I have a manual 2014 SX space cab. Fridge behind passenger in cab. Hayman Reese Xbar. Lucky its still under waranty. I do love my MUX and its bells and whistles but gee I hope thats all that is going to go wrong this early in the piece! Hes running an auto locka, and installed 2 aftermarket ones, which are basically made of cheese. Is the vehicle still drivable? I would say 55,000km is not how long a clutch should last for. Ive been looking at a DMax for a number of years now to replace my 2010 Hilux due to its limited towing capacity. Ive also seen a lot of people installing Colorado body mounts, which are apparently more solid, but as to whether this makes the actual issue any better or not, I couldnt say. They are a great vehicle, but not perfect. Firstly, sorry to hear you are having issues. 2013 dmax replaced a clutch at 30000 ,rattle in motor when cold from new for 4 seconds ,squeel in front wheel oil seals from new a bit of wd40 once a week looks after that left hand front tyre chops put suspension all checked out ok, loose radiator fluid since new 1lt month car has 100000 on it now still goes good had a roos ECU remap plenty of towing power now. Support strap of inner battery clamp to outer guard incase battery rocking causing inner guard cracking. I do approx. They make great vehicles, and Id happily own most of their range. Im looking to buy a new 21 model and give the 10 to the missus but you are so right there isnt a perfect 4wd out there but these are a great bus. we bought a D-Max in 2013. we have had nothing but problems. I dont know what the future holds, but I have no doubt that at some point in time when things open up internationally there is going to be a huge flood of 4WDs, campers, caravans, boats and every other leisure toy on the market, and they will have no choice but to offload them at a lower price. Any suggestion as to the correct procedure when installing a lift kit? I have never owned a Toyota 4WD and wont ever. The old Jackaroos were a fantastic vehicle, and you are right; Isuzu know how to make a vehicle. Over the previous 20 years I have had 3 x Jackaroos (the last being a Diesel). All fibres are worn off. We can only assure them we dont ride the clutch. Ironically, several of the problems we have had have been the result of aftermarket gear. The dealer said the issue is that small that they cant get a good read on the issue and said I just have to drive it until it breaks down. Maybe look at almost anything else. Have decided a new D'max and have asked for a 2 inch lift from the dealer. religious services of CASTROL full synthetic 5w30 to 300 000kms now using Nulon 10W40 diesel. This is the same with the gearbox; if it had an issue under warranty and you took it there, and they did nothing, they are still liable for the repairs. I got my Dmax a 40K service 2or3 weeks ago the fuel filter light came on about a week before service, it cost me $1400 to fix . However thats a long list of shortcomings? At 175k and 95% highway running only. Thanks for the comment, and the story. Our trip to Nannup was nearly cut short by a transfer case seal failure. I have a 2018 Dmax and by 10k after service its dropped to half on the dip stick, and about a third quarter of a plastic 600ml water bottle caught in catch can. Keep a keen eye on it, and I hope it works out well. Ken. Ive got a 2017 duel cab 44 Dmax. cab mounts were replaced every 40 000kms. Our goal is to buy a semi-offroad caravan with more powerful vehicle, not necessarily brand new. There will be wear and tear on other items as well though, but if its done a lot of long distance driving and less 4WDing it might be limited. Vehicle reliability is quite hard to compare; ours has seen a fair bit of off road work, but perhaps yours has too. Isuzu, nor any other manufacturer have zero grounds to palm a warranty issue off on any modifications unless they can prove that the modification caused the problem. Alloy Isuzu tray(Triple M) canvas canopy in sail track with engineered load bearing alloy roof and rails. its bad when i use it to call people and they answer with their mobile its rubbish. The Dmax CVs seem to be at a disadvantage from the factory though, with the differential sitting slightly further back than it other vehicles, and this puts more stress on them to start off with. Still have such issues (1.9 European engine). It might pay to take it somewhere that spends more time, and charges more for a better result. They will take the strain. Fair enough. A competent working diesel towing up hill gives you more time to soak in the magic wide, brown land, or give wildlife time to escape collision. I pointed out that the GVM upgrade was done in Nov 2019 after the initial cracks. I an quite stressed we are going to be left with the blame and a hefty bill. Of course, you can rip the dash out and replace the head unit, which is what we will be doing soon. Hi, Mine will be getting checked shortly with a camera through the oil fill hole, and I wouldnt be surprised to see damage. Dmax Store | . Might as well buy a 1984 Lada Niva. Im going to keep an eye on the class action lawsuit and see what the outcome is. The Hilux is also a good vehicle, and as long as you keep on top of the injectors they are a great motor. Maybe. Neither I or insurance at the time knew it was a common issue. We prefer going off-grid in national parks & free camping in the bush over caravan parks. Touch wood, Ive had no issues with bigger tyres and a 30mm lift kit, but I drive it as carefully as possible and have installed a diff drop kit. I specifically bought the older version Dmax. I would speak to your local dealer, and if you have no luck with them, consider trying Isuzu Ute Australia head office on 07 3151 5888. It will sit on 100 most of the time, but it has to work hard to do so. Really disappointed and I hope this post saves at least one other person from this fate. We live in Perth (no longer working since 2017 yippee!!) I could have paid the same price for a brand new one, but opted for the last of the pre DPF models. I have a 2021 extra cab 42, 15000km from new. Maybe 2023 I will have it back (on the upside, I have learnt that public transport isnt as bad as I thought). It works OK, but isnt as good as some other variants on the market. But. Hopefully its al sorted now, and you get to enjoy a few years of trouble free motoring! I would be too! The 21 will be a giant change, but all the best with it! Very interesting articles, Ive just about sold my Nissan y62, and was keen to buy a Isuzu MY15, July onwards, but on reading the brassed of owners, 2nd choice was 2014 hilux, but really Im just about gone full circle, GQ1988swb, non turbo, good old plugger and even spend $10,000 total recon motor, seems ok I have heard of a significant number of these being done. Have a problem with the front sway bar. Those that are made a point of are not major (like Ford Ranger engine failures, for example, which are posted on the Facebook page just about every week!). Now they are telling my mate that the amber lights on the roof could void warranty. Sometimes this is easy to do, but if you havent changed anything significant (especially motor/wiring/chip/OBD scanner related) I cant see how they can argue it. Ford dont offer a cooler and the dealer wont fit an after market one. That said, even though they mount to different points they are still attached together. Getting anything from overseas is a disaster at the moment, and Isuzu will be caught up in it like everyone else. hands free sucks so bad. Donaldson 10 micron prefilter. Shower awning. Enough D-Max and MU-X owners have experienced problems with cracks in the metal of the engine bay, that we can't ignore it as a potential watch-out. If you still have problems with rear when loaded.over your normal weight. If they say its out of warranty, I would argue that 5 years is not a reasonable life span especially when its a known problem, and despite it being out of warranty it should be covered. I have a love affair for the Isuzu because its frugal on fuel and reliable to the max. Headlights are very poor and there is no genuine option yet. This was the SX, and base model, in automatic. You can confirm this quite easily by putting it in third gear when stopped, and trying to take off. You can replace them yourself, but it will be at your cost, and then Isuzu doesnt get the feedback that they really need. Do you know anything about this problem or maybe point me in the right direction to fix this. This has been an extremely stressful time. Hi Aaron, Some people have broken CVs with factory tyres and no lift. Done Simpson Desert, Plenty Highway, Birdsville Track, Oodnadatta Track, Cape York, Savannah Way, Cape Tribulation Track, Fraser and Moreton Islands. My last piece of advice would be to wait a few more months to ensure that there are no issues the first owners are having. after 1k i serviced it and found chunks of metal in the diff. Your comment about weekly failures with the motors of Ford Rangers is false and misleading. If you want to know how much the total build cost, you can read about it here Dmax build cost. Recently returning to NSW from Queensland, I had to obtain a Blue Slip for registration and the guy that did it (Isuzu Dealer) said the only thing wrong with my car, was that there was nothing all wrong with it. Excellent choice. Only you can answer that! there should be no play. Linds. Weve just recently gone and bought a Lifestyle Reconn R2 Hypercamper which is about 2.3 tonnes loaded and you really notice it! I have braced bullbar by getting scrub rails incase bullbar causing inner guard cracking. They are a great vehicle. It can happen during an 8hr drive or 2min into a school pick up run and doing any speed. I have a 2018 SX duel cab with a steel tray and just the basic mods, Bull bar, 2 suspension up grade, larger tires and a catch can also 60k on the clock. Surely we can have it done by our fellow and send them the bill. There must be hundreds of these that have failed by now. 2022 Dmax 3" suspension lift - YouTube 0:00 / 15:46 2022 Dmax 3" suspension lift PROCHECK Automotive Mechanical & Dyno Tuning 2.8K subscribers Subscribe 8.2K views 9 months ago PROCHECK. you should be able to jack the front end up and grab the centerlink, then shake it back and forth. Any lights on the dash? You comments re the Bushman fridge are spot on. Ill be driving along and just go into limp mode. Ive heard of the compressors failing, but the alternator and crank battery says something isnt right with your battery setup. Are you familiar with this issue as my local mechanic has the same issue with their RACV call out vehicle. G`day Aaron I have a Dmax 2015 dual cab, diesel, auto, no mods, 13K. Are you looking at the figures after each alignment? I assume its auto? But the car is so poorly built i wouldnt be surprised if theres a hole in the reservoir somewhere. Mine seems to catch around 250ml per 10k but doesnt seem to drop much on the dipstick. First idea was fit locker, eliminate problem. It should be under $100 on its own. Ive seen a couple of front differentials blow up off road and puncture the actual diff, and a few DPF issues, but for the most part they seem to have made a significant improvement. They knocked back the warranty claim saying it was from my cord Bullbar. DIY LIFT KIT INSTALL SECRETS! Given people have had inner guards crack on vehicles with heavy aftermarket bull bars, as well as the Isuzu aluminium ones and even without bull bars, I think its safe to say the bull bar doesnt cause the cracking. Ive never heard of the crank snapping unless its running serious power, but I assume its all standard. Good article! I think youll find bad points about every vehicle, and the MY15 model Dmax and MUXs are a decent vehicle. Flipped it over like directions say but now the steering tie rods rub the sway bar enough to tear the rubber boots. The front end is total crap and after putting a lokka in the front, I broke 3 CVs and finally the whole front diff (https://youtu.be/-YDLrn1trEs). Catchcan from Flashlube. Cheers for the comment. Like all Toyotas they are as reliable as Sunrise. Have you had any issues with it? Ive had the Dmax for nearly 5 years now, and clocked up about 77,000km in it. At the time of purchase, Id heard of a couple of turbos going on the newer model with the DPF, and since then I have heard of a huge number. The air con compressor packed up at about 200k. Ill weigh it all up again when that time comes. The insurer said they believe its a manufacturing defect also hence the cash settlement as opposed to authorising the repairs and giving a lifetime warranty on them. I appreciate your response. I have almost no savings now and after all this trying to move my family from Tennant Creek NT back to Victoria with no Air conditioning. Customer was very happy with our service as well as BDS lift kits in getting this sorted right away. The ACCC makes it very clear that any product purchased in Australia must do what a reasonable person would expect it to. The solution is stainless steel tie road sleaves from RR Products. Not ideal to fault find. Hi Aaron, Permalink. 2020 dmax 1.9L rz4e less than 5,000km on the clock, the rear main seal is leaking. Emma , Hi Aaron, Sounds like youve had a good run with the Rodeo; they are a great vehicle too. Its got enough power to be reasonable, and a lot if you are used to some of the older diesel 4WDs, but its got nothing on other Utes like the Ford Ranger, Ford Raptor or V6 Volkswagen Amarok. All good but smoke just visible, 12 months later manifold blocked again . A few people have had theirs replaced (and realistically they are a consumable) earlier than they should have. Am I alone with the above concerns? I appreciate it. Independent front suspension vehicles are notorious for breaking CVs, especially when a lift is fitted. You will not be able to sit on 100km/h when there are hills at all around; it just wont happen. Has anyone got any thoughts on this. Leo, Hi I have a 2018 dmax and seem to be having continuous wheel alignment issues, only just clocked over 50k and had multiple wheel alignments and still scrubbing out the insides, factory fitted tyres lasted 35k ish? Hi Aaron 116k on the clock. Of course, theyve come about in order to meet environmental emission regulations, so they are here to stay. 401 000kms. All the best with your new vehicle! Both makes are great reliable Utes. Re the cracks The drivers door window constantly plays up, Ive had the touchscreen replaced under warranty, have switched to ARB locking diffs as I know the OE one crack it early on plus the traction control is sub standard to rely on for a modern 44. Interesting about the Alphatech piggyback; Id heard of them before and might give our Dmax a tickle at some stage in the future. Yep, this is a pretty well known issue. The DPF was recently replaced at no cost to us and when the vehicle had done 140,000km. Has anyone else had this problem? The dash has a loud audible clicking noise coming from inside on the passenger side when in drive with the foot on the brake and the air conditioner switch wont stay on unless continually pressed in. This last one they slightly over filled onto the yellow so when I took it back it was down to the full dot and they said it hadnt used and is fine then wanted to close the case until I said no and did another 3000km and its dropped 5mm from the dot. On thing i did do and am blown away with, is a new Gturbo fitted, not because the factory one was playing up. Ive heard some sketchy things about these safety features, and people are using blacked out business cards to stop the sensors from working to overcome it. Turbo went in under 10,000km had a strange noise from motor that head office couldnt explain and loads of other issues. I have sent emails to Isuzu and have not heard a work back that is very disapointing to us. I would get a locker instead of the LSD. Apart from that it has been quite good. Zero problems. Thats fantastic. Your review seems to bear this out. They were welded back up under insurance as they thought it might have to do with an accident in 2018. Keep an eye on the body mounts; they are the primary cause of the body cracking issues. If you keep it light weight, and dont change the tyre size to anything bigger you should be able to do it all legally and reasonably well. Im also waiting for my aircon to fail, but no issues so far. Here are the most common axle issues associated with small lift kits. Some thought has gone into avoiding issues as best I can. I am a mechanical fitter by trade, and am very familiar with the difference between hard work and abuse. Have you got quotes to repair it? These motors are supposed to do 500,000km without any issues according to their sales spiel. You can ring Isuzu directly and speak to them; it might be worth doing that. Fitting bigger tyres to your 4WD; what should you consider? Replaced EGR under warranty, clutch at 200k, 2 transfer case actuators (water ingress),otherwise excellent. Hopefully your run so far improves! so far, i do not have problem like you wrote above. I hear they are quite hard to come by. Suspension while easy enough to simplify down to four springs and four shock absorbers, is far more complicated than that. We have a 2016 Hilux at the moment and can honestly say nothing has gone wrong with her to date except the dpf. Has made the world of difference. Id happily drive around in an old hilux workmate instead. Sorry if that upsets you. Yep, were happy with Amaron. Im sure they do deny it. You can read more about that here; Dmax leaking transfer case seal. Sometimes their owners will acknowledge it, but more often than not they dont! Thanks Paul. The front end is pathetic I did read from an Isuzu technician that it is caused by soft body mounts that wear out and are not replaced often enough, and have seen a number of them cracking at the front, so keep an eye on it. It does sit on 110-120km/hr very nicely though. Any useful feedback from them? Ive had numerous problems with mine so got rid of it. Sorry to hear. Now sitting on 165k and the vehicle is awesome. The Gturbo certainly does make a big difference in power. There is something nice about an old, simple vehicle, but we found that the age of components just kept resulting in things going wrong. Any car maker that knows of a production problem yet lets cars get built & sold with so many defective diffs, front ends and gearboxes anyway is a joke. If you can prove the paint wasnt done right from the factory they should have no leg to stand on. The gearbox tries to use the torque converter lockup like its a 10 speed gearbox, if i sit on 80kms/hr on the flat highway it goes from 5th locked down to 5th unlocked to 4th unlocked and back up and down we go. The evaporator has cracked it due to dodgy lines apparently. All that said, I take on board the comments re the inner guard issue as this is not the first report of the issue that I have heard, and I will ensure this is inspected at the 230k service. What are your thoughts on the 2016 Dmax MY15.5 extra cab for towing 2500kg caravan? Let me know below! A lot of people fit older model diffs with the same ratio, but they have an LSD and technically make your vehicle illegal. I understand the towing capacity and power on the new model is far superior? It is the pre DPF model. Good to hear you had a great run from the Rodeo. Thats a fair chunk of kilometres, but if its got a full service history and has been well cared for it could be a good option. They only way they can decline warranty is if the transmission cooler caused an issue, which it wont if its correctly suited to the vehicle and recommended + fitted by a specialist. Tom. You can get an LSD. I had 2 petrol v6 Toyota Utes prior to these. Asides from that, you have purchased a vehicle that isnt doing what it should. Cheers Tim from Tassie . I test drove a manual with my heart set on buying one but the lag was even worse. Of course, if its causing fault codes then you have a whole different leg to stand on. I would suggest Pedders as an option, if you have one nearby. 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