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Fuso Clutch Defect Cover-up Recall Scandal

May 2004

Mitsubishi Fuso and Bus Japan

Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Recall

Number Potentially Involved: 182,250

Dates of Manufacture:

Defect: Clutch box. A faulty metal part covering the clutch box can cause the drive shaft, an engine transmission mechanism to the rear wheels, to detach. This damages brake lines, leading to possible brake failure.

Other defects - parking brakes, propeller shaft - are listed towards the end.

Likely Chain of Events in A Fatal Accident

May 21, 2004. Asahi Newspaper published what the police investigating this accident probably thinks happened.

• The 39-year old driver was driving on Sanyo Expressway from Kagoshima to Osaka.
• In Kumage, part of the drive shaft, which transmits the engine's power to the rear wheels, fell off the truck.
• The driver decided to take an exit at Kumage Interchange, 3.4 km from where the police later found pieces of the drive shaft, probably to investigate the matter.
• The remaining part of the drive shaft started vibrating severely and destroyed the adjacent brake line.
• There was a steep downhill slope and the driver was unable to stop.
• The truck crashed into an entrance to an underground tunnel for pedestrians after breezing through a toll gate.

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(Last Updated: June 11, 2004.)