Isuzu Owners Maintenance and Repair

wbabbott

I have a '98 Isuzu Rodeo with 3.2L and has 90K miles on the clock. It recently had a hissing noise which I knew was a vacumn leak. Sure enough, the bottom gasket that mates the intake manifold to the engine was blown. The older your Isuzu gets, the odds are great that these gaskets will go! Since the manifold is made of an aluminum alloy, the bolts that attach it to the engine are "lightly" torqued to keep it from cracking. However, with the constant heating and cooling the thin plastic gasket will eventually wear and develope a leak.

The vacumn leak will also cause the engine lite to come. The condition will reduce your MPG and make short work of your O2 sensors. I know, I've had to replace one!

wbabbott

If your Isuzu is hitting the 75K mile mark, the squeaking could be the brake pads needing replacement. However, if your Isuzu is in the 25K range, could be a "hard spot" in one or more of the brake pad/s. Is the squeak coming from all the brakes/wheels, or just from one side/wheel position?

crp_2099

It is coming from the rear brakes. The vehicle has about 18,000 miles and I just got it inspected and it had a ratio of 4/32, which the dealer said the brakes are about halfway done.

sdc2

Halfway done at 18K miles! Youch! My last vehicle went 142K before its first brake job...no, not all highway miles, either. It's all in how you drive.

duktrooper

I hope to have some pics of my Trooper and her new rack up on isuzu-suvs in a few days. I doubt I'll use it more than 3-4 times a year outside of hunting season, but lots during that time. I have a 15 ft fiberglass canoe I can load on it with gunwale brackets.

I have to admit my reason for buying was vanity just as much as function. I just felt my Trooper looked "nekid" without a rack! It now draws the looks and respect she deserves.

wbabbott

I agree 18K miles and 1/2 way through the brake pads on Isuzu 4 Wheel disc brakes is NOT good. Mine were changed out at 70K and I probably could have gone to 80K, but the right rear pads were almost to the squelch part of the pad. 142K miles is incredible!

Check the rear brake pads by getting under the rear of the car. Look at the brake pads on either side of the rotors and see if you have any uneven wear to the pads. If not, as I said before, the squeak could just be a hard spot in one of the pads that will pass with time....

paisan

I live in NYC, and 20-25K for brakes is great. I got 60K on the fronts of my '97 Rodeo and almost fell over, got 40K out of the rears.

-mike

lovingpc

Had it looked at today, it has come one occasionally (steady) since purchase (00 Trooper Ltd 2WD), usually for a half day, then it's fine. More often lately. Probably 3-4 times since my last oil change. I don't think it's gas cap related.

Nashville Isuzu dealer has ordered a part ("some kind of sensor, I've already forgotton what the mechanic said"). I imagine it's O2 sensor, I'll let you all know when it comes in in 3-4 days.

No performance issues when it's on - just an annoyance. Covered under warranty tho.

Andy

sdc2

I live in the Twin Cities area, so I actually have a fair amount of city mileage, except for trips to the lake cabin.

The vehicle I got 142K miles on the brakes was an '88 Pathfinder - and that was just the front brakes, the rears still had some life in 'em. Sold it at 167K, rear brakes were still original!

For some reason I am just easy on brakes. After the Pathfinder I had a Blazer, put 55K on it before trading it in on the Trooper, and the brakes still had plenty of life left...we'll see how the Trooper does.

montypython

I went over to 4x4Wire and found SOOOO much info in the boards, that now it feels like I'm the guy who DESIGNED the Amigo!! I spent a couple of days reading and researching there, and I'm ready to buy the Amigo w/ no reservations, and look forward to many, many years of fun and use out of it!! I wanna say thanks again for the help.

paisan

No problem, we're here to help. Hope to see you back posting on here after you get yours. Also send a pic once you get it and I'll put it on http://isuzu-suvs.com

-mike

johnny_ringo

Dropped the '00 Trooper LS off at the dealer yesterday for a problem with the TOD and check engine light. Here is how it worked out:

+TOD would not engage - I could only engage it by shifting from P to R with the parking brake set. Dealer replaced Axle valve unit and differential switch (warranty).

+Check engine light - intermittently on and off. Dealer replaced accelerator sensor (warranty).

I also noticed the right pull at highway speeds. An alignment took care of that issue.

I bought my truck used from another non-Isuzu dealer so I was leery of getting stuck with some "typical" service charges. However,the local service department (Walser Isuzu) was great.

paisan

Do you happen to have on the paperwork the code #s that they pulled out of the TOD computer? I know that 27 = speed sensors (which is what mine is getting done today)

-mike

johnny_ringo

They did not list the code for the TOD. Service paperwork only states "Run ALDL check on TOD unit".

1275 was the code listed for the check engine light.

sdc2

Another MN Trooper owner! Howdy! Glad to hear Walser (Apple Valley?) did a good job. I have had pretty good service at Lupient also.

A couple of questions to clear up my curiosity:
Is the "axle valve unit" the same as the actuator unit that engages the 4WD?
Is the "accelerator sensor" the same as a throttle-position sensor? I would guess so...

paisan

Don't forget in 99 or 00 the trooper went to drive by wire, so that could be the new name for the throttle positions sensor.

-mike

sdc2

Ah yes, you may be right about that...

paisan

10-11pm EST Isuzu Owner's Chat!

-mike

john303

Anyone have to replace a Engine Cooling Sensor. The malfunction of this sensor wouldnt allow the trooper to restarted when warm. My trooper is a 94 "S" and has 96K. labor is 3.5 hours. Apparently they have to remove the intake/throttle body and all the linkage to R & R the sensor.

errol77

Does any one know the VIN codes for limited slip rear differential on the Isuzu trooper from 86-90?

sdc2

I think Isuzu has always used G80

gpm5

My mpg on a road trip to NYC with TOD off for the first 60% of the trip and TOD on for the second 40% of the trip (due to rain) was 17.6-17.7 mpg and that included some city driving for about 10% of the time. Highway speed of 65-73 most of the way. I was babying the gas pedal on starts and did very little in terms of hard accelerations, so I would be sure not to drain the tank for this test.

I did notice the bad roads in NYC causing the trooper to rebound (bouncing back up) when coming out of the pot holes/bumps. Paisan, does your new shocks improve this?

wbabbott

I recently had the check engine lite come on per my previous message. I suspected it was the O2 sensor and sure enough after having the dealer read the code they I.D.d the right rear O2 sensor.

My big complaint about dealer/manufacturers is that the dealer charges $60+ to just read and clear the computer codes. What a rip-off ....

sbcooke

I noticed that someone had a truck pulling to the right at highway speeds. I had the same problem when new. The automall couldn't resolve the issue, which was very frustrating. I had to take it to a Isuzu only shop, who aligned it right quick. Apparently, the truck is so heavy, that a slight mis-alignment (not up to specs) can cause the truck to follow the crown of the road, which is usually to the right.

Just thought I would throw it out there, since many may have a new truck which needs alignment, if you think its pulling to the right, a good Isuzu shop can take care of it.

bsmart1

A few weeks back there was a lot of talk on this site about oils and which type to use in these later model Troopers. Also a lot of talk about oil consumption etc....
I just recently changed the oil in my 97' Trooper at about 52000 miles. I went from a pure din grade to a mix of the din and synthetic oil as mentioned in the previous discussions. I ended up with about a 50/50 mix, 5W-30 Moil One and Valvoline. I've been watching my mileage and my oil dipstick level the past couple weeks. It looks like my mileage is up about .5-1.0 mpg overall. My previous best logged mileage was in the 15-16mpg range. I made a road trip the other day about 180 miles worth and finished the tank off with in town mileage, for a total of about 250 miles. The mileage came out at about 17.8mpg overall. That's the best I've ever done! This is with the 3.2L engine. One thing that surprised me was the oil capacity of this engine. 5 qt. plus when you change out the filter. Too soon to notice any consumption on the dipstick level. I'll post when I see anything there. Next check is to see how different grades of gasoline affect mileage.
Happy Motoring!! This is one fine driving truck.

bsmart1

A few weeks back there was a lot of talk on this site about oils and which type to use in these later model Troopers. Also a lot of talk about oil consumption etc....
I just recently changed the oil in my 97' Trooper at about 52000 miles. I went from a pure dino grade to a mix of the dino and synthetic oil as mentioned in the previous discussions. I ended up with about a 50/50 mix, 5W-30 Mobile One and Valvoline. I've been watching my mileage and my oil dipstick level the past couple weeks. It looks like my mileage is up about .5-1.0 mpg overall. My previous best logged mileage was in the 15-16mpg range. I made a road trip the other day about 180 miles worth and finished the tank off with in town mileage, for a total of about 250 miles. The mileage came out at about 17.8mpg overall. That's the best I've ever done! This is with the 3.2L engine. One thing that surprised me was the oil capacity of this engine. 5 qt. plus when you change out the filter. Too soon to notice any consumption on the dipstick level. I'll post when I see anything there. Next check is to see how different grades of gasoline affect mileage.
Happy Motoring!! This is one fine driving truck.

bluedevils

I just did this in about 15-20 minutes. It's very simple. Next time I would expect to finish the job in about 10 minutes. Here's the short version; I can post a more detailed how-to later, but I doubt anybody really needs it.

Flip seats down and tilt them forward. Remove the black plastic covers (8 total) from each of the places where the seat is connected to the floor. It's easier to access & remove these covers from behind the seat rather than underneath. This requires no tools, just some moderate pressure and jockeying by hand. The covers seem fairly sturdy, but I tried to be careful anyway.

Each bracket is bolted to the floor with one screw (8 screws total). Use a 12mm ratchet or box-end wrench. Loosening and removing the bolts is simple enough.

I am buying a couch soon, and the extra room inside the truck now that the rear seat is removed will come in handy.

It feels good to know that this is a simple procedure and that I can remove the rear seat whenever necessary.

ctnewton

To those of you experiencing improved MPG, it may just be the change in fuel formulation as we enter spring. They keep changing the laws, but I thick that CT only uses the MTBE from Oct-Mar. Not sure about the other states. I know in my Corrado that amounts to a 15% gain in MPG as summer hits. I don't remember what the Trooper did last year. Probably because I don't like to look at it's mileage.
Just a tip.

Pete

gpm5

thanks for the heads up. I'm not sure whether they eliminate the MTBE in the summer, starting in April, but I'd like to know. I know there has been a lot of concern about it due to its new found toxicity effects.

dwinzen

I know that I tend to be spoiled when it comes to a/c on most vehicles but I wanted to know if anyone else felt the blower on the a/c is not powerful enough on the 95 Troopers. The air coming out of the vents feels suitable cold but the amount of air seems anemic. I have heavily tinted the rear windows and even provided the lowest amount of tinting on the front windows that would be acceptable by law (or at least would be enough to go unnoticed). Has anyone else felt this way? If so, is there a practical solution to increase the amount of air coming out the vents to ward off those HOT summer days?

audibuyer1

I have a '93 Trooper. Is there an easy way to change the headlights. My front driver side light was cracked in a parking lot, and I need to change the light, and didn't want to have to take off the entire front grill.

crunchy

Whaddya know, the CD changer doesn't work ...

Just wanted to report that my 2001 Trooper has the same problem that a lot of you have had -- it ate 5 of my CDs (store-bought, not homemade) and now it won't play them OR give them back.

jeff_v

I have a 1994 Isuzu Trooper EL. The passenger-side front speakers (I believe both the one in the door and the one by the mirror) occasionally cut out. Has anyone else had this problem? Does anyone know of a fix? Is it in the wiring or the head unit?

FYI--I have also posted this question in the Aftermarket/Accessories area as message #579.

Thanks.

viktoria_r

Hitch question

Maybe this was addressed before, but i did not find it. Anyway, did anyone install a hitch on their Trooper? I've heard that there is a kind of hitch available that does not require welding. is that true? if so, where did you buy it (Isuzu dealer, catalog)? Did you have it profesionally installed or did you do it yourself? How much did it cost? Thanks in advance.

gpm5

Viktoria,

See #664 under the Isuzu Trooper (SUV Board).

paisan

Victoria,

Check out http://isuzu-suvs.com under the vendor section, Hidden hitch has been a popular one among trooper owners.

-mike

skylerpup

Crap! Only 558 miles into the new Rodeo and I've already developed some weird noise in the headliner/windshield area. Makes a thump/thud noise at the smallest bump, but not consistantly. Just enough to be annoying, like a leaky faucet.

I read about the squeaks and rattles in the Izusus. I was hoping I'd miss being a statistic. I was wrong!

Anybody else have a problem with noises? How can I remedy this?

Thanks!

Sunny

paisan

Have them drop the headliner and check the welds. I have a friend who has a subaru, and they dropped the headliner and found 1 bad weld on the roof and fixed it, no more thumping.

-mike

randers3

After having a flat on my drivers side rear in one of the muddiest fields in Wis. I put on the spare which was brand new. Almost immediately my TOD started whining and growling when decelerating between 30 and 10 mph. I went back and found a post from Paisan about differences in tire sizes. I measured the two tires in which one had 26,000 miles on it and the other being brand new. There was a one inch difference in circumference. Moved the new spare up to the front and moved the used front to the rear. The whining and growling ended immediately. Just wanted to provide an informational note about how sensitive the TOD is to different tire sizes. I am sure the LSD appreciated having the right size tires on.

gpm5

Were you getting the whining noise with TOD disengaged? I am wondering why it went away when you put the odd size spare on the front? Just trying to understand your post. thanks.

paisan

My older tire that was 1/2" smaller was in the rear, never tried it in the front. I'd be curious if you had TOD off when the tire was in the front w/o whine?

-mike

randers3

In response to gpm5, I was not getting the whine with TOD disengaged. I am just speculating, but my thought is that the traction and speed sensors are activated by the rear tire slippage or in this case, circumference difference. By moving the larger circumference tire to the front, I took away the cause of the problem. When the larger circumference tire was moved to the front all my noise problems went away, whether in regular drive or TOD.

sdc2

Since it only happened in back, the whine could've been the limited-slip differential instead of the TOD...

gpm5

sdc2,

randers3 had the whine only with TOD on and with that tire in the rear--that's why I wondered about that.

sv650

I'd appreciate any advice/comments regarding the following:

A little over a month ago I bought a beautiful '99 2wd soft top Amigo.
I found it at a Saturn dealer about an hour away from me and was hooked from the first test drive. A few days later, I picked it up (of course I checked out the engine and everything).

I drove it home in the middle of a snowstorm, and noticed that there was a weird un-balanced wobbling, almost a "skipping", going on somewhere with the wheels (more than is normal for a short-wheelbase vehicle like this). I figured the snow might be causing the problem, which is why I didn't immediately turn back around. Well, when the snow melted, the issue was still there. This problem was not apparent when I test drove the vehicle - so I wonder if something happend during the couple of days between agreement and pickup...

Anyway, I called the dealer and made arrangements for them to look at it. To make a long story short- after several trips back and fourth over a period of a month or so (and several wheel balancings), a NEW REAR AXLE, 4 NEW TIRES, and some sort of BODY BOLT had been replaced/added to the Amigo. The problem is still not 100% alleviated.

Lately, there has been a squeaking coming from somewhere (body, frame, axle, shocks?) every time I go over even a minor bump. The amigo essentially sounds like a baby bird chirping whenever I drive. To top it off, the "check engine" decided to become permanently lit up today on the way home from work.

Yesterday I called my salesman to see what we could do abou the fact that I am extremely dissatisfied with the vehicle. He said that we'd have to work out some sort of trade in on a new vehicle - the best deal being that I lose something in the neighborhood of $6,000!!!!!!!!
I kept my cool, but check engine light came on today. I called and left a very angry message - and will deal with this tomorrow!

If this car has had this many problem in the two months or so that I've had it, it must have some kind of major overarching issue(s)!!!!

I live in Massachusetts and we have a lemon law, so I might have to employ that. Oh Joy!

Thanks for reading my story!
I'll keep you updated as to wether the dealer, Saturn of Raynham, does the right thing, and my plans should they make the incorrect desision.

What do you think? Email me at sv6501@hotmail.com

paisan

Well first it's used, so you don't know what or why the previous owner turned it in. The check engine light is probably the gas cap or O2 sensor.

The squeeking it probably a bushing on one of the shocks or sway bars.

-mike

skylerpup

Hello sv650:

Unless the problems with your car render the car unsafe to drive, trying to pursue the lemon law will be hell!

I have a '99 Saab that I leased brand new. I was having multiple problems with the car--too many to list! At any rate, none of the problems rendered the car inoperable or unsafe to drive. It's just that for 80% of the time, I didn't have usable air conditioning in a $30,000 car!

I called around for some attorneys out of the Yellow Pages. I found one that specifically dealt with Lemon Laws.

To make a long story short, it took 11 months to come to a resolution and not a resolution that I wanted either. Saab was willing to pay $4000 for damages, but the attorney's kept $2000 for their fees. What I really wanted was just to turn in the lease early, but that wouldn't have earned fees for the attorney. Getting out of the lease would have cost less than the $4000, but the attorney didn't like that.

So I'm still driving this piece of junk. The lease will be up in December. Guess what, the dealership will just sell it to somebody else, in spite of all the glitches!

You might have very well bought somebody else's LEMON. But you will have a difficult time trying to get a satisfactory conclusion for all your troubles and frustration.

My best advice would be to go to warrantybynet.com and buy a warranty. Put the miles necessary on the car to get the warranty activated (1000 miles). Go for the $0 deductible. That way, for the next problems that crop up, and there WILL BE MORE, you can take the car to any other dealership or service facility.

Hope this helps.

Sunny

armtdm

I don't believe the lemon laws apply to used cars!

Problems seems fixable if the cause can be found, the CEL is a nuisance in all cars, really a pain IMHO.

Biggest issue is the chirping and skipping you noted, need a good suspension person. Perhaps sell it outright yourself for best deal.

jbkennedy

What is the manufacturer's bumper-to-bumper warranty on your vehicle? 2001 models come with a 50,000 mile/36 month warranty, which I beleive is transferrable to the new owner. I would contact Isuzu area service rep. to discuss your problems.

bluedevils

This took about 10 minutes. It was the first time I had removed and re-installed the rear seats (was transporting a couch). The only point I'd make is you'll need to put firm pressure on the seats from above (I leaned on it with my full body weight) in order for the holes on the seat to line up with the holes on the truck floor. Also, it's probably easier to install the lower plastic covers first, then do the ones up higher (around the back of the seat) second.

With a little practice, installing the seats would be about a 5-minute job. Ditto for removing them.