We all know there are inherent faults and problems with our chosen vehicle, Mitsubishi's L200. What I would like to do is create a Thread where the Membership can relate to others.

The year of their truck.
The fault(s) that have occurred.
The cause of the fault(s) if known.
The remedy.
How to prevent the fault(s) if possible.
What to look out for.

I believe this could be of value to us all.

Gary.

2004 Warrior (Classic) 92k

Preventative:
De-cat to improve the gas flow.
Remove EGR to eradicate the heat problems that a faulty one can cause in the cylinder head. Does not reduce performance!
Check the bottom pulley for delamination regularly.

All low cost maintenance so far.

Touching wood, I have never had this trouble with my truck but looking at the cast metal debris under the bonnet, the previous owner has had a major blow up. It has had the engine replaced just before I purchased it.

Preventative maintenance is best.

Dave

2002 FBW 4Life D/Cab

Repair to steering box, Leaking seals (possibly age related)
Replaced Clock spring, ribbon cable snapped (possibly age related)
Replaced Cylinder Head, cracked (thought it was due to breakdown of EGR cooler, EGR proved OK)
Stripped & refurbished Turbo, not working correctly (found quadrant not located with vane forks)
Removed EGR Valve & Cooler to protect Head

2003 4life double cab 70,000
rumbling noise that after a few months turned into a bad gassy sort of smell. Turns out the rear wheel bearing had gone and was getting hot enough to cook the oil/grease in the axle.

The year of their truck. 2003
The fault(s) that have occurred. Truck stinks and rumbling noise
The cause of the fault(s) if known. wheel bearing gone
The remedy. replace bearing/change diff oil
How to prevent the fault(s) if possible. non preventable I guess
What to look out for. rumbling noise followed by bad smell

Well, where do I start? I did de cat last year, what a difference,Apollo induction,then Replaced head gasket twice in three weeks,this august, two sets of rockers were shattered in process,replaced oil pump, replaced pulley etc,etc,,that went oval on me on way to an AGM? Sadly after nearly 2grand and almost three months off the road,although it was running a peach in the end,couldn't trust it with the caravan anymore.Had this truck straight from dealer 8 years ago so was sad to see it go

dear Sir

I have had nothing at all go wrong with my L200 in 15 years of ownership. it has performed faultlessly , taking me and my 12 children three times round the world , through all climates and temperatures - I would like to recommend the L200 to all motorists for absolutely all types of motoring. they surely are the best of all vehicles

Name and address supplied,
Head of marketing and sales
Mitsubishi UK

Oh Basil, that is a cracker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Posted by: Basil

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dear Sir

II have had nothing at all go wrong with my L200 in 15 years of ownership. it has performed faultlessly , aking me and my 12 children three times round the world , through all climates and temperatures - I would like to recommend the L200 to all motorists for absolutely all types of motoring. they surely are the best of all vehicles

Name and address supplied,
Head of marketing and sales
Mitsubishi UK

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Hello Dim Wot

You wish, SO DO I

Dear Mr Head of Mitsubishi Motoring ha ha ha ha ha

I though I had blown my turbo (have a spare so not too drastic) but it turned out to be a simple bad measurement on my part. I fitted and induction kit,ok, simple enough, I then added a short hose to the end of the cone on the induction kit to route it to the port hole on the inner wing, the same location as the standard filter routes to on the classics.
The hose I fitted was ever so slightly longer than it should have been and the suction from the induction kit slowly drew the hose into the cone until it stopped the air flow completely. I found it quickly and sorted it out but was a shock to see the intercooler hoses almost collapsed as the turbo tried to draw air in to the system.
My guess is that I will carry the replacement turbo around now because it could cause premature failure of the existing turbo while I am out and about.
Leason learned.

Crankshaft main bearing cap bolt snapped at around 90000 miles destroying the engine,new Milners engine fitted and no prolems since.

Firstly - nice thread Garyf we should get some good info on this one.

i had a rear uj fail at 96,000 miles the symptom was an intermitant clunk was coming from the rear end basically the prop shaft was torquing up and the clunk was the shaft settling back into place. I can almost guaruntee the failure would not have occured if proper greasing of the truck had been undertaken. the joint was greased by myself immediately after purchase as was the rest of the truck however the damage had already been done as the grease was not coming through on all four uj collars.

lower ball joint nsf failed, again due to lack of preventative maintenance (greasing) the nipple fitted was not allowing grease through to the joint so off it comes and a new one put on.

steering box failed - seals - common issue apparently age related given the miles on the truck and i verified in service history that power steering fluid has been fully drained and replaced at least four times in the life of the truck so it wasn't increased wear due to burnt out fluids.

I Guess the recurring theme of what I am saying is GREASE THOSE NIPPLES BOYS.... (and make sure the grease is getting where it needs to!!

I've also had to replace both front wheel bearings, front and rear brakes, de-cat and full exhaust, leaf springs at the rear (snapped during that lovely cold spell last year) milners general duty springs fitted excellent product.

manufacturing fault noted so far - spring hanger plates are made of cheese and easily broken.

prevention is always better than cure but i'll acknowledge that you cant prevent all failures..

Note that the truck is still standard really and does its job well its seen nearly 99000 miles its an 05 plate classic. If the engine blows i will replace it with a milners unit, The rest of the truck is so well designed and easy to work on even the most basically skilled diy'er with some good advice from the yoda's on here should be able to fix just about anything.

cheers

Malky

Mine's a 53 reg L200 4work.

Not much has gone wrong at all really - I had to change the leaf springs when i first bought it 7 months ago 'cause two of the leaves were broken but that was a taken into account during the deal!

Just recently, starting has been getting a bit sluggish with the dropping temperatures in the morning.
Last week I changed all the glow plugs and now she fires up quicker than a teenager watching his first blue movie!

Running sweet at the moment - touch wood!! (oh no, not that teenager again!)

Cheers,

John.

2003 bought from new.
had a vibrating 4x4 lever that was fixed under warranty.
Screeching layshaft bearing, reported on warranty but CCC bailed on it so fitted a box with 7k on it for 300 quid bargain been good ever since.
Front wheel bearing went, strangly it was the one Mitsi adjusted during a service?
One track rod end knocked out.
Rear axle wheel bearing was possibly duff, but did a diff lock axle conversion for less tan a Mitsi wheel bearing install.
Prop shaft centre bearing, nothing new there.
Last week the injection pump cracked a washer leaking diesel that contaminated the clutch, so had to have that done while in Aberdeen.

2005/55 plate classic curently has 59K on it, bought it at 52K.

4WD light was flashing when bought. faulty vacuume control valve replaced by the dealers i got it from.
reverse light was flickering too - dealer replaced the switch.
at about 57K i checked the wheel bearings and there was a bit of play so tightened them up using the how to that i made in the how to section!

2006 new shape 56k
Steering angle sensor @ 45k
Rear springs @ 30k
Leaking rear window @ 56k
Rusty bits @ 24k -56k#
Plus the numerous factory recalls
Thats said I drove 3500 miles down to spain and back and it never missed a beat

The year of the truck.

2005 4life 111000 miles


The fault(s) that have occurred.

3 days after buying clutch went, returned to dealiship and repaired under warrenty, cambelt changed 3 weeks later by local garage, bottom pully fell off causing massive damage to engine, sued garage and got £4880 compo, engine rebuilt, alternator failed last week, replaced, idiot forgot to tighten up vaccum pump seal leaked oil everywhere returned to garage with a few choice words and repaired properly.

The cause of the fault(s) if known.

Dodgey Dealerships and shady mechanics

The remedy.

Stopped paying people to work on the truck and started getting my hands dirty again

How to prevent the fault(s) if possible.

If the mechanic seems a little unsure, take it to a main dealer or if you have the ability, do it yourself

What to look out for.

Oil leaks, soft clutch pedal, Massive bangs when driving along resulting in total enginer failure followed by loads of smoke and loss of all controls!

The year of their truck: 2006
The fault(s) that have occurred: Alternator did not generate any power.
The cause of the fault(s) if known: Can be that i drowned it with muddy water.
The remedy: New one
How to prevent the fault(s) if possible: Dont drown it I suppose.
What to look out for: Muddy water.

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The year of their truck: 2006
The fault(s) that have occurred: Diff lock did not indicate when engaged.
The cause of the fault(s) if known: Cable to the sensor was cut.
The remedy: Taped it together
How to prevent the fault(s) if possible: Maintenance
What to look out for: N/A

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The year of their truck: 2006
The fault(s) that have occurred: Turbo Overboost.
The cause of the fault(s) if known: No idea.
The remedy: Adjusted the Turbo.
How to prevent the fault(s) if possible: Get a Turbo boost gauge.
What to look out for: Pressure over 1.3 bar.

The year of their truck: 2002
The fault(s) that have occurred: Bottom end went bang
The cause of the fault(s) if known: Bearings
The remedy: New engine
How to prevent the fault(s) if possible: Spend £300 on a rebuild kit if you suspect your engine is tired
What to look out for: Slight intermittent retardation of the engine when being pushed hard. I consider this an early warning.

2005 Classic Warrior, bought in Nov 11............

Since buying it, the alternator failed on route home from buying it and promptly broke down.
Clutch went in March this year along with the front O/S brake calliper sticking on and warping the disc.
Started with a miss 3 weeks ago. Suspect EGR but after investigation by Mitsi and £2500 later it's the fuel pump that's knackered.

It's an absolute shame as I love the truck, shame the 1 previous owner didn't give a f**k.

other than the recent which has been an ongoing issue i feel was instigated by the original belt change and a failure to use nutlock by the garage followed by a failed bottom pulley washer

one rear leaf spring - replaced both
2 sets of rear seat belts - dog
blocked pick up strainer
blocked vac pipe on rocker cover - known issue
broken nozzle on a vac unit - own fault -repaired
couple of blown bulbs

oh yes dripping steering box, replaced it

05 Warrior - 130k miles.

Both rear springs cracked
Power steering box
wobbley bottom pulley, (replaced just in time)
4x4/Difflock wouldn't engage - electrical switch on top of gearbox replaced. £30 part, £300 labour.

Coming from Land Rover ownership, that doesn't seem bad.

The year of their truck. 2004 53 plate
The fault(s) that have occurred.
(1) Big end no 2 failure resulting in a new crank at 70,000.
(2) Balance belt snapped causing the timing to be 1 tooth out at 105,000
(3) New crank shaft failed at 110,000 (could be related to either 1 or 2)

The cause of the fault(s) if known. Unknown by suspect oil pump or other oil supply related problem. Could have even been a faulty oil pressure switch who knows

The remedy. Milners long engine and replacing everything I could afford.

How to prevent the fault(s) if possible. Unknown. The truck had oil changes every 5,000 miles using castrol or fuchs oils. Belt changes at 55,000 and 105,000.

What to look out for.
(1) Slight tapping noise getting louder and louder over the course of 2 miles
(2) Sounded like number 1. The relief when the timing belt cover came off!
(3) Lots of pretty lights on the dashboard followed by a James Bond smoke screen behind and a super quite engine.

The faults with the truck could not have been foreseen. Serviced regulary, Egr blanked off and removed as soon as I got it, de-catted soon after so I do not know what else I could have done to prevent the failures. I suspect the 1st crank failure was linked to the second which makes me think oil pump or pressure switch but as there was no sign of any oil lights prior to either failure and oil was still pumping up to the cam shaft it is pure speculation.

1992 L200 import (Strada)

1. Head gasket failure due to blocked rad and crack in head. Caused by previous owner filling rad with mud and never cleaning it out (New head, cambelts, radiator and replacement of most of the cooling system. Balance belt was also found to be broken.)
2. Anti roll bar half disconnected. Caused by previous owner wanting more articulation off road (Replaced arb bushes with poly bush items)
3. Pitman and layman arms very badly worn. Caused by previous owner never greasing them after wading (replaced)
4. Bottom ball joints badly worn. Caused by previous owner never greasing them. (Replaced which is one of the hardest jobs in the world)
5. Rear spring hanger bushes failed (Changed with poly bush items)
6. Electrical fire number 1. Caused by left over live spotlight wiring by previous owner. (All aftermarket wiring removed)
7. Electrical fire number 2. Caused by aftermarket wiring for the xenons fitted by previous owner. (Re-wired properly)
8. Injectors blocked. Caused by previous owner at somepoint removing the sealing washers and heat washers from them. (Re-furbed)
9. Turbo leaking. (Replaced td04 with tf035)
10. Front left diff seal leaking (replaced)
11. Glow plugs replaced
12. All rear brakes wrecked. Full of mud when checked as previous owner never cleaned them. New shoes, cylinders and brake lines.


All in less than 300 miles

After all this it should now last.

2007 (56plate) Warrior new shape.
Bought from new. Now done 69k miles.
2011 tiny vacuum pipe fell off inlet manifold. EML light on, slight loss of accelleration and top speed.
Pushed back on and secured with dab of super glue re-set eml.
Bolts for under tray snapped, annoying but typical of the quality used.Drill out and replace.

Tyres wore evenly replaced all 4 at 52k, front brake pads replaced at 65k and new battery at same time, has passed 3 MOT's no advisories.
Road use only but has been all over Europe, several trips of over 3k in Pyrenees and High Alps summer and winter, cruise at 70uk, 80 on continent.
Very good MPG for what it is, Mitzi services during guarantee but now do my own. Water and oil checked weekly and on long trips, I have never had to top up water or oil on this truck ever.
All belts changed by Mitzi dealer this year because it was a good deal and 2 year guarantee.
Always conscious of problems experienced by others but in all honesty it has performed way above expectation despite hard driving and heavy loading and towing at times, just needs servicing every 12.5k which is just an excuse to get the spanners out now I have retired.
Basic shape is my only criticism but I bought it to drive not to spend hours in the garage.

2006 warrior 66k miles - 42k with me driving
1 broken rear leaf spring
1 failed clock spring
Leaky rear windows.
2 front window regulators needed reattaching
1 rust patch.
My only complaints the rust patch and the leaky rear windows.

2011 Barbarian 21k miles - 3.5k with me driving
Airbag light relit again!
Kenwood DNX7240 bt stereo - has failed 3 times in the past 2 weeks meaning no sat nav
Fuel economy 27mpg for the past 2 weeks using cruise at 70 - 80 mph, poorer than I expected!

I am still happy enough to have bought a second!