[landy]

Just bought a '95 Trooper S with manual trans. Seems to be in good shape with under a 100k miles, and only two owners.

I changed the rear diff oil, and wanted to change the front diff, but it has no drain plug. Am I missing it? Maybe it has to be sucked out?

The owner's manual shows two drain plugs for the tranny and transfer case. The one on the transfer case is on the bottom and obvious. The one on transmission is on the left side- not on the bottom, correct? The fill plugs are on the right side and look like a PITA to get to, especially the one on the tranny, correct? The manual says to use 5W-30, but 20w-40 or others can be used if temps are higher than 90 degrees. I'm in New Mexico so temps are starting to heat up. I have some 10W-30 already and am planning on using that unless it's not suitable.

The power steering pump makes some groaning. I would expect it to last longer than 100k miles. Is this a problem area for Isuzus?

Thanks!

 

[Ramblin Fever]

Welcome to the forum, Isuzu's are great trucks.

10w-30 is fine to use

The power steering pump...yes, they can last a long time, and normally last longer then 100k miles....but many people forget that just because an older vehicle may have less then average amount of miles, things still start to age just the same as if the vehicle were to have average amount of miles.

Basically what I'm saying, is take the age of your truck for instance, because it hasn't been driven *enough* per-say in comparison to other truck's it's age, things are still going to go bad, hoses are still going to rot, and things are still going to need replaced just the same as if it had 200k + miles.

On your truck, it is a 95, so everything on it that's original is still 16yrs old; meaning I would highly recommend a new radiator, all new cooling system hoses, belts, including timing belt, waterpump, etc.

You don't want that engine to overheat, and change the thermostat too, very important on these trucks.

Post up some pics!

 

[vanduker]

The front differential drains from one of the bolts at the bottom of the differential. It is not a dedicated drain plug and drains kinda slow but it does drain.

The drain for the transfer case and the transmission are both at the bottom of their respective cases. On the fill plugs (which you should remove before the drain plugs) I recall reaching at least one with a long (24" or so) extension going out past the frame. I do not recall even needing a u joint - i think just the extensions will do it.

On the power steering pump the first thing I would do is swap the fluid. I don't know a good way to get all of it out but what I do is buy a couple of quarts of new fluid, suck out all the old I can, put some new in, run it a few minutes and repeat the process over and over until I've used up the new fluid.

 

[BigSwede]

I use a 1 gal. garden sprayer (dedicated for this use, obviously) to get the oil into the fill holes on the t-case and tranny.

The front diff drain is the bolt at about 5 O'clock as you look at the third member bolts on the rear side. It may or may not have a different (copper) washer on it.

 

[landy]

Got the front diff drained and filled. Thanks for the tip on where to drain it.

What are the recommended spark plugs on these engines? Thanks.

 

[vanduker]

For plugs the 95 isn't picky. I use ND or NGK but have never heard of anyone having issues on those motors with any of the major non gimmick plugs like AC, Autolite, Champion and so on.