New owner, problems already
I bought a 3D 1.8 GDI 2001 Pinin for my wife. We have horses and one of our fields is up a green lane. She did have a Proton Jumbuck, but I was recently in a head on crash and wrote it off (drunk driver on my side of a rural road).
I drove the Pinin back yesterday and noticed that the amber lock light is flashing. I have 2H selected, both rear green lights are on. I have tried selecting 4H and back to 2H but its still there flashing. When my wife took it out for her first drive the engine warning light came on. There is a 3 month warranty with the car and I can take it to any garage I like. The nearest Mitsubishi dealership is some distance away, so would like to use my local garage. I'm after any pointers to help them trace the faults.
Ironic, i literally just
Ironic, i literally just fixed the exact same problem, cost $0 for me.
If your lucky its as easy as removing the switch from the transfer case (about in line with the middle of the front door in the centre of the car, underneath of course), it is the one facing directly upwards and there will be 2 together, its the rearward one. Get a rag ready to plug the hole as the oil will try to escape. Simple spray WD40 or similar into the switch while depressing the ball. i then lightly (i say that to be nice) tapped and rolled the ball switch on a hard (clean) surface and continued to spray WD into it.
Basically its just a sticky connection. as the ball sits facing up i guess shit gets caught in it. or the fact it may rarely get used clogs it.
Just replace and connect up. Done.
At least try that first before buying a new switch. If its not the switch theres one other thing it could be - cross that bridge then.
Hope that helps.
Unfortunately it's not that simple...
Assuming fully functional switches and wiring, the amber center lock light flashes for two reasons ..
a) the center lock has been selected and has not engaged - or - not locked when it should be.
b) the center lock has been deselected and has not dis-engaged - locked when it should not be.
There are two switches, not one, that could cause it, and it's not always the switches - I had the exact symptom, but caused by a broken wire, and I can list for you at least two more possible causes - one of which is internal to the transfer case, I recon I've spent a total of 30 hours or so in the wiring under there and any garage that does that is going to charge a hefty fee .
Bottom line - if you've just acquired a vehicle and have warranty coverage - use it - and use it in such a fashion that the vendor cannot refuse to foot the bill, which, is why I say take it back.
Syndicate
Take it back to the seller
The most common cause of flashing lights on the 4WD panel is a defective switch on the transfer case or the related wiring, and you need to have the codes read for the check engine light and let us know what those are before anyone can suggest a course of action.
Unless your local garage has experience with Mitsubishis, the SuperSelect 4WD system and GDI engines I'd suggest you take it back to the seller and let them deal with it - the SuperSelect system is not particularly complex, but, without the documentation and a willingness to invest the time to understand it, they are just going to "throw parts" at it, and that can get expensive really fast.
I have a 5 door version of your wife's car, and I don't even want to think of the total number of hours I have put into it (I'd guess at 20+ in just the transmission & transfer case controls alone) - it's a great car, but if I had to pay to get the work done, I couldn't afford to keep it.
Oh - there's a downloadable manual in the resource section of the forum - it has the troubleshooting details for the SuperSelect System in the suto transmission section (23) and it will also tell you how to get the check engine codes using a short length of wire.