Was checking the oil this afternoon and I noticed that just above the ECU in the engine bay there is 2 wires going into a black plastic thing that clearly has a small Mitsubishi Logo on it? Has anyone else noticed this or is it just my car that is made up of parts from 2 rival Japanese companies??

 

wow...

 

I noticed this when l first bought the car. Not sure what it does though...

 

Strange that it is even there?!

 

Mitsubishi makes quite a lot of electronic parts for lots of different platforms. I think there are only a couple types of MAF sensors out there and one of the major ones (including ours IIRC) is made by Mitsubishi.

It would cost big bucks for every car company to reinvent the wheel (no pun intended) for every single part they have. You'll find various parts on even our own car that are used in other vehicles because it keeps costs down.

 

There's hundreds of Mistsu parts on this car lol. When installing my sc i took apart half the engine bay and I've noticed at least ten mitsu logos on different parts.

 

Nothing strange there. Use the best of breed in components and get economies of scale. What else can you do if something is protected by patent?

There are heaps and heaps of OEM components made by others. In fact, Mazda only manufacture a few components themselves, and assemble the cars. Most car manufacturers are like that.

Cheers,
Hymee.

 

Yes but I'm sure Matt feels all dirty and in need of a shower...

 

Oh dear, I suggest you to go to Mazda and demand a replacement!!!

 

BTW - That black plastic thing... It is the BAROmetric pressure sensor. It allows the ECU to make minor adjustments to things based on different air pressures.

Cheers,
Hymee.

 

Matt, I bet it was that damn Mitsu part that failed yesterday!

Btw, I owe you a beer or several...we'll catch up somewhere and I'm buying. Thanks.

Oh, and let me know how you go with that cheaper MRO...

 

You don't owe anything but always keen to catch up for a beer. Should be 3 weeks before my part arrives at Mazda (ship from Japan) when I'll grab the oil..

 

I've had a fault code that keeps popping up. It happens only when I park the car outside and during cold morning starts I hear this squealing noise and then the dreaded Check Engine Light turns on. WTF???

After investigating and pulling out the fault code, I investigated and found that the component that failed wasn't made in Japan. It is a part made by Bosch and stamped with Made in Germany.

This part is the Secondary Air Pump which helps heat up the catalytic converter when the car fires up in the morning.

This part cost $1150 from Mazda... so I rebuilt it and only cost me $50 to recondition the unit. DIY rules!

Car is fine. No more PO410.

 

New bearing(s) fitted to secondary air pump?? Nice work!