Around 15 percent to 17 percent of the army's US-made Humvees have developed serious starter-motor problems in recent years due to human errors, the military said in a recent publication.
Around half of these malfunctioning vehicles are still unusable, while the rest have been repaired and are back in operation, the army said.
The number of Humvees suffering from the problem may approach 1,000, but the army did not provide a figure in the September issue of its logistics journal, which is published every six months. The journal is posted on the Ministry of National Defense's (MND) Web site for public viewing.
The army identifies in the publication the major cause of the problem as human error on the part of drivers and mechanics.
The report said drivers failed to operate the Humvees according to technical manuals and mechanics neglected vehicle maintenance requirements.
The drivers were found to have started the vehicles without waiting for the warming process to conclude, which would cause considerable damage to the starter motor.
The correct procedure is described clearly in the manual but appears to have been ignored.
Many mechanics did not apply the correct pressure in screwing on the three bolts that keep the starter motor in place, according to the report, which caused the motor to become loose and malfunction.
In some extreme cases, the mechanics did not even bother to tighten the three bolts.
It is the first time that the army has openly admitted to serious maintenance problems involving the Humvees, which are a key transport vehicle in the service.
The army bought in the Humvees in the early 1990s after reviewing their performance in the Gulf War.
However the vehicles did not perform as well as expected, army officials said, although the problem may lie with the Humvees' users.
Those who use the vehicle are mainly conscripts who have driving or car-repair experience prior to serving in the military.
These conscripts, most of whom do not have a strong educational background, are not in the habit of consulting technical manuals for vehicle operations.
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