Recall: AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:SENSOR/CONTROL MODULE

I had a scheduled appointment at Oakland Mitsu to change the motor controller last Friday and was told they would take care of the air bag sensor recall while they were at it. Then the recall notice for that came in yesterday (Monday). I was lucky they could take care of both.

btw: I like the new motor controller. The car seems a touch faster with it. :mrgreen:

No motor controller recall notice yet for me.
Today I got the airbag sensor recall notice.
Called Mitsubishi North America, got a 'person' who seemed not to even know what an i-miev
Is.Really?
After 3 minutes of her asking why I was upset that I would have to take another day off of work because of the recharge time to get back I asked to speak to her supervisor. She said they were 'in a meeting' and hung up on me. Not amused.
So...as much as I love the car the national crew really sucks.
Called Biggers Mitsubishi in Elgin...they have the parts but once again I will have to take tons of work time off to get the recall THEY mandated.
Not a bit happy with recall service requirements. It cost time and money to get this stuff done.
For a car with a great warranty it sucks.

Hey Rkarl, I don't like dealing with recalls either but I was happy when it was done. On my car they did the motor controller and the air bag sensors in about 3 hours which I thought was pretty quick. If you can get your car scheduled for first thing in the morning and have them plug it in when they're done, you might get out at a reasonable hour and get home.

One of the best things I did for these recalls was buy a folding bicycle. It's a cheap one but it is great for dropping off cars to be worked on. I can either go to work or go home after dropping off and sometimes jump on the Bart train with it. I even cut out a nice piece of 1/4 inch plywood to cover the back when the seats are folded down so the bike won't poke holes in the fabric. I figure if going home is too far away I can always go somewhere else worth my while.

Howdy Ed,

Did they drain your battery pack down to turtle to do the motor controller job?

My air bag recall letter said that it would take about 1.2 hours for that portion.

Sadly it takes just under 2 hours to Elgin from here on the far northwest side of Rockford here.
When I get there its 1.5 hours of work for the recall. If I arrive with about 15 miles RR left, (56 mile drive), its a 3 1/2 hour charge L2 to get back. So. If I arrive at 8AM, the earliest I can leave to get home is 1130, then the 2 hour drive home. I work from 8-4. Therefore for this 'at no cost to me' recall I lose at least 2/3 a day of work. Frustrating to say the least.
Most annoying though was the absolute ignorance of the person I talked to at Mitsubishi National HQ, whose ignorance about the imiev and the recall was stunning.

Sadly it takes just under 2 hours to Elgin from here on the far northwest side of Rockford here.
When I get there its 1.5 hours of work for the recall. If I arrive with about 15 miles RR left, (56 mile drive), its a 3 1/2 hour charge L2 to get back. So. If I arrive at 8AM, the earliest I can leave to get home is 1130, then the 2 hour drive home. I work from 8-4. Therefore for this 'at no cost to me' recall I lose at least 2/3 a day of work. Frustrating to say the least.
Most annoying though was the absolute ignorance of the person I talked to at Mitsubishi National HQ, whose ignorance about the imiev and the recall was stunning.

Edited to add: we are 56 miles from Biggers, and morning temps are just under freezing here,
So heading back is not an option. If I still lived in San Diego it would be nice, but sadly I don't.

I'd keep calling and escalating the concern you have with Mitsubishi service desk. You need to speak with management so a heirchal escalation is appropriate. If the person refuses, they really should be fired from doing their job correctly. Email, write a letter of complaint, just do anything and everything it takes to get some real Custer service and customer satisfaction. I can't believe they're giving you such a hard time about something so simple. Sometimes it is a few bad employees not doing their jobs correctly for whatever reason. Mitsubishi should be able to resolve you concern.

/OT

I already recommended to not fully charge the previous night if you're going in for the MCU replacement. An almost depleted battery will speed up the job. However, it seems that you need a full charge otherwise you won't make it all the way.

Would it be possible to ask a friend or family member to take the car in for you? Or ask Mitsubishi to come pick up/deliver the car?

I work for Acura and this is a common service provided to our customers. We also offer free loaner vehicles but from I know Mitsubishi doesn't as it isn't a "premium" luxury brand. It does suck to miss out on work sometimes, especially if you really depend on that income. I hope you figure out an cost effective way of having these recall repairs completed.

kiev said:

Howdy Ed,

Did they drain your battery pack down to turtle to do the motor controller job?

My air bag recall letter said that it would take about 1.2 hours for that portion.

Click to expand...

Hi Kiev,

I asked the service manager about it and he said "yes, try to bring it in with minimum battery" so I assume they did drain it down. I kind of wonder because 3 hours seemed fast for doing the controller and the air bag sensors but I'm sure after doing a couple of these they can get fast at it.

This morning, about an hour before I was scheduled to bring Eve in for the airbag sensor recall work, Mitsubishi called saying that the parts were completely out of stock, so we have to reschedule, but they didn't know when the parts would be in. I was too sleepy at the time, but now I want to ask them why it took up to the last minute to inform me of this. Oh well. :roll:

Has anyone had this recall service performed yet? Unfortunately I've been very busy with school and work lately that I haven't even set an appointment. I expect a phone call about this recall from my 'home' dealership soon. They called me when the MCU recall needed to be performed so I was pleasantly surprised and happy to hear their reminder to set up an appointment. I have to say I'm pretty satisfied with how Mitsubishi keeps up with quality and safety controls on the i-MiEV. If the engineers keep finding bugs,errors, mistakes and they promise to fix them, then that shows their commitment to their customers and stand behind their products!

Koorz is at the dealer getting all the recalls done (rust, brake pump, MCU and airbag sensor). They called me on Monday and said it should be ready today. The MCU was the part they're waiting for.

Well it happened again.
My airbag light on the dash illuminated for a second time yesterday about a two months after the first incident.
With the recall about the crash sensor now official I'll probably wait for the part replacement rather than have the dealer "reset" the computer to turn off the light.
I called the dealer when I received the recall letter and parts have supposedly been ordered for my car.
Stay charged my friends.

Anyone know how long I can wait to have this done ?
I do not want to go back to the 1st dealer I went to, that is closer to me.
There is another in Danvers and I would have to fully charge to get home.
Not sure about doing this during the Cold Winter.

Could I wait till Spring ?
I have no dash lights on yet

I don't think safety recalls have an expiration date, so you should be able to wait as long as you'd like, if you feel safe to drive through a winter with airbags that may not work properly.

I personally drove for about a month and a half total with the light on due to a faulty sensor (I actually felt safer with the light on after they diagnosed the problem, knowing that the system was off vs. a random deployment).

Sure, doesn't bother me. If I have an accident they will just bring me back to my employment HAHAHAQ

lol, but then you wouldn't get any more free charges either! ;-)

Lol they are so cheap I could just buy another
Just joking.

I made a joke to one of my coworkers about the tiny jelly bean. That if I ever slide off the road all I got to do it give it s shove and it will slid right over (because it is so tiny)

Picked up Koorz. Airbag light is off, the coil whine is gone, and everything is up to date.

Now to get this recall done on Bear.

After my first appointment was cancelled, yesterday the recall work for the airbag sensor was done on my Eve. Hopefully I shall never have to find out if this work was done properly or not!

Greetings electronauts,

Recall completed.
Just returned from my local Mitsubishi dealer with a new impact sensor installed.
I had a scheduled appointment time and the whole process took about 1 1/4 hours. Service manager even plugged my car in for a level two charge after the work was completed.
When I asked the service manager how many of these repairs were done at the dealership I was surprised to hear, "hundreds". Then
he reminded me that the Mirage had the same sensor problem.
Pretty painless visit. Let's hope the airbag light stays off.
22,322 miles to date.
Stay charged my friends