Big teardown tonight. clutch /rear main seal

[Wallythacker]

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.

F1 clutch is about 4" across and handles 900hp. It's obviously premium materials, but still. My newest Mirage has 150,000miles on it and the clutch seems fine, stall test proves it. So these clutches have proof of durability unless you pilot the Mirage like a pro stocker.

[Loren]

An F1 clutch is not just better materials, it's different technology. It's a multi-plate clutch (and not just 2 or 4... more like 7 or 8), which most "normal" drivers would find completely impossible to drive on the street. It would have no feel and operate like an on/off switch.

The Mirage clutch is barely adequate to its task. By design. The car doesn't really "need" a beefier clutch to suit its stated purpose. It's not at all over-built. Works fine for the typical driver in daily driving. Will start showing signs of metal fatigue and wear in many places when driven hard regularly.

Improving it wouldn't be a matter of making it larger diameter. Nobody has a problem with these clutches slipping or simply wearing out the friction surface. That part is fine. Improvement would come from using thicker steel in the body of the clutch and more/stiffer damping springs. All of that would make the clutch heavier, which we all know Mitsubishi worked harder than anyone short of Lotus to keep the car as light as possible. And it would make the parts more expensive... which, again, they were trying to not do.

Even Colin Chapman's philosophy has been states as "keep removing weight until something breaks... then put some back". That's essentially what Mitsubishi did. They designed the clutch as light as possible (using CAD) to meet its design goals. If they were racing the car, they'd find the deficiency, and they would "put some material back". But, for typical street use, it's fine as it is.

[Cobrajet]

The Mirage clutch is barely adequate to its task. By design. The car doesn't really "need" a beefier clutch to suit its stated purpose

I have had clutches in 2000 pound cars with 3-cylinder engines fail at way less than the 128,000 miles I have, and way, WAY less than the 250,000+ miles some people here have seen. It is hard for me to call them 'barely adequate' when people can hammer on their Mirage for nearly 120,000 miles to the point of destroying their transmission...without seeing the clutch fail.

It seems to me that the clutch in the Mirage, while not designed for racing, is designed well and made of quality materials.

[Loren]

We're describing the same situation from two slightly different perspectives. We're not really disagreeing, just coming at it from different angles.

The clutch is fine for its intended purpose.

[MacClyver]

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!

Want to meet up and go for a drive with me? I got 54 avg without extreme measures or aeromodding. Even driving faster getting you to 45 should be easy.

[Cobrajet]

I have had clutches in 2000 pound cars with 3-cylinder engines fail at way less than the 128,000 miles I have, and way, WAY less than the 250,000+ miles some people here have seen. It is hard for me to call them 'barely adequate' when people can hammer on their Mirage for nearly 120,000 miles to the point of destroying their transmission...without seeing the clutch fail.

It seems to me that the clutch in the Mirage, while not designed for racing, is designed well and made of quality materials.

Agreed. A clutch can be pretty stout when used for lots and lots commuting and barely adequate for hard race use.

[bzacon]

I'm always down for a drive! I'm guessing you take it a lot easier than I do. I try to keep a good pace going. Once in awhile, I need to move to the right for an Audi or Honda

I've verified that Sensha CAN do 50mpg, but I usually don't feel like waiting that long, and neither do most of the people behind me!

Also, topfuel/dusty I'm nervous to change my gear oil now. I'm a little past 60k and I'm expecting medium-sized chunks of brass when I do mine...Everything is still working, but I'm not the first owner so I don't know how crunchy it's supposed to feel...

[dustyb]

Interesting development. Mitsubishi doesn't seem to know the difference between right and left. Most auto manufacturers determine the right/left sides of a car from the perspective of someone seated in the car.

I was in need of a passenger (right) side axle seal. Nobody at any local mitsu dealer was able to find a listing for the part or any schematic showing the seal. One parts guy actually tried to tell me it was part of the axle and it was a non-serviceable part and that I'd have to buy an axle. After repeated calls to multiple dealers i was able to track down a parts guy that knew what the hell he was talking about. He ordered me a right side axle seal...it was the wrong one. It was much larger than the one i needed. The parts guy was very apologetic and ordered a "left side axle seal"... which turned out to be the correct one.

The parts guy told me that in 25 years he's worked for several different brands, and that Mitsu is the only one that he's seen that consistently interchanges right/left designations. The kicker is that its not even consistent within certain models. Mirages for example have different parts designated as right AND left on the same side of the car.

So I've successfully installed a left side axle seal in the right side of my transmission and its been running along perfectly with minor exceptions. MPG is down a bit and it seems like its a little sluggish on the top end, I cant quite get it to break 100mph.

Thinking i may have over torqued the axle nuts. Does anyone know the torque spec for the axle nuts?

[MacClyver]

Around 130 ft lbs is my guess.

[Fummins]

I've never torqued axle nuts. Just use an impact and stop once it gets snug. Then maybe one quick uga duga more. If they're tight enough to slow you down that much they're probably smoking hot after driving and likely garbage by now.