QuestionQUESTION: Hi!
I have a Diamnte 95 SE 2.5L V6 with tiptronic gear, the car
has about 170000 KM on it, cambelt just been replaced, air
filter, oil filter, switched from 91 to 95 Gas.
Car starts every time (even in cold weather), the car have
some noise when turning, steering is hard and shaky when
going out of parking (slow speed) problem goes away after
the car heats up, got a lose space in the steering wheel,
about 2-3 centimeters, sometimes gearshift back to 1 very
violent (feels like the car got kicked) not always but
sometimes.
Also is this car worth fixing up, I want to redo the
interior, but don't want it to die on me!
ANSWER: Well, as far as the steering problem goes, it sounds like the rack and pinion is starting to go. The pistons that provide the power part of power steering eventually wear out and develop enough leaking to reduce the pressure available for boosting the steering effort. The mileage and age are about right for it to start to go. You can get a rebuilt rack installed, they aren't all that expensive, and they are rebuilt with stainless sleeves that will last forever. Why doesn't Mitsubishi put stainless sleeves in the original rack? It would cost more, and more is too much. The original equipment rack has a steel piston riding in an aluminum bore, and the bore eventually wears out from the much harder steel rubbing against the aluminum (should I be saying aluminium?). The problem with the violent shifting is almost certainly a bad motor mount (or transmission mount), a really cheap and easy fix, good to do at the same time as the rack. Now, I don't know about putting a lot of money into this car. The closest U.S. model, with the 3.0 engine (only size available in U.S.) is only worth about $2500 U.S. That means that every dollar you put into it is basically going towards operating costs, and not increasing the value of the car. On the other hand, if you like the car, it should still have a lot of use left in it. You will have repairs like this every now and then and, when the engine or transmission finally goes up, can just send it to salvage when it's worn out. To that end, I would not invest a lot of time or money in "fixing up." If the seats are badly worn, buy an inexpensive set of slip-on seatcovers. They make some pretty respectable-looking ones nowadays. But I wouldn't invest a lot in the car, you'd be better off putting money away for the down-payment on the next one.
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thank you very much for your reply!
It is good to hear that the jumping is caused by engine
mount and not transmission, I bought this car for about 700
USD, and it is located in New Zealand, I like this car very
much, dont like the new shape of the Dimanate (2000 and up),
I was going to change the carpet and repaint door panels and
replace the ceiling cloth with vinyl, will cost about 200
dollars US for the materials, doing some spray touch ups for
the body (got supermarket scratches), I wouldnt mind keeping
this car for few more years, the engine goes well, kick down
is powerful, the seats are not worn just a little dirty
(Previuse owner) got some leather seat covers on them, the
reason I asked about is it worth "fixing up" is that I am
thinking of replacing it with a Mercedes S320 1992, as that
model got almost the same options, with about 200 000 KM on
the clock, I know that the Mercedes is more expensive to
maintain, budget wise this car (diamante) is in my range for
a private car (got another one for every day use) so instead
of paying 10000 for a new car was thinking about making this
one nice.
Sorry if the question seems too long, and again thanks for
the reply.
By the way, will a Mitsubishi lancer or evolution tail light
fit the diamante, they look the same shape, not sure about
the size.
Answer I don't know about the taillight. The models sold below the Equator and on the other side of the International Date Line are mostly different from ours. I have to say that the S-class Mercedes is obviously a lot more car than the Mitsubishi, and will, as you say, probably cost more to maintain. I have no experience with the six-cylinder S-class, in the U.S. all we get is big V-8s with lousy gas mileage and lots of torque. Someday I hope to visit New Zealand; I'd love to go riding there, it's supposed to be terrific.
