94 Montero LS 'Recall'
Mitsubishi! > Feedback > Jeff's happy experience with his 1994 Mitsubishi Montero LS 'Recall'
Jeff VanBergen had a very expensive repair job looming in front of him when attempting to replace a leaking front crank seal in his 1994 Montero LS. He found a loose crank pulley with its key broken and the pulley and crank gored out from it slipping. Luckily things turned out well. Here is Jeff's account of what happened followed by our comment.
I own a 1994 Montero LS with 200,000 miles.
A couple weeks ago I tore into it to replace a leaking front crank seal but found a loose crank pulley. Its key was broken and the pulley and crank were gored out from it slipping. This was a weekend project so this revelation shut me down until Monday brought open dealership parts windows.
With time to kill I hit the web looking for less expensive parts than dealer new and tripped over www.mitsubishisucks.com . I saw the recall information regarding the crank bolt and went to the government site www.nhtsa.gov and confirmed it. I figured the recall may give me some fighting tools to negotiate a deal on parts so I could fix the problem myself.
When I called Beaverton (Oregon) Mitsubishi on Monday morning I didn't mention the recall. I only mentioned the parts I needed and the make and model of the Montero. The parts guy said "you may be in luck, sir." He proceeded to outline everything I had read the night before. Since the Montero was now disabled with its guts all over my shop floor I brought the parts and a picture of the crank damage.
As soon as the service writer saw these he confirmed that my Montero was covered under the recall and even sent a towtruck 36 miles to collect my car so I wouldn't have to trailer it in myself.
In the end the only thing I paid for was a timing belt, oil pump (not damaged, just a prudent opportunity for replacement), and transmission filter/fluid (I was in the middle of the transmission service when the towtruck arrived so had the dealer finish it). Mitsubishi bought a new crank, bearings, seals, gaskets, bolt, pulley, timing gear, and flanges and paid the $1,300 labor tab.
I really like my Montero. The new ones look stupid to me, like the sheet metal designers were inspired by Saturday morning cartoons. It has been a fun, practical, strong, serviceable, family/work car and I plan to drive it into the ground.
I don't know how much Mitsubishi had to do with my experience but the dealer, Beaverton Mitsubishi, was so far above and beyond that I still feel like I won the lottery.
Jeff VanBergen
Newberg, Oregon
Our comment: We 'recall' reading somewhere that about 30% of the vehicles under safety recall are never brought in to the dealership for remedy. Not only is it a safety risk to continue driving such vehicles, but also many owners could be paying for parts and labor which they could have gotten for free. So please next time when you buy you vehicle, whether new or old, please do a thorough research on that including its recall history, complaints, and crash test results. Thanks.