2001 Isuzu Trooper Transmission NIGHTMARE "Thread 2"

[Bigdan430]

It has been about 400 miles now since the fluid, filter change + shudder additive were done to my tranny. The tranny has been flawless since I left the shop. I think that I will conclude from this that Isuzu trannys need a fluid change sooner than 30K miles.

Ramblin Fever, based on your partial fluid drains/fills experience confirms this for me.

I will keep my Trooper until it is dead. I have 220K on a '95 Ford Aerostar and hope the Trooper can do better than it.

I never mess with the power mode/winter switches. And I do not manually down shift on grades. Ramblin... are you suggesting that I should be doing any of these?

[Ramblin Fever]

There's two ways I do this....If I'm pulling a load, or have a truck full of people/gear, and I'm pulling an incline/steep grade, I will manually downshift it to 3rd to make CERTAIN that the tranny does not try to shift into 4th/overdrive too soon...the lessor amount of shifts that tranny is doing while climbing a mountain, the better off you are in keeping it cool, and keeping it locked in 3rd assures that you won't overwork tranny or the engine. There have been times I've had to even downshift into 2nd, but those times are VERY few and far between, and generally only if I'm on a VERY steep back road, in which top speed is 15-20mph, maybe.

2nd option....if the truck is empty or only half loaded with just people and not much gear, I will leave the tranny in *D* and push ON the power mode BEFORE even beginning the climb up the grade, this is the *sport* option gearing, if you will, for this truck and tells the tranny which gear is best for the road its experiencing. Many of times, with 2-3,000 ft inclines over the coarse of a few miles, the powermode is enough to keep the tranny/engine from lugging.

However, if the truck falls below 45mph in powermode, suddenly the tranny will do a harsh downshift into 2nd and send the rpm's to over 4,500...I don't like this, and prefer not to let it happen, but sometimes it does. At those times, I immediately shut OFF the powermode and downshift it to 3rd, where I will allow her to coast up the hill at 40mph at a decent 3-4k rpm's...I don't like to overwork the engine or tranny.

I do live in the Colorado high-country, thus I downshift and use my power mode a lot, specially while towing. These habits can prove to work wonders for keeping these trannies cool; the worst thing you can do to this tranny is overheat/overwork it.

Your winter mode feature is probably something that you won't use too often if yours is a 4x4, but could be something you try BEFORE putting it in 4-wheel drive. Pushing the winter mode ON simply starts the truck off in 3rd gear from a dead stop; i..e when your stuck on slippery ice, stuck in sand, mud, etc. it automatically shuts off once you reach 15mph.

This is a GREAT feature that I have used a few times with owning a 4x2 Rodeo in snow country.

[mckinnsc]

I have a 2000 Isuzu Trooper (3.5L) 4x4 with ~120k miles on it. I really love it. Several months ago i started experiencing a shuttering while accelerating at around 35-40 mph which I thought might be related to an intake manifold issue. About a month ago i was driving and stopped at a red light-when I tried to accelerate the transmission in "D" it took a while for the tranny to engage. It will accelerate fine in "L". I am going to change out the fluid following a link I found on "planet isuzu" today to see if this helps the problem.

I did check the alternator and was seeing around 14v-thought that was good. I havent driven it in about a month and noticed that the battery was dead today-kinda strange, but I think it's unrealted since the tranny gets power from the alternator.

I also checked the shift indications with the dash readouts and they match up.

I noticed a post about solenoid issues-this will probably be my next step-can I change these myself and where can I purchase them?

As you can see I am trying to avoid taking it to the shop-with all of the horror stories I have heard.

Any help would be appreciated.

SteveO

[Another_Drummer]

I'm no expert in this...I traded my crap Trooper in and got a 2006 Dodge Durango. Not a single problem with it.

From my issue...I had the same thing. It was a solenoid issue...or at least that's what they said....but it screwed up again. Mine got to where it only worked in R. I did the manual transmission thing for a while, but that eventually crapped out too.

Isuzu should have had a recall on them big-time!!!

[fourwd1]

People, the biggest problem with this transmission is not the transmission, but the electronic module mounted underneath to the base of the shifter. It gets corroded inside and sends bad info to the ECM, causing all the simptoms you all are describing. Get a new module (I got mine a St Charles Isuzu, great price and service) and spend 30 mins replacing it before you spend mega bucks on tranny repairs. You can also try opening yours and try to clean it, but mine was to far gone for that to fix it (and I didn't consider the corrosion all that bad, that's how finicky it is).

[Ramblin Fever]

Originally Posted by Another_Drummer

I'm no expert in this...I traded my crap Trooper in and got a 2006 Dodge Durango. Not a single problem with it.

Isuzu should have had a recall on them big-time!!!

Why the need for a recall when only a few of them had issues. I've had my '97 Rodeo since new off the line, currently have nearly 200k miles original engine and auto transmission...haven't had a single issue.

Sounds like your crap Trooper was used when you bought it, thus your issues could have come from previous owner neglect or abuse.

Don't have many good things to say about Dodge Durango's, have 3 on my street, and all of them are on 2nd or 3rd transmissions, one is on engine #2, and the other one looks horrible after only a few years of use.

[cookieboyjp]

This message is for Bigdan430. I hope you are still out there. My 2001 Trooper transmission history is absolutely identical to yours. Same symptoms, mileages, etc. I am now at 38,000 miles with my second tranny, and here we go again. It seems like a pretty common problem with these. Did the anti-shudder additive and fluid/filter change provide a long-term solution? Any input from anyone would be greatly appreciated.

[aclone]

My 2002 Isuzu Trooper's the malfunction warning light was on and it has been shuttering & making noise while accelerating at around 35-40 mph and/or going uphill. I took it to the Isuzu dealer and they said there were two error codes P1850 and P0342 so I asked them to repair it. They replaced 1 gasket (oil pan), 2 GKT (oil pan/AT), 1 PIN (solenoid), 2 PIN (Spring,SOL), 1 washer (Solenoid), 1 Strainer ASM (Oil A/T), 1 Solenoid (Band), 2 Solenoids (on/off) A/T.
I got my car last week and the malfunction light has been off since. I still notice the noise from the transmission, though. I took it back to the dealer and they said my car is ready. They called me and said they fixed it by adding some sorta oil (transmission oil in the gear?) I have no idea what the customer serivce guy told me... Anyway, I am picking it up tomorrow and we'll see if they really 'fix' it! This car has been driving me crazy!

[aclone]

Guys, I just got my car back and the noise is gone. They said it wasn't the transmission that getting some sorta weird noise. They said it was caused by not enough lubricant around the universal joints & sliding sleeve areas. They lubricated the areas to solve the problem.

[aclone]

Oh well, I thought the problem of my isuzu trooper was fixed but the same problem has just happened today. My malfunction light is lit and the noise is back and is getting more serious when going 35-45mph and going uphill... I am taking this shitty trooper back to the dealer tomorrow! >_<

[sassee]

Unfortunately, I don't hang-out on AutomotiveForums that much anymore but FYI..............If you have major issues like this, post them on "drivetrain problems" section of planetisuzu.com. If you're lucky, Jerry Llemond will happen to be hanging out and give you a quick reply.

Jerry is THE resident IsuzuGuru! He's worked as an Isuzu tech and trained Isuzu Techs for years and he has a huge supply of Zu parts. He guided me to fixing issues with my A340H (Aisin-Warner auto tranny) in just a couple posts. (I know engines but I'm CERTAINLY not a transmission guy)

I'm not trying to pull readers from AF as I'm starting to frequent this forum again but it certainly don't hurt to get another opinion.

ernie

[drgsbg5060]

2001 Trooper; when I first start and put vehicle in Drive or Reverse and press the accelarator the vehicle hesitates. After a few seconds it may or may not 'jump' into gear. Or I may have to move the gear shift to park or another gear then to drive or reverse(which ever I need) before it goes into gear. After driving a while it has a grinding noise when starting from a full start. Need some ideas for trans shop. They have rebuilt the trans, supposidly changed the "pressure pump" but still doing same thing. Is it a solenoid problem. Wondering?

[troopersucks]

2001 Trooper bought a year ago with a 2 year rebuilt tranny. Couple of months later started doing all of the above issues. Shuddering. Like in neutral before take off. Took to a shop and replaced the trans regulator and said trans seemed good. Another couple of weeks went by and started it and it would only go into reverse. Would not go into gear. Took it to another shop and he said I needed a rebuilt. About a month later, goes out again. The shop had a 3 year warranty so I took it back. A month later being in the shop he tells me that some of the eltrical like heated seats power do not work. They did when I took it in. Now he tells me he needs to replace the computer and no cost to me?? Sounds like he fried it trying to work on the electrical which I doubt he even knew anything about. Still could not get it to work so sends off my car to the actual eletrical guy and now he is saying it is not electrical by tranny. Now the shop is putting in another rebuilt and it has been there 3 months!!! I am a single parent and have put $3500 plus the cost of the car!! The shop keeps given me the run around.

[PotentialTrooper]

I'm having second thoughts about buying a clean nice 2002 Trooper running fine with check engine light and 2 codes: O2 sensor and spark plug misfiring. Is this a pre-transmission warning? Electric wires, motors, sensors, activators start failing after a few years and weird unpredictable things start happening. They should have an expiration date. Wires oxidize and become dirty electricity and unreliable signals. A wise mechanic once said, 99% of your problems is electrical. I'm probably gonna buy the Trooper anyway, put new sensor, spark plugs and wires and gear shift controller. I can still back out when I see the car up close and talk to the seller. It'll be an upgrade from 1988 Montero.

[txfromwi]

Hi,

Great info. Finally some real help for this issue!

Same as others, shudder, noises. No one can diagnose. Acura claims that they never sold a re-badged Trooper (even though that was the first 2 years of the MDX - and I saw one again just last week...) and refuse to even look at it.

This vehicle is one step away from donation to Click and Clack!

I also have the following:

Yesterday it would barely move when in any forward gear, but I was able to move fine in L and then shift up.

Today, it will barely move forward both in any forward gear setting and in L so it is functionally dead in the driveway.

Interestingly, reverse seems OK.

Before I spend any effort at all, please advise if this is most likely the electronics module at the base of the gear shift (which I can easily change myself) or the solenoids (which I could probably change myself if they are accessible from the outside, I can find them and they don't require any goofy specialty tool) or the bands inside the transmission (hello Public Broadcasting).

This is a 2001 Trooper Limited 4WD, the transmission fluid is full and looks and smells good.

It was rebuilt a few years ago for a blown torque converter, however the strange noises did not go away after the rebuild.

If you have a diagnosis please advise what the parts will likely be called so that I can properly select them, where to locate parts online and a probable rough cost for each so I can check that I am ordering the correct part.

If solenoids and they are external, please advise which ones and where they are. (I have a mechanics manual for the 1992 Trooper (if that helps), but not one for this 2001.) (The '92 was lost to Tropical Storm Allison and took 35.5" of water - that was a great truck - God rest her soul!)

It's great having a beater truck for heavy errands and I'm not ready to put the brand new Land Rover into "heavy errands" just yet, so I greatly appreciate any assistance in keeping the Trooper alive for a bit more...

Thanks,

Dan