Mitsubishi Reviews

I’d agree that 13.3 litres per 100km is a bit of the high side, but to put it into perspective, you need to forget about the factory claim of 8.0 litres per 100km. That figure is determined by a laboratory test, not real-world driving and rare indeed is the vehicle that can match its test figure with its real-world number.

I would expect a number closer to 11 litres per 100km for this vehicle, but there are a lot of variables at work here. For instance, does the vehicle have a roof rack? Have you fitted a bull-bar? Does the vehicle roll on standard sized wheels and tyres, or are they taller, aftermarket tyres which increase rolling diameter and throw the standard gearing out?

The latter – in particular – can affect fuel consumption in a huge way, as can how you drive the car. High speeds or urban driving will also rapidly increase fuel consumption. If you’re still concerned, have the vehicle tuned to see if that makes a difference.

This has been an ongoing problem for many owners of many different makes and models of cars fitted with Diesel Particulate Filters (DPFs). The process of dumping fuel into the engine is designed to get the exhaust system hot enough for the DPF regeneration (self-cleaning) to take place. But a car that travels 500km per week really shouldn’t need this as the exhaust system should be getting hot enough in the normal course of things.

Either way, if you constantly have excess fuel being dumped into the engine, some of it will find its way into the sump (as you’ve discovered). That’s when the check engine light signals the problem, but in the meantime, you’re also driving around with engine oil diluted by the extra fuel. And that’s when engine wear can occur because diluted oil isn’t able to protect the engine’s metal parts as well as it should.

It could be that the car’s sensors are giving the computer the wrong information on how hot it’s getting, and/or how dirty the DPF is. Perhaps the DPF itself is damaged to the point where it won’t regenerate fully. A diesel specialist would be a good place to start, as this problem is hardly unknown these days.

Transmission fluid should be quite red in colour and very translucent. Any time it’s not, you almost certainly have something going on inside the transmission. When transmission fluid turns brown or black, that usually indicates wear inside the transmission from either being overheated or from what’s called slippage.

The bands and clutches that create the flow of power in the different gears of the transmission are covered in friction material that gradually wears out (like a conventional car’s clutch plates or brake pads). These bands and clutches get hot enough to either 'burn', or slip when they should grip. In the case of overheating, the transmission fluid gets 'cooked' as well, turning it a darker colour. And if there’s slippage inside the unit, the friction material on the bands and clutches can be shredded (like sanding a piece of wood) and the abraded material (sawdust) collects in the fluid, turning it black.

Overall, black transmission fluid suggests internal wear and that a change of fluid and a transmission service is required immediately. This should return the fluid to its correct colour, but you need to monitor it over time to ensure the same problem isn’t continuing.

Fluid will darken over time (as the bands and clutches wear normally) but if the fluid has suddenly gone from normal to black, then you very possibly have internal wear starting to make its presence felt.