89 Trooper II w/blown head gasket

[Warrior_Jimbo]

I think my 89 Trooper II (4cyl, 4x4 w/86k original miles) blew the head gasket. It suddenly starting running very rough, white (sweet smelling) smoke was coming from the exhaust, and the radiator is suddenly low on fluid. I immediately pulled over, shut it down, and towed it home. I figured it was the head gasket.

The big questions: Is it something that a “do it yourselfer” can repair? Is it better to shell out the bucks to take it to a shop for repair? Is getting a rebuilt engine that way to go? Or, is it not worth repairing and I should cut my losses and sell it as is?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[jkinsman]

I had the exact same thing happen to me. I tore of the head gasket and took it to a machine shop to see if they could resurface it. They said they wouldn't touch isuzu head gaskets. After the same response from many other shops, I started looking for new gaskets. A new gasket costs $600-800. I bought a remanfactured engine for $800 and put it in myself. Kind of a pain. The engineers ar isuzu definitely were not thinking of the do-it-yourselfer when designing these cars. Took me about a week to get the engine in.

Anyway, after puttin the engine in, it ran well for years.

Hope this helps
Jesse

[ND Guy]

I'm not sure what you are talking about...a new head gasket and complete kit is only $125 at NAPA. Is there something I'm missing here or reading wrong? I've never heard of a head gasket costing nearly $800. Please clear this up a little more.

[89trooper]

I got mine from Autozone for about $80, maybe less. Now the heads themselves are expensive.

[Warrior_Jimbo]

Originally Posted by 89trooper

I got mine from Autozone for about $80, maybe less. Now the heads themselves are expensive.

Thanks for the info. Are there any "pit falls" I need to watch for when I tear into the engine?

[89trooper]

Just the timing marks. When the crank and the cam are lined up with the timing marks - #4 is at TDC not #1. You adjust the appropriate rockers at this point and then rotate the crank one turn. Then # 1 is at TDC, you will notice that the cam sprocket will be 180 degrees from where it was when #4 (4 is up and 1 is down) was set up. You then adjust the rest of the rockers.