Hey every one. sorry that i never got those videos posted if you have seen my road trip blog. i have not been able to get my other computer on line. any way, on to business. after 9964 miles of road trip and a total of 165000 miles i am starting to worry that my troopers engine might not be sound. especially because we might drive it back to CA for Christmas and we are going back to southern Utah in the spring. my question is, should i re build my own block, knowing that i want to replace the crank shaft, rods and pistons, or should i buy a re built short block that has rods and pistons new? The reason that i would get a new crank for my block is that the crank bolt hole is striped out and the bolt is healed in with jb weld. the other thing is that i am not sure how well this engine will favor a garage rebuild. i have never re built an engine before but i am not afraid to try. if you think that a short block would be better then please let me know if there is a company that you would recommend. thanks

You are going to have a tough time finding a 2.6 short (or long) block. They are just not that plentiful as they were only used in the Trooper/Amigo/Pup line in the US, and not for a very long time at that. And, I would further say that there are not many re-builder companies that I would trust very much. They are about quantity and not quality.

That said, if you have to, rebuild your own. It is not that hard of a job. But, I would spend some time to seriously think about it before you pull the trigger. 165,000 miles are not that many for an Isuzu engine.

I would start by running a compression test on yours and go from there. If it tests good, just keep on trucking.

As for the crank bolt, I bet you can fix that without pulling the crank if you go slow and easy. Drill it out, tap it and put in a heli-coil (if you can find the right size).

Good luck,
Michael

the reason that i am wanting to re build or get a block is that the engine has been running rougher since we got back. the other thing is that it runs low oil pressure at highway speed even though it has a new oil pump and the oil is at the right level. any way, the only company that i have found that has a short block re build is Ron's Precision Machine in utau. it has over size pistons, and matched rods and crank. also can any one recommend a company to get good re build parts from? i have heard that there is a big difference between US and Japanese made rings and stuff. thanks again.

I think US made stuff is OK, it is the Chinese stuff you want to avoid.

i wasn't really sure. the guy that i talked to said that US rings are made harder that the cylinder walls so they where the engine. JA rings are softer. like i said i am not sure.

If you decided to rebuild, it's not that hard. I rebuilt a 2.6 in the early 2000's with no mechanic experience. The truck is still running today. I had a hane's manual, this site, and a mechanic friend down in CA for explaination on the phone a few times. It was a good learning experience for me.

As far as parts goes, I use the AMC head and whatever they put in, Isuzu gaskets, rings and bearings from the shop that did the crank. The cost was around 1K during that time.

Good luck.

thanks. as it turns out the engine is actually not in trouble as far as i can tell. when i was in the desert in ca on our road trip the main crank bolt started to come out because it had striped a little on the way out so i had to use thread rebuilder. it seams like the i never got it fully screwed in so the pulley was loose and making a little noise the whole trip after that. it just got worse a little after we got home. any way, it sounds good now. thanks for all your help.

just as an amusing note, i will have to start putting a bike lock on my truck so my mom does not steal it <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />. any way, thanks