Hello from Alaska folks,
From 2002 until 2010 I owned a flawless running 1988 Isuzu Trooper with the 2.6 liter 4 cylinder and the 5 speed manual. It was always a smoother tranny, and a more powerful motor than the old 22re powered toyotas in my opinion......especially with that nice 4:56 gearing in the front and rear end. It became my second vehicle in 2004 after I bought a (brand new then) toyota tacoma. In 2010 after paying off my truck, I decided to sell my second vehicle. It's still running to this day, and a young soldier in the Army owns it. That particular vehicle did many road trips, pulled out alot of vehicles, hauled moose and caribou meat and always started at 40 below zero when other vehicles wouldn't. I had installed 35 in. BFG all terrains/white spoke wheels, a 3 in. body lift, and a 3 in Calmini lift. I had also installed heavy duty sway bars front and rear because we aren't rock crawlers up here, but rather......great handling is a must on the winter roads so I thoroughly enjoyed those heavy sway bars. I had also installed a centerforce clutch (when the original went out), an ARB rear locker/ARB compressor, and a 3:1 Tera transfer case gear set. The gear set was nice, but it was a waste of money as I never found a use for it. I'll post a picture of that old Trooper as soon as I can figure out how to post pictures for the progress of this thread.
After spending a couple years without and Isuzu trooper, my fiance and I decided to purchase the second gen. Trooper when her FJ 62 landcruiser wouldn't pass emissions. She always liked boxy SUV's and had her fair share of issues with her past two Land Rovers too. Tired of mechanical issues with these prior vehicles, we decided to purchase a 1996 Isuzu Trooper (3.2 liter SOHC/4l30e) with a flawless body. I noticed the transmission shifted a bit hard occasionally and it seemed to stay stable. The vehicle now has 155,000 miles. I guess you can't escape mechanical issues with used vehicles ehh? The body and interior on this vehicle is flawless so I found it necessary to take further action until it's fixed. I took the Trooper to a trans shop to do some testing, and all the solenoids tested good. With a clean "electronic bill of health" we decided to keep running it for a bit. When I finally pulled the transmission pans (two pans), I had discovered some black sludge and small pieces of metal on the magnet. I also found a small piece of clutch material in there too. I found two leaks, one being from the small trans pan (the front one), and the other being from the shifter. The transfluid has also contaminated the Shift Mode Switch. It's a little aluminum housed mode switch. I decided to replace it since it was dirty as all git out in the inside! I also purchased a transmission rebuild kit, a shift kit and a re-manufactured torque converter. I have removed the transmission and will be posting pictures of the rebuild progress.
I had to remove the following:
1. The entire exhaust on both sides.
2. The drivlines
3. The transmission crossmember
4. The transmission cooler lines
5. The wiring harness
Some interesting observations so far:
After running a combination of three cans of transmission cooler cleaner and compressed air through the cooler.......it was quite dirty. Don't forget this vital step!
The u joints in the drive lines were quite worn so now will probably be a good time to replace those.
Some of the exaust bolts were badly rusted and had to be cut off.
The three bolts that hold the exhaust flanges onto the exhaust manifolds (both sides) needed some heat from a torch and some Sea Foam penetrating oil. My big Ingersol Rand impact wrench wouldn't take em off. Once heated and oiled, they came off like butter except THE LAST ONE! It always works that way doesn't it? A breaker bar and two extensions took care of it, but man......was it on there!
The Transmission was scrubbed clean with a nylon brush and a can of degreaser. A quick spray with the pressure washer, and it is is now sitting on my work bench. I'd love to post the pictures of my progress (if I can learn how to post pictures) if anybody would be interested. Wish me luck folks, if not......at least I'm only out $400 dollars instead of the $3000 the trans shop wants. I'm optimistic.....but nervous.
From 2002 until 2010 I owned a flawless running 1988 Isuzu Trooper with the 2.6 liter 4 cylinder and the 5 speed manual. It was always a smoother tranny, and a more powerful motor than the old 22re powered toyotas in my opinion......especially with that nice 4:56 gearing in the front and rear end. It became my second vehicle in 2004 after I bought a (brand new then) toyota tacoma. In 2010 after paying off my truck, I decided to sell my second vehicle. It's still running to this day, and a young soldier in the Army owns it. That particular vehicle did many road trips, pulled out alot of vehicles, hauled moose and caribou meat and always started at 40 below zero when other vehicles wouldn't. I had installed 35 in. BFG all terrains/white spoke wheels, a 3 in. body lift, and a 3 in Calmini lift. I had also installed heavy duty sway bars front and rear because we aren't rock crawlers up here, but rather......great handling is a must on the winter roads so I thoroughly enjoyed those heavy sway bars. I had also installed a centerforce clutch (when the original went out), an ARB rear locker/ARB compressor, and a 3:1 Tera transfer case gear set. The gear set was nice, but it was a waste of money as I never found a use for it. I'll post a picture of that old Trooper as soon as I can figure out how to post pictures for the progress of this thread.
After spending a couple years without and Isuzu trooper, my fiance and I decided to purchase the second gen. Trooper when her FJ 62 landcruiser wouldn't pass emissions. She always liked boxy SUV's and had her fair share of issues with her past two Land Rovers too. Tired of mechanical issues with these prior vehicles, we decided to purchase a 1996 Isuzu Trooper (3.2 liter SOHC/4l30e) with a flawless body. I noticed the transmission shifted a bit hard occasionally and it seemed to stay stable. The vehicle now has 155,000 miles. I guess you can't escape mechanical issues with used vehicles ehh? The body and interior on this vehicle is flawless so I found it necessary to take further action until it's fixed. I took the Trooper to a trans shop to do some testing, and all the solenoids tested good. With a clean "electronic bill of health" we decided to keep running it for a bit. When I finally pulled the transmission pans (two pans), I had discovered some black sludge and small pieces of metal on the magnet. I also found a small piece of clutch material in there too. I found two leaks, one being from the small trans pan (the front one), and the other being from the shifter. The transfluid has also contaminated the Shift Mode Switch. It's a little aluminum housed mode switch. I decided to replace it since it was dirty as all git out in the inside! I also purchased a transmission rebuild kit, a shift kit and a re-manufactured torque converter. I have removed the transmission and will be posting pictures of the rebuild progress.
I had to remove the following:
1. The entire exhaust on both sides.
2. The drivlines
3. The transmission crossmember
4. The transmission cooler lines
5. The wiring harness
Some interesting observations so far:
After running a combination of three cans of transmission cooler cleaner and compressed air through the cooler.......it was quite dirty. Don't forget this vital step!
The u joints in the drive lines were quite worn so now will probably be a good time to replace those.
Some of the exaust bolts were badly rusted and had to be cut off.
The three bolts that hold the exhaust flanges onto the exhaust manifolds (both sides) needed some heat from a torch and some Sea Foam penetrating oil. My big Ingersol Rand impact wrench wouldn't take em off. Once heated and oiled, they came off like butter except THE LAST ONE! It always works that way doesn't it? A breaker bar and two extensions took care of it, but man......was it on there!
The Transmission was scrubbed clean with a nylon brush and a can of degreaser. A quick spray with the pressure washer, and it is is now sitting on my work bench. I'd love to post the pictures of my progress (if I can learn how to post pictures) if anybody would be interested. Wish me luck folks, if not......at least I'm only out $400 dollars instead of the $3000 the trans shop wants. I'm optimistic.....but nervous.
