2000 MITSUBISHI MONTERO Complaints

THE 2000 MONTERO SPORT HAD THE SAME PROBLEM AS THE 1995-1999 MODEL. THE CRANKSHAFT HAS COME OFF THE VEHICLE ON FOUR DIFFERENT OCCASIONS. HAD TO PAY THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS ,INCLUDING $1400.00 ON THE LAST VISIT TO MITSUBISHI DEALERSHIP. NOW IT HAPPENED AGAIN AND THE DEALER TELLS ME THE CRANKSHAFT ITSELF HAS TO BE REPLACE AND WHILE THEY ARE DOING THAT , THEY MIGHT AS WELL REPLACED THE PISTON TO,WHICH WILL CAUSE THOUSANDS MORE DOLLARS IN REPAIRS. MITISI NEEDS TO OWN UP TO THERE RESPONSIBILITIES, AND HONOR THESE REPAIRS. WHY WILL A DEALERSHIP SERVICE DEPARTMENT TELL A CUSTOMER THEY CAN NOT FIX THE PROBLEM. *AK

FOR MANY YEARS NOW, LIFT GATE OCCASIONALLY WOULD NOT OPEN, AFTER OPENING ONLY A SHORT TIME BEFORE. FOR EXAMPLE, I WOULD LOAD GROCERIES IN THE BACK, GET HOME AND BE UNABLE TO GET THE LIFTGATE TO OPEN TO GET THE GROCERIES OUT. I COULD NOT FIGURE OUT ANY ASSOCIATED REASON FOR THIS. RECENTLY, (FEB. '07) GATE WOULD NOT CLOSE AT THE STORE, ON ARRIVING HOME, GATE WOULD NOT OPEN AND HAS REMAINED THAT WAY SINCE. I HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO USE THE BACK OF MY VEHICLE SINCE THEN. *JB

JULY, 2005 A/TRANSMISSION SHIFTING ERRATIC, SLIPPING, CREATING HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS DUE TO LOSS OF CONTROL. MITSUBISHI DEALERSHIP PERFORMED A/T FLUSH AND ERRATIC BEHAVIOR WAS CLEARED. ON FIRST ROAD TRIP AFTER THIS REPAIR, THE NEUTRAL SHIFT INDICATOR, "N", BEGAN TO FLASH AFTER VEHICLE WAS TRAVELING ON HIGHWAY FOR 45 MINUTES. ACCORDING TO THE OWNERS MANUAL, THIS INDICATES THE A/T IS OVERHEATING AND VEHICLE SHOULD BE BROUGHT TO A STOP TO AVOID DAMAGE AND/OR INJURY. I HAVE TAKEN THE VEHICLE BACK SEVERAL TIMES WITHOUT ANY RESOLUTION AS THE DEALERSHIP CLAIMS THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO DUPLICATE MY COMPLAINT. ON MY LAST VISIT OF 12/19/06, THE DEALERSHIP RECOMMENDS I UPGRADE THE A/T OIL PAN TO A LARGER ONE PER TSB 00-23-008 AT MY COST. THIS POTENTIAL FIRE HAZARD IS NOT DUE TO A DAMAGE OR A PART THAT HAS WORN OUT. THIS IS AN OBVIOUS DESIGN DEFECT THAT THE MANUFACTURER SHOULD CORRECT AT NO COST TO THE CONSUMER. PLEASE ASSIST ME IN RESOLVING THIS SITUATION. *JB

MY SON FELL ASLEEP WHILE DRIVING. HE VEERED INTO THE MEDIAN AND FLIPPED 5 TO 6 TIMES. ON FIRST IMPACT HIS SEAT BELT RELEASED, THEREFORE HE WAS THROWN UP AND DOWN EACH TIME HE FLIPPED. ON INSPECTION OF THE SEAT BELT, IT WAS FOUND THAT THE RED RELEASE BUTTON WAS RIPPED OUT OF THE RECEIVER PART OF THE SEAT BELT. MY SON MISSED FIVE DAYS OF WORK BECAUSE OF THE ACCIDENT. IF HIS SEAT BELT WOULD HAVE HELD UP HE MIGHT HAVE MISSED ONLY ONE DAY OF WORK. THE ONLY LINGERING INJURY THAT HE SUSTAINED WAS AN INJURED TAIL BONE THAT STILL BOTHERS HIM. I CONTACTED MITSUBISHI THE DAY AFTER THE WRECK AND EXPLAINED TO THEM WHAT HAPPENED. THE WRECK HAPPENED ON APRIL 25, AND IT TOOK MITSUBISHI UNTIL SEPTEMBER 13TH TO RENDER A DECISION. THEY DECIDED THAT EXTERNAL FORCES WERE APPLIED BY SOME UNDETERMINED OBJECT IN THE VEHICLE TO THE RED RELEASE BUTTON AT THE TOP OF THE BUCKLE. THERE WAS NO WAY ANYTHING HIT THE RED RELEASE BUTTON, BECAUSE ON INITIAL IMPACT MY SON WAS THROWN TO THE TOP OF THE CAR. I DO STILL HAVE THE VEHICLE, AND IT IS TARPED SO NOTHING COULD HAPPEN TO IT. I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF I NEED TO KEEP IT OR SELL IT FOR PARTS. *NM

MITSUBISHI MONTERO SPORT, YEAR 2000 - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION TEMPERATURE LIGHT CAME ON AFTER DRIVING ~ 200 MILES AT 70 MPH. STOPPED AFTER DRIVING 20 MORE MILES. SMOKE WAS COMING FROM ENGINE COMPARTMENT NEAR TRANSMISSION. APPEARS TRANSMISSION FLUID WAS VENTING AND HITTING HOT ENGINE. ALLOWED CAR TO COOL DOWN, AS RECOMMENDED IN OWNERS MANUAL. THEN PROCEEDED TO AUTO MECHANIC WHO CONFIRMED VEHICLE WAS SHIFTING HARD BETWEEN 2 & 3RD GEAR AND WAS NOT LOCKING IN THE TORQUE CONVERTER AFTER GOING INTO OVERDRIVE. VEHICLE HAS ~ 118,000 MILES AT THE TIME. SAME THING OCCURRED BACK WHEN VEHICLE ONLY HAD ~ 30,000 MILES AND DEALER DID SOMETHING AT THAT TIME. I NOTICE THERE ARE A NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS ON NHTSA WEBSITE. SUGGEST MITSUBISHI SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO RECTIFY THE PROBLEM AT THEIR EXPENSE. *JB

AFTER CHANGING THE TIRE AND THEN REPLACING THE SPARE FOR THE FIXED TIRE, THE WHEEL LUG NUT ON THE FRONT PASSENGER SIDE OF THE VEHICLE BROKE OFF. THIS IS THE SECOND TIME THIS HAS OCCURRED. THE WHEEL SCREWS ARE ALSO ALL RUSTED AND THE LUG NUTS HAVE A TENDENCY TO GET BENT WHEN TRYING TO REMOVE THEM. THE LAST TIME I HAD TO PAY FOR THE SCREW REPLACEMENT. I WILL GO TO THE DEALER TOMORROW TO DISCUSS THE SECOND INCIDENT. THE LUG NUTS APPEAR TO BE MADE OF ALUMINUM OR OTHER SOFT METAL AND EASILY BEND. ALL THE WHEEL SCREWS HAVE RUSTED.

DT: THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE CRANK SHAFT BOLT CAME LOOSE ON THE 2000 MITSUBISHI MONTERO SPORT ON 9-6-05. THE CRANK SHAFT BOLT BROKE THE AIR CONDITIONER BELT. THE CONTACT LOST POWER STEERING ABILITY, THE ALTERNATOR BELT BROKE AND THE HARMONIC BALANCER FAILED. IN 1999 THERE WAS A RECALL ON THE CRANK BOLT BUT THIS VEHICLE WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE RECALL. *AK *MR

INITIALLY THERE WAS A RATTLING SOUND WHEN THE GEAR SELECTOR WAS PUSHED A CERTAIN WAY. THE MITSUBISHI TECH'S WOULD NOT EVEN LOOK AT THE PROBLEM TILL I FIGURED OUT HOW TO REPRODUCE THE NOISE FOR THEM. THEN ON LONG TRIPS THE A/T LAMP WOULD COME ON. I WOULD PULL OVER AND LET THE ENGINE COOL THE PROCEED UNTIL THE NEXT A/T INCIDENT. SOME OF THE PROBLEM WAS CAUSED BY THE TRANSMISSION HAVING BOLT HEADS RATTLING AROUND INSIDE THE TRANS HOUSING. OTHER PROBLEMS WERE CAUSED BY POROSITY OF THE TRANS BELL HOUSING LEAKING TRANS FLUID. MITSUBISHI 'FIXED' THE LEAKS AND BOLTS RATTLING AROUND INSIDE THE TRANS, BUT NOW ON TRIPS OF 100 MILES OR SO WHEN YOU ACCELERATE FROM A STOP DURING THE REV UP TO SHIFTING AROUND THE 2ND TO 3RD GEAR SHIFT THE TACH WILL INDICATE A HIGH REV THEN FALL BACK WHEN THE SHIFT IS ACCOMPLISHED BY THE TRANS. THE VEHICLE WILL 'BUCK' IN RESPONSE TO THIS SHIFTING ANOMALY. THIS EFFECT WILL NOT HAPPEN UNLESS THE ENGINE HAS BEEN RUNNING FOR AN HOUR OR SO. I NOW NO LONG TAKE THIS VEHICLE ON LONG TRIPS UNLESS COMPELLED TO DO SO. *JB

AT TIMES THE INTERIOR LIGHT WILL NOT TURN ON WHEN OPENING THE DOOR. ALSO THE DOORS LOCK BY IT'S SELF. *AK

WHILE DRIVING 30 MPH DRIVER WAS UNABLE TO SHIFT GEARS. BUT WAS ABLE TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE, AND DROVE IT TO THE DEALER FOR INSPECTION. ALSO, DRIVER NOTICED FLUID LEAKING FROM UNDERNEATH THE VEHICLE. THE CAUSE HAS NOT BEEN DETERMINED. *AK