Well the truck will be fresh off the boat in about a week! I've had my 99 Troop sent overseas to Germany and I'll be picking him up in a few days. I must admit that I had no idea that the Troop's were dying left and right from oil burning. I just started looking around about a week ago I'm simply amazed at all the trouble people have had. I've owned mine since Feb of 2000 and it had 8000miles on it. I drove off the lot, exactly 500ft(ok maybe 510ft:grinyes: ) and into my mechanics garage and had him change every fluid that could be changed, check every bolt and drain plug to be checked and after he was satisfied that it was all ok, I drove like normal and I really haven't had any trouble engine wise. My ex got hit pretty hard by a drunk driver in 02 but there didn't seem to be any mechanical problems. Me my friends all did oil and service together about every three months or so or when we had a few extra 6 packs nice and cold and no wives hanging around bothering us and I never really noticed that the oil was exceptionally dirty or that there was much missing when we changed it.
For the last three years I've been in Bosnia and the truck has been in Louisiana, thankfully my mom was able to keep it out of Katrina's way. She didn't drive it much but I'm hoping she kept up the oil changes like she said. I just had the belts changed a few months ago, i think its around 65-75k miles right now, it was suggested to her so she did it, oh well right?! Anyway, after driving a POS for the last three years I decided to have the troop sent over, whats the point of paying off a truck and then not using it? Besides, resale is a joke on these trucks anyway plus I really like it.
Sooo, my actual question is do you guys recommend anything special after its sea passage? I was told that it is in its own crate and should be sheltered from the elements. I have to drive from germany back down to bosnia immediately after picking it up at the port so thats why I'm writing you guys. I plan on picking up a few cases of 10w-30(unless you recommend something different) and a big stack of papertowels so that I can check the oil at each gas stop, now that I'm paranoid!! Hopefully when i get it back here I can start checking it out and seeing if anything is going on that shouldn't be going on.
My other question is this, the lowest rated fuel here is 95 with 98 being "super". My buddy's Jeep Wrangler has had a constant CEL from running this fuel. He was told by a dealership in Croatia that the Jeeps just don't like the high octane fuel but its not hurting his motor and he shouldn't expect any negative results other than his plugs fouling a little sooner than normal. Do you guys think the Troop will respond similarly? I guess I will find out soon enuff, just wanted to get a heads up if possible.
Sorry for the long post, I'm just glad I found some Troop fans out there. Thanks for all the great info, even if some of it is scaring the pi$$ out of me!!
Tom

First thing I would do besides checking oil and coolant levels, is increase the timing!

Advance it 3-5 degrees BTDC, over stock, if you're running 98 octane.

Have you you ever bled the brakes? Ever cleaned the EGR?

There is no way to advance the timing since it is controlled by the computer.

you may want to disconnect the battery for 15 minutes to reset the ECU after a couple tanks of gas. This will allow the ECU to recalibrate itself to the new conditions. Once you get to where you are going you may want to do it again if the elavation is vastly different.

Thanks guys, I haven't cleaned the egr before but I have bled the brakes. I'll try the battery suggestion and let you guys know what happens.
Tom

Hey Tom,

I spent some great Army time in Bosnia in '95-'96, 23 months altogether of balkan fun. I hope there's less mud there now.

I did the same thing when I went to Germany - my dad kept the Troop ('94) and drove a hooptie BMW for 4 years. They wanted to charge me $3k per year for insurance for the big 4WD back then.

Anyway, I'm sure you know that Opel put out their version of the trooper over there - I used to see them all the time - so if something does go wrong, you should be able to find someone to work on it. Also, I thought the gas rating system was just different there. . . higher numbers not necessarily equating to higher octane than here. I don't remember for sure.

Have fun chasing the Balkan Ghosts.

Mark

Still plenty of mudd to get into, but they got enough pavement now to not have to worry about bogging down to drive to work! Its actually not too bad here at all, heck, we're gonna go see Pavarotti at the statdium here next month!! We've been here long enough and we're ready to go, only so much stupidity you can take, both at work and from "former" communist people who don't like you in their country anyway.
You brought up a good point about the octane ratings, maybe they are different and just labeled higher than in the states. I just figured since my buddy's Jeep didn't like it that it was actually as high as it says. I have seen lots of Opels over here, but the majority of them seem to be diesels. We definitly don't have anywhere to get it serviced here, maybe in Croatia or something.
I appreciate all the tips you guys gave, this forum is pretty cool and I plan to bug the $h1t out of you guys at the first sign on anything peculiar!!
Tom

So far no problems other than the brake light coming on. I thought it was just the hand brake being loose, but after reading some of the manual it says that the brake light has nothing to do with the hand brake. Yesterday while driving, I just pulled up on the hand brake to test it out and it still works, weird thing is the light went out for the rest of the drive home. Started it up this morning and it was back on again. I generally don't use the hand brake on the Troop since its an auto. Any ideas on this one?? Is there a way to see if its throwing any brake specific codes?
I ended up taking a few quarts of oil with me, just to be safe and right at the 1000 mile mark I added a quart because it had dropped down below the full mark. I'll keep up with it now and see if it is eating oil like some of the others I've read about or if this was just due to the highspeed and distance I had just traveled.
The instructions on the keyless remote programming works like a charm, got both of my remotes ready to go in about three minutes. Only thing is the horn, is there a way to defeat the horn chirp? Its not that big of a deal but being that I already have Texas plates, i'd rather not attract too much more attention over here.
Thanks for all the tips so far guys!!
Tom

That brake light on means it is low on brake fluid. It comes on when cold and then off when warm due to the expansion of the fluid which is just enough, in your case, to turn off the light.

You were right on about the brake fluid being low. I added a few ounces and the light went out. I think my rear brakes are the culprit, been hearing a lot of squeeking back there so it may be time to change out the pads. The Manual said not to "top off" the fluid but I think it will be ok as long as I drain some out when I change the rear pads. What do you guys think?
Tom