Isuzu sends free parts to repair runaway engines

Motor importers have persuaded Japan's Isuzu company to supply free replacement parts to stop engines speeding up uncontrollably on four-wheel-drive vehicles.

The Independent Motor Vehicle Dealers Association says it had to lobby the Japanese company after Isuzu's agent in this country, Holden New Zealand, refused to pay for parts for more than 800 used imported Bighorn and Wizard three-litre models.

Association chief executive David Vinsen said yesterday that Holden would accept liability only for new vehicles sold through its dealer network, but Isuzu in Japan had been most co-operative once alerted to the problem.

He said the company issued a recall last year because of fuel injector problems which put vehicles at risk of compression ignition, making it physically impossible to stop the engine running.

"The motor builds up speed until it eventually blows," Mr Vinsen said.

"If the car is in motion it will start going faster and faster and the only way to stop the car is to put the gear in neutral and coast to the side of the road."