1995 rodeo electrical(?) problem

howdy. just bought a 95 rodeo 4x4 with approx 120K about a week ago. it runs like a champ, but i ran into my first unexpected problem yesterday.

i was using the air conditioning for a while (approx 30 minutes straight) including a 5 or 10 minute span when i was parked with the engine on listening to the cubs game while my faincee picked up some food. once she got back and we got ready to leave, i pressed the brake and the radio shorted out. then when i tried to back up, the car stalled. i turned off the a/c and started it back up, and it was real sluggish at first, but then seemed ok. a minute later i was preparing to turn left and i noticed the check trans light was flashing. i began my turn and when i gave it gas it just sat there til about 2 or 3k RPM at which point it jumped into gear and spilled my coke all over my girlfriend and my car. drove home fine after that.

i was told by one mechanic that he heard some rodeos have issues with bad relays...others said its probably just a short or bad ground of some kind. in any event, i was wondering if anyone has had similar problems or has an idea about what it might be/what i should do.

it runs just fine, but it labors when you start it, as if it were a bad battery. it hasnt discharged or anything though...i havent been using the a/c just in case.

any help would be greatly appreciated!

the more i think about this, the more i feel it might be alternator and/or battery related. i noticed getting in at night, the dome light is very dim. also, if there is anything on it seems to drain it.

could it maybe be the starter?

Starters , in general, have been known to develop shorts. If you battery is going dead quickly then thats most likely the problem. Take it to Autozone or Schucks or some other similar place and they should be able to do a computerized charging system check for free.

I'm assuming that when you say you radio shorted out, you mean that it just died due to lack of power.

EDIT: Ok, now that I'm thinking, it sounds more like it could be the alternator. Once the car is started, electrical power is supplied by the alternator. If that goes bad, then the battery has to supply power until it dies.

Yep. Thess are the classic *low voltage* symtoms. The 3.2L rodeos are VERY sensitive to having a constant 14V while running. If it drops below this, you will get the check engine, check trans, sometimes ABS light. The truck may run & shift badly as well. Electrical accessories will also cut out as you have desrcibed. Check for clean battery & ground connections, Run a quality battery and be SURE to only run an isuzu OEM alternator. It's not unheard of to have good luck with an aftermarket alternator, but they almost always cause problems & need replacing every 6months or so. Alternators in the 3.2/3.5 are a PITA to changeout so you want to do it right the first time.
G/luck
Joel

upon close examination...i noticed something about the battery...it was frickin teensy! i think whoever traded in the truck to the dealership swapped out the batter he had in there (it was a minnesota car, so probably had a nice battery) and put in a crappy little car battery. i just think it couldnt handle the load cause it was either too small or just plain old dead.

bought an energizer from murrays for about 85 bucks and havent had any trouble since.

occums razor.

All,

I have a 3.2L 95 Rodeo, and have it since 1996. It's been a great car until couple of weeks ago.... here is the symptom...
the car would start fine in the morning...until the engine warms up. When starting driving from a dead stop or slow speed (5MPH), the transmission appears sluggish at the beginning (seems no power to the transmission) and the RPM would crank up to 4K-5K, then suddenly the transmission would kick in normally. Once the car catches up to speed, everything returns to normal!!!
This happens when engine warms up and a few times a day. If you have encountered this problem or know of this issue, please share....

Thanks

whats tranny fluid like level and condition

I just had the transmission fluid flushed about 4 weeks ago when noticing this problem, and thought that the flush would help. I check the fluid level with engine running and it's full.
This does not happen all the time, but appears to happen frequenly when the engine warms up.