Influencer II
High mileage rigs?
- Thread starter 91Trooper
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Enthusiast II
Needless to say jerry cans will be part of my outfit when i start fabbing my rear bumper
Traveler III
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For what ever reason 90% of the 3.2 and 3.5 Isuzu V6s are oil drinkers. If I ever end up with one of those it would be swapped out for a 3.1 or 3.4 GM V6, also its kinda BS that Isuzu runs the 4L30E auto trans behind those, which is a GM car transmission and not anywhere stout enough.
Also I would take a look at your fuel system on that 2.8L. It should be able to get better fuel millage than that.
Enthusiast II
Yes i think im going to replace the injectors they are origional and i think my biggest issue is my collector gasket on the drivers side has a bad exhaust leak in front of the o2 sensor. But due to whatever gears are in the axles im also turning 3000rpms in fifth at 65mph so thats not helping either
Influencer II
Agreed. the 4L30E is trash in this application. BUT, I will say that now that I have a texas sized trans cooler, the transmission has held up since that last rebuild. My 3.5 guzzles oil and I add gas every once in a while. The issue I heard from many trooper guys is that the pistons only have two oil drain back holes and should have 4 (this was corrected in later 3.5s). Not sure if that's really the issue. Mine is close to rebuild time.
Enthusiast II
I heard the same thing about the oil consumption but for me to fix it means a rebuild and since i had my 91 still, i opted to go back to the 91 and sell my 99, but i do miss my 99 with 3.5 i had the manual in mine and they are fun rigs
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with that RPM at that speed you should have 4.56s. Yeah that will hurt your millage potential but I think you should be able to get around 15. Honestly I would be tempted to run a larger tire (like a 31 or 32) to try to get the RPMs down. Even with the larger tire and more rolling resistance ETC. you might pickup millage (so long as you stick with a good A/T tire and steer clear of M/Ts) as the 2.8L will be happier down around 2500 for cruise RPM.
Off-Road Ranger I
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Like everybody else has commented, I think that body, frame and parts availability is are the killers. Engines and transmissions can be replaced as long as rust has not taken hold of your vehicle. 10mpg with a 2.8v6, sounds like a fuel/exhaust issue like you have stated. Run a can of Seafood in your next fuel tank fillup to see if it gets any better. The exhaust issue - if you don't have a check engine light on then the O2 sensors are working properly. If you have a light on though, then that would be the culprit to the poor fuel mileage. Old school Trooper with a manual transmission - nice... Btw, my 3rd gen 4Runner only has 226k on it and it runs like a champ. 22mpg on the highway if kept below 75mph and 18mpg if kept below 85mph.
Enthusiast II
Enthusiast II
Yeah the body and frame is why i bought a complete 1989 trooper same color and all. I dont have a check engine light but it smells rich since the exhaust leak started. I would love to get your mpg lol but im thinking of just getting some jerry cans mounted and as long as she keeps running ill drive her lol
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Enthusiast II
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If youre speed is corect then you may well have 4.77s actually. In my 90 Troop I had 4.56s and on a 30" tire I would spin about 3K at 65 in 5th.
Influencer I
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Last time I checked 81 and up chassis parts for Isuzus were availiable. But pre 81 stuff litterally doesnt exist anymore. 4 years ago a buddy of mine said he couldnt even find ball joints for his 79 Isuzu pickup, thankfully for him I still had a crap ton of spares for my 80 wich used the same parts.
Autism Family Travels
Rank IV
Enthusiast III
My 2003 150's chassis rotted. I loved the truck, perfect size, had 33's on it, and was efficient compared to my Jeep. BUT! the frame rotted.
"I have 300K on my Cummins, and those are known to go a million miles and keep on ticking (or rattling as the case may be)."(I messed the quote function up, oops.)
Yep, my cummins swapped suburban has an odo that says 310k but isnt the original so who knows, and I got the cummins, allegedly, out of a pickup with 190k and I have put who really knows how many miles, because I have still not gotten the odometer to work. Not too worried about it though, oil analysis comes back healthy so I guess I will keep running it until it explodes. Outside of the bullet proof cummins/4l80e I have had multiple headaches worth of work, rebuild hubs, replace rotors, rebuild entire fuel system including a new tank and pump, get the electronic trans to talk to the 2nd gen cummins and try to get gauges to read them both, replace half the climate control, create a new and working air intake, replace CVs, actually mount the body to frame instead of only half the mounting points actually having bolts, replace seats, replace trim, redo half the wiring between 3 deferent harnesses plus more I probably forgot and all the extra non essential stuff. So, yes my motor/tranny are pretty indestructible but my 95 Suburban is showing its age.
Point is, milage is only an important number if you are the only owner or have a clear and documented maintenance history, AND driving history, also picking ip other peoples projects is only xheaper in the very short term. Doesn't matter if you change oil every 3k if you constantly redline it, and treat every stoplight like its a 1/4 mile drag race. Outside of that who knows what was done to a motor, and a vehicle before you get to it. Pay attention to it, listen to what it is telling you. The more familiar you are with your rig the better prepared you are to keep it running, so I say run the miles up if you enjoy being endlessly frustrated with your beloved machine. If you prefer not having a constant project vehicle, and like being able to have a turn key always reliable mode of transport, maybe think about trading up before issues arise.
Yep, my cummins swapped suburban has an odo that says 310k but isnt the original so who knows, and I got the cummins, allegedly, out of a pickup with 190k and I have put who really knows how many miles, because I have still not gotten the odometer to work. Not too worried about it though, oil analysis comes back healthy so I guess I will keep running it until it explodes. Outside of the bullet proof cummins/4l80e I have had multiple headaches worth of work, rebuild hubs, replace rotors, rebuild entire fuel system including a new tank and pump, get the electronic trans to talk to the 2nd gen cummins and try to get gauges to read them both, replace half the climate control, create a new and working air intake, replace CVs, actually mount the body to frame instead of only half the mounting points actually having bolts, replace seats, replace trim, redo half the wiring between 3 deferent harnesses plus more I probably forgot and all the extra non essential stuff. So, yes my motor/tranny are pretty indestructible but my 95 Suburban is showing its age.
Point is, milage is only an important number if you are the only owner or have a clear and documented maintenance history, AND driving history, also picking ip other peoples projects is only xheaper in the very short term. Doesn't matter if you change oil every 3k if you constantly redline it, and treat every stoplight like its a 1/4 mile drag race. Outside of that who knows what was done to a motor, and a vehicle before you get to it. Pay attention to it, listen to what it is telling you. The more familiar you are with your rig the better prepared you are to keep it running, so I say run the miles up if you enjoy being endlessly frustrated with your beloved machine. If you prefer not having a constant project vehicle, and like being able to have a turn key always reliable mode of transport, maybe think about trading up before issues arise.
Enthusiast II
Good to know the more i read on here the happier i am with my rig since i know the origional owner and he is a very meticulous person so after talking with yall im very confident now. Thank you all
If you know and trust them that is huge. I picked mine up, as an unfinished project, and, yes he was fairly honest with where he left off on the project, but he was the third owner. Who knows what he neglected to tell me, what he neglected to fix, and what he outright just didnt know, but it has been a significant work in progress with random issues popping up every other month. At this point though I have touched pretty much every part of the truck and am pretty sure It is in good order now, and that anything that happens I can fix. (Though I remember saying that exact same thing a week before 2 of 8 lugs sheared on a spacer whos lugnuts only threaded halfway on, and a wheel decided to go its own way...)
Enthusiast II
I drive a 94 land cruiser with 355k on it and I feel completely comfortable with it.
