I think you'd have to go here: Contact Mitsubishi Canada - Mitsubishi Canada

 

I have filled in a form at the Canadian Mitsubishi customer support website asking if Dexron-VI is an acceptable substitute for J3.

I'm not holding my breath on this one, but I can't help asking myself one question. If what Chevron says is true -- that their VI is indeed the equivalent of J3 in all of the typical specifications/parameters -- on what legal or practical or technical basis could Mitsubishi still insist that using anything but J3 in a transaxle would automatically void its warranty -- just because they could probably get away with it?

What's at stake here is the legal ability of Mitsubishi to specify a particular BRAND of ATF, versus an ATF fluid that has the same properties, as being the only one acceptable for a transaxle; and to void the warranty if one having equal properties is used in its place.

Again using crankcase oil as an example, would it be "legal" for Mitsubishi to specify "Mobil 1 synthetic 5W-20" instead of merely "5W-20 oil meeting SAE xxx specification", and then declare that the engine warranty would be voided if any other oil is used? I doubt it, but I'm not positive, nor do I want to have to fight the issue in court.

Not only that, but how could the service manager state that Mitsubishi would void the warranty for using Havoline VI, but then in the very next breath thank me for educating him about an alternative to J3 and THAT HE WOULD NOW RECOMMEND IT TO OWNERS OF POST-WARRANTY VEHICLES AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO J3!? Is it because he wants the transaxles in those vehicles to fail so that he can fix them, or does he want their owners to save a great deal on ATF fluid, yet still not suffer transaxle failures? I believe it's the latter, so why won't he, rather than me, make that exact argument to Mitsubishi Central?

If I actually get a response from Mitsubishi, I'll post it here.

 

I just received an amazingly prompt reply from Mitsubishi. Unfortunately, it is as I expected.

"Thank you for contacting Mitsubishi Motor Sales of Canada, Inc. We appreciate the opportunity to respond to our customer's questions and comments.

Please be advised that it is recommended that you use the Dia Queen ATF - J3 as indicated in the owner's manual. If you decide to purchase another brand, we cannot confirm if it will be equivalent to the Mitsubishi Dia Queen hence not affecting the warranty.

We trust this information has been of assistance.

Thank you again for contacting Mitsubishi Motor Sales of Canada, Inc.

With Kind Regards,"

As far as I can tell, this is exactly the same as what I previously said about recommending a particular brand of crankcase oil, versus a fluid with certain specifications/parameters.

By Mitsubishi's above logic, even if the one and only difference between Dexron-VI and Dia Queen ATF-J3 is that the names in the containers are not the same, this may affect the warranty. So, the BRAND of fluid specified in the "owner's" manual is Dia Qeen-J3 and, therefore, if it is not used, this may (probably will) affect the warranty.

So, to maintain the transaxle warranty, we Canadian owners must continue to get the royal shaft for Mitsubishi's Dia Queen-J3, at the Mitsubishi-mandated interval, or we're on our own if there is a problem with our transaxles within the warranty period.

Dear Mitsubishi,

Your transparently self-serving policy sucks.

I trust that this information has been of assistance.

With kind regards,

Your formerly-loyal, now thoroughly P.SSED OFF customer.

 

It's because of **** like that, horrible local mitsubishi service (I truly mean horrible, something gets broken or scratched every time I bring my car into any of the 3 local dealers), and horrible mitsubishi paint that chips so damn easily that I will never buy another mitsubishi again.

It is no wonder why they do not do well in the US.

That being said, so far so good on the chevron in my transmission

 

honestly, keep asking specific questions. They answered a question you did not ask. And there was one key word...recommended. They stated it was not required. I would ask them to expand on their legal definition of "recommended".

Re-ask as a reply to that email with the specifics. IMO, I'd have a Used Oil Analysis done on the transmission fluid to give a relative health checkup on the transmission. Should there be a failure, you have something to compare against.

 

Do you mean an ATF analysis right now, that would be done on a sample of Dia Queen that is presently in the transaxle? Then change fluid using Dexon and, if there is a transmission problem down the road, before taking it to Mit., have an analysis done on a sample of that fluid, "just in case"?

Then take the vehicle to Mit., and if Mit. refuses to fix under warranty because Dia Queen was not used (that "service" is not in their records), if the already-in-hand analysis results on the Dexron indicate good fluid, fight in court to force a judge to make a decision forcing Mit. to fix the transaxle under warranty?

Sounds like inexpensive fun.

When we bought our vehicle two years ago, I knew that it had a 10-year, 160,000 km warranty. I also knew a fair bit about the Outlander in terms of reliability history and some of its electronic and mechanical systems, but I did not know about all of the maintenance requirements/details spelled out in the maintenance manual.

After buying our vehicle, I noticed that the transaxle fluid had not been changed at the specified interval. I think it was about 10 or 15000 km over the specified interval. So I went to a local Mit. dealer and got raped on a complete Dia Queen fluid change.

That was two years (and maybe 15,000 kms) ago as of this coming Sept, and now I'm looking forward to getting raped again at some point down the road. What I'd like to know right now is whether or not that late fluid change has ALREADY effectively voided at least the "fluid-affected" inner parts of the transxale. (I take it that not all parts (electonic, etc.) of a transaxle would be affected by "inadequate" fluid.)

I bring this up because if the fluid-dependent parts are ALREADY no longer under warranty, why bother continuing getting raped with Dia Queen for the next 5 years, 60,000 km that still remain on the warranty? I'd just use the Dexron from this point on, maybe even annually, to be on the safe side, and Mit. would not get their pound of flesh. It think I'm going to put this question directly to the service manager and try to get a straight "yes it still is" or "no it no longer is" under warranty.

 

Not at all. Do an UOA on the ATF just to see where you are at using 100% DiaQueen fluid. That sets your baseline and gives you a warm fuzzy where you are at. IF you believe the Havoline will work, use it. If it truly does meet all the specs, it will work no issue and you are good to go. Personally I would have that fluid tested at the next change just to see how it went. In the event that the transmission fails, make sure you get a fluid sample. It all boils down to how likely you believe in the aftermarket fluid and the probability there will be a failure.

Put this another way. This same JATCO transmission is used in Nissan and Renault vehicles. do you think they use Mitsu/DiaQueen ATF-Jx?

 

Good point. Do they?

 

from what I can find...no.

 

FYI for those with V6 Auto Transmissions (mine is an 08 XLS). I've been reading related posts and have been putting it off so I thought I would share since it's done. I used a fluid extractor to pump it out from the fill tube. Got 4.25L out this way and used a small long funnel to put the same back in. I used OEM J2 fluid (13.82 CAN$ per bottle + Tax). From what I gathered this is what the dealers are doing. I dealt with two dealerships and both told me I would need 5 bottles for a fluid change with some left over.