1998 Trooper driver side cylinders are not firing correctly?

Hey there. My wifes 98 trooper died on her while driving down the road. Brought it home and tinkered with a couple things and couldnt figure it out, i then took it to a mechanic around the corner and he couldnt figure it out. I took it to the dealership and they said that

3 things might be wrong. 1.timing jumped 2.camshaft broken 3.head is warped. The thing has never overheated. So my question is basically if the 3 driverside cylinders are not burning fuel, what could cause this and has anyone else had similar problems? I replaced the plugs (ion sensing) 15$ a pop (dealership) thankyou.?:roll:? OBD at dealership said no electrical problems (dealership) 180$ diagnostic, thankyou.?:roll:? Passenger side pressure on all 3 is 150 or so, driverside pressure is 50 or so. The thing starts alright, runs for 2 minutes then goes to a real bad idle.
Reply to
CaptainSensible
Loading thread data ...

I think you're onto the source of the problem with your compression tests. 3 Passenger side holes at 150, 3 driver side holes at 50 tells me that you have a problem that is valve related, and since the only way all three sets of valves on one SIDE are connected is through one or both cams on that head, I'd lean towards either a broken cam, a slipped cam drive gear (on the belt), or both of them. You didn't say how many miles are on the engine, and more importantly, is it possible this engine may have been starved for oil? The reason I ask that is that my 98 (just like yours) has started burning oil profusely since I drove it from Washington state to Florida, pulling a

2-ton trailer. I now get 300 miles to the quart - terrible. Engines like these will most likely starve the cams first if the pump can't get enough oil. If the cam starves, and one of the bearings start to seize, I think it possible that it could cause the cam to slip in the belt or strip the belt or jump. I'd pull the front of the engine off, and do a timing check on the cams and timing marks. Follow that with an inspection of the valve train (remove the cam covers and see what's going on in there. Doesn't appear to be a vacuum problem - ie a damaged intake manifold gasket (another common malady on these) nor an EGR valve problem (another common problem). Ask your wife if she ran the truck out of oil. That may tell you something significant.

It's too bad you dropped that much dough on the OBD test - Autozone will do it for free. I think you got ripped off - I had a Isuzu dealership do that for me for $35.00 before I knew about Autozone. I'm running standard old Bosch Platinum 4 plugs in mine - with absolutely no problems. Others have reported problems with non-Nippon Denso plugs (OEM version) but I've not had any. My only 2 beefs with this 3.5 l engine is the terrible fuel mileage for an engine that should easily be getting 18-20 mpg pushing a 4500 lb truck, and the 300 mpq oil consumption at 70K miles.

Hope this helps. Sorry to bellyache about my Isuzu experiences, but I really wish I had a 3.2 engine in mine. I won't buy another Isuzu - this last one has fixed me. r/ Steve

Reply to
SPR

"SPR" wrote: > I think you're onto the source of the problem with your > compression tests. 3 > Passenger side holes at 150, 3 driver side holes at 50 tells > me that you > have a problem that is valve related, and since the only way > all three sets > of valves on one SIDE are connected is through one or both > cams on that > head, I'd lean towards either a broken cam, a slipped cam > drive gear (on the > belt), or both of them. You didn't say how many miles are on > the engine, and > more importantly, is it possible this engine may have been > starved for oil? > The reason I ask that is that my 98 (just like yours) has > started burning > oil profusely since I drove it from Washington state to > Florida, pulling a > 2-ton trailer. I now get 300 miles to the quart - terrible. > Engines like > these will most likely starve the cams first if the pump can't > get enough > oil. If the cam starves, and one of the bearings start to > seize, I think it > possible that it could cause the cam to slip in the belt or > strip the belt > or jump. I'd pull the front of the engine off, and do a timing > check on the > cams and timing marks. Follow that with an inspection of the > valve train > (remove the cam covers and see what's going on in there. > Doesn't appear to > be a vacuum problem - ie a damaged intake manifold gasket > (another common > malady on these) nor an EGR valve problem (another common > problem). Ask your > wife if she ran the truck out of oil. That may tell you > something > significant. > > It's too bad you dropped that much dough on the OBD test - > Autozone will do > it for free. I think you got ripped off - I had a Isuzu > dealership do that > for me for $35.00 before I knew about Autozone. I'm running > standard old > Bosch Platinum 4 plugs in mine - with absolutely no problems. > Others have > reported problems with non-Nippon Denso plugs (OEM version) > but I've not had > any. My only 2 beefs with this 3.5 l engine is the terrible > fuel mileage for > an engine that should easily be getting 18-20 mpg pushing a > 4500 lb truck, > and the 300 mpq oil consumption at 70K miles. > > Hope this helps. Sorry to bellyache about my Isuzu > experiences, but I really > wish I had a 3.2 engine in mine. I won't buy another Isuzu - > this last one > has fixed me. > r/ > Steve > > -- > Stephen P. Reimers > Naval Salvage Officer > BMW Motorcycle Rider > "CaptainSensible" wrote in > message > news:1_586479 snipped-for-privacy@autoforumz.com... > > Hey there. My wifes 98 trooper died on her while driving > down the > > road. Brought it home and tinkered with a couple things and > couldnt > > figure it out, i then took it to a mechanic around the > corner and he > > couldnt figure it out. I took it to the dealership and they > said that > > 3 things might be wrong. > > 1.timing jumped > > 2.camshaft broken > > 3.head is warped. > > The thing has never overheated. So my question is basically > if the 3 > > driverside cylinders are not burning fuel, what could cause > this and > > has anyone else had similar problems? > > I replaced the plugs (ion sensing) 15$ a pop (dealership) > > thankyou.':roll:' > > OBD at dealership said no electrical problems (dealership) > 180$ > > diagnostic, thankyou.':roll:' > > Passenger side pressure on all 3 is 150 or so, driverside > pressure is > > 50 or so. > > The thing starts alright, runs for 2 minutes then goes to a > real bad > > idle. > >

formatting link
> > Visit Topic URL to contact author (reg. req'd). Report > abuse: > >
formatting link
I pulled the valve cover and the timing belt cover. The passenger side was out of time by three teeth and the driver side was off by 6 or 7. On closer inspection it looks like the rear of the engine was starved for oil and seized the cam. I?m going to take the head off and see if my local machine shop can clean up the head, if not then i?m forced to buy a reman. I called the dealership just for giggles to see what they charge for a new full head and i snorted with amusement until i turned blue and passed out, 1144$. I wouldnt worry about going on about your Isuzu woes, who else would listen other than someone with the same woes, right? Thankyou for a reply, i?ll post again when/if i get it fixed.

Reply to
CaptainSensible

Thanks for the feedback. I figured it had something to do with the cams and oil. The root problem, I'll bet, is oil consumption.... I bet you didn't realize you were even anywhere needing oil. And too bad for us, we're out of warranty and Isuzu won't do diddly squat. If I could put a Chevy engine in this truck, I'd do it in a heartbeat. No self-respecting truck maker would allow their product to go around sucking this much oil at so low a mileage - with hundreds of reported cases, you'd think they'd wise up and offer some help to guys like us......

Let me know how it goes. Stay away from used.... you'll end up with the same junk you have now, unless you can get an engine out of a wrecked 2003/4/5 (last year)..... if so, you may have better luck that way.

If you don't fix it and end up taking it out in the back and putting a bullet or two in it, fire a couple for me. It will make me feel better. r/ Steve

Reply to
SPR

I has similar problem. Turned out that the cam had seperated from the gear.

Reply to
Anonymous

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.