Isuzu Trooper

fiveharpers · January 2002

When I ordered my Isuzu oil filters from St Charles Isuzu, I asked for the gaskets(which are copper washers) and they added a bag of 10 of them for a buck. In the two oil changes so far, I have not seen any difference in the old gasket as compared to the new one that I change it with.

randers3 · January 2002

I have done 16 oil changes on my 2000 Trooper and have never replaced the crush gasket. Never have had a leak from the oil plug.

katgre · January 2002

Hey Gang! Thanks for the input on Oil & Gas Octane post#2540. I have a slight issue, my C/E light is on and has been on for a few days. I thought maybe because it's really cold in Indy but as I've been reading past years post I don't think that's the problem. Prev. post suggest:

1-disconnecting battery over night/reconnect next day to reset ECU(what's the ECU?)

2-tighting gas cap
3-bad 02 Sensor.

I have a 01' S 4WD Trooper-Is the C/E light issue a common problem? Taking my Troop to the dealership today. I'm glad to have this forum for references.

Thanks for suggestions or comments

katg

paisan · January 2002

Most likely it's the gas cap, tighten and drive it for 1 tank and see if it goes off. That is the #1 reason for cars with ODB II to get a CE light.

-mike

zutrooper · January 2002

Guys: I've been watching my MPG figures for last 1000k miles. It looks like I'm getting 13 MPG on 87 octane. I know wind rsistance is a facto( I have the ome lift, SURCO rack w/ 4 lights, yakima rack,& a Manik grill guard), but I'm still suprised number is so low. Anyone have any thoughts/suggestions? Mark

keepontroopin · January 2002

Do you have any pics of your rig? I'd like to see what the Surco rack looks like.

paisan · January 2002

On the Trooper anything above 60mph will yield very poor milage. I have no roof rack and at 77mph with 42psi rear and 37psi front I get about 16mpg in the winter on 87. At 65mph I get about 18-19mpg on 87 in the winter and once got 20mpg in the summer.

Towing I got about 11mpg at 70mph.

My guess is your lights on the racks are probably the culprit, don't forget as my engineer buddy always says... "The Trooper has the aerodynamics of a Brick Wall!"

-mike

zutrooper · January 2002

Here's a link to pics on mike's site.

http://www.isuzu-suvs.com/gallery/markp.html

You can also look at a pic from Overlanders site:

http://www.overlander.com/jpgs_leadvehicles/troop98_lead.jpg

jimmyp1 · January 2002

Do you really have the new Pirelli's inflated that high? With the additional width on the stock rim, don't they automatically lend themselves to getting pinched in at the rim and therefore ride on a "peak" (or biased along the centerline) at the road surface? Even with my 265/70/16's I lowered my air pressure to 28(f) 26 (r) to counteract some of this assumed effect. So far I seem to wearing evenly after 12k miles.

Jim

paisan · January 2002

Haven't had them long enough to really play with em. I may drop em down a bit though. At 28/26 they were rolling over on every turn I made, didn't like that feeling at all. I prefer a stiffer sidewall a bit, I may drop em to 35/35 or 32/35 for this weekends trip upstate to snow country.

-mike

i30g20 · January 2002

I'm a little confused from reading my manual about tod and 4wd. Can anybody answer these questions?: 1) Is there any difference between leaving the 4wd disengaged in neutral vs in high and tod not turned on? Any gas mileage impact? 2) With tod engaged, and 4wd selector in high, is there a maximum speed that should not be exceeded? 3) If the answer to number 2 is there is no maximum speed, then, what is gas mileage hit by leaving tod on always?

Thanks, Ted.

paisan · January 2002

TOD = 4wd Hi

Basically on TOD equipped troopers there is no 4wd hi. You can only engage up to 62mph, but no limit after it's engaged. I leave mine in TOD almost all the time, except on the highway.

4wd Lo is only for slippery conditions when max traction is needed. You can only do about 40mph ish with 4wd Lo. You should almost never need 4wd lo.

4wd hi is only on part-time transfer cases and in those cases you have 2Hi, 4Hi, 4Lo. 2hi is for normal driving. 4hi is for slippery surfaces and off-roading and can't be used on dry pavement.

The hit for milage with TOD is about 1mpg. No other adverse effects of keeping it engaged 24x7.

-mike

i30g20 · January 2002

Mike, thanks for the fast response to #2811.

paisan · January 2002

Be sure to check out http://isuzu-suvs.com for tons more helpful info.

-mike

schulhof · January 2002

Attitude has alot to do with it too.

If my wife drives on a whole tank we see 14 MPG routinely. If I drive it I can get up to 16 MPG which is more than 10% difference!

Lumbering around at <3500 RPM it does fairly reasonable.

beer47 · January 2002

Hey gang, 32-35 psi all around, no more no less.

teacherjim · January 2002

When I drive my 2001 Trooper I hear a kind of grinding or rubbing noise from my windshield, where the glass and the chanel meet. Could this be the glass contracting from the cold and expanding as the heat from the interior warms up the glass? I have never heard of this from anyone else. My wife says why worry you don't hear it when the radio is on. I have 14,000 miles and it has always made this sound. Do I have anything to be concerned about? Thanks

sbcooke · January 2002

I have been accused of having OCD, and all of my vehicles have a lot of little annoying noises :-) I have never had any windshield noise from my Trooper.

Maybe you could try to isolate it by putting some insulation or something that fits tight up against it. You could jam the material in different spots until the noise goes away that might help pin point what is causing the noise? If you think you know where it is making the noise, take it by the dealer to have them look at it.

It doesn't sound like a safety issue, since you have 14,000 miles on the truck, but I would have to have it fixed, especially with a new vehicle.

keepontroopin · January 2002

Teacherjim.....do you have a bug guard on your Trooper? When I installed my bug guard I got a similar noise but it sounded more like the guard slapping the vehicle which was not the case. The guard changed the way the airflows over the vehicle more specifically the plastic channels on the side of the windshield.

My solution to the noise was simple and cost me $0.99. I went to the hardware store and bought screen spline that is used in replacing a window or door screen. i bought it thick enough to wedge into the area between the windshield and the plastic channel and wha-la the noise went away.

bsmart1 · January 2002

keepontroopin, that sounds like a good fix to the wind noise problem. Tell me more about that 'spline'. I've got a whistle on the passenger side that this just might take care of. Once the spline is tucked in, is it visible at all? Is there a brand name for it? Is it wood or plastic?

All this talk about MPG brings a couple things to my attention. I am amazed at the differences in the 3.2L and the 3.5L engines being used in the Trooper. For the small increase in size there is quite a difference in performance and economy. My 97' has to turn 3000 rpm to get to 75 mph. My 01' turns 2500 rpm to get to 75 mph. A significant difference in rpm for the 2 engines. But the 97' gets better mileage even though turning 3000 rpm and pushing a heavier vehicle.(97' is 4X4 while 01' is 2X4) measurable weight difference without the front transaxle etc.. I can typically get 19 mpg on the highway with my 97' while the 01' will be more in the 17 mpg range for the same conditions and driving habits. Oddly enough they both get about the same mileage around town, 15 mpg. I sure would have thought the 01' turning 2500 rpms would have gotten higher mpg than it does, but oh well...... I really believe Isuzu could have geared the 3.2L engines to turn 2700-2800 rpm at 75 mph without sacrificing performance and gotten considerably better mpg than the presently does. At highway speed there is little noticable power difference between about 2500 and 3000 rpm in it. Happy Trooping.

paisan · January 2002

Are you sure the '97 was heavier? I know for a given model the 4x4 version will be about 200lbs heavier but I think the newer troopers have more sound deadening material than the older ones which is quite dense material. I know in '98 the Rodeo jumped almost 1000lbs when it went from the '97 model.

Also @ 75mph with the stock tires I turn about 2700rpms on the '00 Trooper. With the bigger tires I turn about 2400rpms at 75mph.

-mike

keepontroopin · January 2002

If you have a Lowe's or Home Depot nearby go to the windows area where they sell screen for repairing window screens and screen doors. The spline is the rubber that wedges the screen into the frame. It can be purchased in different thicknesses and lengths. i bought like 10 feet of it and cut it to length for each pillar. If you buy the right thickness it will wedge itself right in the crevase we've been talking about. At the very base of the crevase the gap is slightly larger so i wrapped the spline with a little duck tape and stuffed it under. If you do it right it will not be visible at all. the other alternative that I have heard some people talk about is to fill the space with silicone, but I thought that would be a little to permanent. If you have any other questions let me know!

paisan · January 2002

If anyone does this, can you shoot some pics and do a write-up for the how-to section of http://isuzu-suvs.com ? Thanks.

-mike

teacherjim · January 2002

Keepontrooping,
Yes I do have a bug shield. I will try the fix you mentioned. If you hav not seen my post on the maintance/repair board you should! I am having my transfer case replaced under warranty because of the 9 wire plug going into it coming out under normal use. There is going to be a TSB from Isuzu soon to fix this. The district Isuzu Rep said there have already been 5 cases of this in his area this year.

schulhof · January 2002

Got the Trooper back from the mechanic today.

"Found front output seal leaking for Transfer Case
for front drive shaft"

So they R and R'd the seal:

Parts: $22.74
Labor: $174.72

Fortunately enough oil stayed in the transfer case and no damage was done. I picked up the car and pressure washed the underside. I will see how it looks tomorrow.

Thanks Mike, and beware Trooper owners! This is just one of those unusual things that goes bad.

This and a valve cover gasket leak in 5 years and 98k miles. I guess that is ok.

schulhof · January 2002

The Vehicle Dependability Index (VDI) measures durability of 5 year old models across 137 potential problem areas.

The 2001 results are out (for 1997 vehicles).

In the Midsize SUV category Isuzu Trooper finished second only to Toyota 4Runner. Mercury Mountaineer was third.

cwmoser · January 2002

I can attest to the reliability of the Trooper and versus the 4Runner which you said was #1 in reliability, our purchase price was much less and we have much a more more roomy interior :-)

troop2shos · January 2002

Thanks for bringing this up. Since the post on the 4th, my '00 just started making the "chatter" from the right front mesh in the vent cowling - probably the outer edge by lightly pushing on it. I'll cut & wedge a thin piece of rubber in there when I get a chance.

paisan · January 2002

Hey guys, did some snow drivinging this weekend! I managed to get my Trooper completely off the ground. All 4 wheels were airborn! I even have it on video, so hopefully I'll get it captured soon and up on the web!

-mike

radman6 · January 2002

Whoa, don't think I'll be buying a used vehicle from Paisan anytime soon : ) I've been tryng hard this winter to make sure all 4 wheels stay on the ground...

Of course I do remember my youthful off-road racer days when getting airborne was big fun. Learned a lot about auto mechanics back then - mostly fixing stuff I broke ~: 0

paisan · January 2002

Didn't mean to go airborne but some of the dips we went through managed to get me off the ground. It was very interesting, and I'm glad it isn't the A$$ender cause I would have cracked a front A-arm on it for sure.

-mike

sbcooke · January 2002

Paison, you know you get better traction with the wheels on the ground! How are the new wider tires in the snow? That is one concern of mine about going wider is that my winter traction will be reduced.

paisan · January 2002

Was about to write it up. The new tires did awsome in the snow, both the thick heavy off-roading snow, and the highway snow I had to deal with on my way back from upstate. Tire Pressure is very important for that though. While off-roading (pics to come) I managed to drive into a pit of snow up to the frame rails. My tires were just spinning around good and stuck, of course I had my 40psi rear 35psi front in at the time. Dropped the fronts to 28 and the rears to 30 and just backed out w/o a problem. Kept them there for the rest of the weekend of snowy off-roading and didn't get stuck except when I drove into a drainage ditch going around a guy who had his snow mobile trailer sticking out into the road.

On my way home hit the nor-easter on the NYS Thruway. At this point I was running 35psi Rear and 32psi front. No slipping, no grip problems whatsover. I did use "3" for high speed snow driving on the highway and when we got into bumper to bumper snow traffic used "2" and "1" In "1" I was able to almost come to a complete stop w/o braking.

So in a word the 275-70-16 Pirelli Scorpion ATs did tremendous in the snow!

-mike

sbcooke · January 2002

Would cause you to ride on top of the snow, rather than cutting through to the blacktop? Did that hinder stopping at all?

paisan · January 2002

The lugs of the AT tire gripped very well, no problems stopping at all. Of course I didn't use the brakes much to stop. If I nailed the gas the rears would slip slightly and then the TOD would pull after about .5 seconds.

-mike

keepontroopin · January 2002

You are a fruitcake!

) He He!!! As my school teachers used to say.....four on the floor please!

cjames3 · January 2002

I have a 96 Isuzu Trooper and the spark plugs are popping out of the cylinder causing the compression to drop and also causing the coil to have to be rethread...which isnt cheap. Has anyone ever heard of this before? I am told that it is caused by someone putting the plugs in crooked. Any thoughts?

paisan · January 2002

Sounds right. I was going to say someone over-tightened them or put them in crooked.

-mike

paisan · January 2002

http://isuzu-suvs.com

Check out my airborne trooper!

-mike

bluedevils · January 2002

My experience has been about the same as yours. Our 96 Trooper (no longer with us) returned about 17.7mpg overall vs. our 98 Trooper at about 16.9 mpg overall. On the highway, the 96 Troop outdoes the 98 by about 1-1.5 mpg.

Like you, I found this strange since the 3.5L in the 98 revs lower at freeway speeds than the 3.2L in the 96.

My impression was that the 2 Troopers are of about equal weight but I could be wrong on that. 96 was a shift-on-the-fly 4WD and the 98 has TOD.

swschrad · January 2002

not normal, certainly

could be cross-threaded, could also be they weren't torqued in correctly. if the threads weren't weakened enough to not hold the plug before, they likely are now, and that does require boring out the hole and using a heli-coil tapped insert. there is a limited number of times you can do that before you have to replace the engine (like once.)

so now you need to be a lot more selective. your or your chosen mechanics need to know that you should blow the grit away from the plug hole before taking out the old plugs... which should NOT be done with impact wrenches... the threading and the new plug should start off clean and dry, with no rust or oil in the threading... and the plug threads should be lightly coated with anti-seize before being wrenched in. max torque is generally considered in the 10-12 foot-pound range on most applications, and grinding in the sumbucks until you bend your half-inch breaker bar is NOT how this is done, you use a dial wrench without angle attachments.

the plug should always be started with fingers, or a piece of hose slipped over the insulator of the plug. if it won't turn into the cylinder at least one turn this way, find out why, and do it right. if you don't, you can cross-thread the cylinder and not even know it, which weakens the metal.

drumbold · January 2002

I had the plugs changed on my 92 Trooper by my local Isuzu dealer. Three weeks later, one of the plugs shot and was lost out while I was on a trip. The Isuzu dealer ended up paying for a tow truck and a night in motel. The plug closest to the driver is very difficult to get to and to torque down (the reason I had the Isuzu shop do the work); it was the plug that left the engine. I replaced the plug, torqued it down, and had no further problems.

sbcooke · January 2002

It's true! Mike, did your new tires hit the wheel wells during this adventure?

paisan · January 2002

No rubbing at all!

Yippie. It was unplanned but I'm glad they caught it on video.

-mike

erinsquared · January 2002

My guess is that the new 3.5L, even though it may operate slightly more efficiently than the earlier 3.2L engine, is still putting out more power at the lower rpm and hence is consuming more fuel. The fixed front CV joints on the TOD model may also counter some of the efficiency advantages of the new engine.

yunk · January 2002

I have owned a '94 Trooper LS (with only 60K mi) for just about a year now and have enjoyed it except for an intermittent noise that is about enough to drive a person insane. Periodically, a chatter develops that sounds like very large nest of very mad hornets!!! At first I thought it might be the bugshield, but the noise is closer to the cab. Then I thought the windshield wipers may be causing the noise, but it seems to be coming from the sides of the window. HELP!!! The noise is so bad that my wife refuses to ride in the vehicle. I have checked some of the previous posts on this topic, but they don't seem to fit this problem.
PS Are their any repair/maintainence items I should be on the lookout for?

paisan · January 2002

Or perhaps the cooling fan? Just a few thoughts.

-mike

sbcooke · January 2002

What about that other fix, using screen door bead (or some kind of weather stripping) on the edges of the windsheild for wind noise on trucks with bug shields? There was a recent thread not too long ago about it, I think in the maintenance and repair section?

yunk · January 2002

Thanks. I was thinking about silicone, but after finding the window spline suggestion I think I will give it a try first. You guys are a great help.

ePaterline · January 2002

Yunk,

The windshield noise is a known problem on all Troopers from 1992 on. I have owned a 94 Trooper and now own a 2000 Trooper - both had the problem. The problem is caused by the depth of the track between the "A" post and the windshield. The gap is about 1/4" wide and about as deep. The wind moving through this channel sets up a vibration. If you eliminate the channel, you eliminate the noise. my dealer used a bead of clear silicone. Why they don't fix this known problem is beyond me.

Additional free piece of advice on your 94 - if the transmission ever goes bad DO NOT let anyone try to rebuild it, not even the factory trained mechanics get it right. I went through three of them in one year (at Isuzu's expense) before they put in a factory rebuild and solved the problem.

Isuzu Trooper

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