Mitsubishi Recalls 80K Vehicles Over Acceleration Issues

Last week, Mitsubishi recalled some 45,000 Outlander Sport crossover SUVs after determining that an issue during assembly may lead to a leak in the vehicles’ transmission. Now, the carmaker is back, recalling about 82,000 Outlander and Lancer vehicles, because stepping on the gas pedal should make the car, you know, move. 

Mitsubishi says it will recall 82,436 model year 2015 to 2016 Outlander Sport, and model year 2016 Lancer and Outlander vehicles equipped with a constant velocity transmission (CVT) that may cause a delay in the vehicle accelerating.

According to a notice [PDF] posted with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, during initial acceleration from a standstill, or when accelerating again after either constant speed operation or coasting down, the vehicles may experience a hesitation if the range switch momentarily experiences a loss of signal.

If this occurs, the vehicle may not accelerate properly.

“Unexpected reduction in available acceleration during every day driving, such as acceleration from a stop, merging on to a freeway, or turning left against traffic, could result in an increase risk of an accident,” the carmaker says in the notice.

In some cases, Mitsubishi says the driver will have to manually shift the selector from “neutral” to “drive.”

The carmaker first became aware of the issue in January after receiving a customer complaint of vehicle hesitation. An investigation of the vehicle found the CVT issue, and the range switch was replaced.

The following month, Mitsubishi received additional claims from the field. At that time the CVT supplier modified the range switches provided to Mitsubishi.

Still, Mitsubishi determined in July that the issue could be a safety issue depending on the driving situation and initiated a recall.

Owners of all affected vehicles will be notified and encouraged to bring in their vehicles for a software repair.

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