| Welcome to Isuzu Trooper This forum is the place for first generation Isuzu Trooper owners to meet, share experiences, photos, videos, technical information and a good time. You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Join our community! If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features: |
| Trooper don't fail me now!; Design limitations and common component failure | |
|---|---|
| Tweet Topic Started: Mar 13 2013, 09:14 PM (293 Views) | |
| EricJette | Mar 13 2013, 09:14 PM Post #1 |
|
Once upon a time (shortlived) I sold used cars on a lark, and being too honest to be successful by far, I told a young couple, "You don't want to buy this car, it needs too much work." . Yeah, and now I own a trooper...ironic isn't it? I mean it takes some work to bring a 25 year old vehicle back to life, in spec. , running like new. Those of us who use them as tools, mules, dailing driving fools striving for the legal tender will no doubt have had, and probably will have, muttered the title to this thread like a mantra hoping to get it home and roll on into the drive. Thus the question arises, to what do I owe to this near disaster? And so this thread is all about design limitations and common component failure. Any system, any engine, tranny or driveline, internal and external, maintenance, prevention, symptoms and relief - aka repairs, and how to find the problem you're looking for in order to fix it. This thread is meant to be a wealth of tips and tricks to keep your trooper on the road in good running order. ------- Since I have an '86 / 2.3L/stock carb/intake/Fed. emmissions w/ air pump complete and working to spec. w/ 173k on the engine and it starts, idles, and drives well, I guess I can speak to what I consider a couple tell-tale signs of good running order, for what it may be worth; First on starting in cold weather 32F and below, two full pumps of the gas pedal and with foot off the gas, turning the key over and starting the engine first time, every time. Fast idling on its own @ 11-1200 rpm's. When temp guage is @ about 1/4-1/3 a quick tap on the gas if it's idling high still at a stop, will drop the idle down and it will hold steady repeatedly@ 800 rpm's through normal warm engine temp. (halfway on the guage). Oil pressure steady @ 55-57 psi on cold start, pressure will drop to 30lbs. @800rmp's (warm engine) idle, 55-57 driving (10psi per 1000 revs being the safe zone's lower limit according to experts). 2.6L modded with 2.3 intake/carb would share basic charactaristics in the above with the 2.3L (if full stock). I think...therfore an expert may correct me...that if you can get more than 150k out of a carb without rebuilding it w/ the throttle body, then you're doing pretty good. If your distributor lasts that long, it's probably had its shaft "o" ring seal replaced, and if not it probably leaks. Having replaced just about every seal and gasket possible without radicly tearing apart the motor from 150k onward, after a period of time they all become suspect. I wouldn't fathom a guess as to the average life expectancy of a 2.3L or 2.6L head gasket, but there's got to be a pretty good data-base out there.. Any ideas? Edited by EricJette, Mar 13 2013, 09:18 PM.
|
|
|
| johnny5ive | Mar 14 2013, 10:31 AM Post #2 |
|
Founder
|
From my experience of buying countless 2.3's and 2.6's with blown head gaskets they typically blow between 160 and 180. Now, with that said, I don't think the problem is actually the head gasket itself but a result of over-heating. Seems that after 15 years and 180k miles things like thermostats go bad, radiator hoses start leaking, etc.. and since the 4Z motors are very sensitive to overheating. I'm inclined to think that if you don't over heat your motor, the head gasket may never blow. Now, with that said, these motors do deserve a top end "freshen up" right about that time anyway. Valve adjustments are key. If you do these regularly your top end will perform a lot better for a lot longer. |
|
|
| ewillis | Aug 6 2013, 09:35 AM Post #3 |
![]()
|
John's right....heat kills these motors worse than miles. I have experienced cronic heat related issues a lot with Red. Due to some underlying issues I didn't know at the time about as I wasn't driving it much, Red ran hot a few times with my daughter when I was building her a new 3.5. After replacing a radiator, new water pump (old one had practically NO impellers left on it) and couple rounds of burnt valves, he is finally back on the road. Paying close attention to keeping the 4ZE1 COOL will definitely extend the life of it! Stay on top of the valve adjustments also. It took a while to convince me but running the .010 clearance on the exhaust will help too. Every valve I have ever burnt on my first gens has been exhaust. It tends to sound a little more like a sewing machine, but at least it is not frying an exhaust valve.
Edited by ewillis, Aug 6 2013, 09:38 AM.
|
|
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| « Previous Topic · Trooper Troubles · Next Topic » |


2:51 AM Jul 11
