Isuzu Trooper Maintenance Schedule

landroverr

I have a 2002 Trooper with about 83K miles on it. I bought the car used at Carmax with 26K mailes 3 years ago. I change the oil regulary and Air Filter. What other maintennace should be done at 83k miles ? I plan on changing the transmission fluid in the next few weeks. I spoke with a guy who works on Troopers he said a tune up plus,wires, etc should be needed until 90K Because it Has Platinum plugs, and don't flush radiator, timing belt should be fine until 100k. I am getting terrible mileage and with gas prices these days...It's killing me. I also got some high grade fuel injector cleaner from Bap Geon and have done that twice..Any suggestions would be appreciated..

Thanks

landroverr

I have a 2002 Trooper with about 83K miles on it. I bought the car used at Carmax with 26K miles 3 years ago. I change the oil regulary and Air Filter. What other maintenance should be done at 83k miles ? I plan on changing the transmission fluid in the next few weeks. I spoke with a guy who works on Troopers he said a tune up plus,wires, etc should be needed until 90K Because it Has Platinum plugs, and don't flush radiator, timing belt should be fine until 100k. I am getting terrible mileage and with gas prices these days...It's killing me. I also got some high grade fuel injector cleaner from Bap Geon and have done that twice..Any suggestions would be appreciated..

Thanks

wlbrown9

When you change the plugs, be sure to use one that is specified in the owner's manual. Using any other will probably cause issues. Note that the plugs have individual coils with a rubber tube covering the recessed plugs. These rubber tubes will probably be difficult to remove...do not force them since replacement of the coil and tube is rumored to be about $150 each. Once you remove the coil pack from the tube, use compressed air down the center hole in the rubber tube...this will pop the tube off and avoid the possibility of damaging this tube.

There have been a number of discussions about changing the tranny fluid... Some folks claim that doing a complete change after so many mile can lead to tranny failure...the theory being that the new fluid disolves deposits and ends up gumming up the tranny with these liberated deposits. Some folk really recommend dropping the pan, cleaning the filter and refilling only the portion of fluid drained that way thus avoiding a complete refill at one time. Repeat this every 10-15K miles to refresh the fluid gradually.

I have a 2000 Trooper and I think the timing belt is recommended at 90,000 miles. I finally got mine done at around 114K miles.

vswan

I have a 2000 Trooper with 140k now and have changed the starter twice and timing belt once. Burns some oil, but normal for engine. Have had transmission flushed once and filter changed. Very happy with my Izuzu and amazed at the high quality of this suv. Is there any way of improving fuel economy as I too am using alot of gas lol

wlbrown9

What is your mileage running? I typically average between 16.5 & 18.5 MPG. Winter mileage is less due to the mix. This is in pretty much 75% highway type driving with the other 25% being mild city driving without a lot of stop and go. This is for a 2000 LS 2 wd.

377paul

I understand that the 2000 Trooper ( I just bought one) automatic trans has no dipstick. Indeed, I can't find any on mine. So, how do you determine the level and where do you fill the trans???????????

buderm

hey,

no they all dont have a dipstick which is rather frustrating at times. The way to fill/check the level is to have the car flat, and the transmission "warm". If my trooper is cold, or has been sitting a while, you are supposed to start it and while pressing the brake go through all the gears for about 10 seconds in each gear, and slowly back to park. Make sure the A/C is on. After that, leave the trooper ON. Very important. then go underneath the car (make sure its safe of course) and towards the rear to the larger pan (and almost right under the cross member) you'll see two bolts - one on the bottom of the pan, and one up higher on the corner (passenger back side corner) on that pan. That upper one is the level/fill plug. Using a fluid transfer pump (5-10$) you can add automatic tranny fluid, until fluid slowly comes out of that hole. Thats really the only way to check to see if its full.

hope that helps.

377paul

Thanks.

I did a little modification to the upper bolt/plug: I added a dipstick/fill tube. Totally unnecessary but I do weird things occasionally. :-)

buderm

guess i may have been late on the response. ha. well hopefully it could help others. btw, do you have any pictures and what part you used for that filltube/dipstick of yours. sounds like it saves some time, and since i have a bad gasket right now somewhere in the tranny, i like to keep an eye on it until i feel like replacing all the gaskets.