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4wd high is pretty good. I got the rears in some mud and floored it. No spin with the fronts kicking in, just go right away.
On my crappy gas mileage . . . I have been staying at 70 mph now trying my gas mileage out to see how it works, I'll keep you all informed on it in the next week or so to see what the results wield. Next fill up I am going to do the whole premium fill up thing and leaving the battery disconnected for 30mics after I fill it up and then see what happens. Do you think that could really help my mileage a little bit?
As far as getting rid of my car goes . . . I have been seriously considering it. I could get one for cheaper insurance, cheaper on gas too and a smaller engine which means less to work on. But man I have gone through 2 other cars already in my short 24 year tenure on this planet. And I have seen this truck prove to me it's worth and value. Besides the fact that she is a TANK, in terms of safety, I just love her too much to get rid of her. The only problem I had was that the seal went out on my tranny, all the oil drained out of it and burnt the tranny completely. Isuzu dealership where I was (enroute to Cali from Indy, some stroke of luck put one of the few remaining dealerships about 5 miles from my break down point!) Isuzu had my BRAND NEW tranny there and installed within 6 days, paid for the $800 transport of my truck from illinois to Cali and paid the $500 rental car fee to get me the rest of the way while my truck got fixed. That's customer service you can't find elsewhere. So I'll stick it out a little longer and see what happens.
He was also surprised that he didn't notice any improvement in the engine's performance AFTER the injector cleaning, but the proof was in the mpg jump!!
I hope mine lasts! I've run Mobil1 in it from the beginning.
Steve, Host
Another way to find out if this is the problem is to watch the dash indicator lights when you shift. If the tranny selector lights jump in a random fashion rather than movesequentially, that's a big sign you have amode sensor issue.
Regrads,
Tom
I'm kind of suspicious of the this dealer as well because when I called the dealer where I purchased the vehicle (which I don't typically use for service because it is further from where I live) their service manager advised me that he had very good luck with Isuzu in situations such as this. I just hope they stand by the 10/120 powertrain warranty should I ever need it.
I have researched parts and junk yards out of state were willing to ship parts to me. Shipping might up the cost, but try a web search for junk yards and call around.
Dave
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You may also just have a poor connection in the big wires.
http://allhyundaiisuzuparts.com/
Just replaced the brakes: Front pads, Rear pads and discs. It's an easy job. Have to remove the calipers to access pads. At 75k I still had between 1/8 to 1/4 of pad left.
I change the oil and filter every 5k miles religiously. Starting around 50k miles....maybe even a few thousand miles after that, I started seeing some oil consumption. That was new to me. In the last 5k miles, its gotten to where I'm putting in a full quart every 1000 miles. A co-worker that has a Rodeo has mentioned a large amount of oil consumption as well.
I have been perplexed, because I've never seen the first wisp of smoke come out the tailpipe. I've put in so much oil that if the oil was leaking into the coolant, I'd know because it would be overflowing! And obviously there is no oil leaking on the ground anywhere. Recently, both my wife and I noticed that the Trooper seemed to have lost some of it's "zip". All these symptoms led me to believe that I had a ring that had gone bad and was losing compression. I was pretty annoyed at that since we don't even have 60k miles yet. I've tried a couple of the "seal replenishing" type oil additives to see if it improved the consumption problem. It only seemed to get worse.
After more reading here, I am glad to see that it appears to be a reasonably correctable problem, and not a more serious ring damage problem.
I plan on doing a compression test this weekend and I think that will tell the tale. If I see good compression across the board, I'll go directly to Wal-Mart and get the CD2 Oil Detergent that has been recommended here. I may start using the "drive clean" type oils. I may even use some Mopar Combustion Chamber Cleaner!
I've never been pleased with the fuel economy. My wife and I are both Engineers and have kept records of mileage at every single gas purchase. We've never seen the EPA 16/20 stickered. When gas prices started rising, I went back in the records all the way back to when it was new. I think the best mileage I ever saw was 17mpg. Now it mostly gets 13-14mpg, regardless of speeds, terrain, A/C on/off, etc. That is what it gets and that's all it's been getting for years. I'm going to clean the EGR and PCV hoses as best I can, along with a good fuel system cleaner, an ECM reset, and 93-octane fuel and see if there is any improvement.
As for the Air Conditioning, I've always thought it was under powered. Our Trooper is black, and I live in brutally hot coastal Georgia. We typically have mid-90's temps with high humidity, resulting in heat indexes of 110-115 for three months. Not good conditions for any cooling system. The A/C is, at best, adequate. It eventually cools down the inside, but it may take up to an hour if the interior has been heat soaked for several hours in the sun. Keep in mind that the interior of the Trooper is absolutely cavernous compared to most other mid-size SUV's. It's just a lot of volume to cool.
The only warranty work I've had is for a faulty sensor in the Evaporative Emission System. It was replaced, but I intermittently still get a Check Engine light. When I pull the OBDII code, it just says Evaporative Emission System Malfunction. I now wonder if it isn't related to the oil consumption problem.
I've not been pleased at all with the dealer service. Any time I've had the Trooper in for service, there has been damage to the vehicle. I took it to get a short in the trailer pigtail fixed. They removed the jack and lug wrench to get at the harness, but never put them back...just left them in the cargo area.
Another time, I had the A/C condensation back up into the passenger interior. I took it in, and the dealer claimed it wasn't a warranty item, just dirt in the drain tube. They charged me for the work to "clean" it, although having later looked at where the drain tube is located, I doubt it was dirty and they probably did nothing. I think the drain tube is too short, and condensation runs down the footwell and can leak in through a seam. I've added an extension to the tube and haven't had a single problem since. They had run one of the tire sidewalls against something and cut it up pretty badly. They claimed it was like that when we brought it in.
When I had the problem with the EES, they had clearly bumped some tool stand or piece of equipment against the spare tire cover, scratching it badly in multiple places. After several complaints to Isuzu, the dealer called back weeks later and offered to "wax out the scratches". These were major gouges in the plastic, not scratches in the finish!
That was the last time I took it in for service.
I've not had any issues with the transmission or 4WD system. I just recently replaced the original tires and two of them still had plenty of tread left. I rotate every 10k miles or so.
Those are my experiences! I hope to keep it at least 3-4 more years.
I did the compression test this afternoon. Results were favorable. All six cylinders registered between 170 - 180 psi. Pretty good I'd say, and certainly seems to help rule out a leaky ring, bent valve, or bad seal.
So while I had all the spark plugs out, I decided to do a major cleaning. I put Mopar Combustion Chamber Cleaner in each of the cylinders and am letting that sit overnight. I've had good results with it before. I usually let it sit and then vacuum out each cylinder with a wet/dry vac. I usually get some "black sand" type carbon material, plus it gets all the fluid out to prevent hydro-locking the engine!
I'm also going to run some motor flush through and hopefully that will help loosen some of the crud and open up the holes in the rings that seem to be the cause of the oil consumption problem.
Once the engine flush has run through, I'll drain the oil, and do an oil/filter change and put in some of the CD2 Oil Detergent that was recommended and replace all the spark plugs with new ones. I figured it was probably time to do so.
I couldn't find any "once a year" fuel injector cleaner at Wal-Mart. I'm trying some "Large Vehicle" fuel injector cleaner and I'll run that through maybe three or four fill-ups in a row. I'll also reset the ECM and start using the 93 octane to see if fuel economy improves at all.
Will report the results back here.
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With gasoline prices so high and diesel sulfur about to be so low, please bring out the fuel efficient Isuzu Diesel Troopers to the USA real soon.
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Isuzu would have the market to itself with a high mpg Trooper. I looked up the mpg of the diesel Jeep and it was not that great, Isuzu can beat by it a wide margin and still provide the roomy Trooper with all it's capabilities.
the key ignition switch thanks
Can anyone comment about their experience adn the model year you have with respect to the performance of your AC in HOT conditions? I live in NC where it stays hot and humid from June through September.
Thanks!
bradesp
Any serious ideas or suggestions are appreciated. Running out of cards to play.
I decided to put CD-2 in my 01' S Trooper before making a trip to Florida last week. I put the CD-2 in a week prior to the trip, just to let it start 'soaking' in. The trip was going to be about 1100 miles each way, so I thought this would be a good time to test it out. I haven't been having 'oil burn' problems with this engine, but I thought it couldn't hurt to see what other effects it might produce.
I have experienced an mpg decrease over the last year or so, from 20 mpg highway to about 17.5 mpg. My best mpg was about 2.5 - 3 years ago at 21 mpg on the interstate to Nashville at about 70mph.
Driving speed and road conditions were pretty consistent for the complete trip, except for a spotty rain shower during the 5th tanks drive.
1st tank of gas I got 17.7 mpg
2nd tank of gas I got 18.5 mpg
3rd tank of gas I got 19.0 mpg
4th tank of gas I got 19.5 mpg
5th tank of gas I got 19.5 mpg
6th tank of gas I got 20.0 mpg (speeds were in town and 65 mph top speed)
7th tank of gas I got 19.5 mpg
8th tank of gas I got 20.0 mpg
9th tank of gas I got 20.0 mpg
10th tank of gas I got 20.0 mpg
11th tank of gas I got 20.0 mpg
Now each time I say a 'tank' of gas, does NOT mean a FULL tank of gas. As we made our way back home, I stopped about 1/2 full each time because I didn't know what the availability situation was going to be following Katrina. We did find gas at nearly every stop, but there was a couple of places that didn't have gas. In the Atlanta area gas was going for $5.60/gal.
On this trip of 2300+ miles, I 'burned' about a quarter to a half a quart of Mobil 1. I'd say that ain't bad for this engine duty.
I'm pleased with this performance and with CD-2.
Footnote: There is another CD-2 available now for high mileage engines. If you're not getting results with the original formula, you might try this instead.
bsmart
It's never been what I'd call a "cold" A/C, but it will cool down the interior. It just takes a while if it's been parked in the full sun for several hours at 95+ temps. My Trooper came standard with rear tint, so I'm uncertain if it helps or not....I guess it can't hurt.
Of course, I've not thought an automobile A/C has been "cold" since about 1995 when they switched to the ozone friendlier refridgerant.
I'd say based on my experience, on a good hot day, it takes approximately 10-15 minutes of the air on full blast and recirculating to cool the front seats down to a reasonable temp, and takes about 30-45 minutes to cool the whole interior down. After that, it certainly is capable of keeping the interior cool and comfortable the rest of the drive. Enough that my wife and I usually turn it to outside air, low fan speed, and turn it to a warmer temp so we aren't cold.
If you are one of those people who sleeps with your home Air Conditioning set on 65 degrees and break into a sweat rushing to answer the phone, you probably want to look for a vehicle with a beefier A/C system.
-Michael
If you do decide to try combustion chamber cleaner, here's some of my detailed notes on the procedure.....
The directions say to warm up the engine, and spray it in through the throttle body with the engine running. My problem with this is that it doesn't get distributed evenly through all the cylinders.
What I did was warm up the engine and stop it. While it was still hot, I *carefully* removed the coil packs and spark plugs. I sprayed equal amounts in all cylinders and let it sit overnight.
The next day, I rigged up a straw to my shop vac and used it to vacuum out the crud that was loosened as well as any standing cleaner remaining in the cylinders. Just to be sure, I cranked the engine for several seconds without the spark plugs in to expel anything that was remaining in the cylinders.
I then swabbed out each spark plug well to clean it out good as cranking the engine had thrown more carbon residue out.
I then put in the oil/engine flush, put the old spark plugs back in, and began trying to crank it.
I'll have to warn you that it is difficult to crank. It took me probably 10-12 tries of cranking several seconds before it finally caught and ran. There should be a cloud of smoke that comes out the tailpipe. But the idle should smooth out quickly and run normally.
I then disconnected the air intake hose from the throttle body and sprayed more cleaner in there with the engine running. More smoke out the tailpipe.
After 5-10 minutes, I shut it down, and do an oil/filter change. I also give the engine bay a good cleaning.....any combustion chamber cleaner that has gotten splashed or sprayed on other parts of the engine needs to be rinsed off, as it is very corrosive.
That's about it....but there are three important points to remember:
1. Try to get as much excess combustion cleaner out of the cylinders as possible. It will make it easier to start and reduces the chances you'll get fluid trapped in the cylinder and hydrolock the engine.
2. It's scary when it doesn't want to start....don't give up, but take it easy on the starter. Only crank it for 3-4 seconds at a time, and after a few attempts, give it a few minutes to cool down before trying again.
3. Make sure to do an oil change. Most likely some cleaner leaked down past the rings overnight and into the oil. In fact, if it did it's job and cleaned the clogged holes in the oil ring, it will drain through. You don't want to leave that stuff in your oil as it is pretty corrosive.
-Michael
If you have "Auto A/C" as I do in my '01 LS, there's no need to switch anything if it begins to get too cool, except the temperature adjustment. It switches to outside air on its own. I'm like you other guys - 95+ in Houston, and I keep mine at 72-74 and it does just fine. But even with the Light Silver Metallic paint and full factory tint, it does take the system a while to reduce the interior temp. After that, it maintains it pretty well. If you have kids / wives / or other button-punchers along for the ride, just press the "Auto" button when you get in to make sure it is, in fact, in "full auto" mode. It really is the most effective setting.
-Cobbo
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I only buy light colored Troopers in anticipation that summer will always return. The 1984 was radar resistant beige (a champaign beige Trooper looks extra slow) because all the nicer colors were already sold. The 1995 was white with unpainted bumpers and no wheel flairs and the Power Package, I got lots of comments on how good it looked with just the OME suspension and A/T 245/75R16 tires. The 2001 is a sandy silver color with slightly darker bumpers and wheel flairs, I have 265/70R16's on it because the flairs make the tires look smaller. With the OME suspension medium stiffness it rides wonderfully. My wife likes to ride in the Trooper with the windows open, she has a minivan and only its front windows open significantly.