Isuzu Trooper

breakor · June 2002

While the pricing is not rosy I don't really think it is as bleak as noted above. For example, Autotrader.com currently has 8 pages of 1999 Troopers for sale. The cheapest one is $12,900. The most expensive is $25,500 (good luck) with the average more like 15 to 16k$. No doubt regional differences also come into play and these are the asking prices with the sale prices no doubt coming in somewhat lower.

Has anyone actually done the math on what we would have saved/lost by paying the higher prices for another SUV with a good tradein value? In otherwords, we saved almost 10k$ over some other vehicles when new but what is the tradein difference now?

In any event, like others noted these Troopers are made for the long haul.

bluedevils · June 2002

You said "I need to trade this thing in now, before it gets worse." That's not how I look at it. The depreciation rate on your truck isn't getting worse, it's getting better. You have already endured the worst part - the first couple years after the vehicle is new. Getting rid of it now is the worst thing you can do. Enjoy driving it for another 2 years, knowing it will probably depreciate only another $4,000-$5,000 or so in 24 months. In 2 years, the truck will still be worth 8 grand or so.

I'd like to think we could get $12,000 for our 98 Trooper with Performance Package (basically an LS), with 66,000 miles. I don't think that's totally unrealistic. Your 99 is surely worth more than 12 grand. But you get $1,000-2,000 less by trading in than by selling privately. I can't understand why so few people sell privately. Maybe once I have a bad experience and get totally swindled, I might be more likely to trade in. But so far, I've never done that - always sold privately and always had success.

Re: the specific price and value of your truck, if you owned your 99 Trooper for 3 years and paid $23,000 originally and it's still worth half that or more, then the vehicle is holding its value fairly well. When you consider as the starting point the actual price paid and not the MSRP, Trooper depreciation really isn't that bad compared with other SUVs.

lawdawgfl · July 2002

Nobody discussed the fact that the Rodeo has a better trade in value than the Trooper. When I purchased the Trooper I did not plan on getting rid of it so soon. However I just got it back from the dealer and they replaced the A/C compressor again, and the reason for taking it in for repair in the first place is still there. (a whining noise when the A/C is on and driving, it goes up and down with the RPMs, turn off the A/C and the noise goes away) I enjoy the Trooper and have since I bought it, however the warranty is almost up and I do not want to be stuck with an A/C compressor bill. I am also not happy with my dealership standing behind their product. The stitching is coming undone on the passenger sit where the left shoulder blade rest, at the seam. I was told that Isuzu only warranties this type of problem for 1 year 12,000 miles. I could see if it was the drivers sit, but the passenger sit rarely has someone in it. (My wife uses it to go to work) To me this is an obvious manufacturing problem.
My family has been a Trooper family for a long time, my father had one of the original two door ones. Two of the earlier Troopers we had were totaled in separate accidents and the occupants walked away from both with out any scratches

sbcooke · July 2002

My A/C makes similiar noises, not all the time, but when I come to a stop? I was going to bring it in this summer to have it looked at, hopefully before something happens to it?

My wife seems to think the noise was there since new...maybe it is just a "feature" in the '99 and not a problem. I can't hear it with the radio on, and we are still getting the same A/C out as new, so I am not going to worry about it for now...knock wood...

paisan · July 2002

Your AC clutch pulley is dirty. I have the same problem with mine when it gets dirty after driving down a dirt road or big puddles etc. I probably will try to get mine replaced or fixed this summer, but of course everytime I bring it to the dealer it doesn't make that noise or they list is as "cleaned pulley, noise fixed"

-mike

lawdawgfl · July 2002

It is maddening when you take a vehicle in for a problem and either they do not hear what you hear or the problem does not happen when they look at it.
How do you clean the A/C pulley? Is it something we can do on our own? I am also hearing a grinding type of noise from the transmission, my wife tells me I hear ALL the noises and she hears none. When the Trooper is in park and the engine running there is no such noise. Put the Trooper in gear and I hear it. The dealer said they drove it and heard nothing. This is also the same dealer that supposedly fixed the noise from the A/C. I wish we had another dealer in this area.

sbcooke · July 2002

I had a similar issue. In 1st or 2nd or 3rd it would make a grinding noise, like sand in the transmission. In "D" there was no problem? It turned out, there was a cable blocking the correct gear shifter position when I went below "D". Took 5 minutes for them to relocate the cable.

One way to diagnose is to try moving the position of the shifter, if the grinding goes away when you move it a 1/4" then maybe it is only a adjustment or lever position thing?

paisan · July 2002

Basically what happens is that the dirt gets in the pulley. I'm thinking that some nice grease could be applied that would prvent dirt and grime from getting into the pulley/clutch for the A/C compressor. I found that hosing it down with one of those high pressure hoses works out well, but then it gets dirty again. I am gonna clean mine and then try to grease it up. My problem was only @ idle speeds, if you hit the gas at all it goes away.

-mike

savvas_e · July 2002

Mike,

Be wary of greasing the clutch and pulley if you get it dirty regularly. You may actually trap dirt and make the situation worse.

I haven't had that problem, but to me it would sound like a good clean after a workout in the dirt, and maybe a spray with WD40 to repel the water from the cleaning and prevent any corrosion would be the way to go.

Of course you would know this, but keep clear of the drive belt.

savvas_e · July 2002

Guys, Have extracted this interesting bit on how to get your tyre pressures right, from the Exploroz forum. The most "scientific" method I've seen so far -

Tip 1 (from Kezza) - A trick I use to ensure correct and even wear of WIDER tyres is to smear a strip of silicon rubber across the tyre at a certain point (eg use the tyre valve as a marker) leave it to harden overnight and check how the silicon wears off after 10 or 20 ks If the edges still have silicon on the surface of the tread they are overinflated if the centre still has silicon they are underinflated, also handy to check for scrubbing. Be scientific about it and you can work out best pressures for your laiden and unlaiden vehicle I expect you will find that if you check hot and cold pressures it will all tie in.

Tip 2 (from Mal58) - There is a 4PSI rule that you can use to establish the base tyre pressure to work from. It works like this, check the tyre pressure cold. Drive on the bitumen for an hour (highway running), stop and check the tyre pressures. If the tyre pressure has increased by 4psi you will be close to the correct pressure to run for your tyre/axle load and speed combination. If it's greater than 4psi, you need to run more pressure. If less than 4psi, you have started too high and need to drop the cold (initial) pressure. My Base Air Pressure is 34 PSI (for my old Dunlop Grandtreks). For driving in conditions other than bitumen, I drop my tyre pressures according to the following, If I go off road in sand, - I air down to 20 - 22 PSI. If I go off road in soft dirt / gravel, - I air down to 28 PSI. If I go off road in stoney ground, - I air down to 30 - 32 PSI Once you establish the Base for your vehicle, then you can air down in similar proportion to the above. Hope this helps.

Many thanks to Kezza and Mal58 on Exploroz for these tips.

breakor · July 2002

My favorite way is to use chalk (instead of the silicone noted above) and only drive a short distance in a straight line. Turns would seem to improperly bias the wear pattern (i.e. scrub the marking at the edges), at least on the front tires. Doing this I have found my tires always wear very evenly.

konghh · July 2002

Read it somewhere and this is how I work out the minimum tire pressure (don't confuse with optimum tire pressure). Look at the side wall rating. Assuming the tires says something like 1000 kg at 50psi and the Trooper weight 2000kg. Then the a minimum tire pressure of 25 psi should hold a weight of 2000-kg (since 4 tires of 5opsi holds up 4000-kg). Then I work my way up from 25psi to get the optimum by other varies means. Almost without fail, the optimum pressure is higher than the 25psi but it would be comforting to know I am safe.

paisan · July 2002

I run 40-42psi in the rear and 36-38 in the front. No uneven wear and better handling than the lower 30/35 suggested by the manual.

-mike

sbcooke · July 2002

I have found that with my new tires. 37 psi which I used to run in the rear with the stock tires, is a little bouncy. I lowered it 35 psi and it seems a little better.

boxtrooper · July 2002

The liberal government of my state is changing the emissions testing to make it talk to the on board computers of the vehicles tested. I want to minimize the invasion of privacy.

I have a 1995.5 Trooper-S, what information can they collect about me?

How does that information change if I buy a 2002 Trooper?

paisan · July 2002

95.5 I believe has OBDI which collects less info than the OBDII found in the 2002. My guess is that the Isuzus probably have the least amount of "personal" info of any cars out there.

-mike

breakor · July 2002

I doubt any ecm stores information about you. That is all done by the DMV off your VIN number and in turn driver license number.

What ALL OBDIIs do is store any history of emission codes. This information can in turn be used by the smog checkers to fail you. Thus, if you have stringent smog checks, you will want to make sure you clear all your codes after you fix the problem and just before you go to get checked.

boxtrooper · July 2002

How do the codes get cleared? Remove battery power for a half hour? Then how long do you let the computer retrain itself before it runs its cleanest?

boxtrooper · July 2002

There are enough sensors in some cars to track your every move and sound. Is this for your safety and convinience or just so the insurance companies can track down stolen cars and shut off cars with late payments?

konghh · July 2002

"40-42psi rear and 36-38 psi front"? I have Bridgestone AT 265/70R16 and with plain 30psi front and 35 psi rear, I can easily detect overinflation by means of excessive wear in the tread's middle within 7,000-km. I have to lowered it to 28 psi front and 30 psi rear to get a more even wear and more comfortable ride. Guess our rear sensor gives different reading

paisan · July 2002

Also I'm running 275-70-16 Scorpion ATs and prefer a firm ride with extended gas milage. If I ran a diesel like you guys over seas can, I'd probably opt for more comfort, but not much, as I slalom my truck often

-mike

troop2shos · July 2002

What I do in my SHO's is to depress the brake pedal for about 30 seconds to drain the brain after the battery cable is disconnected.

Not sure about the procedure for the Troop., but to correctly set the idle on my Gen III SHO, I have to let the idle settle down while in Park when first started (learn for 20 secs or so), then shift it to Drive & let it learn again, then turn the A/C on to Max while still in Drive & let it learn once more, then shift it back to Park w/ the A/C still on.......only takes a few minutes.

Then I drive the car like I stole it if I need to extract maximum performance....at least until my wife drives it & retrains....

paisan · July 2002

Fill tank to brim.
disconnect overnight
start and idle til the revs are stable at ~750rpms
drive it normal for an hour (whatver your normal is)

-mike

lawdawgfl · July 2002

A friend of mine bought a car from Hertz Car Sales; the salesman told him that the cars kept track of the top speed. The Expedition he was driving for example had only been up to 100mph. A car rental company in up north charged a man a fine every time his rental car went over the posted speed limit. That car was equipped with a GPS though. (the man sued a won)

sbcooke · July 2002

I think it may be in the gauge too. My Bridgestone 265's seem too low at anything below 34 psi. Consistent is important. 28-30 psi sounds too low though. It might be worth spending $3 on a new gauge to see if it is accurate? I guess if you are getting even tire wear, then it probably is the right amount.

stever · July 2002

Consumer Protection Orders ACME Rental to Stop Charging Consumers for Speeding.

"An estimate of the maximum damages due to wear and tear caused by sustained speeding comes to 37 cents for a two-minute period at 80 mph." Guess you'll have to do the math, Paisan, LOL.

Steve
Host
SUVs, Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards

paisan · July 2002

let's see...

100mph for 15 minutes

If you estimate that the typical Tarus is the rental car of choice these days that would mean the wear and tear on a Trooper would be about 2 cents @ 80mph for 2 minutes, so 15 min @ 100 should work out to about $1?

-mike

stever · July 2002

Better slow down on those trips upstate :-)

Steve
Host
SUVs, Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards

boxtrooper · July 2002

I did 104 mph, pedal to the floor and it had power left but would go no faster, for a half hour once. We were on a long trip and a pesky Hundai with dope smokin dudes in it was following and checking us out enough to make my wife worried. So I figured, its a Hundai, it probably does not go very fast (this was years ago). They tried but could not keep up. It was the middle of the night and I was making good time so I kept on going till I changed roads.

paisan · July 2002

My buddy had an Excel. We regularly tested the top speed going across canada. They will not go faster than 92mph that is all she wrote.

-mike

tidester · July 2002

"An estimate of the maximum damages due to wear and tear caused by sustained speeding comes to 37 cents for a two-minute period at 80 mph."

That comes out to 12.4 cents per mile - which is less than half the per mile cost of owning and operating a standard vehicle. We would all save money by speeding? Hmmm...!

tidester
Host
SUVs; Aftermarket & Accessories

savvas_e · July 2002

I'm told is over 180km/h. I have had mine up to 150km/h. Only problem is that the BFG A/T's my car is wearing, are only rated for upto 160km/h.

Mind you, if your caught doing more than 40km/h over the limit in Oz, it's instant jail time.

savvas_e · July 2002

Has anyone actually done the re-training procedure Mike describes? Was there any noticeable difference in the way it performed?

savvas_e · July 2002

It's awfully lonely in here!

BTW, I'm doing the retraining process for the ECM as we speak. It should be interesting, as the Monterey is currently running 98 RON fuel and will be for the next week and a half.

stever · July 2002

The 1st and 4th are big holidays in Canada and the US. People's ears are still ringing from the fireworks and they're all on long weekends or whatever.

So, how's the weather in your neck of the woods?
/smalltalk/

:-)

Steve
Host
SUVs, Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards

boxtrooper · July 2002

I installed the DirectHits and part of that procedure is the disconnect the battery for at least a half hour, I don't know how much memory was retained after a half hour if any, but the given reason for disconnecting the battery was to make the engine computer re train the timing to make full use of the DirectHits. It did idle strange for a while and then all was well.

http://www.directhits.com

sbcooke · July 2002

Got my tires all set, I am very happy that they are finally running smooth! I put my thule and fishing rack on this morning. Then tonight I wired up my CB Antenna. I haven't finished the CB itself, but adding the antenna will give me the incentive to hook it up now rather than later.

I also picked up a can of back rust proof spray paint. I try to spay paint rust spots underneath my truck each year. I am not sure how bad the surface rust is for the undercarriage (if at all), but this seems to keep it at a minimum.

paisan · July 2002

Dropped off the Troopa to get the side steps up on!!!!

-mike

sbcooke · July 2002

or the weld on rocker bars from independent 4x4?

savvas_e · July 2002

Steve,

Only just got your message. As there seemed to be no one around, I logged out. I knew about 4th of July and figured that everyone was out.

Down here, it's the middle of winter now but I'm sure it's mild by some standards in the US. 5degC when I left for work this morning, but fine and sunny anyway.

savvas_e · July 2002

So, got my wheel alignment done, loaded up with fuel and blanked out the ECM.

After all that was done, on day one we did about 100km around Sydney in varying conditions. The Monterey seems a little bit livelier, but the big difference that even my wife noticed is how much quieter the engine was when cruising at all speeds but especially at 90-100km/h. The fuel gauge also didn't travel as quick through the first quarter as it used to.

However, the next few days will really tell as the car is back to weekday chores with my wife and kids. That is, home-daughter's school-son's day care-wife's work-daughter's school-son's day care-home, while I take the train.

Following that, we have a weekend in the Blue Mountains of NSW (with no kids - yeah!). I have three easy trails planned with a friend while the ladies go shopping for antiques, etc.

paisan · July 2002

They are the weld-on ones from indy. I'm on vacation this week up in the Adirondacks

yippie

-mike

bawbcat · July 2002

Some of you who posted in the tire pressure discussion mentioned that you put hight pressure in the rear than in the front. What is the logic behind that? The way I see it is that, unless the vehicle is heavily loaded, the front end is carrying more weight than the rear. Thus I normally put higher pressure in the front tires than in the rear.

paisan · July 2002

the manual always states 5psi higher in the rear than the front. They must have the suspension setup that way?

-mike

paisan · July 2002

I finally got off the computer and called em up, they said my side steps are done! $75 to have them welded on! So finally they are done. Tonight or tomorrow I will do the Sway Aways!

Yippie

-mike

tetonman · July 2002

As part of the 30k maintenance, dealer mentioned repacking hubs. We didn't use dealer (see last post a while ago) due to cost $600+. However, I am finishing everything else up in manual, but I have no idea what this means. I assume its for the TOD/Wheels?? Not sure though, and if it's important, I'll have it done.

Just for clarification, my '99S doesn't go off road much (occassional gravel or dirt road) and we only use TOD during winters here in Chicago.

Thanks for your help.

Tetonman

paisan · July 2002

aren't they the bearings that hold the wheels onto the car? I am gonna get mine repacked on the trooper when I get the ATF fluid done.

-mike

savvas_e · July 2002

Repacking the hubs is basically regrease and adjusting the preload on the wheel bearings. It is arguable if it is important or not, but I would get it done.

Prevention is always better than the cure!

savvas_e · July 2002

On the Trooper/Jackaroo, the load on the rear axle is actually more than that on the front. That's why the tire pressures are higher. And of course when you load it up, most of it gets carried over by the rear axle.

Even though there's a lot of mechanicals up front, keep in mind that the motor is relatively light weight because it is all alloy. Whereas the rear has more steel and glass overall. Also, the rear axle carries significantly more of the cabin area than the front.

dielectric7bb · July 2002

carries the gas tank, which can weigh a good amount when full, and the full size spare :-)

Isuzu Trooper

Comments

Helpful Tools

Most popular vehicles