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Home Blog Common DIY Mitsubishi Maintenance: Five Fixes You Can Do Yourself

Common DIY Mitsubishi Maintenance: Five Fixes You Can Do Yourself

Mitsubishi is a brand known for quality, reliability, affordability, and an all-around enjoyable drive. As dependable as its cars and SUVs are, it can be easy to lose track of and forget or just plain skip regular service. As much as you might not think the ride you love needs maintenance as often as the schedules in your owner's manual suggest, though, avoiding it isn't a good idea.

Put simply, staying on top of even the smallest repair can mean big savings in the long run -- not the least among them, not having to pay for a mechanic's labor at a Mitsubishi dealer. With the right skills and a few basic tools, most jobs are pretty easy to do yourself, too. Here are five examples.

Mitsubishi Care and Maintenance 101

1. Replacing Your Car Battery

Car batteries, you swap out every three years or so -- otherwise, when you see the signs one's going bad. According to RepairPal, it'll run you $360 plus, usually, although other auto industry sources say anywhere from $200 to $400 or more; cost depends on the kind of battery. For example, the flooded lead-acid type can go for $185 to $300, while the AGM type can cost anywhere between $250 and $400. It can also depend on the model you drive; an Outlander battery, for example, might cost more than, say, a Mirage battery.

Symptoms of a failing battery include:

  • Slow starts
  • Battery and Check Engine lights on the dash
  • Dirty or corroded battery posts
  • Low or leaking battery fluid

Signs the battery is dead, however, include:

  • A car that won't start at all
  • Failed jump-starts
  • The car lighting, electronics, and radio working erratically or not at all
  • The power windows or power seats (if you have them) running slowly or not at all

To replace the battery, all you have to do, usually, is:

  1. Disconnect the positive and negative battery cables
  2. Take off the battery hold-down and pull it out
  3. Put in the new battery
  4. Reconnect the cables the same way

The process might vary between, say, industry-standard SLI (starting, lighting, and ignition) batteries and the gel or the deep-cycle kind.

2. Putting on New Windshield Wiper Blades

Change the wiper blades in your Mitsubishi least every 6 months -- that is, seasonally. Sometimes, though, you'll need to do it annually; that depends on the climate and the kinds of weather you drive in. It'll run you anywhere from $70 to $90, usually, if you get the job done at a Mitsubishi service center.

Otherwise, take care of it when you see signs that the wiper blades are faulty. They include:

  • Cracking rubber
  • The blades starting to streak, squeak, or chitter as they run
  • Broken frames
  • The blades detaching from the wiper arms

Here's how to do it, in most cases, whether your ride's got the conventional, beam, or hybrid kind, with hook, clamp, or pin connectors.

3. Doing an Oil Change and Replacing the Oil Filter

Flush and replace oil and put in a new oil filter every 3 months or 3,000 miles or so. It usually runs anywhere from $25 to $130, sometimes more, sometimes less. Cost depends on the Mitsubishi model you drive, on the motor oil it runs on -- conventional, synthetic, synthetic blend, or high-mileage -- and on having to get both done at the same time. On a Mitsubishi Eclipse, for example, it might run $115 to $130.

Otherwise, change the oil filter when you see the symptoms of it failing. They include:

  • An engine oil warning light on the dash
  • Oil pressure loss
  • Oil pump stress
  • Pump bearing wear
  • General engine trouble

All you'll need for the job, most of the time, is an oil drain pan, a pair of work gloves, some filter and socket wrenches, and a mallet, plus fresh engine oil. Here's what to do; start with a warm engine, and use the right-size filter, with the right threads and gaskets. It can mean the difference between oil properly filtered and a filter that comes loose, leaks, and eventually falls off the oil pump. That happens, and your engine will end up seriously damaged.

4. Changing Engine and Cabin Air Filters

Air filters get replaced every 12,000 miles -- no more than every 15,000 miles, and at the cost of $60 to $75, usually. Having to replace other parts like the air filter housing can add to the bill.

Otherwise, they get changed when you see the signs they're defective. The most obvious: the fibers seeming dirty and worn-out. A failed engine filter, you'll know from:

  • Black exhaust smoke
  • A misfiring engine
  • Power loss
  • Trouble accelerating

A bad cabin filter, you'll know from:

  • Heating and air conditioning trouble
  • The cabin smelling stale

You can usually find the engine filter near the engine, and the cabin filter, behind the glove box; all you have to do is pop out the old filters and put in the new ones, a lot of the time.

5. Swapping Out Brake Pads

You replace brake pads every 40,000 or 50,000 miles. It'll cost at least $260, and sometimes, $300 plus; it depends, for one, on the kind of brake pads your Mitsubishi has -- organic, for example, which many cars use, or ceramic, metallic/semi-metallic, or carbon fiber, which many SUVs and sports cars use. It can also depend on model; brake pads for Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross, for example, can run $270 to $300.

Otherwise, swap out the old for the new when you see the signs they're failing, including:

  • A brake warning light on the dash
  • Whining sounds during braking
  • Vibrating
  • Grinding noises
  • Trouble slowing down

If the pads have worn down to the brake calipers, or worse, the calipers have damaged the brake rotors, you've let things go too long. All you'll need to replace them, in most cases, is a jack and jack stands, along with a lug wrench, a C-clamp or caliper spreader tool, and a tool set with Torx or Allen bits. Fresh brake fluid, too, if your tank needs a top-off.

Be sure to check your owner's manual or other manufacturer's instructions for the specifics on each of these. Also, whatever the fix, use OEM parts. Mitsubishi designs them alongside its cars and SUVs, meaning they'll fit right and work reliably from the get-go, and they won't void your factory warranty.

It's a good thing you came to us here at Mitsubishi Motors North America for them, too. We've got the maintenance parts your vehicle needs, and we ship promptly, all over the US. Buy now -- and feel free to contact us if you have any questions!