Recently I moved my 84 yr. old father and 89 yr. old mother into our home to live with us. He has a 1998 Diamante (purchased new) with 60k on the odometer. He is now too old to drive, so we have decided to keep the car just to drive them back and forth to their doctors appointments.


The SRS light (air-bag) was staying on all the time the engine was running. After checking with a few local mechanics I was told that this issue HAD to be addressed by a Mitsubishi Dealer as they have the proper scanners to diagnose and fix the problem.


We located a local Dealer and set up an appointment for the car to go in and get checked out.


Upon arriving at the Dealers Service Dept. the Service Advisor told us that it would cost $125.00 to scan/diagnose the problem. My Dad agreed to pay the fee and the car went into the garage bay a few short minutes later.


After waiting for more than an hour, I asked the Service Advisor how much longer it was going to be. I was told it takes at least an hour to perform the scan. I thought this was BS. I figured they plugged the scanner in and within a few seconds or minutes it would give an error code and tell you exactly what the problem is.


Anyway, about 10 mins. later, we were told the car was ready.


The Service Advisor told us that the problem was the result of a bad "clock spring" (MR363912) and it would cost another $514.53 to install (part & labor).


They told us that, at the moment, the light was out, but would come back on and that the SRS system would NOT deploy in an accident.


They told us it would take about a week for them to get the part.


We left the dealership and went home. Once home I did an internet search for the part and found several available for about $160.00. That seems to be a pretty big mark up to me.


Anyway, that was about 2 weeks ago and the SRS light is still out. However, it works exactly like the owner's manual says it should. It comes on for 7 seconds when the vehicle is first started and then goes out and stays out.


My feelings on this are... during those 7 seconds the system does a diagnostic check on the system and if there are no problems found the light goes out. Does this make sense? Is this how it works?


I feel that the Dealer cleared the code and everything is now working perfectly. I feel they are trying to take advantage of us and are trying to rip us off. What are your thoughts on this?


Please advise...


Thanks

 

Yes, if the system is working normally, the light comes on initially as a "bulb check" and then goes out. If the light is staying off, I would not worry about it until it comes on again. I've replaced clock springs before, it's not that hard of a job, just a lot of stuff to remove to get to it.