Mitsubishi worried over faulty fuel tanks
Troubled Japanese carmaker Mitsubishi is recalling hundreds of thousands of estate cars found to have defective fuel tanks.
The manufacturer ordered the recall after discovering that variations in air pressure caused fuel tanks in its RVR and Chariot Grandis models to swell and contract, causing cracks, said company spokesman Tetsuro Miyano.
In a separate fault, valves on fuel tanks were found to knock against the vehicles' bodies, he said.
The cars were manufactured between October 1997 and April 2001.
Both structural imperfections allow fuel to leak or evaporate from the tanks, said Miyano.
The vehicles are sold in Japan and Europe, with Ireland also believed to have been a market for the vehicles.
