Hey guys,

Just wondering if anyone has heard of this before.

Today a 2006 Mitsubishi 380 Series 2 6G75 came in to work for the 105,000km service.

I mentioned to my boss that the timing belt and spark plugs should be replaced as well, so he asked the customer and the customer said that they haven't been done before so we may as well do it all.

Anyway, I started off with the timing belt, first problem I noticed was the bottom bolt on the power steering belt adjuster pulley bracket was completely missing. Second, the top bolt on the lower timing belt cover was half out and was hard to remove, but once removed I noticed that the bolt thread was different to the thread in the engine.

Anyway, of course I repaired the thread and fitted new bolts and washers later on.

After the timing belt side of the job was completely finished, I started to remove the inlet manifold plenum. While doing this, I noticed that the coil closest to the driver side of the engine wasn't sitting in the tube properly, and I could move it around as if the bolt was missing. Once the plenum was off, all 3 bolts that hold the coils in were completely out, they were still there but not doing anything.

Also there is a vacuum pipe on the back of the plenum closest to the brake booster, the hose was on but the clamp was further down the hose not even doing anything.

Now I couldn't believe what I found with this car, whoever worked on the car before did a very bad job, or the only other thing is if was like that from the factory. The car had 104804kms on the clock.

My boss was complaining that we were too busy to do all the work, but I insisted on getting it done because I didn't want to let the car leave the workshop like that. (I had the plenum off and back on within 30 mins so he was happy about that).

Anyway, anyone had anything like this happen before?

Cheers,
Ben

That's some really bad work and congratulations to you for having some pride in doing the job right.
It happens all the time (as you would know), there is a very big difference between a good and a bad mechanic.

That's some really bad work and congratulations to you for having some pride in doing the job right.
It happens all the time (as you would know), there is a very big difference between a good and a bad mechanic.

Yeah I actually know someone I work with who would have left it, but there is no way I would ever let a car go out with bolts missing or anything like what I seen today. To be honest I was completely shocked at what I found with it, and was happy that I was the one that got the job and could fix it properly. I even said to someone, "that's why I like to work on my own cars, because I know the job gets done properly."

The owner of the car would have had no idea, but when my boss delivered the car, he did mention everything that I found.

It really makes you wonder what other cars are out there with similar problems like this, where someone has just chucked it back together with no care at all.

Thing is also that they make the job harder for the next person who has to do it, but I didn't care about that, I just wanted it done properly, I don't care whos car it was.

Reminds me of when I had my timing belt replaced a bit over a year ago.

A week or so later I was under the car checking out something (I forget what now) and I noticed that one of the two timing belt tensioner bolts didn't look right.

I grabbed it and it was very loose and sticking out about 5mm from where it should have been.

The other bolt wasn't sticking out but it was only finger tight.

I did them both up quick smart.

I can only guess that the dealership who did the timing belt change got an apprentice to do some of the work and he did those two bolts up finger tight, and then forgot to torque them up.

You mean acc belt as timing belt does not have adj bolts

Sounds to me like the car in the op has now had 2 timing belts done and 2 sets of plugs given that there were obvious wrong bolts in places that would only be serviced when a belt is done

Just goes to show that mechanics - workshop or backyarders - are only human. Far too easy to get distracted like being called away to help with another job in a workshop, and forget where you are up to in a job. Worth checking any work done on your car by someone else just to confirm it's been done correctly.

Just goes to show that mechanics - workshop or backyarders - are only human. Far too easy to get distracted like being called away to help with another job in a workshop, and forget where you are up to in a job. Worth checking any work done on your car by someone else just to confirm it's been done correctly.

Incorrect bolts used etc isn't due to being distracted or being human, it is negligence and lack of pride in ones chosen trade.

time is money. Get the car out as fast as possible, get the next one in.

no-one is going to work on your car with the same level of attention and care as you.

Time is money, especially if it's your money buying someone else's time and effort.
Seeing the Mitsu hours quoted in the service booklet for some jobs is ridiculously low, it's no wonder they rush jobs.

examples:
Change spark plugs (ALL) = 1.0 hours (6 cyl).
Change automatic transmission oil = 0.2 hours.
Replace engine timing belts = 2.3 hours.

There is no way the engine came out of the factory like that. The quality control was unbelievable.

I have no doubt it has been fiddled with by a bad mechanic with so many different problems.

Kudos to you for annention to detail, and a resolve to go the extra mile and make sure it didn't go out of your shop until you were happy with it.

You mean acc belt as timing belt does not have adj bolts

Sounds to me like the car in the op has now had 2 timing belts done and 2 sets of plugs given that there were obvious wrong bolts in places that would only be serviced when a belt is done

Oh well, the customer said that he hasn't had them yet and he has owned the car since it had 45,000kms on it.

Anyway, the timing belt didn't look like it was new, the spark plugs didn't look too bad but he still wanted it all replaced.

Well ben205vs I wish I had you doing my car recently! Here is a snippet from the 380 part of the forum I posted recently

I booked the car in this Wednesday but today when I started the car it seemed even noisier? I noticed after waiting a little while that the RPM was stuck on 1500? Didn't drop down to the usual idle speed? I turned off the engine and it readjusted itself to normal idle but the engine light came on. when I got to work I rang them and told them and arranged to have the car seen to after work. On the way there as I turned onto the highway it went straight into limp mode! (40/50km). To me it seemed even noisier than before and of course I shit myself as I thought this is it. I limped to the service dept. and waited on the result. I thought the worst but after 15/20 min they came back and said it was my battery. Apparently it was throwing out all sorts of codes. I said to the guy thats interesting but it still doesn't account for the louder engine and accompanying noises along with extra fuel consumption plus the vibration in the steering wheel on idle in drive? He said the timing belt would not cause a vibration in the steering wheel? so I will be taking the car back for the day on Wednesday.

So here are my symptoms since the belt and platinum plugs change plus the 105,000 service.

Vibration in steering wheel when idling in drive (not extreme but it wasn't there before?)
louder engine noise in cabin
Noticeable increase in ticking outside the car or with bonnet up
Increased fuel consumption from 11.5 to 12.2
louder exhaust and engine especially on acceleration
Sporadic missing
What appears to be a loss of power some times
Change down at low speed.

If the battery is shot then it just may be sending random codes and throwing the engine out of whack?
What does anyone think? Would appreciate your opinions.

Let me know where you work!
I know where I'll be taking my 380 for its next service :D