Mitsubishi is recalling more than 75,000 units of the Outlander Sport to ensure that there are no other incidents following an extensive investigation and numerous dead Outlander Sport engines.
Three of these SUVs stalled or refused to start back in May of this year. Before the fourth instance of stalling occurred, more than a year had passed.
The company claimed that examination of the returned engines revealed an exhaust valve had attempted to occupy the same position as a piston. Mitsubishi was unable to identify the issue's underlying cause.
May 2020 through April 2021 saw an increase in the number of occurrences. They kept displaying piston to exhaust valve contact, but it wasn't until bench tests and on-site inspections that it was discovered that the CVT-control ECU's logic may be the root of the problem.
Mitsubishi started conducting additional in-depth analyses and simulations with an emphasis on the CVT-ECU in January of this year. It was discovered that the CVT-ECU occasionally loses power for a little period of time, and when it resets, it sends the intended gear ratio to the lowest "gear" it can. When you are driving on a highway, try to force your automobile into first gear. That is comparable to what occurs with these Outlander Sports.
When that occurs, the engine accelerates up more quickly than it can handle, the piston and exhaust valves collide, and the engine stalls. That's obviously a safety risk, thus a software upgrade will be required for a total of 76,508 Outlander Sports in order to remove the risk.
Owner notification letters are expected to be sent out by August 24. However, if you own an Outlander Sport and want to find out if your car is affected before then, you can simply contact your local dealer or the NHTSA.
According to Mitsubishi, there are two categories of Outlander Sport that are exempt from this recall. Any vehicle with a manual transmission or a push-button start falls under this category.