Mitsubishi Problems

The short answer is that this can be done, and, in fact, there are kits available to allow you to add a leaf to a suspension spring-pack. The broad idea is to make the spring stiffer, increasing theoretical load-carrying ability as well as giving more ground clearance (as the modified spring will usually make the vehicle sit higher).

The trick is finding the correct extra-leaf kit for your specific vehicle, and this is where a specialist supplier comes in. The kit should include the extra two spring leaves as well as longer centre bolts (as the spring-pack is now thicker). And as with any suspension -related equipment, quality is hugely important to safety and the actual performance of the new set-up.

But there are other issues. The first is a legal one. While the new, thicker spring-pack might tempt you to increase the loads you carry, legally, the vehicle retains its original loading and towing limits until it has been certified otherwise by an accredited engineer. Some kits are supplied with this paperwork all sorted for you ready to simply lodge with the authorities, but some aren’t. And consulting engineers don’t generally come cheap. You would also need to inform your insurance provider of the change to the vehicle’s specification. There are also absolute limits to how much higher your vehicle can sit compared with a standard one. This varies from state to state, but in your home state of NSW at the moment, a vehicle can legally be raised by 75mm over its standard ride height. The catch is that only 50mm of this can be from suspension modifications, and the other 25mm of lift through bigger tyres. But if you stick within those limits and don’t intend to increase the vehicle’s load or towing ability, then the raised suspension doesn’t need to be certified by an engineer for the vehicle to remain legal.

This is a pretty common type of question these days. Once cars are out of warranty (and often before that time) many owners elect to use an independent workshop for their servicing rather than a dealership. But some non-dealership workshops don’t always know the little tips and tricks including how to switch off the service reminder after the scheduled service has been performed.

But here’s something you can try at home which should cancel the service light on your ASX. Turn the car’s ignition off. Now press the info button (down low on the dashboard near the steering column) until you see a small spanner icon appear in the info panel on the dashboard. Now hold down the info button until the little spanner symbol starts flashing. Once it’s flashing, release the info button again and the word `clear’ should pop up next to the spanner icon. With `clear’ displayed, press the info button one more time and you should be done. Now start the engine to make sure the service reminder light has gone out. If none of that works, a Mitsubishi dealership should be able to switch off the light for you.

Both the petrol and diesel versions of the 2018 ASX used a timing chain rather than a toother rubber timing belt. That means both engines’ timing chains should be good for the life of the engine, although in practice that hasn’t always been the case and some engines do, in fact, need new timing chains if wear develops in the chain or its tensioners. Neither Mitsubishi engine has thus far demonstrated that trait, however, and it’s far less common if the engine has been serviced correctly.

The task of the timing chain or timing belt is exactly the same: They take drive from the engine’s crankshaft to the camshaft and, in the process, keep all the moving parts in harmony. Many car makers moved away from a timing chain to the rubber, toothed drive belt as a way of simplifying engine design and driving down the cost of each engine. The rubber timing belt is also quieter in its operation and is also less prone to stretching (as a timing chain can) so the camshaft stays in perfect synch with the rest of the engine’s rotating parts. It’s a simpler design because it doesn’t need to be tensioned via oil pressure from the engine as many timing chain systems are.

The timing chain, meanwhile, is preferred by some manufacturers because it should last the lifetime of the engine and never need replacement. This isn’t always the case, however, and some engine designs from a variety of manufacturers suffer problems in this regard. But, in a properly maintained engine of sound design, the timing chain should never need attention, while the rubber timing belt generally requires periodic replacement, typically between 60,000 and 120,000km depending on the manufacturer.

The sound of air hissing on a turbocharged engine is often down to a leak in the intake trunking that takes air from the turbocharger, through the intercooler and into the engine. As this air is under pressure (from the turbo) you’re likely to hear it above the rest of the engine noise. If it’s only a small leak, you might not notice the fall-off in performance (or boost as you’ve described it) but it will only get worse as the damaged part of the trunking deteriorates further. Eventually, you’ll start to feel the leak’s effect as it allows more and more air to escape rather than being forced into the engine.

Checking the boost pressure with an accurate gauge will tell you if any boost is going AWOL, as can an electronic scan which might throw up a low-boost fault-code. But if you can hear the noise and have found the leak, replacing that section of plumbing is the logical first step. If that makes the noise go away, you’ve solved the issue.

Sometimes the leak is down to a split in the trunking, other times it can be as simple as a clamp that has been loosened by the constant pressurisation of the system every time the turbo boosts up. But it needs to be fixed as it can throw the air-fuel mixture way off target and lead to internal engine damage. If you can’t find the leak but suspect that there is one, a specialist workshop can perform what’s called an EVAP smoke test where the intake tract is filled with smoke. At the point where the (visible) smoke escapes, there’s your leak.

Yes you can. According to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industry’s guide, all Australian-delivered Mitsubishis with fuel-injected petrol engines built after 1986 can use either E5 (five per cent ethanol) or E10 (10 per cent) safely. By using this fuel, you stand to reduce your tailpipe emissions a little, use a percentage of renewable fuel (ethanol is largely made from farmed crops) and you may even save a few dollars over a year as E10 ULP is often a little cheaper at the pump.

Mitsubishi’s manual gearboxes from around this time (and earlier) were some of the noisiest around. But usually it wasn’t anything to be concerned about. Bearing rumble and some clutch bearing noise were pretty much par for the course, but your problem sounds more like it’s associated with the gearbox’s synchromesh rings. These rings are designed to allow the gearbox to slip between ratios smoothly and silently, and any crunching noises during shifts can often be traced to worn synchromesh parts.

The good news is you won’t harm the transmission by continuing to drive it, particularly if you’re careful and take your time with the shifts you know are most likely to create a crunch. If you can live with that, fine. If not, the gearbox will need to be removed from the car and rebuilt. That will be neither cheap nor simple.

For the record, there really is a global shortage of semi-conductors; a shortage that has already seen some big car-makers trim production and even close some plants. As the electric car phenomenon grows, and the average conventional car has anything up to 100 micro-processors, the shortage will only become more critical, so the next few months will be very interesting.

However, I spoke to Mitsubishi Australia about this and it seems your dealer might not be telling you everything. For a start, to even offer you an ASX LS without the safety gear it comes standard with is, according to head office, an impossibility. Why? Because Mitsubishi claims it has never built such a car. The spokesperson I talked to said that, had the correct semi-conductor (or any other part) not been available for that car in that specification, the car would not have been built. Simple as that. I’m not sure what Mitsubishi dealers are saying, but that’s head office’s view.

Which brings us to the question of your contract. Put simply, if the vehicle you’re being offered does not match the vehicle as described in the contract of sale, then you can call the deal off with no ramifications. And since this is major safety gear we’re talking about being AWOL, the car on offer most certainly does not match what you signed up for. So you can stop worrying on that front.

Then we move on to what the dealer is really trying to sell you. There’s a feeling within Mitsubishi that the dealer probably has stocks of a particular variant of the ASX, but one which doesn’t have the LS model’s standard safety kit. And that’s what they’re trying to unload on to you. So don’t have it.

If you go through with the deal, you’ll inevitably be buying a car that doesn’t live up to the safety levels you wanted when you originally ordered the LS model. It will be worth less as a trade-in in a few years, too, as used-car buyers (like everybody else) are increasingly interested in safety. As it stands, being offered a $300 discount on a car that doesn’t exist smells very odd to me. I’d be talking to Mitsubishi Australia’s customer service department and explaining your case. Sometimes you need to go to a higher court than the dealership itself.

Since both the Triton and Pajero Sport boast exactly the same power and torque outputs, I doubt whether there’s a huge difference (if any at all) in the mapping of either engine. Which suggests that switching from one to the other without changing your driving patterns would be a very good way of reproducing the Triton’s DPF problems in a Pajero Sport. My suspicion is that you’re having to force multiple DPF regenerations because your driving habits don’t let the engine get up to the correct temperature often enough to allow the vehicle to conduct its own, automatic regeneration. This is a pretty common problem with modern turbo-diesels and it’s not a criticism of your driving, simply a confirmation that these modern diesel engines don’t like short trips. Then again, 24,000km in 12 months doesn’t sound like the vehicle is used solely for the school run.

Six regenerations in 24,000km sounds like an awful lot, also, so I’d be more concerned that your dealer is underplaying the situation to avoid dealing with a problem in your specific vehicle. Has the vehicle been electronically scanned? Perhaps this might show up a dud sensor or other problem that’s making the computer think it needs another regeneration. We’ve heard of a faulty temperature sensor on this model Triton that can lead the DPF to offer up a false alarm that it’s ready for a regeneration. That could explain the high number of regenerations the vehicle has demanded. Again, a scan might tell the full story.

These two vehicles share a lot of traits both in terms of their engineering and their target market. Both are aimed at the high-end of the mid-sized off-road station-wagon market and both do a pretty good job of offering lots of off-road ability along with the sort of luxury and convenience that many families want. In the case of design and engineering they are both based on utilities (the Mitsubishi Triton and Toyota HiLux respectively) and share the drivelines and front structure with those utes. To make them work as passenger rather than load-carrying vehicles, both the Pajero Sport and Fortuner do away with the utilities’ leaf-sprung rear axle and replace it a coil-sprung unit for greatly enhanced comfort.

Both vehicles have had their niggling reliability problems, mainly to do with DPF and some EGR problems, but overall, they’re both now old enough for the majority of the bugs to have been ironed out. Perhaps the biggest packaging difference is that the Pajero Sport is a good deal narrower across the cabin than the Toyota, and that matters for families with bigger kids. Both vehicles were facelifted late last year with new tech and mechanical and performance improvements. Both also have seven seats as standard.

The Mitsubishi is about $4000 cheaper based on RRP than the Toyota, but the final price can vary from dealer to dealer and what state you live in. The best advice is to try each one on for size and maybe even throw in contenders like the Ford Everest as a direct comparison.

It all depends on whether you have the petrol or turbo-diesel version of the Triton, Jeff. If it’s the more common turbo-diesel engine, it’s fitted with a timing chain which should last the life of the engine.

But if you have a very late-2018 build example of the Triton cab-chassis with the 2.4-litre petrol engine, then it will be fitted with a toothed timing belt which should be replaced at least every 100,000km.