-June 2024 Special Lease Deals-
2024 Chevy Blazer EV lease from Bayway Auto Group Click here
2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee lease from Mark Dodge Click here
2025 Ram 1500 Factory Order Discounts from Mark Dodge Click here
2024 Chevy Blazer EV lease from Bayway Auto Group Click here
2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee lease from Mark Dodge Click here
2025 Ram 1500 Factory Order Discounts from Mark Dodge Click here
Options
Comments
-mike
Shocks...www.rocky-road.com
I got my carb cleaner out and squirted the EGR from the 01' down real good and let the chamber 'soak' a bit. Then I took a brass wire brush and cleaned the valve seat area 'hole' and the mandrel real good so the metal was visible again. As it turns out, there was quite a bit of carbon buildup on these. After a thorough cleaning I decided to check the chamber on the engine. I squirted it down good and noticed the backwash of brown/black liquid coming out to the outside. I then took an airline and blew the chamber out to dry it and reinstalled the EGR valve. Started up the engine, and everything was fine!
After that I decided to see if I could get the same results on the EGR valve from the 99' Trooper. I filled its chamber full of carb cleaner and let it soak a bit. After rotating the mandrel several turns and pressing in and out on it, it came free! Another soak or two, and its working as freely as the one I had cleaned from the 01'. I would have no reservations putting this valve back into either of the Troopers in the future, which I plan to do if necessary. There was a significant amount of carbon buildup in this older valve. It had about 60K miles of service on it, whereas the 01' had about 32K miles of service. I would recommend the valve get a cleaning about every 30K miles from what I saw on these two. Its really a quick easy service to perform, just be careful not to damage that grafoil material gasket on the intake housing.
1. Does the front differential have a drain? I've heard both that it doesn't and that it does (disguised as a cover bolt at about 5:00 on the differential)
2. Is the fill opening for the transmission the 19mm bolt in the right rear corner of the pan? If not, where exactly is that fill? The drain must be the 19mm bolt in the center rear of the pan, right?
3. The Trooper manual discusses maintenance for the SOTF oil. Is this the little transfer case on the left front driveshaft? If so, where/how does that drain? Does it use GL5?
Many thanks,
Sean
ATF, I let the dealer do it, due to no dip-stick/filler, royal PITA.
SOTF, when you find out post up cause I want to do it too.
-mike
I spoke to some very helpful folks at St. Charles Isuzu and learned the following.
1. SOTF oil change - this does seem to apply specifically to the transfer case on a non-TOD Trooper. It apparently does not apply to TOD Troopers.
Sidenote: The unit on the front left driveshaft seems to be fed oil from the front differential. It apparently has just one access hole which supposedly can be used with a syphoning device to remove GL5 oil during an front diff. oil change. In other words, draining the front differential (more below) doesn't remove the residual oil which is retained in this unit. For a very thorough differential oil change, one can both drain the front diff and syphon this other unit.
2. There apparently *is* a drain on the front differential and it's a 12mm (head) bolt (with two washers) located at about 5:00 on the rear of the front differential. It's apparently shorter than the other bolts (which have single washers) on that cover. I'm told that the factory may seal this opening with a little silicon so it may need to be physically opened up after the bolt is removed.
3. The tranny fill bolt location is surprising because its on the pan itself and seems like it could be a drain bolt. The actual drain bolt is in the rear center of the tranny pan. The fill bolt is in the right rear corner of pan (where it angles up). Both drain and fill use 19mm hex bolt.
I can't vouch for any of the above yet because the truck has not been back up on a lift since I did this research. Tomorrow AM I can check some of this out.
Today I had many things done on the Trooper including new rear rotors and pads, oil change with Mobil One 10W-30 and Wix filter, TOD ATF changed, Valvoline 75-90 synthetic (plus antislip additive) in rear diff. and a transmission flush.
About that last item...I discussed the tranny flush several times with my mechanic and he believes it was OK to do because the test fluid he drained from the tranny wasn't especially dirty or smelly. He has sometimes discouraged people with high mileage vehicles from doing the flush. I know there are many debates on doing a first tranny flush at 63K but I decided to trust my mechanic who has taken good care of our vehicles for several years. Hopefully it wasn't a mistake to do it. The machine basically just connects to the tranny lines and feeds fresh ATF into the tranny while removing the old ATF. It uses the truck's own ATF pump to make this transfer and so (as I understand it) shouldn't put any more pressure stress on the seals than normal idling would. Supposedly, it removes exactly as much fluid as it puts in. The concerns I've read about this procedure is that the process can force gunk into small openings in the tranny, clogging them and ruining the transmission. Supposedly, if your fluid is pretty clean that shouldn't be a problem. I think he cycled about 18 quarts of fluid through the system and the change went pretty slowly so obviously the Trooper doesn't have a real high pressure ATF pump. I'll be happy to know the exact tranny fluid level when he checks it tomorrow, however.
Cheers,
Sean
Cheers,
Sean
It's another $100 but I imagine that between the flush and the traditional fluid/filter change, my transmission should hold up for a long time. The flush should have cleaned the torque converter and the other should deal with the filter. $200 all together for both but that's less than a $2000 tranny.
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Sean
Let me know how it goes. My trooper as 35K on it and I was thinking of having the pan dropped vs. the flush others have discussed. I called 2 Isuzu dealers in DC metro area, and they want $375 for this. Quite pricey indeed.
-Kevin
I had to have a $400 drop-pan/filter dealio done at my dealer when I was having tranny issues, however it was worth it cause it runs like new now. I'm going to make sure to get it drained/filled every 20K from now on.
-mike
It's the screen/filter issue that nags at me with just the flush. I'm still not sure if the filter in the tranny is a metal screen or a paper element but either way it has trapped various gunk in it/against it, etc. A flush could certainly stir that stuff up but it can't physically force it past the filter. I asked my mechanic this and he didn't have an explanation. He said the rep who sold them the machine said that it cleans the filter as well but I don't buy that and I'm not even sure my mechanic buys it. I don't see how its physically possible. I talked with two tranny shops yesterday afternoon and they both said that while the flush is useful for cleaning the torque converter it can't replace the traditional service. One of them said a flush is like doing an oil change without changing the filter which matches my gut sense.
So, aside from the extra cost, I would think a flush followed by a pan and filter service would do a very thorough job. It's a bit of a hassle but less so than a tranny replacement.
Thanks for the replies.
Cheers,
Sean
Can you tell me what mpg your diesel Trooper gets at 65 to 70 mph? That is the speed I usually get to drive out on the highways. I suspect that with the Trooper not being very aerodynamic, the mpg difference from 70 mph to 80 mph might be significant.
..
My 5 Spped 2001 Trooper 3.5L gasoline engine gets 21 mpg at 65 to 70 mph, but only 19 mpg when averaging 70 to 75 mph.
..
Thank You
BoxTrooper
I'm fortunate in that I only have a 10 mile per day commute. But, already, I'm opting to take my wife's car on short errands so I don't suffer from 11 MPG performance...
I hope the prices drop, but I'm not expecting it.
I wonder how much a Prius can tow... just joking.
..
200,000 miles at 11mpg at $2/gallon = $36,364.00
200,000 miles at 13mpg at $2/gallon = $30,769.00
200,000 miles at 15mpg at $2/gallon = $26,666.00
200,000 miles at 17mpg at $2/gallon = $23,528.00
200,000 miles at 19mpg at $2/gallon = $21,052.00
200,000 miles at 21mpg at $2/gallon = $19,047.00
200,000 miles at 25mpg at $2/gallon = $18,000.00
200,000 miles at 29mpg at $2/gallon = $13,793.00
200,000 miles at 33mpg at $2/gallon = $12,121.00
200,000 miles at 40mpg at $2/gallon = $10,000.00
200,000 miles at 50mpg at $2/gallon = $8,000.00
200,000 miles at 100mpg at $2/gallon = $4,000.00
http://www.wixfilters.com/filterlookup/PartDetail.asp?Part=58876>
It is not a screen but metal shell with some porous fitering media(felt) inside.
I believe if you do some fluid change like flush every 30k mi or drain/fill every 15-20k mi you can probably streach filter change to 100k mi.
k*girl,at 35k you don't have to change filter.
I personally do drain/fill once a year, cost me muuuch less than flush, just once $6.00 hand pump from Advance Auto(work actually very well) and 1g of fluid for each change.
All this talk about ATF flush or fill seems excessive. I've done the 'fluid exchange' a couple of times, with no negative effects. Once did it at 55000 miles on my 97' Troop and at 32000 miles on my 01' Trooper. It was much cheaper than a drain and fill quote here, $60 vs. $250 for a drain and fill. The drain and fill did not require or provide a replacement of the 'filter'.
If you're looking for better mpg check out the HP mod talked about in this forum. A simple resistor replacement in place of the IAT has helped me both in performance and in mileage. I'm serious, it sounds too simple, but it does work!
That 11 mpg city would have me searching for a honda civic or something. With today's gas prices I couldn't stand to do much driving around town.
bsmart1 - the discussion of power flushing, fluid exchange, etc. may seem excessive but there are a few cases on this list of people having had transmissions fail or develop problems after a flush. I err on the conservative side with maintenance, figuring its much cheaper than repairs. If nothing else, its probably useful to see what has worked or not worked for various people. It may be a little nuts for me to have the tranny flushed and then the filter changed but for $210 (total for both) I'll gamble.
By the way, I get about 16mpg in local driving but then again we don't get much traffic here.
Does anyone have a link for the HP mod discussion?
Sean
Is it an opening under neath the Trooper?
The two biggest concerns--getting the coils off of the plugs and doing the plug nearest the brake booster. To get the coils off, I twisted them back and forth a couple of times, but that really does not do much. I used both hands and applied steady pressure and waited for a bit to let the seal between the rubber and the plug loosen a bit. All of them came off without damage. Put some dielectric grease in them before reassembly so that they come off easier next time.
Here is how I did the last plug. I used one long extension (used for all of the other plugs), two short extensions, and a universal joint extension. To remove the plug, I dropped the plug socket into the hole, then attached the long extension to it, then the ratchet, and then loosened the plug. I then removed the ratchet and extension and replaced the long extension with the two short extensions, connected in the middle with the universal joint. Using this method, you can extract the plug and socket without having the brake booster interfere. Just reverse the process to get the new plug in. The only additional step after removing the long extension after tightening the plug is that you have to use the short extensions to get the plug socket out. Worked fine.
Overall, not bad. Doing the rear plugs on a transverse GM engine is much worse. Be very careful with the coils--that's the worst part.
Regards,
Tom
As I'm sure you've read, there's no dipstick on this tranny. You check the fluid level just as you would for a differential (ideally with the Trooper up on a lift). The drain bolt is in the center rear of the transmission pan. The fill bolt is also on the tranny pan on the right rear (where there's a bit of a slope). The fluid should be just up to the edge of the filler hole threads when the truck is level. It self corrects if you fill it, of course, because if you add too much it will run back out before you replace the bolt.
Cheers,
Sean
I guess knowledge really is power, huh? :0)
1. The rear bumper. The plate sign is located on it, because the small rear door is not enough for long European plates.
2. The bumper/body plastic black protector is around the body. It´s located on the tan colored part.
That´s all. No any differences inside. My Diesel has a hood scoop also.
BTW, we still drive on the right side of the road like you do :-). Other things have changed a bit since. You`re welcome to Russia to see them. Cheers.
Regards,
Tom
-mike
I'll post details to the list if it turns out that anyone here is interested in audio but I will shortly be pulling out all of the stock components and installing my own audio system. My Trooper has a separate set of stock tweeters mounted in the sail panels but they're just wired in parallel with the stock mid drivers so there's no factory crossover to deal with.
Cheers,
Sean
BE RUNNING or you get shower from 2q of ATF.
And the book said ATF should be warm(90-140F).
If that is right than the correct procedure would be to fill the trans to the fill thread, insert the bolt, start the engine to after its been running for a few minutes, remove the bolt and top off again to the filler thread. Yes?
Sean
Cheers,
Sean
1. My truck has dual diversity antennas in the right and left rear windows. An electrical device (outside the headunit?) determines which of the two has the better signal and chooses the stronger one.
2. These antennas use a signal amplifier which must be fed power from the "power antenna" blue lead of my Eclipse head unit.
3. The larger antenna plug goes into the jack on my Eclipse.
Now the question - does the blue power lead from the Eclipse go to the wire with the smaller plug or to a wire in the vehicle harness (maybe a brown/red stripe wire). If the blue switched power lead goes to the latter (a wire in the vehicle harness), what happens to the smaller plug?
Thanks,
Sean
-mike