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First Time Isuzu Trooper Owner

trooper_rontrooper_ron Member Posts: 7
edited March 2014 in Isuzu
Just purchased a 96 trooper with 92k mi. Love this car. What scheduled maintenance should be performed at this mileage? Does anyone know of a good mechanic on the east coast for hire, I live in ny Is there a good place to get salvaged parts? I would like to get black leather seats front and rear.

Thanks
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  • tidestertidester Member Posts: 10,059
    Have a look at Maintenance Schedule.

    tidester, host
    SUVs and Smart Shopper
  • trooper_rontrooper_ron Member Posts: 7
    Thanks for your help
  • atfdmikeatfdmike Member Posts: 414
    Just a thought, but the timing belt is recommended to be changed on the early second gen Troopers at 60,000 miles, and every 60,000 after that. Do you know or have a way of finding out if this was done. The engine is non-interference, but it can be a miserable experience if the belt goes while on the road and you have to have it towed and repaired.
  • trooper_rontrooper_ron Member Posts: 7
    Thats a very good question and I have no way of knowing if it was done, ever. I would like to have it done just for peace of mind. Are you aware of the price range for that job? Should I bundle other work to be done at the same time? Are you aware of a good mechanic on the east coast that might be able to handle this and other Trooper related work.

    thanks again
  • atfdmikeatfdmike Member Posts: 414
    Unfortunately, I don't know any mechanics or owners on the East Coast that I could steer you to.
    The work that needs to be done to change the timing belt is time consuming, and the parts that generally replaced along with the belt are the idler pulley, tensioner pulley, and water pump. The water pump because it is so expensive to do the work in the first place, that it makes sense to do the pump while there rather than risk having to do it out of cycle with the belt. There is also a hydraulic pusher that keeps tension on the belt, but that is usually OK unless you are hearing noises from the front of the engine that are unusual.
    Kits for doing this can be found on Ebay, but depending on how far you want to replace parts, the parts can range from $30 for just the belt to $250 for everything I mentioned above. This can be quite an expensive job, especially now that you have an older vehicle. If you are handy with tools and have some aptitude, many owners do the work themselves, but it is easily a 4 hour job for most. Your best bet is to find a local mechanic that has worked on vehicles with timing belts, as they are quite a bit less expensive (normally) than a dealer. Dealers also require genuine OEM parts, so the price goes up there too. I have heard the price range to be anywhere from $200 for $600 for labor. If you email me with your email address I can send you a nice pdf that will familiarize you with the job. Good luck.
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    My dad paid about $500-600 for the timing belt on our 2000 Trooper w/water pump in the NYC area from a local mechanic.

    -mike
  • trooper_rontrooper_ron Member Posts: 7
    atfdmike;

    I want to thank you for your help, its good to know what might lay ahead with this car and it helps to be informed. I am not very mechanical so I would probably choose the local mechanic option. Still, I would like to see the pdf just to get an understanding of the mechanics involved. My email is cook061560@yahoo.com

    Best regards

    Ron
  • trooper_rontrooper_ron Member Posts: 7
    Hi All

    I recently went for an oil change and the mechanic noticed a leak. The oil leak is at the gasket between the engine and transmission. The leak is not noticeable by me but I want to address it soon. How serious is this and what is the approximate cost in parts and labor for replacing this gasket. Should this be bundled into the timing belt replacement and is there anything else that should be addressed at the same time?

    Thanks again,
  • trooper_rontrooper_ron Member Posts: 7
    Can anyone recommend a good/honest trooper mechanic on the east coast? I live in ny but will travel between ct and nc

    Thanks
  • boxtrooperboxtrooper Member Posts: 843
    http://www.creechimport.com/
    ..
    Please tell Steve or Stan that BoxTrooper sent you so I can get a discount.
    ..
    They are a small business and family run. CreechImports started out as an Isuzu shop only. They have good mechanics. Most of all, you can trust them to not sell you things you don't need, while making sure you know about things that truly are about to go bad so they can fix it before it gets expensive. They are experts at knowing what the know typical failures are and how to look for them. They will tell you if they are having trouble finding an intermittent problem, and ask before trying something to fix it that might not fix it.
  • trooper_rontrooper_ron Member Posts: 7
    Thanks so much for your help, I'll be sure to give them a call and mention BoxTrooper.
    Much appreciated
  • muttley1muttley1 Member Posts: 15
    Thank you for the recommendation. Being in the DC area, was wondering if you might also know of a good Trooper shop here? Perhaps for bigger jobs I would make the drive, as Raleigh is a nice city anyway, but for small work would like to find a local guy.
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