Isuzu 3.2 vs 3.5

[bigreen505]

@BigSwede How can you tell if your IMG need to be replaced?

 

[stomis]

It would be easier to swap in the DOHC heads and intake...gain you a quick 15 hp. The DOHC was rated 190 hp, the SOHC was 175 hp. Other than heads and intakes they are pretty much the same engine. Of course, this doesn't help if your motor is in bad shape and needs a rebuild.

I dont want a DOHC motor. 15 hp is worth the loss in torque and movement of the power band. A 3.5 crank under neath the SOHC heads will play into the motors torque characteristic only making it better.

 

[bansil]

Biggest reason so many "blew up" was the people that drove them never checked the oil so after a month or two of driving,they had only a qt or so left in them,couple that with 70mph at about 3500+rpm and that spells disaster.(due to gearing most Troopers have 4.56 stock and rodeos and such 4.10/4.30/4.56)
We have like 9 isuzu's, only one that "burns oil" is wifes 01 Rodeo Sport and it's maybe a qt every couple 1000 miles.
Worst thing about these is the 4l30 auto trans...junk
We have had several go 160k but when they die...time to swap a 5spd in or a 700r4.

My opinion on the 3.2/3.5 is that the 3.2 SOHC are the most reliable

There were problems with the 98+ til about late 99 3.2's having head failure due to cracks in the heads,this normally popped up at about 120k miles

We love our Isuzu's and I love the room of my 94 Troop,with back seats out I can fit a full length cot in the back and use my storage box turned 90* as a night stand for my fan and such:sombrero:

 

[BigSwede]

@BigSwede How can you tell if your IMG need to be replaced?

Sorry, I missed this question. My old 99 Trooper had the IMG go out twice. Generally it was a pulsing, surging idle...once in a while it would stall, but it could be driven until the vacuum leak got really bad. In some cases you can actually hear the hissing sound of the vacuum leak. Usually you will get a CEL light, but the codes aren't helpful in diagnosis.

You can try to spray carb cleaner or other flammable substance around the IMG perimeter and see if the idle changes by sucking in the substance. But this is not a 100% reliable test.

 

[Red1]

Good to know .

It looks as though for reliability sake
I need a pre - 1997 3.2 L .

Has anybody ever done a bigger engine conversion ~ or does the original motor do well with performance upgrades . . .