justinhw's 1988 Isuzu Trooper

[justinhw]

I am a proud new owner of a 1988 Isuzu Trooper, and am excited to get into overlanding!
Here is the car as I picked it up:

4ZE1, 130k on the odometer
A340H Auto transmission
Aisin Locking Hubs
Rear seats fold into bed
Head Casting 4

Purchased from the original owner, from what I can tell it's in really good shape; original paint and full interior (really clean), no rust on the body or framerails. But, it does have some issues:

Major Issues

1. Low RPM Stumble. It seems to stumble when idling. Not so much in Park or Neutral, where the RPM is 1500-1700, but anytime the RPM's drop below 1000. It drones every half second or so, then goes back up. Once on the gas, everything is fine. My thought was idle air control valve, but I couldn't find an easy way to get to it without unbolting the throttle body. And even if I did that I'm not really sure what I'd be needing to clean. I've tried spraying Throttle body cleaner into the plastic pipe before the intake manifold when idling, and afterwards it did help a tiny bit. But that may be my imagination. Help? Any other causes?

2. Front fender My grill on the passenger side matches up perfectly:

But, the driver's side looks like this:

Upon closer inspection, it seems like the fender isn't matched up (maybe the inner well (don't know what it's called) got pushed forward?

I don't know how this would happen though, as the fender seems to match with the other body panels and all the screws are there. I'm starting to think it may be because of an accident (carfax was clean).
Closeup:

Other strange things that may be related is the fuse box cover next to that fender seems melted:

Does anyone have an idea whether or not these issues may be related? As far as I can tell, the frame isn't bent, no stress wrinkles on the body next to that fender. Radiator core support looks fine (at least to me).

My other car is an old 1976 Datsun Pickup, so this is the first Fuel-Injected and Auto car I've owned (has A/C too!). Drives great, but the suspension is a little soft.

My plans are to keep it mainly stock; that said I'm looking to get OME torsion bars, leaf springs, and shocks from Independent4x. I know the leafs and shocks come in many flavors, does anyone have an experience/recommendations for different spring rates? I'll be traveling with my girlfriend, and camping gear/fuel canisters/spare parts in the back. I won't be rock crawling, but definitely a lot of off road.

The only other modification I'm looking to do is a rear Aussie Locker, as it's currently open/open differentials.

Thanks for letting me share my new car, I look forward to some good advice!

 

[Backroad Explorer]

WELCOME to ExPo justinhw :wings: nice lookin trooper.

 

[JDAY]

Nice to see another trooper here. Planetisuzu.com is a good place for isuzu technical info if you have not been there yet.:ylsmoke:

 

[justinhw]

Thanks, I've been checking out that site!
So far I've ordered the factory shop manual and electrical manual from amazon, waiting for those to come in.

I have the Haynes manual, but it's surprisingly sparse on information

 

[Jrally]

Nice suv find, have fun. The stumbling low rpm issue sounds like a failing O2 sensor? It's fuel injectored or electronic carb right? I've had that kind of issue before, most recently with my Toyota's EFI 22re.

-Jon

 

[justinhw]

Hey Jrally,

Hmm.. it's fuel injected, I'll go ahead a check it/replace if necessary. Thanks for the advice!
I originally suspected the idle air control valve.. but it's really hard to get to, and i'd have to take off the throttle body & associated parts to get a look at it

 

[Jrally]

The early efi systems are pretty simple, not a ton of sensors, which is nice. With my Toyota, I ended up replacing half of them tracking down a similar issue, still cost less than $100 for them all. You'll likely find that it's the original, like I did. They are a service item, and need replacing just like a spark plug. Rule of thumb, I'm told, is about every 100K miles. The more I work on my Toyota, the better I like the simple, older systems.

-Jon

(That melted cover looks strange, almost like it was melted that way on purpose.)

 

[justinhw]

Death Valley Test!

Update:

I've driven about 1500 miles and have a pretty good feel for everything now. So, I took a trip to Death Valley with my girlfriend to further test out the truck. Drove from Los Angeles up the 395 into Trona, entered the park through wildrose, and drove a loop north/east to stovepipe wells.

We stopped through Eureka Mine and Mosiac Canyon

And explored the sand dunes

Finally, we drove through West side Road from North to Warm Spring Canyon in the South.

All in all, we did a shakedown and didn't want to travel to any of the more remote regions without a buddy vehicle (that's next week!)

Observations:
The car drives well, a little underpowered but I'm okay with that. The air conditioner doesn't work (it's the compressor) but I found a junkyard compressor that works which I can swap in.

The rear folding seats/beds were surprisingly comfortable

and we were able to sleep in the car very well.

The only major issue was overheating. Temperatures were in the 100's during the heat of the day, and no lower than 75 at night. The thermostat generally pointed below the midline, however when crawling slowly over rocks (not much airflow through the rad), it started to overheat on two different occasions (needle towards the H). We had to face the wind, open the hood, and cool down. I'm not sure if that is a function of the radiator being clogged, or the fan not moving enough air (or both!)
I plan to run one of those cooling system flush solutions through and then replace the coolant, thermostat, and rad cap. Hopefully that will help.

In terms of communication, I was thinking of getting a CB headunit while I think about getting my Ham, but then I read that the legal limit for CB is 5W transmitting. So, these old CB handhelds from radioshack already run 5W and serve that purpose

They take 10 AA's and have 4 foot antennas. I figure for trail communication, I would be close enough to a group that I won't need the longer range provided by a mounted antenna, and for emergency situations I can run it off the car battery (so not limited by the AA's) and use the built-in antenna.

My question is this: If I bought a magnetic antenna (Wilson Little Will or the like), mounted it ********** in the middle of my roof, tuned it, and connected it to the ext. antenna jack, would the antenna and larger baseplate give me a significant range increase, even though the external antenna would be about the same length as the handheld?

 

[Cambo]

Nice Trooper! Do they all have the rear seats that fold into beds?

 

[justinhw]

Thanks! Not all of them, I believe it was a dealer option. What I hear is that Isuzu imported them as trucks without rear seats to save on taxes, then had dealers install them stateside. I've seen both ones that do and don't fold into beds.

 

[justinhw]

Mosquito Nets!

One thing I did realize when sleeping in the truck is that sometimes it gets HOT. There's only a tiny bit of air movement through the vents in the back, but not enough to be comfortable. I didn't want to roll down the windows either because of bugs.

So, what I decided to do is make my own window mosquito nets. I went to the hardware store and picked up screen door material (about $5), made some measurements, and sewed up my own.

Use a sewing machine

Flip it over

Drape it over window

I could probably measure a bit better, but for now it works. It's not too snug on the bottom, and my worry is that insects may crawl up and get into the car. I may put some tape later on, or a big rubber band around the door frame.

Total time spent ~10 minutes

Best part, the roll I bought was really long, you could probably make about 4 or 5 sets!

 

[nfpgasmask]

Nice Trooper!! I have a 91 and I love it! I just bought an Aussie Locker for the rear end and I have a few more mods to go and she's done! The best thing about the older Troopers is that they have SO MUCH ROOM.

AFAIK, only the 'LS' model 1st gen Troopers came with the split rear seats that fold down into a "bed". You also have what's known as "captain's chairs" up front, with the arm rests. Other LS features would be the hitch/step rear bumper, map pockets, intermittent windshield wipers, power windows/locks and a few other tid bits.

Bart

 

[justinhw]

Thanks Bart,
I've followed your build on planetisuzoo and I LOVE your truck. I agree- the box on wheels design gives it so much room, and everything is conveniently located. The captain's chairs are really useful too. I didn't know map pockets were an only LS thing, but I don't have power windows/locks either (which I prefer). Maybe the original owner opted out of those when purchasing the truck.

I was thinking of getting an Aussie locker too, and eventually moving to complete OME suspension via Indy4x. How do you like your Hella 4000 lights? I'm thinking of getting 2 for the front bumper.

Justin

 

[nfpgasmask]

Thanks, Justin.

Personally, I like the manual windows and locks. Less stuff to break over time. It is a pain though to reach over and roll down windows while you are driving.

I've had the Hellas for a while now. Originally, I had 4 of them on my VX and then I moved those 4 over to the Trooper and bought one extra. I think they rock, nice and bright and look good. I've never tried any other lights so honestly I can't compare them to anything else, but I do know that night driving in the desert is a helluvalotta fun.

Bart

 

[nfpgasmask]

BTW, if you ever want to meet up somewhere in Cali like the Mammoth Area or better yet, Death Valley, I'm game. There are some really cool and pretty easy trails just south of Mammoth. And Death Valley is simply awesome.

Bart