Davy

My personal opinion is that out of all the cars mentioned above, the Lancer EX is the better looking one. I just love those evil demonic head lamps and the whole aggressive font end. But then again, I’m biased towards Lancers. I’ve driven an EX once. A 1.6L manual and it felt pretty damn good. It’s got a spacious interior plus it’s very comfortable. My friend’s dad who owns it claims that it does 12km/l on average during his daily drive to work in Colombo. I doubt you will have trouble finding spares at the agent. Cost however is a different story. It’s probably too early to judge but I hope that the EX is as reliable as its fellow ancestors.

They're hard to find and most of them are in pretty bad shape. I saw one for sale at Kottawa (close to Commercial Bank on the side of the road) a few weeks back and the car looked like it's in average conditon. Saw one advertised on H!T @D (Sunday before last if I'm not mistaken) as well.

Are there any local hobby shops for RC trucks and spares? I ran a search but couldn't find any places as such.

Thanks a million Sampath! I was waiting for this. Thanks again for your hard work machang! I've been checking this thread everyday and this is an impressive collection of catalogs! Forgive me for not being able to post mine as promised. I will do so as soon as I get my hands on a 'working' scanner.

To think that changing a tyre wasn't a DIY for you until you found this kit is just plain sad. Even the "finding" is wrong, this particular kit can't even be shipped to Sri Lanka!

Sent you a PM.

Seriously? You think all the Vitzs with an aftermarket stereo should have an inherent dashboard rattle? Of course there could be other reasons. It may be due to bad tyres, bad suspension, worn out engine mounts or simply because of your bad driving habits. But before jumping into any bizarre conclusions, the simplest thing to do is to try and figure out if it’s because of a component which is not fixed properly.

For a moment, I thought I was reading something that was put down by Jeremy Clarkson.

They were earrings. The reason why no one has replied to this thread claiming to have a similar experience on a Vitz should give you a hint. Dashboard rattles are very specific to an individual car in most cases. I highly doubt the Vitz has a manufacturer's defect where a dash panel near the steering begins to rattle after 20,000km. So my guess is that it started when the dasboard panels were removed for stereo installation, AC repair or something of that sort. Since you know where the rattle is originated from, check the screws/clips and tighten/fasten as necessary. If there are missing clips, you'll have to buy them and install the panel(s) correctly. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the info + photos miniace. OT: Let alone new roads, I seriously don't understand why they change existing names of roads like "Guildford Crescent" to names of individuals I haven't even heard of.

Agreed! I usually do this in the open sun so it does evaporate faster. Unfortunately I don't have a compressor with me so I'm compelled to clean the excess diesel off using a rag, so what Watchman said about it attracting dust is also eliminated. I also spend a good couple of hours on this just because I want the engine to look as good and as clean as the rest of the car.

It's impossible to install the distributor so that it rotates in the opposite direction. Any possibility that your distributor cap has been changed (with an incorrect one)? Asking because this maybe the reason why the rotor is short. Just my 2 cents because the rotor doesn't become significantly short over time unless the tip is broken due to some reason. This is the rotor I had (for comparison with yours). I'm sure you can find one at Panchikawatta. 4G1 series = Orion 4G3 series = Saturn

Half your steering problems are solved since you have a brand new steering box. I checked with Unit3d M0t0rs before going for the recon box and they quoted 40,000 LKR (that's a few years back) plus a few weeks of waiting time. Consider yourself lucky.

Yes, the stiffness is quite normal. It was stiff even after the box replacement. I can't count the number of times I thought of doing a power steering conversion, mainly because of the effort that had to be put into the steering alone; but I held back because it was part of the fun of driving this car. In your case, are the ball joints and everything properly greased? Part of the stiffness is due to badly greased ball joints. Plus the steering box has to be filled totally with gear oil. Start there because these are simple points that contribute to a stiff steering. As for the play, you will have to take the steering box apart to check if the worm gear and the bearings are worn out. If you can get away with replacing just the bearings, you're lucky. Else you'll have to repair the worm gear (which I do not recommend), or buy a recon steering box as I have mentioned in my previous post.

That's kerosene mate; Kerosene degrades rubber but petrol and diesel don't.

The A72 came with a steering box, so I think you mean that there's a play in the steering box. Are you repairing the same box or did you buy a new one? This is a common problem in the A72, the worm gear wears out resulting in a play. Believe it or not, the play in my steering got so worse that there was about 90 degrees of free play in the steering. Meaning that when the car is moving straight, I could turn the steering about 45 degrees either clockwise or counterclockwise and the car would still keep going straight! I repaired it many times but it kept coming back. Finally I bought a recon steering box from Panchikawatta (cost me about Rs. 8000 two years back) and installed it and it was perfect after that. So I suggest you do the same if the worm gear is badly worn out. Repairing it is just a temporary fix in my opinion.

I use diesel. spray it all over the engine or dip a cotton cloth and wipe thoroughly. Probably not the best way but worked fine so far as opposed to letting the service station guys spray water all over the engine. Before: After spraying diesel: After cleaning thoroughly with a (cotton) cloth:

You mean this one? I have to agree... the best place to start is Panchikawatta and maybe those places where they bring in old cars to be scrapped. When I went to buy tail light lenses for my old Lancer Wagon (from Panchikawatta), I asked the guy in the shop where they were made (I was just curious) and to my amazement, he said that they were manufactured somewhere in Sri Lanka, can't exactly remember the name of the place because this was some time ago. If this place exists, I assume they will be able to fabricate a new set of lights. Hope someone else on the forum knows the place.

Last time I saw their documentary, Bose's suspension system was still under research. Edit: Bose Suspension System

I bought mine from a shop at Negombo. If you live around Colombo, try the paint shops at Slave Island. Just do a search on the forum and you will come across information about many other places.

I have faced a similar kind of issue, but not after the clutch replacement. You might have to get the flywheel resurfaced since everything else is new. The two sides of the clutch touch the pressure plate and the flywheel respectively, and since the pressure plate and clutch are new, it’s probably the surface on the flywheel that’s letting the clutch to slip, causing vibration (and burnt clutch smell). This is of course assuming that your mechanic was competent enough to assemble everything properly. From what you have said, I have a feeling that he's not 100% sure. Also, doing 1000 - 2000 km with this vibration will cause your engine and gearbox mounts to give up so I suggest you do not try such a long trial run since this vibration is severe. The car should be smooth from the point where the repair was done if everything was done properly. Hope this helps.

Wish you a very happy birthday Harshan!

Vehicle : Mitsubishi Lancer CS3A (2001) Transmission : Manual Engine : 1.6 EFI (4G18) Fuel : Petrol - 95 Octane Km/l City : 10 - 12 Km/l Outstaion : 14 - 16 * Euro 3 gives pretty much the same figures. Maybe slightly less in the city.

Sorry to hear about the accident mate, but it's great that no one was hurt. Hope you get the insurance stuff sorted out soon. On another note, if that Demio was in Sri Lanka, it would be back on the road in a few months as if nothing had happened to it. @Ripper, I'm able to see the pics except for the last one.

lol! Seriously!? But it looks to me like that's PhotoShop'd. The shade of the mirror has not fallen on the text. I might be wrong though; you never know Sri Lankan three wheeler drivers and the stuff they come up with these days. @Schiffer, yeah I think it’s a new trend. I've seen more than a few with some TOA cans or aluminum flasks connected with chrome plated tubes (hand shower pipes?) and flames and stuff pasted on them to make them look like fire extinguishers.