Rodeo Newbie

Hello all, I'm new to the forums and my 01 Rodeo. I bought it a month ago with 50K miles. Its a LS 4X4 w/3.2 automatic. My wife and I really like it. Heres a few Q's about it.

1. I'm in the process of changing all the fluids (except coolant). How do I get the fluid out of the front diff? And, whats the deal with no tranny dipstick? Seems awfully cheap :(

2. It seems to be afflicted with the engine pinging problem and does have the champion plugs. I just ordered the req'd Denso plugs. Have an app't with dealer to flash the pcm. Should this be covered under warranty? They already quoted me $99 w/tax to do it.

3. Noticed the rear driveshaft has grease zerks on the ujoints but the front doesn't, Normal?

4. I would like to install some full length step bars and a grill guard. Any recommendations?

Thanks, Tom.

Search for the auto tranny fluid change. There are 2 bolts on the pan. Lower one is drain, higher one toward the back of the pan is refill. The correct fill level is achieved with the engine warm and idling in neutral.

I just bought a set of step bars for my 00 rodeo from this guy on ebay. They are black Westin bars and he sells them for $199 a set. I would like to get the front bar too but its $750 canadian up here.

Oh and for the tranny, the fill plug faces downwards I think. Its a stupid design, we had to put a nozzle on a 1L jug of tranny fluid and squeeze the hell out of it so it would go up and into the hole and fall down into the tranny. It took forever because it was hard to squeeze it all in there. Best bet is to buy a hand pump that actually fits.

Any reason why you arent changing the coolant??

Any reason why you arent changing the coolant??

I'll eventually get to that.

Any ideas on getting the old fluid out of the front differential? I see no drain plug and there isn't a cover to take off. I'm hoping that one of the bottom pumpkin bolts is holding back the fluid ???

Also, does anyone's doors pop when opening or closing? Only the front doors on mine pop loudly and they've been lubricated.

To fix the door popping: http://www.planetisuzoo.com/articles.htm/39
When I got these bushings Isuzu had changed the p/n. I gave planet isuzoo the new #s but am unsure if this article was updated.

For the step bars, I have Manik stainless steel step bars, grill gaurd, and tail light guards. They're awesome! Check www.manik.com to find a dealer.

And, if I recall the PCM flash is covered under warranty. My dealership tried to screw me out of warranty a few times, so be sure they're telling the truth.

To fix the door popping: http://www.planetisuzoo.com/articles.htm/39
When I got these bushings Isuzu had changed the p/n. I gave planet isuzoo the new #s but am unsure if this article was updated.

For the step bars, I have Manik stainless steel step bars, grill gaurd, and tail light guards. They're awesome! Check www.manik.com to find a dealer.

And, if I recall the PCM flash is covered under warranty. My dealership tried to screw me out of warranty a few times, so be sure they're telling the truth.

Thanks. My Rodeo is officially out of the 50k warrany, so I don't think I'll have any luck. While there, I'll get a pair of those door bushings, also.

Today I replaced the rear differential fluid. Doesn't look like its ever been done (52K) as the black paint came off several of the bolts when I loosened them. :(

What did the fluid look like? I've yet to do this...

[QUOTE=rheteric]To fix the door popping: http://www.planetisuzoo.com/articles.htm/39
When I got these bushings Isuzu had changed the p/n. I gave planet isuzoo the new #s but am unsure if this article was updated.

My stealership would not sell me the bushings. They said that they only sold the hinges for 36 dollars a pop.

So for now I just popped off the back seat door bushings, which were still good and put them on the front doors. I measured them with calipers and found the inner id 5 mm outer 7mm and outer flange 12 mm. I found brass rivets for leather that can be adapted into a bushing.

I read that tech article about fixing the door popping and I cant figure out what they hell they mean. Its just not clear to me how to go about getting the bushings out.

all you have too do is open the door knock the pin out of it then remove the broken plastic bushing there is a new metal bushing available for it

some of the door checks were made without the need for the bushing so that may be the reason you cant get yours out

What did the fluid look like? I've yet to do this...

Just looked like old black gear oil. :D

Thanks for replying. I've just procrastinated and I need somone to tell me how bad it looked so that I'll have no choice but to do it immediately! My buddy is a proponent of the 1) "If it ain't broke don't fix it," and 2) "All fluid is lifetime unless proven otherwise," schools, and I know I shouldn't listen, but...

Damn...I'm going to get the stuff right now...

Well, a buddy of mine is currently replacing spider gears in his '00 Silverado and has only changed his gear oil once at 80K :uhoh:

Finished it. The gear oil was black, smelled burnt, and left carbon residue on the cover. Gears looked good, as far as a guy looking in there for the first time would know. Only a small amount of infinitesimal silver shavings stuck to the magnetized plug, which was a nice challenge to remove. To help seal the gasket I used Indian Head shellac, which my friend, who supposedly never changes his fluids, recommended. What did I forget?

[QUOTE=rheteric]To fix the door popping: http://www.planetisuzoo.com/articles.htm/39
When I got these bushings Isuzu had changed the p/n. I gave planet isuzoo the new #s but am unsure if this article was updated.

My stealership would not sell me the bushings. They said that they only sold the hinges for 36 dollars a pop.

So for now I just popped off the back seat door bushings, which were still good and put them on the front doors. I measured them with calipers and found the inner id 5 mm outer 7mm and outer flange 12 mm. I found brass rivets for leather that can be adapted into a bushing.

I was able to buy two bushings from my dealer. Total w/tax $9.78.

The new pt# is 8-97324-784-0

He only had two in stock, I'd like another pair for the rear doors when they start popping :eek7: