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Comments
-mike
Unfortunately, I was informed by Isuzu Owner Relations that the part which was to be release from their vendor in early February will not be released until March 14 (plus shipping time).
I must say this is the sorriest excuse for a company's ability to effectively deal with customers and warranty work in a reasonable timeframe I have ever experienced. It will take 3 months (that is if they're telling me the truth) to get a simple part for a newer vehicle.
I'm glad I'm not stranded in the sahara.
Has anyone out there ever encounter a similar problem? And if so, did Isuzu make any options available to you to get back on the road?
-mike
I asked my Allstate rep about it and he said there was some sort of statewide increase related to the state's catastrophic fund being a little short on funds. I think he said it should be about $75 a year for each vehicle. He also said that it's hard to tell where the actuaries come up with these numbers.
Perhaps something similar happened in North Carolina?
A couple years ago, we actually got a decent-sized refund from Allstate. Apparently the state's catastrophic fund had grown pretty large and they decided to refund money for each vehicle that was insured as of a certain date. Of course, that just happened to be an election year
Anyway, the guy at the trailer place says $200 for a Draw-Tite and $150 for installation and wiring. Seems like a job I can do myself...
Any suggestions for on-line sources? The wiring on the trailer is four prongs on a flat plug... the trailer guy says I'll need some converter to make the lights work correctly.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
-mike
This makes for a great opportunity to get a Trooper! If you are lurking on this board and considering the purchase of a Trooper, now would be a great time to make the move.
-because of low financing incentives, sales of new vehicles are way up, creating a glut of used cars out there. prices are more competitive for all sorts of used vehicles, not just the trooper.
-the public's infatuation with car-like suv's is depressing the price of all truck based products, not just the trooper.
I also notice when reapplying the throttle, after decelerating on level ground, the engine rpms immediately go up to a level 300-400 rpms above where it settles one second later.
I took the vehicle to the local Isuzu dealer. They determined it to be low of trans fluid and stated they added one quart. At that time I asked if the trans needed service and was told no need until 30,000 (I was also told this at the same dealership in Oct of 2000).
The symptoms did not change and I returned the vehicle one week and 250 miles later. I was told the computer failed to find a problem, running one quart low of fluid should not cause a problem, the symptom was not duplicated on test drive, and I would need complete trans service to the tune of $250 as recommended in the Owner's Manual for "severe duty use" "as a starting point." This is a bit inconsistent with my Manual; it is also interesting that the Service Manager asked no questions about my driving habits but said the "severe" duty definition was written in such a way to include almost everyone. This, too, is inconsistent with my Owner's Manual and my Workshop Manual. Oh yes, I was charged a $30 diagnostic fee because the dealer could find no problem, therefore could not bill Isuzu.
The issue is complicated by the fact that this dealer filled the trans 18,000 miles ago, it has not been touched since then, and it is not leaking.
Could this be "normal" for this trans (I have not noticed it until now), what kind of damage would one expect if the fluid were low (1 or more quarts), and where should I go from here?
Thanx for your help...
jim
If this happened out of the blue after my warranty ran out I would do a flush now and go back with synthetic to see if that would solve the problem.
Given that you have the dealer already involved for some time I suggest you stress the fact that you have never done severe duty. That the book IIRC doesn't require you to even check the level (at least before 30k mis). That the level was low through no fault of yours for up to 18k mis since you saw no signs of leaking. If this made the service severe duty then that is Isuzu's fault for having a leaky design with no level check requirement and/or the dealer's fault for underfilling. In either case, it should be fixed at no cost to you WHATEVER THAT TAKES.
I would try another Isuzu dealer if at all possible to get a second opinion and maybe much better service. You could also try an AT shop to get their take on the condition and harm from running 1 qt low for maybe up to 18k mis. In either case I suggest you initially only tell them your symptoms and then let them do their diagnosis. Afterwards you can give them "the rest of the story" and see if that changes/reinforces their assessment. The AT shop report could then be used as leverage against the present dealer.
Good luck.
Also, the wiring connector from HH has 5 pins to connect to the Trooper plug but ends in 4 pins at the trailer connector: 3/1.
I just tightened it to 24 lbs-ft and hope that will be OK until I get the real number from one of you guys. My Maxima needs 22 lbs-ft and it's a smaller bolt.
By the way, my first experience with my dealer's service dep't wasn't good. I called today to ask the question above and the "service manager" who answered said there's not a torque spec for that bolt. Right!! How many of us have had our bolts stripped at quick-oil-change places or even dealers where they use air wrenches? When I told him I knew better, his lame reply is that the Isuzu mechanics only work every other Saturday and this was their off day. Funny, the guy who sold us the car said they have full Isuzu service every Saturday, not just checkups and lubes.
FWIW my experience is that no dealer ever gives out such "top secret" information. They want you to pay them for service. If they tell you how to do it yourself then that is one less job they get paid to do. Also, in Isuzu's defense only so much information can fit in the owner's manual in the glove box. In fact the service manuals fill up 3 large 3-ring notebooks.
I was surprised that the Trooper manuals are so much more expensive than the Sedona manual. I can't think of any good reason why.
Bluedevils, if it makes you feel any better, the manual for a 2000 Maxima is $275 plus shipping (3 volumes). Can you guess why I haven't bought it, yet?
Oh yeah, exhaust system buzzing, rattle is FIXED!!
It required the replacement of the muffler. By the way, if you guys think manuals are expensive for these vehicles, try pricing a muffler at over $400 from St. Charles ISUZU!! Yes thats right, more than $400. I had to go with an OR (original replacement) couldn't swallow the Isuzu price. There is some difference though. The replacement has more of a throaty sound to it, not quite a quiet as the original during acceleration. I'll be watching mileage to see if there's any change that could have been due to back pressure in the muffler that was rattling.
Happy Trooping !!!
-mike
Thanks again for the advice. Paisan, did you have to do any drilling on your 98 to get it installed?
-mike
So now our 00 Trooper with 27K mi is in the shop again. This time the CEL came on and stayed on so that my husband could drive it to the dealer and actiually show them what is happening.
BTW, all these CEL's are AFTER having engine head(?) replaced due to casting defects in 2 of the cylinders (had it towed because it stalled and overheated - all coolant disappered thru the cracks in the cylinders)... Now they are telling us that one of the cylinders is firing two times slower then the others. I do not know what to believe any more. I don't want to bring up the dreaded "L"-word, but IMHO this is what our truck is.
My husband will insist on total engine replacement, but I am not sure if he'll succeed. He's driving a loaner Altima and is seriously thinking about getting one instead of our troublesome truck. This is an indicator of how pissed he is at this whole thing. Also, there were rusted rotors, rusted exhaust (replaced under warranty), and "completely bad" front brakes (dealer mechanic never mentioned any sign of trouble doing regular service) - repaired out of our pocket.
I read these forums and it seems that I have more problems than everyone else combined...
-mike
this is the 2nd time the truck is out of comission for more than a week. Seriously, if i wasn't upside-down on my loan , i would have gotten rid of the darn thing.
-mike
The reason we have a 2002 Trooper LS is because a certain American car company recently bought back our three year old sport ute with 30K miles. We didn't even buy it new: it had 12K when we bought it. Can't give details because we had to sign an agreement before they would give us the check, but the check was for our total purchase price including tax, less $0.12/mile. We bought the Troop for barely more than the check they gave us. I just feel sorry for whoever ends up with the thing after it's auctioned.
As to your current situation, my take is that diagnosing the problem should be very quick for a qualified mechanic let alone a dealer. It is just a matter of starting with the codes and then doing some field work (e.g. inspecting the plugs, checking compression, checking for oil in the coolant, etc.). If they haven't found the problem by now it sounds to me like they may not know what they are doing or just putting you on the back burner.
Granted, it might need a new engine and they should give you one if thats what it takes to fix the problem and ALL the damage. However, until they can tell you the cause of the problem it seems premature to demand a new engine at this point.
Like the previous poster noted, get Isuzu involved. Make them document and explain every problem found and the fixes involved.
Lastly when they claim to be done, if you have any doubt that something was left unfixed I suggest you go directly to an independent shop. Pay them to do an engine diagnosis, including a compression and pressure bleed down test on all the cylinders. While this will cost you a few extra bucks it could be good insurance and/or peace of mind. Or, it could find an unfixed problem and give you the leverage to get the dealer to do the right thing.
http://www.isuzu.8k.com/First-35k-miles.htm
I calculate that average fuel economy over 35k miles is at 17.1 mpg. I buy mostly the cheapest Sams or Cosco gasoline. Some other information I take from this data is that:
- Maximum range was 367miles at 22.3 gallons
- With the exception of the first fuelup, my Trooper has never given me less than 15mpg with the range consistantly between 15 and 18mpg.
- Fuel economy jumped to over 18mpg in the Sept-Nov 2001 time frame. The odometer was almost 30,000 but was after an alignment where tires were rotated in an "X" pattern. But, about 2 months later, the fuel consumption fell back closer to its overall average consumption level. Be interesting to see what happens after the 30k service.
So far, an I will knock on wood, there has been no major repairs and my Trooper uses no oil. I'm using mostly Havoline oil but wonder what would the numbers be if I had used Synthetic oil.
Also, my Trooper had 20 miles on the odometer when I purchased it. I know at least 10 of those miles was me test driving it. Thus, I know it was never abused:-) It ran with the break in oil to 2,676 miles. I remember keeping the speed down below 60mph, no quick accelerations, and babying my Trooper the first 1,000 miles. After that first 1,000 miles, it regularly was driven 65-75mph while on the Interstate. My Trooper uses hardly any oil between oil changes which average just under 4,000 miles between oil changes. I do very little offroad driving. I do pull a 10' trailer occassionally carrying lumber, mulch, etc.
I think this data indicates that my Trooper is a pretty good example of Isuzu quality and I wonder if we can deduce a break in procedure that will cut down on later oil consumption and improved fuel economy.
One question: how did you manage to put 22.3 gallons in at one fillup?! Our fuel needle hits "E" and I have the guts to drive another 30-50 miles, but I get nervous about running out of gas. We rarely are able to put more than 20 gallons into our tank at one fillup, even though the stated capacity is 22.5 gallons.
BTW: went on a road trip to Vegas on a whim this weekend. Didn't lose any money at the casinos ! Anyways, on my way out there from Flagstaff, I got 18.95 MPG. One of the best runs with my driving
-mike
-mike
I routinely run the Trooper until the fuel light comes on - and I set the trip indicator to zero and allow myself 40 miles. Exactly 2.5 gallons of fuel left when it comes on. Also the dealer service department told me that they quit installing luggage racks on the Trooper following the Consumers Report thing. Isuzu was taking no chances on a high center of gravity from on-top luggage contributing to a roll over. Interesting article on TV the other night about Consumer Reports criticizing the Trooper and now the new Montero. Didn't see all of it - but not one roll-over incident recorded on the Montero - and my insurance rate doesn't reflect any hazard associated with the Trooper - but regardless, a bad CR review is a death knoll. But you know what is crazy is that the Explorer which apparently passed CR testing rolls over with a vengence if you blow a tire - a rear one at that - go figure!
Yep Isuzu stopped putting rack on US Troopers. YOu can get them everwhere else in the world though.
-mike
BTW, I've been using the cheapest low octane fuel I can find. I just got an email that fuel quality is an issue in the longetivity of a vehicle. In truth, how much impurities are in fuel anyway?
I am convinced that the Trooper runs well, and will last long, on 87 octane. Is some brands' 87 octane better than others? Probably, but I've never really heard of a good study saying which brands were "better" and I don't even know what "better" is.
-mike
PS: I run exclusively on 87 in both my cars.