroyed by water taken into the engine and its not even a big puddle! His advice is to ALWAYS go VERY slowy through any standing water. You may get annoying looks or even honked at for going very slow (less than 10mph) but if it saves an engine then they can honk all you like. Diesel engines are worse for water intake damage as they have high compression engines but turbo charged petrol engines when on boost are just as bad.
As I said above it is still a mystery as to why my engine should have suffered from this as I hadn't driven through any puddles recently. The damage would happen almost instantaneously or a few yards down the road from water entering the engine. I have experienced death of an engine before by water intake as a passenger in a diesel van but it was pretty obvious what had happened when you get a bow wave over the bonnet and the engine dies!

Luckily I did not buy the car without having some money available for such disasters! Like any high performance motor running costs are high and I wouldn't even have considered buying one if I did not have a distaster fund! Obviously many people are not lucky enough to be in that situation all I can say if you are running an Evo on a very tight budget then the Evo is the wrong car for you.
Half the money that I bought the Evo with I gained from the stockmarket in 1 year so easy come, easy go but thats not to say I'm ####ed off!
Fortunately I am looking on the bright side now after a couple of days of despair. [img]http://www.ltregister.f9.co.uk/graphics/biggrin1.gif border|EQU| 0 align|EQU| absmiddle >

 

[Guest]

.....oh yeah the bent con-rod will make a nice paper weight! Any offers?

 

[Guest]

Heave,
Staggered about yr bad luck , I'm not sure whats the most surprising , the extent of the damage or how the engine continued to run !

Water hydraulicing causes virtually immediate engine death as u say , I have a friend in the motor salvage game and he told me that during the recent flooding and heavy rain , as many cars were written off by this as by traditional collisions !

I sincerely wish u the best of good fortune in resolving this one , I wud be sad to hear u had given up on the Evo thing.

I'll take u up on the conrod as a contribution to the resurection fund , how much do u want

 

[Guest]

Did they check the head gasket?
A rally team owner told me that some evo can have the coolant water going into the engine and cause this kind of failure. They use uprated head gaskets for gr.n evo off course,but he told me that it's good to check if the head bolts are tight enough.

KEEP YOUR EVO!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Guest]

Maxi I can't believe it....must be ESP or something but I just thought of exactly the same thing while sitting in the bath tonight! A leaking head gasket would cause the same situation, I will have to check it out.

As to the con-rod paper weight, thanks for the offer but I was only joking as I wanted it for myself

 

[Guest]

Heave Ho,

Hold out for a second hand engine if you can !!!

If I were you, I would contact all the rally teams in the UK |PLS| all the scrap yards.

I'm sure you could pick one up for £3500 if you look long enough. I needed an AYC rear diff and contacted loads of people..... I mean LOADS. I finally picked up one off a crashed E6 for £750 (new £3000).

I really feel for you mate

Jonathan

 

[Guest]

Heave Ho

Just read my warranty booklet (MotorPlan) and amp; it doesn't cover 'water ingress', but it doesn't mention excluding gaskets, so maybe gaskets is the way to push a claim through?

Good luck

Al

ps - Evo4Jon

Any chance you could mail me off list - I could do with a new rear diff for my 6 as well and amp; would be interested to know how you went about getting one.

 

[Guest]

Trouble with second hand is you don't know the history of the engine, I could have the same thing happen again knowing my luck! I was offered a HKS rebuilt engine (supposed to be good for 440bhp) for £5200 exchange (who would want to exchange a holed block anyway?) but the warranty situation was unknown (thanks Paul for the info.). The full Ralliart engine for £7049 doesn't seem so bad when compared to the HKS unit when you consider that its NOT exchange and comes with a warranty. Any future warranty company I go with may not be happy with a non standard engine (just look at the trouble you get with the Ralliart warranty when modifying!) Hopefully I should be able to sell the good parts of the damaged engine and hopefully get at least a grand back but it depends on what comes with the new engine.
Mill Lane can get the engine tommorrow and start fitting on Friday (my request while I get the money together) so hopefully I will be back on the road by the end of next week at the earliest. When you consider that VR-4 has been sitting on their ramp for 4 months while waiting for engine parts then 3 weeks off road is nothing!

Right, now I need a decent warranty! Anyone know of a good warranty company that is not stingey on claims? Please let me know and preferably back it up with an example of any claim you have made, how much they paid out and whether it was any hassle getting the money.

Also that list of rallying outfits may be of use when selling my old engine.

 

[Guest]

Gutted for you, hope your sorted soon.
Why not try Mitsubishi Used Car Warranty services : 0208 666 0624.

I think they are offering this to buyers of imported FTOs, Evos' etc sold through their dealer network but like all aftermarket warranties check out the small print.

Hope this is useful, best regards

 

[Guest]

Give Tim Ashton a ring at BTR Preperations (Castleford W Yorks) 01977 552348 They are Ralliart approved and amp; know Evo`s inside out, I was talking to him today about your nightmare.
He knows where there is a brand new short motor in its box for £3.500.

Paul.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for all the replies I have had.
The new engine is being fitted this week so you can stop your searching! Thanks though for all the help and advice people have given me. Its good to know that the MLR is so worthwhile to join!

BlackVI
Thanks for the details on the warranty I will enquire at Mill Lane and see what they say as they probably have to inspect the vehicle before starting any warranty.

Hmmm...still unsure about keeping the car though.

Anybody got the address of Colt Car Company/Mitsubishi UK?