***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.