Isuzu Trooper

sdc2 · December 2003

On pretty much any vehicle, high speed on the blower fan is straight 12V. All other speeds are reduced voltage via the resistors.

Wish I could tell you why it reverted back to high after replacing the resistors, but I don't really know. Is your voltage regulator working properly?

bsmart1 · December 2003

Who's got those instructions on how to re-program the remote door opener for late model Troopers? I need to re-program due to case coming apart.

paisan · December 2003

They are on my website. http://Isuzu-suvs.com in the FAQ section.

-mike

dnestr · December 2003

I decided to install PDC system on my Trooper with a plastic tire cover ( previous had a soft one). Just wanted to be sure that the nice cover wouldn't be broken if the truck was being parked. So the PDC Coligen DX-4700 ( I've never heard this name before) with four implanted in the rear bumper sensors works fine. Four-colored small monitor is located on a dashboard. The red light means the truck is going close to something. Very primitive and cheap.

bsmart1 · December 2003

I did find the instructions on your website. What a handy support reference for Trooper users!!

bsmart1 · December 2003

sounds like your fan is drawing too much current. It may be about to fail, but its pulling so much current that its shorting out the resistor pack when you 1st changed it out. It may be internal to the motor winding, or something else in the circuit. Maybe a low resistance to ground on that line??

bsmart1 · December 2003

A buddy of mine just had this problem with his Chevy Blazer. I know its not a Trooper, but the problem for him was a partially plugged EGR valve. The shop took the EGR off and sprayed some carb. cleaner in it and blew it out. Problem fixed!! Charged him about $25. He said this was a repeat problem for him, with the fix being the same each time. A new EGR valve was quoted at $125 plus labor of $50 to fix. Lets see.... $25 to pull and clean or $50 to pull and replace?? Something don't quite fit in this picture!!

troopergoof · December 2003

I am the happy owner of a super reliable 1994 Isuzu Trooper LS - 3.2L DOHC: Recently, my o2 sensor light came on at exactly 90,000 so... (thinking it had actually failed)I replaced the sensor. However, I don't know how to reset the warning light on the instrument display. Can anyone direct me to the proper procedure to reset or clear the o2 sensor warning light? Please reply to webmaster@telefone.com

travonatr · December 2003

I have read many posts both here and ITOG. The combination of burning oil and no recourse via the shrinking Isuzu dealer network gives me cause for concern. I have a 90 trooper and it has been a good car minus the recent cylinder head failure (125K)

Overall would you folks still recommend a 2000 3.5 trooper? Or is it better to save my coin for a Toyota?

breakor · December 2003

Pros: If you get a typical newer Trooper you will likely not use oil; especially if you don't stretch your oil changes, keep your PCV and EGR clean. They are priced very cheaply (especially versus a newer Toyota) and are generally very reliable as you likely know from your 90. Many other cars have stopped being produced any yet most all their parts are still available. In fact Isuzu stopped making passenger trucks years ago yet I don't think the owners of them are hurting for parts.

Cons: There is a very real chance you could burn oil and with no warning (at least if you don't check your oil level) lose an engine. You may get no dealer support and finding a new engine could become impossible. Rebuilts and used ones may or may not be available. In fact getting parts for any major rebuild could be difficult and/or pricey.

So with apologies to Dirty Harry "Do you feel lucky punk, well do you?". In otherwords do you want to pay for the certainty of a Toyota or save a bunch of money and get a capable Trooper that likley won't break but if it does it may impractical to fix?

sdc2 · December 2003

Yes there is a chance of engine failure, but with only a dozen people or so reporting, is this a significant number out of the entire population driving Troopers? In other words, is the chance of a catastrophic drivetrain failure worse than any other vehicle? I'm not sure that it is...after all, every model of vehicle has some people that have serious problems, even Toyotas and Hondas.

This is actually a question I am wrestling with, as my Trooper was wrecked on Christmas Eve by a guy who didn't see the red light, or the cars turning in front of him.

raydahs · December 2003

Hopefully everyone is o.k., was it damaged to the point of being towed away?

sdc2 · December 2003

http://www.berisford.net/uploads/BigSwede/mvc-001s.jpg

Everybody is OK, Trooper is not.

sbcooke · December 2003

Good news everyone is OK. Ouch, looks totalled. How well was the passenger compartment protected? Was there much intrusion in the passenger space?

sdc2 · December 2003

Not at all, I believe because the wheel/axle took the brunt of the collision. He hit me with an Explorer at 45-50 mph, glad I wasn't in a small car.

sbcooke · December 2003

Thanks for the info. There is so much talk about crash tests and so on these days, here is a real world crash where the trooper did a good job of protecting occupants.

dnestr · December 2003

I condole with you upon the accident. Hold the fort.

bluedevils · December 2003

sorry to hear about your accident. glad to hear the Trooper handled it well and everyone is okay.

let us know how the damage estimate comes out.

troop2shos · December 2003

Sorry to hear the news! At the speed you estimated the Explorer was traveling, I expected to see more cabin penetration - Troops are a tough truck, fortunately.
What did the front end of the Explorer look like? It doesn't appear that you got moved much on impact.

paisan · December 2003

Looks like your side-bars held up well similar to the ones when mine got smacked. Rear bumper also looks good. If it's totalled, and the rear bumper is ok, shoot me an e-mail.

-mike

sdc2 · December 2003

The Exploder was mashed in front, he hit square. The 21 year old 'kid' wasn't hurt though, airbags went off of course and he had his seatbelt on.

As far as not getting moved, my Trooper actually spun 270 degrees on impact...he hit me pretty hard.

sdc2 · December 2003

The rear bumper was bent somewhat at the side wrap-around area, but I think it could be bent back. I don't know if I will be able to pick parts off of it. If they let me swap the stock bumper for the Calmini I might do it, shipping is a pain though.

I hope to make it to Moab again this year, whatever vehicle I end up with, so there may be an opportunity for somebody to transport from there.

kmcgirl · December 2003

Good thing you are ok!

What is the damage estimate? My 2001 Trooper was in a mild accident last year with a Honda Accord at 10mph - $3000k damage. Front bumper, front quarter panel, and new front wheel.

Unfortunately, won't be much to total one these things with the dropping blue book values.

Just went to a car show yesterday in DC, still nothing out there I like better than my Trooper.

-Kevin

tetonman · December 2003

Okay, here's a new one... got the Trooper washed on Sunday. Drove in, it's fine... Drove off and... BIG HEAVY clunk when transmission was shifting to third gear (around 25-30 mph). This clunk continued for about half the day, then stopped.

This is not the normal mini-clunk that some experience in normal driving. This was so hard, it made the truck shudder a little bit.

Now of course, it is gone and getting it to repeat for the dealer would be impossible. The Check Engine light did not come on either so no code to check.

Any help would be appreciated. Our 99 has 50k with no issues until now. Just regular oil/fluid changes and tires until now... thoughts?

Tetonman

PS> SDC very sorry to hear about your accident. Glad everyone was okay. Paisan's site had a good gallery of wrecked Troopers at one point. Just shows you how great these trucks are in the worst possible situation...

beer47 · January 2004

to all......May all of our Troopers go 250,000 miles with minimal repair!

breakor · January 2004

Tetonman, water from the car wash probably got into some electrical connector and caused your problem. This is likely a one time fluke.

That being said when was the last time you checked your ATF level and condition or for that matter changed the fluid? This is an often overlooked item, especially with the no dipstick design.

teacherjim · January 2004

I have a 2001 Trooper. I drive 74 miles round trip each day to work through the country and woods. I often use my bright lights, what would be a simple replacement bulb that would be brighter than the stock lights?. I want better dims as well as brights. I don't want anything that might short out the wiring. Just a simple brighter than stock setup. Thanks--Jim

raydahs · January 2004

I don't have any experience with these, but I see them advertised on Speed Channel all of the time. Check out p/n 9004ST.
http://www.sylvania.com/auto/silverstar.htm

http://www.sylvania.com/bin/carApp/carApp_ver2.pl?flag=model_qual- - - s&make=&make=Isuzu&year=&year=2001&model=Troo- - - per&x=44&y=11

sbcooke · January 2004

I added silverstars a while ago. They are better than stock. Much whiter, slightly brighter. I think they are worth it, although don't expect miracles.

cracovian · January 2004

silverstars are great, however, I prefer getting MTECs on eBay - they're just as good, made in Japan, and a lot cheaper.

peterisme · January 2004

I just got them from Walmart, (about $36 for two). They are much brighter than the stocks.

raydahs · January 2004

I had basically the same problem as you a while back, see raydahs May 15, 2003 10:45am read until #7804. As it turns out, it did fix itself. Another thing, if it happens again, pull over turn off the engine for about a minute or so, this seemed to act like re-booting the computer and it works.

Here's another very good description of the problem jtk152 "Isuzu Rodeo" Oct 23, 2003 8:29pm

wildbuc · January 2004

I am trying to change the anti-freeze in my 99 Trooper and need help locating the engine block drain plug. I've found the butterfly nut at the bottom of the radiator but no luck with the block drain plug. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

wheels13 · January 2004

How does that butterfly valve on the bottom of the radiator open. Does it just unscrew or does it pop open when pried on the end? Thanks for the help.

tetonman · January 2004

I'll take a look when the ATF was last flushed and changed out. Also, given your thread Raydahs, I'll look for any blown bulbs and crawl around and look for any connectors that may be cracked or looking suspect...

Thanks!

Tetonman

unicon · January 2004

I searched the archives and can't locate any info on using 17 inch tires. Anyone know for sure?

serrano · January 2004

wildbuc - If I recall correctly, the engine block drain is on the right side of the block, near one of the soft plugs. You will have to get under the Trooper with a trouble light and look at the center of the block. I think it's just a threaded bolt.

Tom

wildbuc · January 2004

Thanks Tom, I've looked all over the net for that information. You have a nice day.

Tony (Wildbuc)

About the butterfly nut, it is in an awkward position and difficult to turn. I have not removed it yet, only turned it to loosen and then to re-tighten it. It seems to be a threaded plug---made of plastic. Be careful not to break it.

sbcooke · January 2004

The stock rims are 16"x7". 17" tires will not fit. You could put 17" rims/tires on, depending on the tire size. 255 is the width, the aspect ratio will also determine what will fit. I put larger tires on my 99...265/70R16 which are about 1 1/4 taller overall and fit with plenty of room to spare. So starting with a 17" rim, you are already 1" taller to start, so you need to look at 17" tire sizes and see how they line up.

I suggest you spend some time at tirerack.com learning about sizing to start before you start selecting rim sizes.

breakor · January 2004

I've read that in a 3.2 the block drain is above the starter and 27mm in size. Could be a 3.5 is the same. Could also be I read a bad post.

If you don't want to mess with this plug you might consider doing more drain/refill with purified water/run the engine/drain cycles using just the radiator plug drain. Or, you could install a power flush connection.

wildbuc · January 2004

breakor, I have considered doing the drain recycle bit with the radiator, but am worried about determining the water/anti-freeze ratio using that method. Could I perhaps run several cycles of water through the radiatior/engine, and then after draining the radiator, fill the radiator with a higher percentage of pure anti-freeze to counterbalance the reduced anti-freeze mixture inside the block? Anybody know what are the separate fill capacities of the radiator and engine block?

breakor · January 2004

To answer your earlier question, the drain unscrews.

Like noted I run the engine with each drain and fill cycle. Therefore I get all the old coolant circulated.

I am guessing that at most I am leaving in 1/3rd of the old solution with each drain/fill/run cycle. So if you do the math 3 cycles would mean that 1/27th of the old fluid remains in. This seems good enough to me especially since I do this every 18 months or so.

As to adding antifreeze back in, I first look up the capacity of the system in the owners manual (IIRC it is 9qts). I then calculate how much pure antifreeze I need in total assuming I have none left in the system. I add that much back in and top off with purified water. To the accuracy of the $5 antifreeze tester I bought at Walmart this works.

Just my hopefully helpful $.02.

df2000 · January 2004

Since I have just 3.2l experience in Rodeo it is may no be the same, but for what is worth. There are 2 coolant hoses connect to oil filter heat exchanger(the drum looking thing you screw your oil filter to). By removing lower radiator hose you get 4.5 q. By removing one of the heat exch. hose and turn on the engine for 2-3 sec couple times, you can get other 3.5 q.

bsmart1 · January 2004

I'm not sure about the 94' model, but the older models up to 91' had a switch on the back of the speedometer that had to be flipped to reset the O2 sensor light. On my 88' I did the same as you, I changed out the sensor and the lite stayed ON. I took it to a local shop and they figured out how to get the light out, and then shared that info with me. It was set to come on at exactly 60,000 miles on the odometer. The sensor was not bad to start with, but since it was that old, I left the new one in.

bsmart1 · January 2004

I starting to get a slight 'ringing" sound in the front area of my engine. It sounds like a bearing might be going on one of the pulleys. Has anyone else experienced this on their 99' Trooper?? If so was it the idler pulley, and did you replace it?

bsmart1 · January 2004

at the driver side front window post/column. Sounds like something loose just under the dash, but it's intermitten. Anyone else experienced this??

dnestr · January 2004

How cold is the weather in your area? My Troop did many sounds last winter (around 0-5F), especially during first 5 minutes of warming. I replaced different things on my 99 truck with 54 k miles before the winter. The idler pulley, the timing belt, the water pump and something else, what I don't remember now, were being used as new but the truck did the sounds every cold morning.

In summer only A|C sounded and the frequency of the noise depended on the acceleration. My well-known mechanic said that I had to replace the A|C pulley. But the summer is short in my area and I left it so.

sdc2 · January 2004

Speaking as a Minnesotan, when it gets very cold (it's below zero outside as I write) your vehicle will make all kinds of noises you never heard before...usually it is nothing to worry about. But synthetic oil is a good idea in those temps...

dnestr · January 2004

Yep, the synthetic oil is necessary in such areas, but how about lubricant in bearings, pulleys? It needs time to warm up a bit too.

Glad you're OK.

cracovian · January 2004

...which represents more than 50% drop over the previous pathetic year. Kinda makes me wonder how in the world so "many" individuals were willing to overpay that much now that incentives are gone...
http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/040106/autos_isuzu_table_1.html

This is one sad situation and I guess I won't be getting my new Axiom for more than thirty grand (!!!) anytime soon...

Isuzu Trooper

Comments

Helpful Tools

Most popular vehicles