NHTSA Complaint #10291199 — 2006 MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION

I 1ST STARTED HEARING A METAL SCRAPING NOISE COMING FROM THE DRIVE BELT AREA AROUND 20,000 MILES ON THE ODOMETER OF MY 2006 MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX MR. AFTER RESEARCHING THIS ONLINE, I FOUND THIS TO BE A COMMON/FREQUENT PROBLEM REPORTED BY MANY OTHER OWNERS OF THE SAME CAR THROUGHOUT THE WEB. IN FACT, I EVEN FOUND A YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE EXACT SAME NOISE CREATED FOR THE EXACT SAME ISSUE. THE NOISE HAS BEEN DETERMINED TO BE INVOLVING THE TIMING BELT RUBBING AGAINST THE CRANKSHAFT BLADE. I'VE ONLY FOUND IT TO ONLY BE AUDIBLE AT IDLE, SO IT MAKES SENSE THAT IT'S SOME SORT OF TIMING BELT TENSION ISSUE. SOME DEALERSHIPS ARE RESOLVING THIS ISSUE BY REPLACING THE TIMING BELT, CRANKSHAFT BLADE, TIMING BELT TENSIONER, AND SOMETIMES EVEN THE IDLER PULLEY. MY LOCAL DEALERSHIP DENIED MY WARRANTY REPAIR CLAIM TO GET THE METAL SCRAPING NOISE ISSUE FIXED, AND CHARGED ME $140 TO SPRAY ENGINE DEGREASER ON UNDRESSED ACCESSORY BELTS, CLAIMING THAT THE ACCESSORY BELTS WERE OVERDRESSED AND THAT IS WHAT CAUSED THE NOISE. UNFORTUNATELY, MY CAR IS STILL MAKING THE SAME NOISE, WHICH I AM CERTAIN IS BEING CAUSED BY THE SAME TIMING BELT/CRANKSHAFT BLADE ISSUE. MY ONLY CONCERN IS THAT THE TIMING BELT WILL AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE FAIL DUE TO THE OBVIOUS RUBBING/CONTACT THAT IS OCCURRING WITH THE CRANKSHAFT BLADE, SO I WOULD LIKE TO GET THIS FIXED BEFORE THAT HAPPENS. GLENDALE MITSUBISHI IN GLENDALE, CA IS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM, AND ACKNOWLEDGED THAT IT'S A COMMON ISSUE, BUT WAS NOT WILLING TO DISCUSS IT WITH MY LOCAL DEALERSHIP, STATING THAT MY LOCAL DEALERSHIP SHOULD CONTACT THE MITSUBISHI TECH LINE INSTEAD. I BELIEVE THIS TO BE A VERY COMMON PROBLEM WITH THE 2006 LANCER EVOLUTIONS, AND FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT MITSUBISHI SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ISSUING A SERVICE BULLETIN TO GET THIS RESOLVED. *TR