Clutch Failure on 2015 DE 5-Spd (Update: damaged clutch disc)

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Originally Posted by MetroMPG

VintageBandit: it's a really odd failure. Do you have a theory about what happened to cause that piece to break off?

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I wonder if this was caused by shock loading.

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Originally Posted by Eggman

I wonder if this was caused by shock loading.

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My bet is on a simple factory manufacturing defect. This is the first clutch failure we have seen, and there are original clutches here with over 100,000 miles on them. My original clutch has 90,000.

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Originally Posted by VintageBandit

Sorry, it was the friction disk!

Getting the trans lined back up and into the car was pretty tough, so that's all the further I got today. Tomorrow is buttoning it up and seeing what happens. Hopefully the car performs like normal. The replacement friction disk is roughly double the thickness of the original.

As for the dealer not replacing the original, I didn't expect any less. Seems like Mitsu has a reputation for not standing behind their products. I like my Mirage or a lot of reasons, but I may go elsewhere when I replace it this year.

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It doesn't look like you could win this one. Did you put the car back together and tow it there before asking for warranty or did you just walk in with your clutch disc and expect them to just replace it? If it's the later, I hate to say it but I'm not surprised at all that they wouldn't help you. Who would give someone a new part without even at least seeing the car. But they might not have even covered it had they taken the car apart themselves. It's a clutch. They likely would have just said it's worn from your driving style.

Too late now but you may have been able to find a low mile clutch set up on from a low mileage wreck. Probably cheaper and you'd likely have the pressure plate and flywheel all together.

Final Update: I replaced the clutch friction disk as the other parts were in great shape. Put the car back together and it shifts perfectly like day 1. Mitsubishi has refused to replace the part as expected. I replaced the disk with a new OEM disk from a dealership in Florida who sells parts online at a discount.

I do realize the right way is to replace the whole clutch pack. I did not want to do it this way so that I could isolate the problem, and it was in fact the disk. I still don't know why the part failed, the new part feels good and isn't making any weird vibrations, noises, or otherwise. Must have been a weak part from a mass produced assembly. I'm happy to get it back together, and I want to make it clear I'm not upset about Mitsubishi refusing the warranty the part. I expected them to do what they did and that's just life.

Thanks for updating us on how it all went. I'm glad to hear you got it back together and things are operating properly again!

Hey VintageBandit how's your Mirage holding up?

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Originally Posted by Eggman

Hey VintageBandit how's your Mirage holding up?

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Hi Eggman, sorry for the ultra late reply!

The car is doing well. We just hit 90k miles today, and still doing Uber/Lyft full time at roughly 150miles per day in the city. I haven't had any issues with the new disk, nor the other spring parts I didn't replace at the time.