My '06 Endeavor is just short of 30,000 miles and is scheduled for the 30,000 mile maintenace at the dealer on Friday.

Problem is, 2 weeks ago it started getting cold here in central Ohio and the engine started getting an intermittent shudder when idling. It was very warm yesterday and it didn't shudder when I started the car in the morning. I was driving last night and it was a little colder and it started doing the shudder thing when I was driving 45 miles an hour. I'm hoping I don't have a problem before Friday, but does anyone have any guesses as to what might be the problem?

Thanks!

They did a reflash on the computer and thought they solved it. It did it again as soon as I started it up. We got a mechanic and it wouldn't do it for him idling, so we took a drive with him driving. It happened only twice, both times driving about 40 mph. He said it felt like it could be a misfire. He and another mechanic took it out for a long drive and it didn't happen again. Then they had me drive both of them for a while and it didn't happen again. ARGH!!!! At least one mechanic felt it twice so he knows I'm not nuts.....

They told me to really make a note of the circumstances when it happens again so they can try to duplicate the conditions and make it happen. That's the best scenario for fixing the problem.

It's back at the dealer. I got Mitsu involved and there seems to be a concerted effort to handle the issue.

The dealer's mechanics couldn't get the car to misfire yesterday, so I told them I'd come this morning and start the car with them and show them. So I did, the car misfired like crazy so at least they knew I wasn't crazy. :-)

The mechanic was surprised that the computer wasn't picking up the problem because that would tell him which cylinder was misfiring and he was thinking it was a coil boot. BUT, without knowing which one it was, they'd have to replace all 6 which meant taking off the intake. They'd already removed spark plugs 1-3 and they looked new, but they wouldn't want to take the intake off twice. (So, how expensive is the 60k service when they need to replace all the plugs????)

After I left, they hooked up the laptop to the car and worked with people on the tech line and determined that the problem was a failing coil boot on cylinder #1. Apparently this is a rare problem? Rare enough that nobody in town had the part, so it's being overnighted and they'll have it Monday and I have their '07 endeavor off their used lot until they're done with my car. A nice effort by my dealer (Roby Mitsubishi in Dublin, Ohio) and Mitsubishi.

I just hope they're right!

After another week at the dealer, it appears that the problem is fixed!!!! Huge kudos to Mitsubishi and Roby Mitsubishi for putting forth such an effort and resolving the problem and taking care of me while they figured it out.

It turns out that the problem was a failing ignition coil on cylinder one that was causing a misfire the computer couldn't pick up. They couldn't duplicate the problem on their own so I went out the next morning and started the car for them and it missed like crazy. They were able to take it from there with tech line, increased sensitivity on the computer and a laptop or something. I then had to wait for the part to arrive and be installed. Of course someone got into my car and ransacked it, taking cash (maybe $20 in coins) and my radar detector (several years old and not really worth anything - I was looking to replace it anywhere). Insult to injury? To make that up to me, the detailed the interior of my car and it's amazing. The dealer also gave me a used '07 Endeavor to drive while they were figuring out what was wrong with my car. I don't think I could have asked for more.

I also like the way Mitsubishi got involved. I had an issue with a Ford dealer trying to screw me on warranty repairs and Ford refused to stand behind me or their product. I'm much more impressed with Mitsu.