What kind of problems have you had with your Fuso?

[thefnswits]

I have had a 2007 FG140 for almost 2 months now, and Ive experienced more problems than i would have wanted to out of a truck with only 24k miles on it. I wanted to know...what kind of problems have people experienced with their 4x4 fusos? I was wondering what the weak links are and what i should watch for. thanks alot!

 

[FusoFG]

I own a 1993 and a 2004, both from new, and aside from dealer mechanics forgetting to tighten some bolts during service, the only problem was an air conditioner condensor fan motor going bad on the 1993 after 110,000 miles.

Remember they are commercial vehicles and buying used mean they have been abused by un concerned non owners.

 

[JRhetts]

Remember they are commercial vehicles and buying used mean they have been abused by un concerned non owners.

Amen!

 

[engineer]

c'mon guys, we're not all like that.......

 

[DontPanic42]

Long story short, I had a major oil leak right from the get go with my 2004 FG. Nearly 2 qts in 50 miles. The dealer picked it up and hauled it the 200 miles back to Ft. Worth. The "offical" story from the Mitsu rep was "normal use with break in oil". The dealership's service manager said it was a bad seal that they had to replace. I haven't used a drop of oil since. Who do you think was telling the truth? It was also during time when the President of the automotive division publicly apologized for not reporting manufacturing defects. Looks like the Mitsu Truck Rep for this area used to work for the automotive division.
I bought the truck through the Ft. Worth dealership of Bruckner Trucks. I have it serviced in Lubbock. Great people to work with. They are very helpful and have shipped me items that I have ordered and saved me the 400 mile round trip.

 

[kerry]

I bought my 99 Fuso used with 176k(?) miles on it. I drove it home from NC to CO with no problems (apart from a flat tire). I since have replaced the starter since I was getting some no start situations from poor contacts inside the starter itself. I have a slight oil leak which appears to be coming from the seal on the vacuum pump(?) on the front of the block, losing maybe a quart in 1500 miles. Sometimes my exhaust brake doesn't kick in. I think it must be a sticky switch or relay somewhere.
Engine was replaced prior to my purchase, I presume under warranty.
Syncros are worn in the transmission. From what I read on the net, this is a very common problem with manual transmission Fusos.
From what I read on the net, FG's have a strong reputation for reliability, particularly amongst the landscaping crowd.

 

[lehel1]

fuso problems ??

hello all

no problems on our 08 with 20k on it now.
what kind of problems have you been finding on your 07 ?? solutions ??

cheers lehel and laura

 

[dhackney]

Year: 2007
Model: FG140
Bought: new
Miles: ~30k miles / 48,280 km
Use: two years full time overlanding in North and South America
Load: elephantine

Mitsubishi related failures / repairs: none

 

[thefnswits]

glad to hear the lack of problems you guys have noted. my only problem was that It had an issue this week regarding the truck seemingly not holding boost. the service manager said it was a problem with the fuel tank and that it had a coating that the fuel dissolved and now they are replacing the tank. he said a new fuel pump may be in order as well... thankfully its all warranty, including the tow, because he said the fuel pump was almost two thousand dollars!!!

aside from that and alignment issues due to bad front tires, it has been good for the last 2 months ive had it. Unfortunately it was ****ting out on me after the first storm and I got a brand new V plow on it.. I was a little scared about my future relationship with my FG. I hope after this I dont need to get it in for any work for a loooong time.

oh, also the service manager said that these have paper matrix clutches from the factory that rarely see 30k miles before needing replacement? He said to look forward to a 1600-1800 dollar bill for that as well. Has anyone had issues with this?

take care all!

 

[FusoFG]

. I hope after this I dont need to get it in for any work for a loooong time.

oh, also the service manager said that these have paper matrix clutches from the factory that rarely see 30k miles before needing replacement? He said to look forward to a 1600-1800 dollar bill for that as well. Has anyone had issues with this?

take care all!

still on the original clutch at 120,000 miles

as far as no work for a long time, you still need to service it every 6000 miles.

 

[engineer]

I have one with 330k still on its first clutch, I suppose about 30-40% was @ 6 ton with 2 ton of trailer behind it over Cape York roads.
Issues so far have been,
Selector cables for transfer case rubbing through on front cross member,
Use of non genuine wheel cylinders lasting less than 40,000klm.
Anyone who doesn't use ****** bearings in the rears needs to reconsider, they are the only bearing that i can repack at 40,000 and then replace at 80,000 (klm)
genuine air filters are the only ones i've found that work 100%. A Donaldson pre-cleaner helps if you do sever dust conditions.
Clean the A/C pre filter every 20,000klms, otherwise you'll be spraying coil cleaner in your Evap to get the dust out.
Hinges on glove compartment are useless, sailtape is the best I've done so far.
Chassis cracks, not too much you can do if you drive them as hard as we do.

 

[GaryD]

My wife and I are considering a Fuso based camper in the US and one of the questions I have is - how reliable are they? Despite lots of reading here and some Googling (which mostly yields press releases), I have not turned up much info on problems and repairs. By comparison, in thinking about a used Earthroamer, I found all sorts of commentary on multiple forums about the Ford 6.0L and 6.4L engines and related pickups. Could be because there are much fewer problems with the Fuso - but I am guessing it's more likely, since Fusos are mostly commercial vehicles, that there is less enthusiasts' chat about them.

This thread is pretty short - so that's encouraging in terms of few problems listed - but maybe there are others who can add more experience since it was last posted? Or someone can suggest a commercial forum with info to check out? Thanks for any input. .............Gary

 

[kerry]

I think it's a combination of low numbers of FG's and Fuso's in general in the US and fewer enthusiasts on the web. Sunbelt Rental has owned lots of Fuso's so their fleet manager might be one of the most knowledgeable persons in the country on general reliability. I got the complete maintenance records from Sunbelt on my FG. Apart from regularly scheduled maintenance, the only thing I could find that had been replaced in 176k miles was the alternator and the driver's seat cushion. I don't think those record were complete however since I'm virtually certain that the engine was replaced at some point. I did have the local Fuso dealer look up the warranty records on my specific truck and it only showed one warranty claim at about 6 or 8k miles.
I got the transmission rebuilt and clutch replaced recently. Clutch was original according to the dealer. Syncros were badly worn. Cost about $3k. I have about 192k on it right now.
The oil leak I mentioned earlier in this thread was solved by tightening the bolts on the vacuum pump. Rear main seal was replaced when the clutch was out.

 

[westyss]

I think Kerry nailed it, not a lot of FG's out there, but they are known to be reliable and maintenance free( other than normal service) depends on how you intend on driving it, a friend who owns a large construction company has a couple and he speaks highly of them, he has never had any issues yet! and his employees drive the $hite out of them, he says the guys like to take the Fg because they can go through the Tim Horton's drive through, they also do a ton of work in rough country where the need for 4x4 is required to access excavators to re-fuel, this he says is where the Fg's earn their keep. Several construction companies here in BC use these trucks.

 

[mog]

I haven’t had my 2002 FG that long, but the service records are very complete. With 60,000 miles on it, the only services that have been done are the routine book service items.
It needed a quart of oil, and new wiper blades before driving it home from Colorado….hunk of junk
I’ve done a complete service/inspection on it and only have had to repair the passenger window motor (I was able to ‘overhaul’ it, but just cleaning up the brushes and communator) and reconnecting the water separator after cleaning (it was very dirt, so someone’s idea of a repair, was to bypass it).

So it is not a very good example at only 60k, but I’m impressed with it so far. And as the first truck I’ve had with a tilting cab for access….I’ll never go back. Nothing like having a front tire as a chair as you perform maintenance. The F-250 sure is getting nervous in the garage.