Mitsubishi recalls more than 70,000 Outlander Sport vehicles due to engine failure
The Japanese automaker has recalled a total of 76,508 vehicles to fix engine problems.
In fact, three years ago, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation was notified of three cases of defective vehicles in the U.S. market. All three reports alleged that the vehicle's engine would not start or suddenly stalled while the vehicle was in motion.
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The Japanese automaker also received an additional report. Mitsubishi continued to investigate, and analysis of the returned engines showed that there may be a problem with the contact between the piston and the exhaust valve. But no exact cause was determined at that time.
From May 2020 to April 2021, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation continued to receive 5 reports of related cases. All of them had the same problem with the contact point from the piston to the exhaust valve.
Faced with these incidents, the Japanese corporation conducted a test. Mitsubishi Motors R&D of the United States conducted on-site investigations on vehicles with similar conditions and engineers determined that the software of the new CVT controller was the culprit.
In-depth analysis and simulations were conducted from January 2022 to June 2022. By July 2022, the company determined that Outlander Sport vehicles from 2019 to 2022 would be affected. However, not all, but only those equipped with CVT transmissions and mechanical keys.
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The CVT control unit software change was implemented starting with the 2019 version. From May 2019 to May 2022, a total of no less than 21 reports and 29 warranty claims were submitted to the company.
There are currently a total of 76,508 vehicles recalled in the US, the vehicles were manufactured from July 31, 2018 through May 11, 2022.
Official notification to owners will begin on August 24 and dealers have been instructed to reprogram the CVT controller to fix the issue.