Overheating again, Airflow and Intercooler.

[killa]

Advised today that the head was ok.
Diagnosed as a faulty gasket, new kit is in stock so they're starting to put it all back together.

[hvac guy]

Happy days

[kingy]

hey cal

you have the same problem as me. mines been in the shop for over 3 weeks now and the result was a faulty head gasket.

how long did they tell you it would take to fix? they told me 2 weeks

[killa]

hey cal

you have the same problem as me. mines been in the shop for over 3 weeks now and the result was a faulty head gasket.

how long did they tell you it would take to fix? they told me 2 weeks

I feel for you then

They haven't given me a lead time at all. Car has been with this dealer for 10 days so far.

[Longranger1]

So you might be hanging on to the challenger a bit longer Cal?

[TUFF TROOP]

Glad it's finally getting sorted for you mate!

Shame you are going to sell it tho. But can see where you are comming from!

[sinny]

hi killa,
the problems that you are discribing are very simlar to the problems that i am having. I have a arb bull bar and it over heats when ever i pull my van. after a lot of to n froing with the dealer they are finally going to change the head and put in new valves this seems to be a last gap fix as they have changed a lot of things. it goes in next tuesday so i'll let you know how that goes.
cheers sinny

[Homer]

I can't believe all this for a faulty head gasket man talk about making a saga out of a simple repair. Feel for you killa.

[sinny]

they told me that it could take 2 weeks to fix but atleast they have the parts to start at last

[killa]

Well it's all back together and seems to be running fine (38km).

Anyone want to buy a Challenger?

[mattz]

That's great that its sorted.....but why get rid of it now that its fixed?

[hvac guy]

How does it run

[killa]

That's great that its sorted.....but why get rid of it now that its fixed?

Can't trust it, I do 50-60k per year in remote central and northern Qld for work. Would be a minor inconvenience to break down in the CBD somewhere but out there it can be a long time between other vehicles driving past and even longer to get a tow truck.

[Froggy]

Head gaskets blow on different cars all the time.
I feel you are being more than a little bit unreasonable to sell the vehicle just because it broke down once!
You've put so much work into the challenger!
What's to say that what you replace it with won't break too?

[Longranger1]

If it is only a head gasket and the deck face of the block and head are undamaged and true, then the proper installation of a new head gasket with correctly torqued head bolts should be the end of the problem. And the problem shouldn't return either.

I know you have invested a lot of time and money on mod's to your Challenger and understand your lack of trust in the vehicle, but the initial overheating problem likely stemmed from the same problem more than likely or at least contributed to it.

A new vehicle may or may not be as reliable - sadly, it's a lottery in which you were unlucky enough to experience a problem in the sceme of things. A head gasket while serious, is a straight forward and uncomplicated repair. Put it this way, I would rather know the head gasket was installed by a knowledgible person than how it was thrown together in a factory with perhaps less than perfect torquing down of the head bolts.

[ag9111]

Can't trust it, I do 50-60k per year in remote central and northern Qld for work.

Cant believe you guys are basically telling him that he is wrong. He will never have complete confidence in that vehicle and he will never be able to relax when driving it. I do 30-40k per year and once had a vehicle that I didnt trust. Its not a good feeling and I did most of my driving in rural areas. I would hate to do that in remote areas.
I would get rid of it as well. At the end of the day, it is only a pile of metal and plastic

If it is only a head gasket and the deck face of the block and head are undamaged and true, then the proper installation of a new head gasket with correctly torqued head bolts should be the end of the problem. And the problem shouldn't return either.

How does anybody know that the problem that stuffed the original gasket doesn't still exist. You cant know and therefore cant trust the vehicle.

Put it this way, I would rather know the head gasket was installed by a knowledgible person than how it was thrown together in a factory with perhaps less than perfect torquing down of the head bolts.

Serious An engine assembly plant is not a bunch of guys off the street in somebodies garage "throwing' things together.
The head to block station, whether robotic and manual" would have multiple air or electric torque wrenches that are replaced, repaired and calibrated on a regular basis. The assembly methology and torque settings would be designed by engineers and QA procedures would be in place during all steps. These plants pump out tens of thousands of units a month and they cant afford to get it wrong. Doesnt stop faults from getting through, granted. but lessens the likely hood.
I wonder how often my mechanic has had his torque wrench calibrated and would he find out the correct torque setting for the head bolts, or just go off experience as that is what he has always done. I know the torque setting is usually printed on the gasket wrapping.
I know if I had to choose between a rebuilt engine, by my mechanic, and a factory unit I would go the Factory

[hvac guy]

I've built lots of engines over the years
And I will say a mass produced factory assembled engine
has flaws in assembly.

You can't beat a hand assembled engine
That's had all clearances and torque settings done.

ever..

[ag9111]

There are hand assembled engines, balanced, blueprinted,port and polished, yadda yadda and there is what your mechanic will do to get your vehicle out the door and the next one in, which is what this one will be.
Lets not confuse the two types

[killa]

Thank you, I appreciate the sentiment. In the end I have already made the decision, most of the mods are already off the car, just the dual battery and tyres to remove and they should be done by the end of the weekend. Feel free to make an offer on the stuff in the for sale section

Please don't have a go at Pete, he knows what my decision is and is looking forward to checking out the intended purchase. If you re-read his post you can already see an argument in my favour
"should be the end of the problem" - but we can't be certain.
"or at least contributed to it" - as Mitsubishi couldn't find the cause, I can only assume this is a temporary fix.
" would rather know the head gasket was installed by a knowledgible person" - really? Pickerings? That alone is reason for a trade in! haha

[Longranger1]

Thank you, I appreciate the sentiment. In the end I have already made the decision, most of the mods are already off the car, just the dual battery and tyres to remove and they should be done by the end of the weekend. Feel free to make an offer on the stuff in the for sale section

Please don't have a go at Pete, he knows what my decision is and is looking forward to checking out the intended purchase. If you re-read his post you can already see an argument in my favour
"should be the end of the problem" - but we can't be certain.
"or at least contributed to it" - as Mitsubishi couldn't find the cause, I can only assume this is a temporary fix.
" would rather know the head gasket was installed by a knowledgible person" - really? Pickerings? That alone is reason for a trade in! haha

I'm not having a go at Cal's decision folks. I understand his position perfectly.

Doing big remote area kays requires a trustworthy vehicle - period. Knowing his position and the nature of his work, I'd probably do the same regarding selling the car.

As for factory assembly being perfect, well, the number of examples of stuff ups from the factory (from all vehicle makes) speaks for itself. Modern engine manufacturing is good, very good, but shit does indeed happen sometimes.

As for the local dealer doing the repair work let's just say I don't blame Cal at all for his decision...

I would much rather refit the head myself than let those guys do it (if I was mine and I wanted to keep the vehicle). There are a few 'ifs' involved here, and even with a new head and head gasket it still doesn't rule out a possible block problem - yet. Sequences of engine failure sometimes are tricky to determine so it can be hard to be confident about future reliability. Lack of confidence in a vehicle isn't conducive to happy motoring - especially when the warranty conditions will leave you considerably out of pocket when things go bad.

Sometimes "Should be ok" doesn't cut it, particularly when you are several hundred kays from anywhere. Aviation and marine experience taught me that. Those environments are a lot less forgiving though.

[Homer]

What I think is unfortunate, is that there was a simple issue with this car that could have been fixed with one or maximum two visits to his repairer.

What entailed was a drawn out fiasco that eventually led to him (understandably) thinking he was driving a time bomb.

Seriously, it could have been a faulty injector that was misdiagnosed for 2 months and kept leaving him stranded in limp mode and the outcome would have been no different with the diagnostic service he was given.

The quality of the repairer (and subsequent confidence in them) in this instance has led to a person probably swapping out a perfectly good vehicle for something else...and if it's a modern diesel will probably be less reliable....

Had to get that last bit in

[Homer]

I've built lots of engines over the years
And I will say a mass produced factory assembled engine
has flaws in assembly.

You can't beat a hand assembled engine
That's had all clearances and torque settings done.

ever..

I wish certain trades understood that exact same scenario goes for "other" reciprocating products

Love your sig line BTW

[Froggy]

I sincerely hope that the MMA Customer liason officer that lurks this forum gives a certain dealer service center a good serve over this one!
When there are basic tests that can be carried out to diagnose a blown head gasket, and they had a customer pulling bullbars off etc as first port of call! It's a absolute disgrace to the brand + in such a hugely competitive business there is no room for this type of service!

[Longranger1]

I sincerely hope that the MMA Customer liason officer that lurks this forum gives a certain dealer service center a good serve over this one!
When there are basic tests that can be carried out to diagnose a blown head gasket, and they had a customer pulling bullbars off etc as first port of call! It's a absolute disgrace to the brand + in such a hugely competitive business there is no room for this type of service!

Agreed. All too common in the area of fault diagnosis in dealerships is a lack of training and specialised equipment or the motivation to access that equipment or specialists in the relevant fields. This requires a little more than being able to drive a MUT-3 .

Often the approach is to keep throwing parts at it until it runs right. That is a giveaway they don't really have a clue what they are doing. MMA needs to take notice of these substandard dealers and deal with it appropriately.

On this forum is seems to be a common occurrence sadly.

I will never purchase another vehicle from a particular multi-franchise dealer in our locale. That is based on crappy, substandard service work done on the vehicles we have purchased from them. It is also a major pain in the arse sorting out the shit they have done. Like most people, I'm not impressed when you get a vehicle back in worse shape than when it went in - This happened to us (wasn't a Mit's in this case, same dealer) when we got the car back less 3/4 of a tank of fuel and now sporting a slipping clutch...

Love that car - Really dislike that dealer!

[RHKTriton]

TLC - where has it gone for motors?

The Dealer principals want to live like kings.

The Sales guys are encouraged to aquire huge debt so they work like slaves and will sell their own kids to make targets.,

The Workshop is lucky to have an experienced A-grade mechanic, overseeing various pimple faced apprentii (who are used as slave labour), instead of working along side an experienced guy.

When I reluctantly had my valves checked and adjusted at 94k I ended up with a leaky cover gasket at the completion of the job - got a loaner while they had another go (appreciated that OK).

Now however I've got a leak over the inlet manifold side.

Experience over thirty years - don't, DON'T, let anyone touch your vehicle, if you can avoid it.

.....climbs off soapbox...