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2000 MITSUBISHI DIAMANTE — VISIBILITY:DEFROSTER/DEFOGGER/HVAC SYSTEM:HEATER CORE

2 injured · 494788 · 2004-09-07

Vehicle

Make
MITSUBISHI
Model
DIAMANTE
Year
2000
Manufacturer
Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc.
Component
VISIBILITY:DEFROSTER/DEFOGGER/HVAC SYSTEM:HEATER CORE
Miles at failure
53,000
Speed
65 mph

Severity

Deaths
0
Injured
2
Fire
No
Crash
No
Police report
No
Medical attention
No
Vehicle towed
No

Narrative

FOR SEVERAL WEEKS IT WAS BECOMING INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT FOR ME TO CLEAR THE WINDSHIELD ON MY CAR AND I ATTRIBUTED IT TO HOT, HUMID WEATHER. COMING BACK ON THE FREEWAY ONE EVENING IT SUDDENLY BECAME MUCH WORSE AND MY HUSBAND AND I TRIED MANY DIFFERENT COMBINATIONS OF COOL/WARM/FRESH AIR TO BE ABLE TO SEE OUT OF THE WINDOW, BUT IT NEVER FULLY CLEARED. IT WAS DANGEROUS TO DRIVE UNDER THOSE CONDITIONS, BUT WE MADE IT HOME. THERE WAS A WHITISH FILM BEGINNING TO FORM ON THE WINDOW, VISIBLE IN DAYLIGHT. WHAT WAS IN THE FUMES THAT FORMED THE FILM I AM AFRAID TO IMAGINE. SEVERAL DAYS LATER AS I WAS DRIVING MY SON TO SCHOOL WE BOTH NOTICED A WHITE, CLOUDY SMOKE COMING FROM THE VENTS DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF US. WE KEPT THE WINDOWS DOWN TO AVOID BREATHING IN THE FUMES. THE NEXT DAY I TOOK MY CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP AND WAS TOLD THE GASKETS ADJACENT TO THE HEATER CORE HAD FAILED. IT COST $5.10 FOR THE REPLACEMENT PART, BUT THE REPAIR COST TOTAL $560.00 BECAUSE THEY HAD TO REMOVE THE ENTIRE DASH TO REPLACE THE O-RINGS. MY CAR WAS IN THE SHOP FOR A FULL DAY. I'M ALSO CONCERNED BECAUSE I'VE SINCE LEARNED THAT THE ANTI-FREEZE LEAKING FROM THE "WORN-OUT" RINGS DRIPPED DOWN ONTO MY CAR'S COMPUTER. WHAT POTENTIAL DAMAGE COULD HAVE OCCURRED TO THE COMPUTER, IS IT OK NOW, AND COULD IT HAVE CAUSED A MAJOR ACCIDENT IF THE COMPUTER FAILED.*AK

Source

Authoritative
NHTSA ODI Flat-File Downloads
ODI Number
10090591
Machine
JSON-LD · Markdown