Isuzu Trooper

tkevinblanc

The Trooper started out in the first spy kids movie; after the kids found out the parents were spies, they got an Axiom (I got kids exactly the same age as those in the movie who just love the movie). Paisan, the Trooper was a clone of yours.

And thanks for straightening me out on sway bar bushings. I knew that. I was calling sway bars the wrong thing. Geez.

paisan

Yeah It's funny the Torsion Bars are made by "Sway-away" so I used to get conf00sed between sway bars and Sway-Away Torsion Bars!

-mike

rs_rogers1

I own a 4 door 91 Trooper with 3 small children. All three will have to be in child seats for several more years - and 3 seats will not fit into my 2nd row bench. So, I'm looking to upgrade the seating and storage capacity on my Trooper. My Trooper has only a full 1 piece folding 2nd row bench seat. Does anyone know of an aftermarket or used folding split bench from another vehicle(like most SUV's now have) that will fit into my Trooper?

I really need 3rd row seating badly. I like the idea of a split 3rd row - one that will allow an extra seat AND room for a stroller or an enough area for a large ice chest. I'll need the split 2nd row bench to be help get access to a 3rd row. I took a look at the Australian version that fold up to the side. I REALLY like those! I'll order one if they will they fit into the older 1991 Troopers, like mine?

Any help and ideas I can get will be greatly appreciated. I just don't want to have go out and buy a minivan! Getting these seats in will be much cheaper!
Thanks,
Bob

savvas_e

Hi Bob,

The 3rd row seats as found in the 92 and on Jackaroos in Australia don't fit into the 91. They are too wide for the 91 interior. It would also need some significant cutting and welding to get the attachment points installed. Your best shot would be an aftermarket 3rd row seat.

However, that would leave you with a storage problem as the 3rd row does consume a lot of space even when folded up and not in use.

My suggestion would be to have a think about replacing the 91 with a newer Trooper if you can. The 2nd row seats are wider than the 91 so you should be able to have the 3 child seats across and you will have more storage in the back. You will also then have the option of the split 2nd row too. Even just going to a 92 should do the trick for you.

savvas_e

Guys,

I've been browsing through a few websites about the place. It looks like the only place on the planet that no longer gets the Trooper is just the Americas and Japan.

In Australia, NZ, UK, SE Asia, Africa, etc, it is still a current product. In fact, Isuzu in Japan has just re-launched it's English website last month and shows the Trooper as a current model.

Some confusing stuff going on with good ol' Isuzu!

paisan

I spoke with Isuzu and found out a few weeks ago, that the Trooper is still being produced in Thailand at the new Dmax plant. The problem was that they didn't have production up quick enough to produce them for Japan and the US. They'll continue to be sold in non-JDM/USDM markets til the MY 2006 when the "new" Trooper is released.

-mike

peterisme

Thanks guys for your reply. I believe that "I scare because I care" I hope I am just a whistle blower here. Anyway, after visited the dealer quite a few times, my Trooper now is running smoothly (at least better than most of the car on the road) and I hope to keep it and give it to my son when he get his driver's license. (He is 19 months old now )

rs_rogers1

Savvas_e,
Thank you for your suggestion. I will be looking into the aftermarket 3rd row seats, but I'd like to get a rear seat that faces forward, folds and is easily removable, if possible - and hopefully one that is a split bench. And, I going to have to find a used 2nd row split bench somewhere to replace the OEM bench just to be able to get to the 3rd row seat too. Surely there is another vehicle's 2nd row split bench to be found that (with a bit of machining work, of course) can be made to fit into the 91 trooper.

I really want to keep this 91 Trooper instead of trade up to a more recent year model. I'd rather spend $500 to $800 on new seats to make it more useful, than spend thousands more on a newer Trooper (or a mini-van!). The newer Troopers are nice too, but I especially like the looks, ruggedness, simplicity, roominess, and overall utility of these pre 1992 Troopers. If I can squeeze at least 5 more years of good useful life out of my Trooper with the only cost being for a few modifications and parts, then I will be very happy.

I just hated to see Isuzu rebadge a GM Trailblazer and sell it as a Trooper/Ascender. What made it worse to me was Isuzu denying rumors a few years ago that it was going to replace the Trooper with a GM vehicle.

savvas_e

Our current Jackaroo is actually coming from the Isuzu plant in the Phillipines. However the new model is due to come out of Thailand for us in 2004.

The other interesting thing I found out off Isuzu's new english website in Japan, is that the Isuzu Thailand factory only produces vehicles for the local market however it contracts its export production, including DMax, to the GM Thailand plant.

Which is where I guess the Australian Rodeo is coming from and where the Jackaroo will come from. The Holden Rodeo has always been a really good pick-up and is the second best selling in the country behind Toyota's Hilux. There's no reason why it can't be number 1. It's just a Toyota perception thing that keeps the Hilux in front.

If Holden marketed the Jackaroo and Frontera the same way it markets the Rodeo, they would have a much bigger slice of the Australian 4WD market.

cwmoser

This weekend my Trooper was bombarded with baseball-size hail balls and it got beat up pretty bad. There must be 50 + dents in the hood, fenders, and roof. No glass breakage, just a lot of dimples in the sheet metal.

My insurance should cover repairs but I am leary of how a body shop will do these type repairs. I don't want a bunch of bondo all over and then repaint. I have never seen a repaint that matched the quality of the factory. Anyone tried any of these new dent remover techniques that seems to be a cure all? Think I should just take the insurance $'s and just live with it?

For the record, there was a Montero in the same parking lot that looks a whole lot worst than my Trooper. Plenty of pissed off folks.

randers5

cwmoser

When I picked up my 2000 Trooper, it hailed on the day I was picking it up. Later when I got home and the light was right, I could see hail damage. Took it back to the dealer and they used their dent remover on the hail spots. They use an UV light to identify all the hail spots and then went to work. I was very happy with the outcome. If I get out a magnifying glass and look at where they fixed the spots I can see a very slight difference in the "orange peel" of the paint. It is not visible to the naked eye, and no one has ever noticed it. I would give it a try as I was very happy with the outcome of mine.

bostnwhalr

Hi,

Does anyone know where I can get the Overlander rack "Feet" for the Trooper, the type that bolt into the recessed rain gutter? I tried Overlander.com but the web site is down. I need to get a rack system in place before my June 1 road trip to Louisiana and the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Any sources would be appreciated.

Nearly 1,000 miles in the "new" Trooper. Lovin' it!

paisan

Contact your insurance company to get the ~$5K-$7K worth of fixing you'll be entitled to. We recently had a bad hail damage storm out here and one of the local shops flew in hail-damage experts who are performing the paintless dent removal on several cars. The outcome is much nicer than re-paints. For the hood, I'd get it replaced.

-mike

sbcooke

bummer.

boxtrooper

If you have a good machine shop / welder shop nearby, take your Trooper to them and see if they can make something for you. All it would take is a few measurements and some 1/8" thick steel 2.5 inches wide and a drill for a 6mm bolt hole to make the brackets. Or better yet and maybe very easy and economical at such a shop is to just weld onto the home made braskets a rectangular Thule size bar or a round Yakima sized bar or a 1" or 7/8" marine accessory sized bar front to back then you would have a very sleek front to back set of roof rack bard to clamp to. Thule and Yakima both make nice brackets to clamp their crossbars to OEM front to back bars and that would let you easily adjust the length and separation of the crossbars and remove the front one when no in use for less noise.

boxtrooper

Get some solid machine able material 2.5" x 3/4" x 2.5" and machine it to fit the angles at the roof end and the front to back bar end then drill two long holes for the 6mm bolts and through bolt the bar and spacer to the roof. The roof welded nuts are at about a 30 degree angle from horizontal facing toward the center of the roof. If might be possible to use a 2.5" x 3/4" x 2" rectangular solid material that would always stay at that angle and bolt to the roof rack bars, especially if using round bars. As long as the angle part is not too long or a stiff support was always connected between both sides it would be strong too. Machining would make it look much nicer. Using 7/8" x 2.5" x 2" aluminum bar stock and a solid 7/8" diameter aluminum bar would make a real nice looking and very strong front to back roof rack with rounded ends.

sdc2

Sorry to hear about the hail damage...but to look on the bright side your Trooper may be more aerodynamic now, kinda like the dimples on a golf ball...

cwmoser

Regarding the Hail Damage to my Trooper,

I understand that there are two methods of repair:

1- the traditional body shop method - bondo and repaint along with replacement of panels such as the hood.

2- dent removal - a new technique that supposedly does not require repainting.

I have approximately 50 dings all over my Trooper. Anyone familar with the pros and cons of these techniqes? How about the devaluation of a hail damaged Trooper - any examples on pricing? I am sure a perspective Trooper purchaser will want the nicest example he can find and in order to take a not so nice one, the price would have to make the deal enticing. I'm thinking of going for a cash settlement from the insurance company and just live with the dings.

The real bummer is that more hail is predicted here over the next few days.

cwmoser

If it does not improve the aerodymanics, then at least I can say it can be a conversation piece. Hey what happened to your Trooper? Might have to make up a good story. Any ideas?

troop2shos

Just before I bought my '00 Trooper Ltd. a couple of years ago, I noticed numerous light hail dings all over the hood & the roof w/ some side damage. I was able to negotiate more off the price of the truck with the dealer & had them repair the damage. A "dent Dr." was brought in to press the dents out with his tools. It took him over 8 hours with a UV light to insure there were no deformations left (couldn't do anything with the very minor dents in the front air grill)...very professionally done.

dnestr

Which one is yours?

izooper

The battery on my 98 Trooper was dead after I
forgot to pull the key out. After jump start
(Isuzu roadside assistant) I noticed something are
different now from before.

Now it takes longer to get the engine to start,
maybe >3 times longer than before the battery was
dead. Could it be that the battery is too weak.
My car is 4 1/2 year old.
The car used to get started as soon as I turned
the key.

Before I always set the trip odometer to keep
track of the mpg. Every time I started the car
it always showed the trip odometer.

Now it always shows the odometer when I start the car. I need to set it to trip odometer every time
after I started the car.
Odometer does not reset itself to 0, still record the previous trip mileage. It's just annoying to
set it to trip odometer every single time.
If I stop the engine and pull the key and restart
again in a FEW minutes it will show the trip
odometer.

I am wondering if this is a common problem. Would appreciate any feedback on this.

Thanks,

Izooper

paisan

You need a new battery. Plain and simple as that.

-mike

sdc2

I have a 99 Trooper, gasoline 3.5L.

savvas_e

I agree with Paisan. New battery needed.

Mine did that trick with the odometer too when the battery was dying as well as taking longer to start.

I think you will also find that the battery was already dying rather than it ran flat when you left the key in. It's not holding much of a charge now when you leave it for any length of time.

Change it soon, or you will be calling roadside assistance again in the not too distant future.

grayarea

Bought a 97 Trooper S in February w/ 115,800 mi. Had to have a new clutch pack put in last week. (118,500 mi.) $1300.
OUCH! Not fun for a struggling self-employer, who just gave a bunch o' dough to the IRS. (Have to keep reminding myself that i was due-i got 220,000mi out of my 91 Accord's original clutch.)

Mechanic said the spring btwn the release bearing and pressure plate broke (i was still in sticker-shock, so i hope i'm remembering this correctly). He said it's a common problem; he's fixed a half dozen of them over the last year or two. His opinion is it's a bad design (a "pull out" mechanism vs. a "push in"). Curious to hear what others' opinions, thoughts, and/or experiences are...

grayarea
atlanta, ga

dnestr

I also have 3.5 gasoline and never used any diesel vehicle. Just a friend of mine is looking for 2000-2001 diesel SUV. My suggestion is Trooper AT TOD. We asked our Moscow Isuzu dealer, but there is a very scanty information about the used diesel trucks. People say, old 3.1 TD was much reliable than new 3.0 TD "common rail" (since '98). Perhaps any one knows merits and demerits of this "common rail"?

beer47

In Toms River, NJ they have a new 2002 Trooper that lists for $30,814. Written on the windshield is a discount that says $8500 off MSRP. The unit looks like an "S" model in Fjiord Blue. Not a bad deal. If I were in the market I would negotiate this vehicle to about 20K even. Giddy-up shoppers!

kajagugu

Hi All, I'd appreciate any info regarding the following: LS vs LTD (options, interior, exterior, colors, mirrors, wheels). Purchase prices (can 2002's still be sold as "new" in 2004 or 2005?). What happens to unsold vehicles? Any recommendations as far as fair and honest dealers. Thanks for any input.

sdc2

There are only a few diesel Troopers in the US, they are not sold here. There is a diesel Isuzu discussion board at 4x4 Wire that might be helpful.

raydahs

Here's a pretty good source for new Isuzu inventory.

http://www.isuzudealers.com/

quickstep

I knew I would get your attention....
I was wondering if anyone else had this condition. It is a deep throaty engine sound, almost like it is straining, the sound of an old tired engine. This occurs when accelerating (down shift). Once it shifts up to 3rd and 4th, the smooth engine sound comes back. The vehicle is very peppy, just has the sound. When I am parked and I race the engine, the sound is smooth. There's on 16,000 miles on it, I put 1,500 on it as the 2nd owner. The sound gets quieter as the engine is fully warmed up. On slow acceleration, i just get a smooth sound. I thought I had an exhaust leak in the muffler that only sounds when there is greater back pressure. Is this possible? Sound seems to be a quieter since my first oil change to 10W30. Got a little better when I changed again to 5W30. Think I should go to 0W30?? Could it be a valve adjustment is in order? Looking forward to any comments or suggestions.

sbcooke

check for more exhaust issues. If it is just a sound maybe there is another hole you cannot see?

paisan

Could it be your ATF is dirty? I know mine seemed to strain til I flushed the ATF.

-mike

greenmax

I hear the same sound on my 01 Trooper with 35k but only on hard acceleration and usually when the truck is still cold. I thought at first that it may have something to do with the ATF so I changed it (did several drain and refills with Havoline ATF) but that didn't solve the problem. I read somewhere that it may be a loose (or defective) exhaust piece but haven't taken it to the dealer for diagnosis yet. I also have what I thought was piston slap when the engine is first started and was worrying about premature engine wear. Fortunately, an oil analysis showed that my engine wear is below or at normal levels for all metals. Please let us know if you find something more on this issue!

sbcooke

maybe have the tires rotated? It could be simple too.

troop2shos

I'm a little confused. Is the noise / resonance relational to engine rpm's, vehicle speed, WOT (wide open throttle), etc? Are you sure you're not just hearing the secondaries open up around & above 3500 rpm's?

quickstep

It is engine RPM while in drive, during acceleration. Sudden increase in RPM as oppose to gradual increase in RPM while in drive only. If in park or neutral, there is no resonance, just smooth engine sound. I get this heavy engine sound while the AC is on and in park (again the engine is under load). I am starting to think that this is leading me back to exhaust system, i.e. gasket loose when cold, then expands and seals when heated up. Any exhaust manifold gaskets or seals I should look for? I noticed that sometimes this engine sound condition does not occur. I changed to premium fuel and noticed no real difference in performance.

dnestr

Sometimes I feel an appreciable push on my 99' Trooper with 55K when I finished the braking, right at the moment the Trooper is immovable already. It seems as a rear axle runs after. I take notice that this occurs when engine, AT, transfer case, rear axle get warm and the pavement has a slope. I took the Trooper to Isuzu dealer to check all the transmission and rear axle "fastenings" (I'm not sure using this word, sorry.) Also a manager did a test-drive. They didn't find any visible defects, though the manager felt the push too. I would forget the push and keep on to use my favourite Trooper if it wouldn't be a cause of any transmission or reduction gear breakage in the future. So, what to do? To give it up or to explore the problem deeply? All the opinions are appreciated.

alexey

breakor

Since you asked for "all" opinions here goes.

It sounds to me like you could have a suspension not engine, rear diff or AT problem. Right as you come to a stop the suspension is acting to bring the front end back up (it tends to drop when braking), the rear end back down (it tends to rise when braking), and the body and frame back over the wheels (the wheels stop first and inertia means the body stops last).
With a proper working suspension all these movements are very small and controlled. If could be you have something like worn shocks or springs allowing the excessive movement you feel when coming to a complete stop.

Also, have you tried shifting into neutral and then stopping? If the symptoms stay that would seem to rule out the engine and AT.

Just my tenative $.02. I really don't have a firm idea of your problem.

serrano

You may have a broken engine mount. Drive your Trooper up against a curb, then start giving it gas. If you can see the engine flopping around severely in the engine compartment as you do this, or as you go from drive to reverse, you could have a faulty engine mount. Engines will move a little in their mounts, but a faulty mount would let the engine torque over during acceleration and start rubbing up against stuff and resonating.

Tom

izooper

I got a new battery for my 98 Trooper. Now things are back to normal.
Thank savvas and Paisan for your input.

greenmax

I checked the Trooper today and the sound is only noticeable when the rpms are roughly between 2000 and 2500 and the truck is cold. It is not tire noise or engine noise but it's more of a resonating sound that doesn't change whether I drive in 2WD or TOD. Like quickstep said, there's no sound if you rev the engine up under little load or in park/neutral. Any other suggestions?

sbcooke

Have you had the A/T fluid changed less than 20K ago? Maybe it is the torque converter/electromagnetic clutch hanging on longer than need be and releasing? I notice a push when I floor it, the truck downshifts and then if I come right back off it the A/T sort of gives a push. This is at 30-40 MPH, but it feels like a labored release of gears? Maybe it is something similar, but as you come to a stop?

sbcooke

http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/list/top10/99271/article.html

Has anyone seen this list?

cwmoser

http://www.edmunds.com/used/1999/isuzu/trooper/5571/options.html?- tid=edmunds.u.prices.utmv.vdpprice.13.Isuzu*

Wow!!

If I plug in all the options on my Limited Trooper with 51,000 miles and OUTSTANDING CONDITION, I get $12,562 Private Party sell.

Since my Trooper is hail damaged, I plug in AVERAGE CONDITION, and arrive at $10,870

Shoot, if the hail damage estimate is more than $2,000 dollars, I guess I ought to just pocket the money instead of get the dings repaired.

BTW, someone told me a crazy story that I find hard to believe and that is that the hot summer sun might cause hail dings to go away. That heat on the metal causes metal to shrink. Sounds kinda way out to me. Anyone hear anything like that?

serrano

I have heard the opposite--use ice after heating the affected area. The cold contracts the metal, thereby removing the dents. Don't know if it works, though.

With the exception of water (which expands when it freezes), I am unaware of anything that contracts when it's heated.

Tom

jimmyp1

for instance, saw a "Monster Garage" episode recently where they dented the roof of a car by accident while leaning on it. The guys took a blowtorch to the affected area, then doused it with ice water. They mentioned it helped, but not completely. They had to have some body work done.

Jim

celcis

I own a 2k Trooper LS automatic 4X4 with 78,000 miles. I noticed one day last week, while accelarting out of a turn, the tacometer reved considerble high but the car did not go at all. And on several occasions when I am at a stop light, when the light turns green, I push the accelerator and no forward motion, just the tacometer reving high. It was taken to an Isuzu dealer where they had it for two day. The diagnoises was a leakage. Pick it up Friday and the vehichle was not fixed. I took it back today and request a proper diagnosis and possible a new transmission. The dealer is telling me it could take up to 2 weeks to get at transmission from Isuzu. Is there anyone on this message board aware of this problem? Need advice! What could be the problem? Mechanical or computer?

paisan

Your tranny blew due to an ATF leak. Blown Torque Converter and/or gears.

You have 10/120m warranty so it's not really an issue. 2 weeks is about right for a tranny from Isuzu. Heck they are usually so reliable, they probably have to build one in france and ship it over!

-mike