1986 trooper II with pup engine

[ddowning97]

i am the proud new owner of a 1986 2 door trooper. the previous owner has pulled out the original turbo diesel and tranny and replaced with the 2.2l diesel and 5 speed transmission. as far i can tell this is the place to get the answers about that engine. she's in rough shape and but i think with enough time and help from everyone on here i will have her running like new.

[JoeIsuzu]

Welcome to the site. Wow, that's an '81 or '82 engine. You said the previous owner replaced the original transmission with a 5-speed. The original transmission would have been a 5-speed, so did it fail? And is the replacement transmission 4wd?

Jack

[mcc]

@ Jack: so, is there a 5-speed transmission bolt-on to my original n/a C223 Trooper?

@ downing: Beside other, check the timing belt (details in the diesel section), furhtermore the oil lines to the vacuum pump assmbled at the rear of the alternator.

I´m happy to provide more details should I be able too; but there´s much more experience around.

Regards Gunter

[JoeIsuzu]

@ Jack: so, is there a 5-speed transmission bolt-on to my original n/a C223 Trooper?

Gunter,

Yes, but I have no idea what's available in your country. In the US, the Troopers were not offered with n/a diesels, and the turbo didn't come along until 1986. That's the same year that all 4wds (gas/petrol and diesel) were sold ONLY with 5-speed 4wd transmissions. So that transmission was available here from 1986 through 1987. The same transmission was also in our 4ZD1 2.3L gas/petrol Troopers, except the bell housing (front case half) was set up for the starter on the other side. Those transmissions can be used with diesels, if a the bell housing is replaced with one from a diesel transmission (even most 4-speed diesel transmissions work). I think the 5-speed transmission tail section may be a bit longer, so it may require some fabrication for the rear mount and driveshaft length.

Jack

[ddowning97]

the transmission in it now is a 2wd. not sure why they swapped the engine or transmission. would like to find a 4wd to put back in it eventually. right now i daily drive drive this trooper and while shes no speed demon it seems to run and drive well enough.

[JoeIsuzu]

I suspect the original turbo engine threw a rod. That's how a lot of them ended up. It was a fairly common problem for the turbodiesel, especially in Troopers. The combination of heavy vehicle weight, slow turbo boost, and too much foot pressure on the skinny pedal proved to be a perfect storm. Just as the truck was approaching its RPM redline on hard takeoffs, the turbo boost kicked in, causing it to run right past the rev limiter. It was common enough that Isuzu paid to replace a lot of them. They designed stronger rods for the 1987 engines, and even stronger ones for the factory replacement engines that were built AFTER the model was discontinued. I don't know why they'd have switched the transmission.

Jack

[hillbillie1]

DDowning97
I have a low mile from a turbo trooper think around 60 thousand.
Kept in my shop and don’t look like I’m going to use it. I’m in SC PM if you’re interested. The turbo engine blew.

[mcc]

Gunter,

Yes, but I have no idea what's available in your country. In the US, the Troopers were not offered with n/a diesels, and the turbo didn't come along until 1986. That's the same year that all 4wds (gas/petrol and diesel) were sold ONLY with 5-speed 4wd transmissions. So that transmission was available here from 1986 through 1987. The same transmission was also in our 4ZD1 2.3L gas/petrol Troopers, except the bell housing (front case half) was set up for the starter on the other side. Those transmissions can be used with diesels, if a the bell housing is replaced with one from a diesel transmission (even most 4-speed diesel transmissions work). I think the 5-speed transmission tail section may be a bit longer, so it may require some fabrication for the rear mount and driveshaft length.

Jack

Jack,

appreciate those information. I was searching the board for those topics before, but I thought I might have missed sompfin.

Thank you, regards from Austria, Gunter