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  1. #1
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    Big teardown tonight. clutch /rear main seal

    2014 manual. 128K miles. clutch had been chattering for about 10k. At first it was just 1st gear and i thought it was a trans problem but now it does it in 1st through 3rd. loud chattering only under hard acceleration. its also been dripping oil from the bell housing which may have contributed to my clutch failure. changed the motor oil last week and i removed a handful of oil soaked clutch fibers from the small weep hole at the bottom of the bell housing.

    I ordered:
    $99 NAMCO clutch kit from e-bay which includes release bearing, pressure plate, and alignment tool
    $44 OEM release bearing from ebay (was told that aftermarket ones have a high failure rate)
    $68!!!!! rear main seal from dealership OUCH!
    $29 pilot bearing from dealership

    Kinda hurts that the rear main seal and pilot bearing cost as much as the clutch kit.

    Looking for advise from anyone who has done this before. I'm no stranger to clutch replacements but looking for a heads up if there are any tricky spots.

    Also, you may have noticed that i didn't buy a flywheel at nearly $500.
    Does anyone know if they can be resurfaced without issue? I know Mitsu probably says replace, replace, replace. But I'm looking for real world experience. i'm planning on either taking a couple thousandths off with the brake lathe or just checking it for warpage and scuffing it with a scotch pad and reusing it. Looking for firsthand input from anyone who has reused their OEM flywheel.

    Thanks,
    Dusty
    Last edited by dustyb; 09-18-2019 at 04:43 PM.

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  3. #2
    That's a first oil leak I've heard of.

    Mitsubishi says a lot of things, most of them are completely retarded. My favorite still is gonna be "you need spark plugs and a throttle body cleaning. There's nothing wrong with the cvt".

    If your flywheel is screwed I would just pick up a used one from a wrecker. A lot of the time they'll include the clutch disc and pressure plate. Stevedmc has double your mileage on the original clutch, I've got a similar mileage cvt car at work and neither of us have any oil leaks that I'm aware of.
    Mirage videos:

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        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage SE wussie cvt edition. 1.2 automatic: 37.7 mpg (US) ... 16.0 km/L ... 6.2 L/100 km ... 45.3 mpg (Imp)


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    Quote Originally Posted by Fummins View Post
    That's a first oil leak I've heard of.

    Mitsubishi says a lot of things, most of them are completely retarded. My favorite still is gonna be "you need spark plugs and a throttle body cleaning. There's nothing wrong with the cvt".

    If your flywheel is screwed I would just pick up a used one from a wrecker. A lot of the time they'll include the clutch disc and pressure plate. Stevedmc has double your mileage on the original clutch, I've got a similar mileage cvt car at work and neither of us have any oil leaks that I'm aware of.
    Good call. I just found a good used one with 10k miles on it for $25. Its gotta be better than mine.
    BTW mine is severely abused. I bought it new and i drive it HARD. Daily commute is 110 miles and all usually between 80-90mph with sections of stop and go. Most shifts are at or near redline. This is the first major repair. I replaced the alternator recently and currently the AC compressor needs replaced but otherwise this little thing has taken the abuse like a champ.

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    Senior Member Cobrajet's Avatar
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    Never heard of a rear main or a clutch set going out...especially at that mileage. I have 126,000 in-town miles, and my clutch seems fine. Knock on wood... Loren may have done one, and reports are a few have been done under warranty at the dealership, but I don't think any other owner has replaced one?

    The clutches seem pretty stout in these cars, and the Mirage's low horsepower, small wheels, low gearing, light weight, and low rolling resistance tires all work to extend clutch life.

    I can't imagine there is any trick to it, but I would watch for alignment marks on the flywheel and rear crank flange. Any machine shop should be able to handle resurfacing the flywheel, which I would definitely do if you are experiencing chattering already. The Scotchbrite routine is fine if the flywheel is good already, but it won't suffice in your situation.

    Please document your process and take lots of pics! You may well be a pioneer!

  8. #5
    Still Plays With Cars Loren's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cobrajet View Post
    The clutches seem pretty stout in these cars, and the Mirage's low horsepower, small wheels, low gearing, light weight, and low rolling resistance tires all work to extend clutch life.
    The clutch is actually pretty wimpy in these cars. It's plenty adequate for its purpose (that of motivating a cheap economy car), but ABUSE is something that it doesn't necessarily hold up well to. The clutch lining material and the clamping force is fine. That element of design, I don't have a problem with. It gets the job done, never slips, does what it's supposed to do.

    Where it's weak is that they simply removed a lot of weight wherever they could on the car... including the clutch disk. And I think they made the clutch springs intentionally soft to make the car easier to drive. It's a very smooth-operating clutch. It's a low-powered economy car, it's fine.

    So, what happens when you beat on the car with hard launches and shifts is that the springs get fully collapsed repeatedly and start wearing both the springs, and the parts of the clutch disk that restrain them. Eventually, the springs break and cause problems.

    For a driver who admittedly abuses the car, 120k clutch life is great! I'm surprised he hasn't had the broken spring problem yet.

    The oil leak. Meh. A few in a million cars are going to develop a rear main seal leak. It happens. We all know that MOST of them don't. His did. And, as he noted, that probably contributed to his clutch wearing out. And it's been slipping, so it very likely developed hot spots on the pressure plate... not a bad idea to put a new one in.

    Here's what I found when I took mine apart at 40k miles. I didn't remove it for a clutch problem. I had to replace the engine (long story, but it was competition-related, driver error, and wasn't Mitsubishi's fault). But, I did have a clutch "rattle", and as I got into it, I discovered why.

    http://drivefast.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3399
    Simplify and add lightness.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Loren View Post
    The clutch is actually pretty wimpy in these cars.

    For a driver who admittedly abuses the car, 120k clutch life is great! I'm surprised he hasn't had the broken spring problem yet.

    http://drivefast.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3399


    I was really surprised how small the friction disc is. Name:  mirage clutch.jpg
Views: 1264
Size:  22.4 KB

    And yes, I'm very happy to have gotten to 120K with how I drive.

    this is what i dug out of my bell housingName:  mirage clutch 2.jpg
Views: 1332
Size:  23.6 KB

    I went out on my lunch break and got a good low mileage flywheel for $25. I going to make a clean up pass on it with the brake lathe prior to install. I suspect mine is trashed from the noises its been making. But hey, I drove it to work today.

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    Never got a chance to post this pic when it happened, but this is how i celebrated rolling over 100k.
    Name:  mirage 3.jpg
Views: 990
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    What really amazes me about this car is that with consistent driving in the upper rpm range and over 80mph it NEVER gets less than 36mpg. And it'll still get 45mpg with no effort after 5 years of abuse. .

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    Senior Member bzacon's Avatar
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    @dustyb
    How are you getting 36 minimum driving fast in the 5 speed? If I want to get 40 or better I have to try. I can EASILY get it under 30mpg on a trip with mixed city and highway driving between 40 and 80 mph. I just have to use all the gears!
    2014 Mirage GLX 5MT Plasma Purple
    2004 Accord EX 5MT Graphite Pearl RIP

    No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public. -- That's why Ford outsells Mitsu in the US

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    Senior Member Top_Fuel's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dustyb View Post
    ...surprised how small the friction disc is.

    Name:  mirage clutch.jpg
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    Yowza! I saw Loren's pics before but I didn't realize the relative size. What is that...9" in diameter?

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 52.2 mpg (US) ... 22.2 km/L ... 4.5 L/100 km ... 62.6 mpg (Imp)


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    Quote Originally Posted by Top_Fuel View Post
    Yowza! I saw Loren's pics before but I didn't realize the relative size. What is that...9" in diameter?
    Not even. I didn't measure it but my hand is 9" from pinky to thumb I'm guessing the disc is about 7'' LOL. I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did.

    I literally laughed out loud when i opened the box.

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