I posted about this (my second Rodeo in Isuzu Talk a few days ago, I went and bought it today.

Info:1996 Isuzu Rodeo 4x4 3.2 V6 Auto 140k miles.
Identical to my 1996 except for being automatic.
She was asking $1900, and I could only talk her down to $1500, though it kelly blue booked in the upper $2000's.


The Problems:
The front shocks are shot. They're getting replaced with Monroe GasMatic's ($22 each)

The brake pads are bad, they need replaced asap and shouldnt be any trouble.

The doors wont lock. I had someone sit in the car and try to lock it while I tried to open the doors. No dice, the locks arent locking the doors... Where do I start to solve this problem?

The back doors dont open. I remember seeing a "How To" on freeing the back doors around here somewhere, ill have to print it out because I got the handle unscrewed, the light poped out, the handle plate off and the window switch poped out and was lost from there.

The rear glass hatch doesnt lock. I messed around with the position of the metal latch and got it a little better, but no lock. Maybe the mechanism is warn out?

The front outer CV Boots need replaced. Ive done this before to my current Rodeo and ill just pick up some split boot kits.

Front bumber needs replaced. The lady hit a small pole and pushed it in. Didnt affect anything behond that. She says you can get them cheap on ebay.

Thats all the problems I can think of for now. Motor and trans run strong, nice body and not alot of rust under the truck. Any help/ideas/words of wisdom on any of this would be greatly appreciated! This is a vehicle for my mom because she wants 4 wheel drive for the snow, so getting this stuff repaired asap is a must, and ill be doing it all myself.

no one with comments on replacing shocks or anything listed?

The doors don't lock?
Any of them <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />
DO they lock manually?Can you push the lock down on the doors,and lock them.......
Can you unlock/lock them with the key from outside the vehicle?

If they all won't lock,together or individually,electrically or manually then each one is broken,I doubt this is the case,

so,

Be more specific with the problem and try not to ask a 'billion questions in a single post.

As for the shocks,the ones you picked will be fine,
Removal is pretty straight forward,remove the tire,put a jackstand under the Rodeo and remove the bolts one on top one on the bottom,Sometimes the top one will spin the shaft as you try to remove the nut,if it does use vise grips on the shaft of the old shock to hold it fron turning.(do not do this with new shock).

Bottom bolt is about the same,take off the nut and tap bolt out,it will help if you put a jack under the lower a-arm to take the wieght off the bolt.....use anti-seize on the bolt when you put it back together..........

good luck
off to the garage~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bansil

Automatic or manual locks?

My lock broke in one of my previous Amigo's. Turned out to be bad linkage (lock actually fell to the bottom of the door) I just went to Advance auto and got a "small hard to find parts" kit and replaced the boots and connections that were toast.

If its an automatic lock then I cant help you unfortunatly.

Edit: Bansil is much faster than me <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/nana.gif" alt="" />

Dont do split boots. You will end up trashing them after 2 hours of fooling with them. Get some mechatechs from independent4x.com if you want easy install, low hassle.
-J <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

If you are more specific about your problems about the doors and hatch glass, we might be able to give you more useful advice. You said the rear hatch doesn't lock. Do you mean it doesn't close? From what you said about moving the metal latch, I think you do. Does the hatch button on the dash indicate the hatch is open by the red light?
Do you have automatic locks or manual? Do all of them not work? Do they work when you lock them by hand? Do they feel funny or make noises when you do? Same questions for when you use the auto locks. Do the doors open from the inside, outside, both, or none?

If I were you, I would replace all 4 shocks if they haven't ever been replaced. It will make a huge improvement in ride. Check the rear shackle bushings for wear too. Use OEM Isuzu brake pads and get the rotors turned so you won't have to fool with them for a very long time.

And the EBAY bumpers fit fine, but the paint looks good for only 4 months or so (I have one). Be prepared to spray paint it in a little while.

x2 on the no split boots. Get mecatechs so you don't have to worry.

Good Luck!

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Time for updates.

For whoever said try not to have all problems in one post, I didnt want to litter the forum with my problems so I tried to save the trouble.

Thanks to unirevolt's write up in another thread I successfully got the back doors to open and work correctly.

About the rear hatch/back glass. When the button is pressed you hear it click to open. The light is perminantly on at this point because I wont close all the way/lock.

After solving the back door problems with the mechanisms, the locks sucessfully work. The front however do not. Its weird because they both dont work, so maybe fuse? Im not sure if they even run on fuses. It could be something within the door panel, which I could easily take off and inspect since the doors do open.

CV Boots. Im kinda bummed you guys are saying skip the quick boots, because I installed some on my Rodeo a few months back. What are these mecatechs? I went on Independant4x and couldnt find em. Im probably looking in the wrong section.

The pulling to the right is confusing me. It was REALLY bad but after inflating the tire to where it should be drasticly redused the pull. Im confused because the steering wheel doesnt want to turn right with it. Say in driving the car straight, and let go of the wheel, the car doesnt pull to the right, the wheel just stays in the slightly turned position and the car stays straight. Also the wheel seems to have too much give to it, compared to my current rodeo. Im thinking it could be something to do with tie rods or something down there. This is worrying me the most about the vehicle, because im not sure what is wrong or what its going to cost. I do know the lady hit a pole with it though, and they may have slightly bent something. Heres a pic of the front end, not sure if you can make anything out with it or not. http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d16/xtremeaaron/IsuzuRodeo005.jpg

Thanks to everyone who posted so far! Im getting no posts and barely any views over at Isuzu Forums.

Maybe it's just me, but in that picture it looks like the passenger side tire is turned farther to the right than the driver side tire is... of course, even if it is turned like that, I have no idea what that means mechanically speaking.

I see what you're saying, but I think it may just be an optical illusion.

Richard <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/patriot.gif" alt="" />

Dunno if its an illusion for sure. Ill definatly get a ton of pics of the front end within the next couple days.