</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">Originally posted by Rob Govier:
<strong>Howard,

I'm a Brit as well. I think we need a forum like this in the UK.

Rob
Eaglescliffe UK</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">It could be interesting (and useful) but I would still come here as well.

1. There is a much larger user base in America.

2. There are some things this forum is better placed to deal with. For example:

A few months ago I had a problem with the auto lock hubs on a 1987 Trooper. I was quickly advised to go to manual hubs and I decided on Superwinch hubs. I could not find any available for my car in the UK.

People in this forum quickly pointed me to dealer in the USA who sent me the hubs. I ordered them on a Sunday; they were delivered on the next Friday. They also worked out considerably cheaper, even after import duty, VAT, etc.

Regards

Howard Neil

Hello Howard,

I live in Spain and also ave a long body Trooper with the 3.0 DOHC Diesel engine with automatic transmission. I got it new in August 2000 and so far I have over 33.000 miles in the meter (traveled once to the south of Morocco).

My Trooper also comes with two batteries and I also asked the dealer the reason for it and got the same answer as you got (wich is the obvious one). Anyway, I am not satisfied: two batteries is not a must for a diesel engine. A friend of mine, not with Trooper knowledge but with mechanical experience told me that, usually, when heavy duty vehicles include two batteries is because when the engine is running, both batteries are being charged but when you switch off the engine only one of the batteries supply current to whatever gadgets you have switched on (a refrigerator, lights, a computer...), so, worst case, only one battery will eventually die but you still have plenty of power from the other battery to start the engine again. This implies some sort of electronic contol to electrically disengage both batteries when the alternator is not providing charge. I do not have any electrical diagram so, some day, I have to check it. I think this is a more logical reason to include two batteries.

I hope that this helps.

Gonzalo

Hello Gonzalo,

At last I have had time to check my batteries with a multimeter.

When checked between battery one and battery two, they have complete continuity with the ignition off. Therefore, the idea of the batteries disconnecting when the ignition is turned off does not apply to the Trooper (well, not my one anyway).

Perhaps Isuzu will use this idea in the future. It sounds good.

Regards

Howard Neil

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">Originally posted by gonzalo:
<strong>I think this is a more logical reason to include two batteries.

Gonzalo</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">Guys, Isuzu is not lying to you. Diesels really do need to have massive amounts of amperage to turn over the engine. There is a lot of resistance from the high compression ratio and with less amperage, you would just burn out starters or batteries from overworking them. Since diesels are fired from spontaneous combustion, there is a speed requirement in how fast that piston comes up before the diesel will fire off.

Also, if you add in any cold weather conditions and the need for amperage is even greater because batteries work less efficiently when cold and diesel is even harder to start when it is cold.

Don't worry, Isuzu is not out there trying to bolster the world battery market. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" />

Michael