SWMBO's lookin for a car-do troopers burn oil for a reason i can fix?

wife is looking for a car. she has a 95 exploder xlt, and it exploded. trans is shot, springs are weak, electronics are sporatic, etc etc. it has 270k on it...

anyways, we went and looked at a montero, cause i read a few good reviews about it. "eh" was her response. then she saw a 99 trooper. LOVED IT. sits high, comfortable seats, leather, options galore, likes the rear door setup (as do i), etc etc. so i did some homework, and apparently the GM V6 burns oil. a lot of oil. like a qt every gas tank 'lot'.

learn me this truck fellas, especially this oil thing. can i prevent it? stop it once it starts? what else do yall know about these? alternatives to a trooper? trying to trade in the xlt and spend under 4k sticker. 4x4 and 'sits high' are a must, as are autotragic and A/C. this will be her DD and our road trip car.

TIA

-J0N

Wow, you are trading a '95 Explorer (admittedly with high miles) for a '99 Isuzu that you already know has an oil consumption "issue"...and you are hoping to keep the transaction price to under $4,000?

Cue the line from Forrest Gump.

First of all, this year of Trooper does NOT use a GM V6, it uses an Isuzu V6. Most of the drivetrain is Isuzu and if you haven't priced Isuzu parts lately I suggest you do that ASAP as they tend to be higher than Ford or Chevy parts prices. And considering that this isn't all that fuel efficient a vehicle (tho it is better than...a Chevy Suburban) this is a poor chice for a DD and road trip car. But that's my opinion.

They are also some of the easiest trucks out there to roll over. "Sits high" is pretty subjective, I would keep shopping.

i wondered about the GM v6 thing. it was mentioned elsewhere, and i thought it odd that gm made a DOHC v6 ever. even for isuzu. parts price doesnt scare me too much as im a mechanic for a small shop and get everything at wholesale. i also have lift access and every tool known to mankind.

but, if this is just a terrible vehicle, what else is suggested?

1. SUV

2. 4x4 full time or part time (looking for snow capability, not off road)

3. AT

4. ABS (women drivers no survivors)

5. 4 real doors with seating for 4 adults. we routinely have 4 adults in our cars.

6. at least 200hp (no 4 bangers unless turbo and turbo is complicated so no turbo)

7. 17mpg lower limit. i care little about mpg. if im gonna go somewhere in something for 8-30 hrs i wanna enjoy it. i dont enjoy something just cause it gets 30mpg. i enjoy comfortable ride, good visibility, good radio, good A/C, power stuff, and ability to hold a hill at speed limit without full throttle passing gear. i actually like yukons and such from the late 90s, but its too big for the wife. i really wanted a 2000 limited (old 90s body style) yukon but got told 'NO'.

anyways, if not the trooper. what?

-J0N

Since you mentioned Isuzu, as a last hooray in the US market, Isuzu made the Axiom from about 2001-2005. I always thought they were attractive. Sort of a glamorized Isuzu Rodeo. I mention them because i saw one on the road the other day and being an uncommon vehicle, it still looked current and I thought it was the 4Runner based Lexus. Being a fringe vehicle, it is likely that no one goes looking for one and therefore they should be cheap (even if used car lots have them overpriced.)

jimthunderbirdturbo:

Chevy did actually build a DOHC V6, it was used in Monte Carlos and Grand Prix (Prixs?) for a few years in the mid '90s. It had such a poor reliability record that GM "tossed" it for the 3800 series (a Buick engine) that made slightly less power and didn't need premium gas.

Troopers also used a GM engine, the old 2.8 V6 that first appeared in FWD "X-body" cars and in S series trucks/SUVs. But with the Trooper re-design of 1997, that engine disappeared.

Your criteria for a next car isn't all that doable. Your lower limit on fuel economy isn't "compatible" with automatic/non-turbo/and 200 horsepower.

If you move to a (slightly?) smaller AWD car, you may not need 200 horsepower. In which case something like a Subaru Forester might work. Or if you must have 200 horsepower...an Escape with V6 would fit the bill.

checked out the axiom. cant do it under 4k. even beat to hell i see 6 plus. i have a baby on the way and want this paid off before it gets here (aug-sept).

i looked at the forester, and honestly i like it, so does she, but its so small and low. and im not impressed with build quality. the drive train is good, in fact i love how simple to work on it is, and the reliability, but the interior is very basic and boring, and the auto makes the car a pig. stereo would need replaced immediately, as they sux, air is only decent, its just not what im looking for.

what im looking for is a small yukon or a big explorer. escape is out. wife hates em, i hate em, nuff said.

we looked at another rodeo. i like them, but they seem to pathfinder-ish, and i could get a pathfinder for half the money. come to think of it, why dont we get a pathfinder?

-J0N

I had a 94 trooper and it was indestructible. I think 99 was the 2nd gen though, with the first gen being an acura clone.
maybe go for an older one? still sit high as hell and have the cool rear doors, just aren't bubbly looking like the later ones

I put 180,000 miles on one of these and then gave it to my son. V6, 5 spd. cruise. Can't kill it, I've tried.

I don't know about new Troopers, but didn't the old ones have tipping issues?

Tom Suddeth has an 'early' Trooper which was produced through 1991 and that was the one available with the GM 60 degree V6. In 1992, the next generation was introduced which had a 3.2 SOHC 32 valve Isuzu V6. That body type was continued till 2002, when it was allegedly 'replaced' by the Ascender. In 1998, the front fenders and hood were redesigned but otherwise the truck was exactly the same.

The Acura SLX was a facelifted Trooper BTW, same as a Passport was a facelifted Rodeo.

First: the rollover thing is crap. It was no worse than anything else of the time. Consumer Reports actually lost in court, Google it. I have been DDing a '97 for a long time, like 8 years and it's never tried to turn turtle on me. I have driven Explorers, Grand Cherokees etc and they have a more top heavy feel to them.

Second: the '99 engine is the 3.5 DOHC Isuzu engine. (There was an earlier 3.2 DOHC, but it's not the same as the later motor.) When first designed, it turned out the PCV system was inadequate unless the valve was changed pretty regularly. The system was redesigned in 2001 to address this. FWIW, EVERYBODY was having sludge issues at the time: Mercedes, Toyota (who had a recall), Ford, GM, Chrysler, etc etc. I still think the whole thing was linked to oil formulation changes which happened at about the same time (no ZDDP, etc) but the oil refiners will never admit that one.

The first DOHC engines have a plastic PCV valve which pops into a grommet in the valve cover just behind the oil fill cap. The later engines had a larger metal one which was threaded. A lot of the early engines were retrofitted. Pop the oil fill cap off and look WAY down in the head/valve gear: if it's a gold or aluminum color, all is well. If it's a dark red or worse brown/black, the engine has sludge and will give problems. It's pretty normal for them to use a quart between changes (mine does), if running the snot out of them (high speed towing, etc) it can use a fair amount more.

The things are tough as nails if maintained properly (which can be said about a lot of vehicles, I guess).

The Axiom has Trooper running gear, a Rodeo frame and its own sheet metal. I never saw one with the early PCV system, but since its production overlapped the Trooper it's possible the earliest ones may have shared that PCV system. I like the Axiom and wouldn't mind owning one, it's solid, well made and drives nice. Its only drawback is the rear compartment is a fair amount smaller than the Trooper's or the Rodeo's. The last year or so of production had direct injection and those are pretty powerful compared to the earlier ones. Not to mention they get about 12% better gas mileage.

first: ill agree with the rollover crap thing. most people who roll over SUVs do it with tires that are under-inflated and then swerve to miss an squirrel and careen off a cliff like morons. i say good riddance. inflate your tires and run the berkelying thing over!

second: so if i find a 3.5l one, with a clean-ish insides, and i replace the PCV with a better one, it should be fine? how do the trans' hold up? i like words like 'tough as nails' and being a mech myself, i maintain my stuff. oil gets AMSOIL and gets it every 10k like clock work. should i do the same with this, amsoil and 10k, just check it more often? ive read the piston drain back holes were a problem and caused some of the oil consumption thing. is this a myth? reapirs for this include snake oils down the plug hole (seafoam to mention my fav), to replacing the rings ans pistons. ive also read about 2 qts of oil loss over a 500-1000 mile period, and thats a berkely-load. some of these were at 60 and 70 k. the ones were looking at local have around 100k. id love more info curmudgen, if you have it, and thanks for what youve already written.

-J0N

Uses oil. Smoke or leaks. Smoke means valve seals or piston rings. Scored cylinder is possible. Leaks are visual. Either way looks like engine work. Worth it ?