
Originally Posted by
Loren
DJ, I appreciate the sentiment, but:
1. You're 3 months late. The engine has already been replaced.
2. I was trying to minimize down time and hassles on my part. (I was back on the road in exactly 3 weeks) If I did as you suggested, "leaving it at the dealer" would have involved having it towed there. And maybe they'd cover the repair, maybe they wouldn't. If they didn't, then they'd want to charge me for disassembly and diagnosis at a minimum... and then I'd have to tow the car back home to repair it. Best case, they fix it. Worst case, I'm out more money at at least a week of time.
3. If they opted to REPAIR the engine, then I've got an engine that's been completely torn down and rebuilt by local mechanics, ASE and Mitsubishi certifications or not... I don't trust them to build an engine as good as the factory. It's just another car to them, if it fails, the car comes back and they do it again, no skin off their back. This way, I got a completely unmolested 20,000 mile factory engine that I don't have to worry about.
4. It's really NOT the right thing to do. Fact is, we WERE racing the car, which is directly in violation of the terms of the warranty. Mitsubishi doesn't owe me anything. The car didn't break under normal use. We BROKE the car under racing conditions by doing something stupid.
In the end it was a lot easier for ME, a mechanically inclined person with all the required tools and plenty of friends to help, to just buy a new engine and DIY. As a bonus, I got an upgraded 2017 spec engine with a few more horsepower. And I learned a lot more about the car and had fun doing it.
What's right for me might not be right for you or a lot of other people.