2001 Trooper burns oil

No, the brand... :-/ How often do you change your oil? RL

You mean 'Isuzu'?

3000 religiously.

~GJ~

Yes

then 2 quarts is too much I have mine done once a year (7-8000) and I use

1999 Trooper, 70,000m, uses 1 quart every other tank of gas. has for about 3 years. Runs great. No smoke coming out the back. Changed the plugs at 60,000 and they were not overly dirty or fouled. Not worried about it.

You change your oil once a year, and only put 8000 miles on it? I put on 77K last year.

years. Runs great.

overly dirty or fouled. Not worried about it.

That may be the route I'm forced to take. Sure seems like those 3.5 engines are pricey, why is that? ~GJ~

The same here, 98 Trooper, 135K miles. Runs great and needs very little service apart from oil top-ups

Peter

Gives me hope, I does. ~GJ~

Thats why I only need one service/year...

75K km on 1999 SWB Trooper, 3.0L 159hp diesel.

RL

Ah. I see now. Would it help me burn less if I used a thicker oil than 10w30? Say 20w50? ~GJ~

I have just 66K miles on a 1993 Trooper LS 3.2L benzine, all original miles by me

Some people have reported decreased oil usage with thicker and/or synth oil. Personally, I've tried them all with absolutely no change in oil consumption. I do not even change my oil anymore, just the filter...

Peter

Wow, 5-6K/year - one of those Sunday drivers that piss us all off!? :-/ I bought mine new too..

ray

Yes, thats been my experience. Even the el-cheapo 10W40. But I still dont like the idea of not using Isuzu-recommended oils. Especially in the common rail diesel, in severe winters..

ray

Gemini, If the previous posters do not have a 3.5L GASOLINE engine, then you are comparing apples to comets.... the diesel engines are very, very different than our 3.5 L oilburners. I have a 98 Trooper w/ 80K miles on the clock and get about 1500 miles to the quart around town and on the highway, at speed, much less. Towing my small trailer, I got 300 miles to the quart on a long tow from Seattle to Northwest Florida. Simply put, the engines are built wrong.... Isuzu has admitted that and later models have been changed to correct the ring problems. Then, of course, they stopped making them altogether... at least for sale here in the US. If Isuzu had marketed their

3.1 diesel version such as one of the previous posters has here in the States, I think they'd have done very well.

As others have posted, burning oil is simply a fact of life with these things. I have tried all different grades, and brands. The best advice is one by the poster who said he simply changes his filter - I do the same thing. If it were possible to swap out this 3.5 for 4.3 Chevy engine, I'd do it tomorrow.

Keep a close eye on your oil and drive it. r/ SPR

When, exactly, did Isuzu Motors admit there was an oil consumption condition and that their engines 'are built wrong'?

Joe D

"Just throwing my oil-ring into this fire".

I have always owned at least one Isuzu trooper since 1984 sometimes several have been in my driveway. Today I own a new 2005 Ascender 4.2L (GM 291 horse pwr version) uses absolutely no oil ever. I use Mobil One Syn and change it typcially every 7500 miles with the best Purolator filter. Mobil says that I can run it to 15,000 miles. I have never been that daring to keep it in the crankcase to 15k. Does anyone here know if driving it for

15k is possible or adviseable?

Also I have a 1990 Trooper with the gas 2.6L fuel injected model with 166k miles and has never shown oil loss below the dipstick full mark. I use a high grade of 10W40 and very inexpensive from Advance Auto Stores

I recently sold my 1996 Trooper 3.2L gasser that routinely consumed 1 quart approximately every 750 miles. But this 96 really ran super. I hated to get rid of it and miss it alot. Maybe that 3.2 eng craved the adding of oil that would therefore reward me by running so well if I gave in to it's drinking habit, LOL!. I bought it new and did all the maint intervals to the letter. If it had not been for the oil useage I believe that I would not have traded it in to the Ascender. But now that we drive the Ascender both my wife and I agree that it is the finest car, truck, SUV that we have ever had the pleasure of driving/owning.

I just cannot get the Isuzu bug out of my system. "In for a dollar - In for a hundred"

Ernie - Fort Bragg, North Carolina, USA

Synthetic oil doesn't break down from heat as easily but it does get just as dirty. I still change mine every 3-5K. It's not that expensive. If when you change your oil, it's dirty then it was too late.

I sold my 1999 Amigo 4x4 3.2L with 50K on it. Ran perfect, never any problems but it did burn about 1qt/1000 miles. I needed a larger vehicle that could pull my 5,000lb trailer. I looked at the Ascender and it looked nice. I've had bad luck with GM products and the Ascender is really just a Trailblazer with some nice cosmetic changes. Because I tow I opted for the new Durango with a slightly longer wheelbase and live rear axle. Also paid 23K for a new 4x4 5.7L. I could not have gotten similarly equipped 7 seat Ascender for that price (not here anyways). The other BIG reason was that almost all Isuzu dealers have closed up. What remains are a few scattered very small dealerships that have questionable records.

Ernie wrote:

Joe, I misspoke when I said that and I was wrong. I had read anecdotal posts from several people that said exactly that, but as an owner, they have never officially admitted that they have an oil consumption problem or that their engines are built wrong to me in some or any kind of formal communication. So, if your question is in Isuzu's admission of guilt of their engines being built wrong and having excessive oil consumption, I stand corrected.

However, I will say unequivocally, as an engineer and a mechanic, that there is a fundamental flaw in either the construction or design of the 3.5L engines in that the oil use is excessive, more than I or anyone I've ever done work for would tolerate. 300 miles to the quart is simply unacceptable. The dealer in Colorado Springs, CO was the one who alerted me to the problem of them being "thirsty" at highway speeds - I didn't mind the 1 quart every

1500 miles, but when I had to put a quart in every 2nd gas fill, then I confirmed that there's a serious problem here. And I change my oil regularly, with a high grade, multi-vis oil.

So, do you agree that the 98-01/02 3.5L engines have a problem and that they were changed (In 2002, I believe... may have been 2001) to correct that problem? And if you don't, then why do they consume so much oil?

Steve

I'm up to about a quart every 600 miles (every other gas-up). I can live with it, but as I'm not a mechanic I have to wonder if the oil that's burned cakes up the engine in any way. Or can these things run forever if we just keep it above the oil fill line? ~GJ~