1994 Isuzu Trooper Reviews from North America - Page 3 of 3

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1994 Isuzu Trooper LE 3.2

Year of manufacture	1994
First year of ownership	1994
Most recent year of ownership	2001
Engine and transmission	3.2 Automatic
Performance marks	7 / 10
Reliability marks	9 / 10
Comfort marks	9 / 10
Dealer Service marks	5 / 10
Overall marks (average of all marks)	7.5 / 10
Distance when acquired	2 miles
Most recent distance	139000 miles
Previous car	Chevorlet Suburban

Summary:

Nice ride for a southern boy

Faults:

Starter went out at about 60,000 miles.

Power steering hose at 70,000 miles.

Brake pads lasted until 100,000 miles.

Bose car stereo not up to par for the money.

Replacef 8 to 10 wheel studs when tires were rotated.

Does not like the fact that the timing belt has to be replaced at 60,000 miles ($600.00 each time).

General Comments:

The ride is excellent.

The view is great.

Plenty of room.

Put together well.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 15th February, 2001

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20th Mar 2001, 17:06

The timing belt complaint is a small issue. Spend fifty bucks and get a service manual. It takes you step by step on how to replace, don't forget to change the hydraulic pusher.

2nd Apr 2003, 17:27

My family owns a 1988 Isuzu Trooper II. We have owned it from new. A few years ago we had to replace all the Lug Nuts except for 3 or 4. We also had to replace at least 8 studs, sorry I can't remember the exact number. We found out that this happened because the mechanics used an air wrench instead of using the lug wrench tool supplied with the car. The air wrench hurts the lug nuts because it tightens them too much and screws the studs into the plastic inside the lug-nuts. Then when you take the lugs off the car they may break the studs and then they need to be replaced.

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1994 Isuzu Trooper

Year of manufacture	1994
First year of ownership	1996
Most recent year of ownership	2000
Engine and transmission	Automatic
Performance marks	3 / 10
Reliability marks	6 / 10
Comfort marks	3 / 10
Dealer Service marks	3 / 10
Running Costs (higher is cheaper)	5 / 10
Overall marks (average of all marks)	4.0 / 10
Distance when acquired	30000 miles
Most recent distance	80000 miles
Previous car	Toyota Celica

Summary:

Disappointed

Faults:

Lifter noise started around 45,000 miles. Dealer would change the oil and the noise would go away. Now have 80,000 miles and the dealer tells me they see many Troopers and Rodeos with bad rocker shafts. Dealer recommends using heavier oil to mask the problem (which is what they were probably doing from the beginning). Now the cost to repair is estimated to be $2,000.

General Comments:

Feel Isuzu used inferior engine parts.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 18th August, 2000

Comment on this review

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28th Jun 2001, 10:33

I bought the 94 Trooper new - noticed lifter noise from almost the beginning. At 50k miles replaced the first lifter. At 110k replaced all. At 150k one of the heads cracked & at 160k (now) the second head cracked.

16th Jul 2002, 17:04

I have a 1993 Trooper L (3.2l sohc) with over 200,000km. When I bought it I heard a lifter or tappet noise. As it turns out heavy oil is bad for the light aluminium engine. (oil that is 10w30 or higher) The manufacturer requires 5w30 due to the fact that it increases fuel efficiency, but they also claim it is the lightness of aluminium engines that require it.

10w30 seems to immediately cause tappet noise especially if the oil hasn't been changed regularly in past history (5,000 - 10,000km).

5w30 also needs to be changed more frequently because it breaks down much quicker than heavy oil. Therefore you can get build up quicker from not changing the oil frequently enough and you get valve tappet noises.

(Apparently most shop mechanics recommended to me using heavy oil, but this is counter productive and wrong)

What compounds the problem is that this engine is a relatively hard working engine (overhead cam high revs) and therefore produces more heat. Previous trucks I've had, had large oil reservoirs thereby increasing a cooling effect and decreasing heat and were pushrod type engines (lower revs cooler operating temp)

So be forewarned as 5w30 oil starts to turn into tar or varnish from engine heat and gums up the valve tappets causing the noise. This is bad if you let it go too long as you can end up snapping valves, heads...

Solution: Save yourself a few thousand bucks by getting an oil change immediately to 5w30 (a high detergent one) and dumping some oil additive detergent for cleaning out oil buildup. Then make sure you change your oil more frequently. After a couple of weeks the noise goes away. If it doesn't go away then you need to have it looked at as you've let occur too long.

I feel it's a conspiracy between the manufacturers, the EPA, and Mr. Lube!

Regards,

A Millbank (zhikr@hotmail.com)