Defogger Problems of Mitsubishi Lancer - part 2

The climate control knob on my 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer, will not turn without significant effort it seems likely that this will cause it to break at a later date.

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The hot/cold switch broke off. Since I bought this car it has been difficult to turn the switch for temperature control. Both knobs are damaged and now im not able to control the direction of the air neither the temperature. This has to be a manufacture defect since. During my research online I've found many similar problems like this one. Mitsubishi should make a recall and fix it .

See all problems of the 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer 🔎.

When I purchased my car two years ago, I realized that the heater control knob in my car was very difficult to move. After speaking with many people that own the same vehicle as myself, I learned that in many cases, the knob to the control breaks, preventing the operator of the vehicle to successfully change from cold to warm. This is a safety issue primarily due to the difficulty to clear the windshield of frost. There is nothing being done by the manufacturer to alleviate this problem (such as a recall) and many dealerships are attempting to charge around $1000 to fix the problem. When I first purchased the vehicle, I had believed the prior owner had simply caused the knob to malfunction due to mistreatment; however, this belief had no way of being tested since I had never spoken to the previous owner of the vehicle. After talking with many owners of the same make and model vehicle, I have come to the conclusion that this a potential safety risk for many people, and should promptly be handled by the manufacturer.

The heater control knob (hot/cold adjust) was difficult to turn. This was noted to the dealership after I bought the car. In addition, the magazine, motortrend, identified this issue in its review of evo vs sti. The dealer said that the part was known to sometimes stick but would be fine. About 3 months ago, 12/4/11, the knob completely broke off. The issue was covered by a TSB, however, the dealer did not state that the issue was known to have a fix. This is a common cause failure for all 03 Lancers and outbacks. The manufacture has chosen not to issue a recall, but is currently waiting until the part completely fails and hopes it happens after warranty expires so it will be covered by the customer. This issue causes 2 problems. One, if it is selected to cold, you cannot defrost the window unless you reach under the dashboard to adjust temperature, or, us a pair of pliers to adjust the dial, and thus creating a significant driving hazard. Two, for those individuals that the knob has not broken off, it creates a hazard by focusing the drivers attention more on climate control and not on the road. The TSB that was issued does fix the problem but so far, Mitsubishi will not issue a recall on their defective part nor inform their customers if a fix for a previously identified issue becomes available.

The contact owns a 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer. The contact stated that the climate control knob had broken. The contact was unable to use the heat or defrost option as a result. The contact had noticed that the knob was difficult to turn shortly after purchasing the vehicle. The dealer stated that the entire climate control unit needed to be replaced. The failure mileage was approximately 580,000.

I have the same problem with the heat/cold knob and the vent knob. I complained to the dealer and they quoted me almost $1900 to fix. Yeah right!!! this is a solution. . . . Not a complete fix but I get heat in the winter and a/c in the summer. I have to reached up under the dash and move the controls at the heater box. If you still have a knob turn it while you are moving the plastic arm from underneath. The vent control is a little harder to get to but it's up there, just a little higher and it's smaller so it's harder to get leverage. Hope this helps all of you. Look under from the driver side. You'll see the cables and they're connected to a plastic rotary arm thing. It works. . . Yes it's a pain. . . Beats dishing out major bucks for something that's not our fault.

Driver's side windows would fog up on the outside whenever the air conditioner is turned on. The problem can happen while vehicle is idling. A rental vehicle from enterprise. Mr.