MITSUBISHI MITSUBISHI 1989 : Problems

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Engine

ODI ID: 739784 NHTSA Complaint ID: 268236

Make: Mitsubishi Model: 1989 MITSUBISHI 89

Component/Parts: Engine

Failure Date: November 04, 2000 Complaint Date: January 22, 2001

City/State: SPARKS, NV (Nevada)
Crash: NA Fire: No Injured: 0 Deaths: 0

Complaint Description: while departing yakima, wa in the afternoon, i heard a loud "boom" and the sound of metal hitting the pavement. i was on a main highway. instantly, i lost power steering and had to put both hands on the right side of the steering wheel in order to turn the vehicle off of the road. i walked back to look for any metal on the roadway; saw none. when i looked under the front of the vehicle, i saw the pulley hanging down at an angle from the front of the crankcase; the belt was still looped around it. on closer inspection, i discovered the pulley had broken away from the crankcase center bolt. i managed to drive the montero 35 miles back to yakima. i was using strictly battery power; the alternator was not charging because the belt was loose. on monday morning, nov. 7, 2000, i was able to drive it two miles to carey motors in yakima (tel. 1-800-967-8242/509-457-3133). the service manager is tom smyer. they discovered that the crankshaft center bolt had corroded within the crankshaft and broke off. tom said he had another montero previously in his shop with the same problem. they spent five hours trying to remove the piece of the bolt still in the crankshaft without success. the result: the crankshaft had to be replaced. with all of the labor and supporting hardware, it cost me $3,500. during the repair, they discovered a broken engine mount also. they repair it. tom said the regional mitsubishi district parts and service manager, cristo nicolaidis, told him that mitsubishi was contemplating a recall on monteros because of the crankshaft bolt problem and that if it happened, the 1989 models would "probably" be included and i would be reimbursed the repair costs on my vehicle. when i arrived back in sparks, nv, where i reside, i filed a report with mitsubishi's regional office in southern calif. i believe that if a small person driving a montero experiences this crankshaft bolt failure, especially on an icy road, could result in complete loss of control. .