1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse
Safety record from NHTSA: recalls, owner complaints, investigations and service bulletins.
Vehicles › Mitsubishi › Eclipse › 1997
Safety record from NHTSA: recalls, owner complaints, investigations and service bulletins.
These records cover every 1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse. To see whether one car still needs a recall repair, decode its VIN or check it with NHTSA.
12 recalls name the 1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse. Newest first.
Dope, inc. IS recalling 42,540 combination corner and bumper lamp assemblies of various part numbers sold for use as aftermarket equipment for various passenger vehicles. these headlamps fail to conform to the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 108, "lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment." these lamps do not contain…
Decreased lighting visibility may result in a vehicle crash.
Dope, inc. Will notify owners and offer a full refund for the noncompliant combination lamps. the safety recall began on july 28, 2009. owners may contact dope, inc. At 1-626-272-1798.
Sabersport IS recalling 16,270 combination corner and bumper lamp assemblies of various part numbers sold for use as aftermarket equipment for various passenger vehicles. these headlamps fail to conform to the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 108, "lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment." these lamps do not contain…
Decreased lighting visibility may result in a vehicle crash.
Sabersport will notify owners and offer a full refund for the noncompliant combination lamps. the safety recall began on may 11, 2009. owners may contact sabersport at 1-909-598-7589.
Certain airtex fuel pump module assemblies, p/n e7081h, sold for use as replacement equipment for the vehicles listed above. the wall of the flared fitting of the fuel pump IS not thick enough to prevent the mating threaded fittings from bottoming out before an adequate seal IS achieved. this condition may result in leakage of fuel at the connection of…
In the presence of an ignition source, a fuel leak could result in a fire.
Airtex will notify owners and replace the fuel pumps free of charge. the recall IS expected to begin during july 2007. owners can contact airtex automotive at 800-880-3056.
Certain tradesonic combination lamps sold as replacement lamps for use on the above listed passenger vehicles. combination lamps not equipped with amber side reflectors fail to conform with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 108, lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment.
Lack of amber side reflectors in the lamps will decrease lighting visibility to other drivers and may possibly result in a vehicle crash.
Tradesonic will notify owners and replace the lamps free of charge. the recall IS expected to begin during july 2006. owners may contact tradesonic at 626-934-8884.
Certain aai motorsports combination lamps sold as replacement lamps for use on the above list passenger vehicles. combination lamps not equipped with amber side reflectors fail to conform with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 108, "lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment."
Lack of amber side reflectors in the lamps will decrease lighting visibility to other drivers and may possibly result in a vehicle crash
Aai motorsports will notify owners and replace the lamps free of charge. the recall began on august 1, 2006. owners may contact aai motorsports at 909-923-9188.
Certain ck motorsports combination headlights, clear corner, bumper, and side marker lights sold as replacement lamps for use on the passenger vehicles listed above. some combination lamps that are not equipped with amber side reflectors fail to conform to federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 108, lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment.
Without the amber reflectors, the vehicle will be poorly illuminated, possibly resulting in a vehicle crash without warning.
Ck motorsport will notify owners and replace the noncompliant lamps free of charge. the recall began on july 1, 2006. owners may contact ck motorsport at 1-909-610-7211.
Certain j & a auto accessories combination headlamps sold as replacement lamps for use on the above listed passenger vehicles. some combination lamps that are not equipped with amber side reflectors fail to conform to federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 108, lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment.
Without the amber reflectors, the vehicle will be poorly illuminated, possibly resulting in a vehicle crash without warning.
J & a auto accessories will notify owners and offer to repurchase the headlamps. the recall began on july 10, 2006. owners may contact j & a auto accessories at 310-327-4981.
Certain pro-a motors corner lamps, turn signals, and headlights sold as replacement lamps for use on certain passenger vehicles listed above. some combination lamps that are not equipped with amber side reflectors fail to conform to federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 108, lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment.
Without the amber reflectors, the vehicle will be poorly illuminated, possibly resulting in a vehicle crash without warning.
Pro-a motors will notify owners and offer to repurchase the lamps. the recall began on april 3, 2006. owners may contact pro-a motors at 323-838-2988.
Certain anzo combination headlamp assemblies sold as replacement lamps for use on certain passenger vehicles. some combination lamps are not equipped with amber side reflectors which fail to conform to federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 108, "lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment."
Without the amber reflectors, the vehicle will be poorly illuminated, possibly resulting in a vehicle crash.
Anzo will notify owners and replace the headlamps free of charge. the recall began may 9, 2006. owners may contact anzo USA at 909-468-3688.
Vehicle description: passenger vehicles. if the rubber boots on the lower lateral arm ball joints of the front suspension were damaged during assembly, dirt and water can intrude. also, mmc has added the potential of leaking moisture, which can cause the ball stud to corrode.
This condition could cause the lower lateral arm ball joint to separate, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash. this campaign supercedes mmc's previous safety recall campaign, see 99v-066.
Dealers will inspect the lower lateral arm ball joint for wear. ball joints that exhibit wear beyond the established tolerance will be replaced with newly designed lateral arm ball joints. ball joints that are within the established tolerance will be cleaned and a special sealant will be applied to prevent intrusion of moisture.
Vehicle description: passenger vehicles. lockup of the transfer case can occur due to insufficient lubrication.
This condition can cause a loss of vehicle control, increasing the risk of a crash.
Dealers will inspect the vehicles for adequacy of the transfer case oil volume, transfer case oil leakage, and operational degradation of the transfer case mechanism. if oil volume IS insufficient, the appropriate amount of oil will be added. if there IS transfer case oil leakage, affected components will be replaced. if the transfer case shows operational degradation, the transfer case will be replaced.
The headrest guide bracket was improperly welded to the seat back frame on the passenger side seat back assemblies only.
The headrest support bracket can break, increasing the risk of personal injury.
Dealers will replace the passenger seat back assembly with a new assembly.
This vehicle has a recall for the lower ball joint. After calling to set up an appointment to fix this issue the vehicle shows up as already serviced, which may have only been as little as an inspection that was done. The ball joint in this vehicle IS currently failing and IS extremely noticeable while driving. I am in search of a record for who filed the service for this recall or a confirmation that this issue can be "fixed" once again under the same recall.
I never received a recall alert from the dealer. Right now the dealer was sold to a new owner. I went to the dealer to buy a fender and my vin number does not appear in the mitsubishi computer system here in puerto rico either in USA. So I would like an advise. What I have to do. I have all the purchasing paper from the dealer and the bank. A long time ago I have problem with the arm ball joints but I paid for the repair in a mechanic workshop. *tr
TL* the contact owns a 1997 mitsubishi eclipse. While driving at any speed, the front end of the vehicle vibrated and veered to the right. The vehicle was not diagnosed. The vehicle was repaired under a recall in 2010, but was not repaired again. The vin was invalid. The approximate failure mileage was 170,000.
Son driving a eclipse ran off the road and hit a tree going 55 mph and the air bags never came out resulting in the death of only child. *Tr
Tl*the contact owns 1997 mitsubishi eclipse. Since purchasing the vehicle in 1997, the vehicle's speed has not exceeded 35mph. On three occasions, a mechanic adjusted the transmission timing; however, the failure continued to occur. The insurance company stated that it was best to crash the vehicle since the cost for a new transmission was equivalent to a new vehicle. The failure mileage was 90,000 and the current mileage was 100,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 1997 mitsubishi eclipse. while making a right turn at 30 mph, the turn signal became stuck. the contact turned off and restarted the vehicle, but the turn signal was still stuck. the dealer stated that a new turn signal switch needed to be purchased. the current and failure mileages were 151,475.
Unable to find a suitable booster seat for my 5Y/O son weighing 45lbs that will rest in the deep seated contours of the rear bucket seats for 1997 mitsubishi eclipse . *jb
Tl*the contact owns a 1997 mitsubishi eclipse. while driving 35 mph, the vehicle spun out of control and crashed into the curb. the road conditions were foggy and damp. the mechanic was unable to diagnose the cause of failure. approximately three years later, the vehicle jerked to the right and the left. the mechanic stated that the lower control arm and rod ends needed to be replaced. there IS a recall for the lower ball joint (recall # 00v421001). the powertrain was unknown. the current mileage IS 130,000 and failure mileage was 80,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 1997 mitsubishi eclipse gsx. the contact stated that the ball joints were detaching from the vehicle. this vehicle was included in recall # 00v421001 for suspension: lower ball joints. the vehicle contained the same ball joints from the last recall. the contact stated that the vehicle was operable, but at a high risk, and felt another recall was needed. the failure mileage was 115000.*ak
Squealing belts at startup, inconsistent small leaks of coolant, hesitation at 2K rpm were only pre-cursors. out of nowhere, while driving on highway, I looked at gauges for no particular reason....noticed the temperature was rising, eventually going as far as it could above h. so I look for smoke in rear view....nothing. I turn down the radio to listen for noises......nothing. everything seems fine. hoping that air through the radiator would cool the engine......not working. I decided I better pull over.....the second I safely stopped, huge puffs of white smoke billowed out the hood edges. I jumped out, opened the hood......huge clouds of smoke and smell of burning rubber, I thought the car was on fire. once the smoke settled, oil could be seen splattered all over the engine. tow truck comes and while putting on flatbed.....oil drained out like a water faucet. found out later from the dealer that oil line burst, causing the head gaskets to blow and most likely damaged totaled the engine. new engine quoted at $5000, used 71,000 mile engine in some salvage yard in alabama quoted at $2-3000. nice chunk of money and the engine still needs to be shipped and installed. what a deal? I actually spoke highly about mitsubishi's in the past, but now I'm having second thoughts. too bad mitsubishi company has such a bad history of failures, recalls, and poor repair service. I was actually thinking of buying a 2006 eclipse........not any more. I'll miss my 97 eclipse......it was pretty good to me, but this recent event with no warning, did me in and it IS just wrong that I have read similar incidents on the internet and mitsubishi does nothing. time for an american car...............too bad we don't have the sense to make oil and gas-free vehicles though.......the technology IS there. oh well......i guess I better start figuring out how I am going to get to work on monday. *jb
1997 eclipse caught on fire in the engine compartment. *ts *jb
Constant over heating and fluid coming out of the radiator cap, also severe shaking in the sterring wheel and 4TH gear. What IS that all about?
While driving my car at morning 9:00 am on 11/7/2005, all sudden my driver side window glass broken into pieces. I have stopped my car and checked. There IS no one around also. But all of a sudden it IS broken into pieces completely. *Jb
I own a 1997 mitsubishi eclipse gsx all-wheel-drive. I have a leak in the transfer case, which prematurely causes wear on the case housing and can lead to a part failure resulting in wheel lockage while driving. This IS a huge safety hazard and the dealership in my area has ignored my concerns and causing me grow very concerned when I drive my vehicle. Can you please intervene here and have them fix this problem?
Fuel relay switch on my mitsuibishi eclipse 1997 GS has failed on several occasions. in order to get my car to start, I have to go under the hood, "wiggle" the relay switch and lightly tap on the top of it. this fuel relay has been replaced by dealer and the problem continues to occur, even causing the car to go dead during travel. dealership claims they do not know why it occurs. (20+ occurrences) enormous amounts of "bluish" gas fumes coming from the tail pipe, regardless of idle or in motion. (Always occurring) sunroof sticks (5-10 occurrences) both driver and passenger windows rattle when car IS in motion and as the door IS being shut (continuous occurrence) clutch failure, hard shifting (1 occurrence). *jb
Rims bend to easily. all four rims bent. all four tires had to be replaced due to excessive rubbing, because wheels couldn't be balanced due to the bending of the rims.*ak
Consumer noticed oil in the driveway. Vehicle was taken to a mechanic to detect where the oil was leaking from. Mechanic determined that the head gasket blew out. head gasket has was revised twice by the manufacturer before they had one that worked. Defective head gasket was replaced with the revised head gasket. however, leak hasn't recurred.*ak
I have owned my care for 3 years. In that time I have had a leaking sunroof, broken passenger rear view mirror, broken passenger window "wont roll up", numerous tire changes, bad vibration, horrible noises when turning wheel, have replaced 2 transmissions, both tie rod ends, 1 lower ball joint and control arm suspension bar"more info on this below", alternator, both headlights, 4 differant seats of breaks, 2 seats constintly running low on oil, replaced the fuel filter, seat belts don't stop, battery cables keep caroding, replace spark plugs atleast 3 to 4 times a year, vibrates when going down road. those are just the things off the top of my head that I have done to this car. now to the accident. after I got off work I was on my way home when I decided to go to my friends so while driving to her house I hear a loud pop and the next thing I know my car IS controling itself and I can't steer it. this was all do to my lower ball joint shattering and my wheel almost completly detaching from my car. now the other side IS starting to make that horrible noise. the control arm swung on the bottum of my car after it broke during this and tore out my oil filter, oil pan, and oxygen senseor. have yet to recieve any information from mitsubishi.*ak
The 17" mitsubishi eclipse wheels bend under normal driving conditions. on three different occasions I have experienced serious problems with these wheels. these problems have also caused me to buy new tires when it might not have been needed.*ak
Lug:nuts put on to specification when tires replaced. Within 1 month front driver tire almost came off due to loose nuts. Mechanic tightened to specification. ith 1 month both front tires almost fell off on freeway due to loose nuts.*ak called mitsubshi motors. They suggested I have them replaced by dealer since they are custom nuts, at my expense.*ak
Premature wear of the lower lateral arm and ball joints. *mr the vehicle made noises and the steering was off. the local repair shop found that the troubled area was on the front driver's side. (the vehicle was unsafe to drive due to the excessive wear of the ball joints) the problem occurred less than a month before receiving recall#00v421001. the consumer requested reimbursement. *sc *jb
October 20, 2003 I purchased a 1997 eclipse gst from city limit auto in johnston, ri. March 14, 2004 I was driving home when a small click formed in 1ST and 2ND gear after reaching 3,500 rpms. With-in minutes the click developed into what sounded like a small hole in the exhaust, probably the cat. Not wanting to risk it I pulled off the next exit to bring the car to my friend's house and have it towed. A street away from his house (doing 10mph in 1ST gear), the noise grew into a loud constant electrical buzzing or clicking noise, no high oil presue on the dash light or gauge and no overheating according to gauge, with-in 5 seconds the oil pan blew, white billows of smoke puffed out and the engine seized. I tried to turn the car over, but all it did was clink, and when I got out I found a large oil puddle under my car. I went back to the dealer, but he refuses to fix it. I don't know the exact reason the engine blew, for lack of money, but after reading some websites I have concluded it was either the fuel pump, oil pump, or crankwalk. E-mail venomofvpstreet@aol.com with any info. For full story go to http://www.vpstreet.org/index.php?page=city thank you.*ak
On august 8, 2003, my son purchased a 1997 mitsubishi eclipse, 97037 miles, from [xxx]-owner, south bay auto-[xxx]. We purchased the car for $8,849.21. On august 11, 2003, the engine blow because there was no oil in the car, and the dealer stated that the car had been serviced and it was in good mechanical condition. just this week the warranty investigator said that the oil leak was there before we purchased the car, and that they will not be replacing the engine, and that the car IS the dealers problems. needless to say, the dealer does not want to do the moral thing and give us back our hard earned money, nor does he wants to replace the engine. this same dealer, loan us an unsafe car that we found out that it has been declared by the state of california as a salvaged. The car IS a 1991 honda, vin #[xxx]. last saturday, on the way home from san jose, ca, to vallejo, ca, the brakes were starting to give out on the car. This week, I could not stop the car and ran into a wall to stop it. Thank god, I was not hurt. I then called the dealer and told him what had happen, and the only thing he told me that I will pay for any damages done to the car. He had the car towed and stated that he would charge me for the tow and the repairs. now he wants me to compensate him for putting my life, and the life of my family at risk while driving his unsafe, salvaged car. information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(B)(6). *tr
While driving 60 mph consumer applied the brakes and vehicle moved in different directions. consumer was able to control the vehicle, and drove the vehicle to a dealer for inspection. the cause had not been determined. *ak
While driving 50 mph the vehicle's steering malfunction. As a result the vehicle lost control without warning. The cause has yet to be determined. No report of impact. Please provide any additional information. *nm
NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened these reviews into vehicles including this one.
The transfer case of the all wheel drive (AWD), mitsubishi galant, allegedly leaks oil causing one or more wheels to lockup; or the inability to transmit engine power to the drive wheels.the vehicles have the same transfer case design as the eclipse vehicles which have been recalled for the same alleged defect.
Technical service bulletins and other communications the manufacturer sent dealers about this vehicle. Ask a dealer for the full document by its number.
Bars are owner complaints, dots mark years with recalls. Select a year to open its report.