Four problems related to clutch have been reported for the 1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse spyder catastrophic failure of clutch. The line that runs from the slave cylinder to the master cylinder has what appears to be a cut in the line 1mm from the connection to the master cylinder. I have now replaced this line six (6) times in two years. Failure usually occurs after driving the car at highway speeds for 2 or more hours. Clutch goes to the floor due to loss of fluid. I have also replaced the master cylinder twice & the slave cylinder three times, the last time was 2 weeks ago.
While driving about 65 mph manual transmission will stay in one gear, and clutch pedal will always go to floor and will stay there until engine is turned off, then restarted. Vehicle will start working again. The dealer replaced master and slave cylinder. Transfer case leaks and the consumer was still experiencing gear shifting problem.
In June of 1998 I began experiencing the clutch intermittently sticking (sometimes to the ground and I would have to manually pull the clutch up while driving) at speeds of anywhere from 5 to 65 miles an hour. After numerous attempts to fix my car in a period of four months the dealer I have been having my car serviced at (todey mitsubihi in ventura, CA) has finally diagnosed the problem as a faulty engine, apparently the engine is actually shifting and this was causing my clutch problems. I am aware that todey Mitsubishi has seen at least one other vehicle with this same engine flaw (shifting) manifesting itself in a fluid leak.
Excessive movement in driver seat. Clutch malfunction. Vehicle has surged causing crash. Excessive tire wear. No notice of recall 97v08100 or 97v081001.