It's a sad day. The end of my 2009 Black Lancer VRX

[Deano1964]

Hi All,

Been a while since I have posted on here, but thought it would be a good time.
I received news today that my 09 Lancer VRX has a damaged crankshaft which will cost way too much to fix, therefore, it's time is up.

A big thankyou to all of you at ClubCJ over the years for your assistance, group buys etc. and a big shout out to Ofey (Irving) who left the club a few years ago for all his work!

As the car is not driveable, I will be parting out the car, with all parts on offer..... except my Ralliart Front Badge, which will be a small little memento to remember the 10+years I had the car.

Thanks to all! Feel free to post or PM me for info about parts (Led/Halo Headlights, Ralliart Intake, VRX Wheels etc), but will eventually organise a Sale post for the parts when I get around to it.

Dean

[bumblebee]

Dean
That's no good at all
I have seen motors from a wrecking yard for less then $1500

Did they give any indication as to how the crankshaft got damaged in the first place?
Is it manual or CVT?
How many Kay's on the clock.

The reason I ask is so we have a better understanding and maybe prevent others having the same issues

[Deano1964]

Manual with 130K kms on the clock. Have never had an issue on the car since new, until this.

Was advised that the reason was due to general wear and tear of the engine over the years.
Apparently over time, the crankshaft separated from the block and was moving at the wrong angle/wrong position. From what I was told, this just kept wearing the crankshaft further and further until it became a auditable ticking sound. this sound got worse and worse over a 3 month period until it sounded like a loud engine rattle. Sound would occur at 3000rpm and above or when starting the car.

As this got worse, a reduction of power was felt at higher revs, louder noise, and vibration of the accelerator pedal. Was advised by Mitsubishi that the car will eventually just stop and not be driveable within the next month. 2 days later, the car stopped in the middle of the road and after starting/stopping again 47 times all the way home, it limped back to my house.

Engine replacement would be too expensive based on the value of the car and although the engines can be found cheap, the labour cost can take it's toll. I think it is just better to take off my mods/parts for other people to use to have fun modding their cars, which I must say I did have modding my lLancer.

[bumblebee]

Thanks for the info that's very helpful.
Out of interest did you have a lightweight harmonic balancer or lightweight flywheel installed?
Was there any hardware mods at all done to the motor?

[Deano1964]

No Engine mods, just breathing mods - High flow Blitz filter and ralliart intake, Axle back Magnaflow Muffler - and a heavy duty Exedy clutch.

[bumblebee]

Noted
Thank you

[aspir3]

That's sad news Deano. I haven't heard of this issue before. Did you talk to exalt'd automotive

[fearfulmaster2]

If you are first owner and your log book is up to date, don't you qualify for the 10yr, 150K drivetrain warranty?

[Deano1964]

First Owner, but unfortunately it was a March 2019 purchase and it hit 10 years earlier this year.

[cooyarpjm]

Wow that's kinda very unfortunate considering my 08 VRX has 305000ks on it.

[Lancer1993]

Sorry to hear about the problems with your VRX.

Got about 145k on my 09VRX and this is not the story I need right now given I'm about 3k from home on holiday visiting Adelaide.

Whats the first signs of an issue and is this a common problem?

[Deano1964]

First signs of the issue was about 8 months ago. Noticed that I started burning a little bit of oil.
I change my oil every 6 months, so needing to top up regularly (once every 2 months) was the first sign. Took it to my mechanic who indicated that there was nothing materially wrong and that the car was getting older and just burning the oil. Took it to another mechanic for a second opinion 2 months later with the same outcome.

From about 3 months ago. I noticed a slight tapping noise from the engine. This kept getting worse until I could hear a loud rattling coming from the engine at higher revs. Thought it may have been my exhaust/muffler/manifold as it almost sounded like metal hitting metal. Put the car up on a hoist to check if any of the exhaust had come off the brackets and was moving around. Nothing. Over a 2-4 week period got worse and took it Mitsubishi to get it checked. They had it a week before they worked out it was the crankshaft.

[Lancer1993]

Sorry to hear that... I heard a ratter but in my case it is the exhaust tip because when I put my foot on it it stops, only shows up some of the time when it was like 35 plus outside and running all day on the highway through central Australia, NOT poking my head under the car one the side of the road in those conditions. LOL

Touch wood mine is running fine, just had a service back at home. But now I'll be listening for unusual noises and oil being used

[tadz0rz]

Hey Mate

Long time no see! Didnt think you were still around on the forums! Sorry to hear this has happened.

For anyone interested in the exhaust, I have a video of it up up on my youtube channel from yearrsss ago!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uknLftI69yU

All the best with the next car

[Deano1964]

Hey! Long time definitely! Hope you have been well and the car is still going well!

Popped in and out, life got pretty busy and harder to remain active!

My god! Forgot about that video and meet! Thanks for putting that up.

My next job is to go through the car and remove all the parts and put them up for sale