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Isuzu N00b Reporting For Duty - Louisiana

1K views 5 replies 2 participants last post by  Gumbeaux 
#1 ·
Hey folks!

My name is Zack. I'm currently in Lafayette, LA and just picked up 2 Isuzu Troopers within a 2 day period.

The first one I bought is a 1993 Trooper SOHC truck with what I presume is a dead 4L30E. It pulls fine until it gets to operating temperature and then slips really badly. Otherwise, the rig has 83K miles, is in relatively good shape. The best part is that it was owned by an Isuzu dealership technician originally. When the Isuzu dealer shut down, he swiped a pretty decent chunk of OEM Trooper parts off the shelf before they got tossed. I thought it was a good deal at $300 for a running rig.

After reading that my options for the 4L30E pretty much suck all the way around, I realized I might have bitten off more than I could chew. However, yesterday I found a 94 Trooper 5 speed on letgo. It had succumbed to our historic floods in August, but it is a 5 speed truck. I went to look at it last night, and its rough as all hell - but I figure even if the transmission got washed out, theres a chance I could save it - and I still would have rathered had a intact rig to swap other stuff like clutch lines and pedal box from. I paid $150 bucks and the guy will deliver it this week.

I've never had any experience with fooling with any kind of any kind of capable SUV, outside of my Subaru Forester - which I ended up slamming on its nuts with coilovers. LOL

By trade, I have a company that develops and manufactures parts for older sports cars. I'll be relocating to WA state fairly soon, and hope I can build this Trooper to serve me well in North Central WA.

Thanks!
 

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#2 ·
SOUNDS LIKE A FUN PROJECT. LETS HOPE THE 5SPEED IS STILL GOOD. ALSO THE MANUAL TRANS USES MOTOR OIL NO GL4 OR 5 GEAR OIL.
 
#3 ·
Have any of you sunk your 5 speeds? Any words of wisdom?

I deal alot with Nissans, and I have seen a Nissan 71C run for years with water inside. I am hoping that even if there was standing water mixture, I will be able to drain and flush a few times and be good to go.
If not, I'll just hunt a 5 speed I suppose.

Also, am I going to have to worry about any wiring/eletrical bugaboos when doing this swap?
 
#4 ·
Got around to trying to save the 4L30E in my Trooper.

The truck would drive and shift fine until it would reach operating temperature. Once it got up to temp and had been driven a mile or so, first gear began slipping to the point that it would not go anywhere.
Pulling to the side of the road, turning the truck off for 10 seconds, restarting, and then continuing would get you roughly another 500 yards or so before it would slip again. My neighbor (a far better mechanic than me) and I both agreed that there had to be some sort of circulation issue causing the problem.

Tonight, we managed to take some time to bring the truck into his shop. I was not encouraged by what I found.



Chunks of metal as you can see all over the pan. The filter was clogged up something fierce as well. We did our best to clean things up, and replaced the 1-2 shift solenoid (my neighbor bench tested the old one and it seemed to check out according to his Mitchell software - but we replaced it anyhow)

We unhooked the transmission cooler lines and flushed the integrated cooler out as well.

Put a new filter in, topped it off with Castrol Import Transmax fluid and a bottle of friction modifier.

Took it out for a 20 minute drive and she shifts like a champion.
I will fieldtest her in traffic and on the highway tomorrow. If she passes, she'll be the new daily for a while!
 
#5 ·
She cleaned up alright today. Put about 100 miles on it today and the only issue I had was probably my own fault (kicking tranny fluid out of what looks like a vent hose. I'm pretty sure I overfilled the trans now that I think about it.)

At the parts house - the manager turned out to previously have been the parts guy at the Isuzu dealership locally, and knew the original owner of my rig. He was excited to talk 'Zu with someone I think. :D

A tidbit I learned in relation to the valvetrain noise - he absolutely recommended this stuff called MOA by BG. He said theres not really any way to silence Isuzu valvetrain noise, but said this MOA stuff does the best job possible. He did not sell it at his store, but told me I could probably find some at a dealership or online. I am going to give it a try.

Going to drive her for a week or two to make sure my transmission issues are licked - then I've assembled about a 300 dollar parts list on RockAuto that should cover giving the truck a 2.5" suspension lift including Moog CC784's, KYB monomax's, new ball joints, HD tie rod parts, sway bar bushings, plus all the typical maintenance things like belts, hoses, filters, etc.
 

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#6 ·
Noticed something odd this evening.

Drove around all day without issues. When nighttime came, came up to a stop light and had to wait a minute or so. When I went to leave the intersection on the green light - the truck pulled slowly. It was almost as if it had went into winter mode without hitting the switch or illuminating the "WINTER MODE" light on the dash.

I pulled over, turned the truck off, and it acted normal.

It did it one more time about an hour later. When it did it this time, I did stop, and put it into manual 1st (L). First gear was fully available to me. Put it in Park, turned the truck off and back on, and the issue went away.

Anyone experience this type of issue before? I cannot imagine it to be a solenoid or a mechanical issue. Any thoughts are welcome!
 
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