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93 trooper re-fresh

54K views 228 replies 11 participants last post by  93trooperpooper 
#1 ·
so, I got this trooper for free from a buddy of mine. brought it home, looked it over- minor things in the interior (lights, rear door inner handles not working, stereo is junk, some speakers not working)
exterior wise its straight, but rusty around the rear wheel-wells. windshield is cracked, but not in my line of sight. broken pass side exterior mirror lens (power &heated) tires shot, stone bruised headlights, inop fog lights.

jacked it up and pulled the tires- brakes ok, new shocks all around, BUT worn-out front end parts. bad ball-joints, tie rod, idler pitman, idler arm. bad outer cv boot

so fast forward 6 months, I was slowly getting parts for it.
complete front end kit-$173- all 4 ball-joints, inner and outer tie-rods, drag link and sway-bar end links.
pit-man idler, $16
4 cv boots, $18 each.

so, this last weekend I tackled the front-end. put the unit on the hoist. those ball joints came out pretty easy, pickle fork on the top, pitman arm remover for the bottom-boy did they snap out of the bottom!
tie-rod remover (and a bfhammer) for the drag-link and tie-rod ends.

axle boots were easy, but one of the new boots had the wrong clamp in the box, the wife and I fought with it- finally grabbed a clamp from the other box, and things went easy after that. :roll:
its all back together, now off to the alignment shop to straighten the front-end, and install 4 different tires (current ones scuffed off on the front, one rear is badly weather cracked, the spare is slashed on the sidewall)

so far, $261 in parts.
need to order sway bar bushings. that's another $30
new to me tires were free. lt 245/75 r 16 bridgestones. 60-75 % tread on them

next, some rad work-I noticed a small leak at the drain petcock, tried tightening it by hand and -it snapped off-but its threads are still in the hole. maybe a small reverse easy-out will get it out. will do a cooling system flush at the same time.

don't know when the timing belt/water pump was last done- that's on the list as well.
pesky rear abs light on. sensor, or wiring? will try to pull codes out of it.

that's about it ,for now......
 
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#152 ·
finished cleaning it out yesterday, put the console back in, this time with all the screws in place...
replaced the dome light led's, the cob style led panels are nice and bright but run really hot. installed 4 small (.75 x .5 inch) cob led panels, they might run cooler...will wait and see what happens.

last night I read the fsm, it said to start by cleaning the iac valve....
so, this morning, I removed the iac valve, wow there was lots of soot in there. took the intake pipe off, stuffed a rag in there , then proceeded to spray ''intake and throttle body'' cleaner in there, lots of carbon black coming out of there-
then I used a round brass bristle brush, soaked in the same cleaner, and lightly cleaned the bore, and then sprayed the same cleaner thru the bores....lots of black carbon ''juice'' ha ha
soaked up as much as I could, then blew it out with compressed air. lubed up the o-ring on the iac valve and installed it.
dumped a gallon of sea-foam into the fuel tank (tank is almost full ) for a strong injector clean.

minor oil leak at oil pan drain plug- will use a new gasket for that at next oil change. looks like the power steering pump input shaft is leaking.
installed new wiper blades- the current ones were chattering something terrible.
dumped a full jug (4 liters) of washer fluid into the washer tank- the weather has been slushy and muddy...
checked and adj tire pressure.

now what....!
 
#153 ·
well, a bunch of parts for both my troopers are in town, but they are at a ''delivery'' station, not at the ''pickup'' station. the parts are scheduled for jan 6 delivery-if I want them sooner, they said they could transfer my items to the ''pickup'' station, that would take 3-4 days. wtf! the entire time I was on the phone I could have driven across town, from the ''delivery'' station to the ''pickup'' station-
and there would have been extra paperwork, and these idiots have lost my packages before, so I left it for delivery , by 4:30 pm jan 6.
this holiday season has really screwed up delivery stuff, and what is open or closed. some places decided to close completely from dec 23 until jan 6. being closed that long really screws with everybody. not everybody is in, or has, the situation to have that many days off. some people still need to work.

I feel that there are too many places now, that feel, or have, the need to not hurt anyones feelings....by saying they have to work on this day or these hours....people are complaining there are no jobs, but then they will complain about how long they worked this week-like 20 hours-

the hard working person is a dying breed.

oh, and the trooper still has that engine surging at idle. maybe the iac valve is nfg, the fsm says that you should be able to push it in lightly with finger pressure, well the one I have wont move.
I might swap the iac from the other trooper, see if the problem is gone. then if that's it I will buy a new iac valve.
 
#156 · (Edited by Moderator)
well, i think I got my full use out of the oem muffler....
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and I installed this....
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actually went pretty smooth, used a dip disk on a 90* air die grinder, cut the muffler pipe off right close to the oem muffler, just before the factory welds. the front mount on the side of the muffler unbolted easily.
the tailpipe section bolts at the flange were so rusty, I used the zip disk again, and cut the nuts/bolts off flush with the flange, and it popped apart itself. nice.
removed tailpipe section, then pulled muffler off the hangers. cleaned (wire wheel) the tailpipe flange, but there was not much left of it after cleaning... :roll: buffed the rust off of the exhaust pipe where it goes into the muffler- this could have been clamped, but I opted to weld it on.
the new muffler fit in the same spot perfectly. once it was slid over the exhaust pipe and put on its mounts, I installed the tailpipe on its mount, used a new gasket, new nuts and bolts, and snugged it up.

the muffler pipe looked pretty much square to the exhaust pipe, so I grabbed the mig welder and welded it on. then tightened the tailpipe section. that's done !
wow, I fired it up, and you can hear the motor, and not the noisy exhaust- :D

only leak is at the tailpipe flange, even with a new gasket. the factory tailpipe flange was rusted very thin, and was already warped, and I didn't want to break it by trying to hammer it flat. will order a new tailpipe section and another gasket at a later date....
 

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#157 · (Edited by Moderator)
and I also noticed this- whoops!
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I guess I bent the hell out of this brake line when I went in the ditch a few weeks ago, and did some ''impromptu'' log crawling... :blackeye:
pulled it off, plugged the lines, then went on a parts/lunch run. lunch was $15, new brake line $3....

bent up the new line, got it installed, bled the brakes.

then drained the rear diff...
IMG_1951.JPG

that oil isn't very old. like only a couple of months old. will check the diff vent.

more work on it tomorrow. :roll:

oh- the burning oil smell is atf, dripping out of the side of the trans, maybe the trans oil pan, onto the exhaust pipe y area heat shield. minor atf leak on a hose to the rad- not sure if its the hose or clamp (fairly new)
or if its the power steering pump front seal, dripping onto the hose from above :?
 

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#158 · (Edited by Moderator)
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well, found the atf leak, it wasn't the pan gasket, it was the seal behind the shift selector, was pretty torn up and leaking...
the oil filter has been changed, not sure on when it was changed.

getting the shift selector shaft out was a bit of a pain, but thanks to the fsm I picked up recently, it was pretty straight forward.

lucked out, they said they had a seal in stock in town- turned out it was the wrong one...but a little more digging and I got the right one (actually 2!)

used a 5/16 nut and bolt, with washers, and made a poor mans seal press, and installed the tiny seal easy peasy.

washed the trans pan inside and out, installed new filter, then a nice clean pan.
installed new trans mount, then the cross-member
drained engine oil, the drainplug was leaking, installed new drainplug w/ gasket- it was cheaper for a new drainplug, than just the gasket... :roll: new oil filter

tomorrow, hopefully use a inspection camera in the rear diff, install skid-plates, then refill the diff, trans , and engine oil.
 

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#159 ·
my son and I installed the skid-plates, then filled the trans and engine with oil.

fired it up, no apparent leaks, ran it thru the gears to circulate the atf. could smell raw gas while it was idling, so I used the inspection camera to look around, found a huge mouse nest on one side by the injectors. other side had raw gas pooling by the intake / injector bosses.. shut it off, removed the mouse house, and blew out both sides with air...
kid fired it up again, no more fuel pooling or smell....wtf... I only tightened the fuel return line clamp a little bit, but may have wiggled the end of the fuel rail, and that's where I THINK the fuel is coming from- it looks damp there...

used the inspection camera on the rear diff, didn't see any gear damage (hopefully) so on Monday or Tuesday I will pull the axles out, then the 3rd member, to get a good look at it. I can grab the pinion where the u-joint is and move it up and down a fair amount...hopefully just a pinion bearing...u-joints are fine.

that's enough on that trooper for today....
 
#160 ·
meh, it was too damn cold to go to town earlier this week. (-35-40 *C)
so, today it warmed up a bit (-22*C) I ventured out to my work where Brenda was sitting on the hoist, I pulled the driveshaft off, lifted the rear axle, pulled the tires off and other assorted stuff-calipers, rotors, brake shoes, park brake cables, abs diff wire . removed the backing plate bolts, and the axles came out so easy with the slide hammer-almost too easy!
then onto the 3rd member...remove 2 nuts and 8 bolts, a few taps with the brass hammer and it was loose....geez I forgot how much these small diffs actually weigh!!!
I knocked it apart, no damage to the gears, but well worn races, and some odd wear pattern on the pinion bearings. pinion seal completely dry, no leak.
looked at it for a few minutes, made a phone call, no bearings locally.

threw it in the back of the other trooper, and dropped it off at my local driveline/ diff shop. they know exactly what they are doing
no pics, I forgot the camera...
 
#161 ·
received a phone call earlier this week, pinion and crown look good, pinion needs a speedi-sleeve (okay, but it wasn't leaking....?)
10~14 days turnaround...the first phone call he said he looked for 4 hours and came up empty handed...I started laughing and said ''welcome to the world of isuzu''

he called back, said he found a kit, would be about $400 all in....good enough for me. I hate dealing with gears...
and I found a box with what i think are diff bearings for the trooper, and diff tube seals...dammit
 
#162 ·
still no word from the gear shop about the diff.

but some plastic clips showed up in the mail, those goofy clips that hold the grille in, besides the two lower screws....I bought 20 of them, for both troopers- a whopping $4 8)
 
#163 ·
I stopped by the driveline shop today, he had a bearing kit for a 10 bolt on his counter, but both him and I knew it was wrong...sure, if I needed to rebuild the front...but I don't.

he found a source for the crush sleeve and pinion seal, and is waiting to hear back from their bearing supplier about those damn metric bearings....the numbers are good, but actually sourcing them is the issue....and apparently finding a pinion nut is an issue, as well....I told them if needed just use Loctite and torque it then re-stake the old nut...we both have no issue with that.

hurry up and wait.
 
#164 ·
More Information for USA STANDARD GEAR USA11080
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Image is of a typical part(s); part appearance varies by application.

Timken Bearings
USA Standard Pinion / Carrier Bearing Install Kits are perfect for builders who need a complete bearing replacement. USA Standard Gear does extensive research for each application to make sure your kit will arrive with all the correct parts you need to install your gear set.

Kit Contents by Type:

Minor Install Kit
Pinion Bearing Install Kit
Pinion / Carrier Bearing Install Kit
Pinion Nut

X
X
Pinion Seal
X
X
X
Pinion Shim
X
X

Pinion Races

X
X
Pinion Bearings

X
X
Carrier Shim
X

Carrier Races

X
Carrier Bearings

X
Crush Sleeve
X
X
X
Marking Compound & Brush
X
X
X

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Torque Specifications & Installation Instructions
Axle Bearings Included
No
Axle Seals Included
No
Brush, Marking Compound, and Loctite Included
Yes
Carrier Bearings and Races Included
Yes
Carrier Shims Included
No
Cover Gasket or Silicone Included
Yes
Crush Sleeve or Preload Shims Included
Yes
Head Bearing Included
Yes
Instruction Manual Included
Yes
Pinion Nut Included
Yes
Pinion Seal Included
Yes
Pinion Shims Included
No
Ring Gear Bolts Included
No
Tail Bearing Included
Yes

USA STANDARD GEAR Warranty Information:
12 Months
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this says for Toyota Landcruiser diff. LOOKS the same, but I don't want to order it, and it be all wrong.

jerry is also looking into what he can find for bearings. my local shop called me yesterday, no luck whatsoever thru their suppliers for bearings....its been apart over a month now. I might have to slap the rear axles into the tubes, install the brakes, remove the rear driveshaft, lock the hubs and drive it off the hoist
 
#165 ·
picked up the 3rd member today, in different pieces in a box.... took it down to the trooper, and set the parts on the hoist beside the other rear diff parts.
made contact with jerry, he is looking into new bearings for it.
 
#166 ·
looks like i'm not going back to work next week, I talked to my boss and he said march 23- holy crap almost another month! I was hoping to start working again on march 2nd- I have been laid off since dec. 20.... looks like there isn't much construction work going on right now, all the guys usually come back april 1st, but he thinks it might be the 2nd or 3rd week in april for actual work start-up...but for these guys to work, I need to be done repairing any equipment that is needed, as well as getting all the trucks inspected and repaired...oh well...

slapped all the used bearings and races into the chunk, and started putting the rear diff together...I do need it moved off of the boss's hoist at work, before I start actually work...first tuck in is a f450 that needs ball-joints...
cleared the rust blockage in the diff vent pipe, removed & cleaned the diff vent valve, new hose and clamps for that.

installed rear chunk to housing (rtv to seal it) tq nuts and bolts, then install axles, tq bolts. that was yesterday.
ordered 2 rear pinion seals yesterday, they are supposed to show up later this morning.
will go back to town, to finish it off.

jerry is on the lookout for all new bearings and what-not.
 
#167 ·
well, slapped the brakes and tires on it, installed new pinion seal and oil, and drove it home. not as noisy as before, but still a noticeable howl, only there on accel / continuous load, no noise when throttle is let off.

I put the additive in for limited slip diffs, did the ''figure 8'' procedure a few times to mix the oil, but its still really ''chatters'' when making turns. the other trooper does not do this. maybe the locker is shot. it still ''locks'' , but really, how good is it after 350,xxx miles?

new muffler is SUPER silent, a few times when I came to a stop, I thought the motor died- its that silent at idle now.

DID I MENTION I F$%^ING HATE THESE PARKING DRUM BRAKES ? and the fsm isn't very well detailed, either.

still, the higher mileage trooper pulls harder and leaves the other trooper behind...
only difference is one has a k&n air filter, and the slower one does not. hmmm...
 
#168 ·
93trooperpooper said:
my bad- it was almost 1,000 km round trip.
some issues with the cruise- it worked great for most of the trip, but then it would not engage.....on they way back it worked flawlessly.?wtf
did not use any oil or coolant.
but -long cranking to start when shut down hot. started fine after it sat for 2 hrs.
needs an oil change, already put 5,000 km on it!
Good to see another identical AB trooper being well taken care of at such a high mileage! I am planning a long road trip in mine out to Vancouver Island and back, so it's great to see you have the conrfidence in it to take it on a 1000km trip. keep that puppy going, she deserves the long life!

Did you ever resolve the long crank when hot starting issue? I'm thinking the cause may be the anti drainback valve in the fuel pump. Mine does the same thing
 
#169 ·
a vehicle can be perfectly maintained, and the most random part will fail...ha ha

i did a road trip last year ( winter thru the rockies ! ) with my kids, pulling a small trailer, out to a kelowna pick a part and back, no real issues- used a liter of oil for the entire trip there and back...

its hit and miss with the starting issue. i was thinking of installing a check valve down by the fuel filter, just to see if it makes a difference...i know the fuel pump wiring has been messed with.

i know where there is a '92, the body is in decent shape, but it has some other issues...and the owner wants too much for it.
 
#170 ·
added engine oil. topped up the coolant overflow tank. drove it. at about 130 km/h the rear diff gets almost silent.....ha ha
can hear the rad gurgle a bit, might need a different rad cap again. thats where the sound is coming from.

gas is cheap right now- $29 for 60 liters. nice. cant ( not supposed to) travel anywhere .
 
#171 ·
the rear diff made some really nasty chattering today going around corners- you could feel it in the floor

one of these days it will explode on the highway going 70 MPH
and then i will have a front wheel drive suv
yes i did add the limited slip additive.
 
#172 ·
done nothing to it, havent driven it much since this stupid covid. no work, nowhere to go. oil change due soon, will swap to20w50, see if that slows down the oil use, or wrecks the motor. meh. this pos is not worth fixing the oil burning issues. i am really hoping the rear diff explodes so it gives me the excuse to park it for good.
 
#173 ·
damn thing wont die. ordered 4 new shocks, $12 each on closeout from rockauto, my rancho 9000 xs are all shot, not even a year, no off roading-overpriced garbage
will check over the whole front end, i am sure it needs work. cheap new parts dont last worth a chit.
 
#174 ·
Your trooper is a real demonstration of their durability. I bet that rear diff will keep going for a while yet!
Too bad parts availability is so low for the G80. Would a rebuild even be possible with jerry parts?
 
#175 ·
installed the new shocks i just got from r.a.
finally got around to building and installing the heavy duty tie rods, as well as replacing the drag link from side to side. the drag link had play in it, one outer tie rod had play, and the other side inner tie rod had play. cheap ebay parts, all replaced with moog parts. the shocks i replaced were not cheap, but they just didnt last. i will NEVER buy rancho shocks again.

there may be some play in the universal joint at the steering box....now that the other parts are new, i can check that joint easier. steering box needs replacing, but thats $500 ish extra i dont have right now.
no play in the ball-joints that i can see. but i do have moogs to go in there , if needed.

added a liter of engine oil. added coolant to the rad- it doesnt seem to want to suck out of the recovery tank... :roll:

will go in for a wheel align in the next few weeks.
 
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