***UPDATE***

...well, I finally ordered a leak down guage a few weeks back and today found some time to try it out on the trooper. good news is I now definitively know the problem, bad news is its the worst case scenerio.

with a warm engine and pressurizing cylinders #3 and #4... I didn't get a chance to put my ear down and listen for bubbles... as soon as I plugged up the air hose, it was instant geyser out the radiator cap soaking everything (and thats only with able 85-90psi). this is probably the worse head gasket leak I've seen. cylinders #1 and #2 had a slight like (like 10-20%) out the exhaust.

I'm gonna go back and remove the head... lets hope for the best with the gasket being the only casuality. i'm not sure why the failure so soon... the gasket is only a few months old. we did use a Felpro from Advance Autoparts, but I would have given it longer than that. Perhaps there was an install error on my part.. i'm not sure. I guess maybe we'll find something out once I get the head off. Needless to say, I'll probably be giving Jerry a call to see if he can track me down an genuine Isuzu head gasket to get this thing back together assuming our AMC head is still ok.

Thanks everybody for the help. Looks like the initial group reactions were correct!

-Rob


On a side note... Jessica ended up getting a new '06 Jetti (TDI of course) with her new job. So we have since retired the RS from its daily driving duties (hence the leisurly diagnostic). Not sure whats in store for its future, but expect to see it on the trail sometime in the future.

GOOD SHOT ON THE LEAKDOWN ROB , BAD NEWS WITH THE PROB THOUGH,, LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU NEED THE HD GSKT I HAVE PLENTY OF THEM, BE CERTAIN WHEN YOU TAKE THE HEAD OFF IT IS COMPLETELY COLD AND LOOOSEN THE HD BOLTS END TO END WORKING TOWARD THE CENTER JERRY

Rob, Your story sounds just like mine. 89 4ze1 with new AMC head. My head gasket lasted about 14 months and blew. Same scenario as yours. I called the AMC outfit on the Left coast and they said first don't use the blue Felpro head gasket because it doesn't "stick" like the silver graphite or whatever. So I used the silver from some off-brand. That's the one that lasted the 14 months. I called back and they said they have been hearing a lot of head gaskets going bad recently and recommended that I use an official Isuzu head gasket ($70 <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" /> ) which I then installed. So far so good. I also may be in the market for a radiator; do you know if the V6 will fit in the 4 cyl car without mods?