Elle wrote:
> I tried inquring about this at the one Usenet Isuzu
> newsgroup but am not getting any feedback.
>
> Friends of mine have a 2000, 3.5 Liter, 4-wheel drive,
> automatic transmission, Isuzu Trooper. While driving it up a
> large hill (really, the foothills of a serious Western
> mountain range), the car stopped running. I don't have the
> details on this, but subsequently, they had it towed to a
> nearby mechanic who works on Isuzus and he said it had
> thrown a rod. The car is currently sitting in the lot of
> another friend who has some background in auto/truck
> mechanics but has not yet had a chance to look at it. I am
> going to look under the hood sometime in the near future and
> try to verify the thrown rod and destruction of the engine.
> The owner said he was a bit remiss about oil changes but did
> have them done every 10k miles or one year at least. Some
> questions:
>
> -- From my googling, a thrown rod can be very obvious: A
> steel rod pushes through the crankcase or engine block. Can
> it also be not so obvious? E.g. suppose the rod has
> disconnected from the piston head, and it's just banging
> around inside the cylinder. The latter scenario presumes the
> vehicle was stopped quickly. What else can I look for? I am
> not sure I will be able to try to start it up yet.

when it throws, it usually throws violently, i.e. through something. if
you can see the engine clearly, that should be detectable. if the motor
runs and ejection is not obvious, look for other clues like a mysterious
"misfire". i once had a vehicle come in with "a strange oil leak". the
guys said: "every time we fill with oil, it disappears again. it's
leaking out somewhere, but we can't see where. oh, and it's got a
slight misfire." it sure did, it was running on 5 cylinders with the
6th thrown out into the engine bay.

>
> -- I have been making online inquiries of salvage yards
> about (1) used cylinder blocks; (2) used, entire engines.
> Dumb question but I'm not quite clear on this point: Does it
> matter whether the used engine was attached to a 2WD Isuzu
> Trooper? It seems both 2WD and 4WD Troopers, of the same 3.5
> Liter engine displacement, are available.
>
> -- I am getting quotes back in the $3k-$4k range but from
> yards many states away. Shipping seems pretty reasonable and
> common. Has anyone purchased an engine or cylinder block
> from several states away? What kind of assurances can I get
> about the condition of the engine? One seller so far has
> said he has a CarFax report verifying the engine has only
> seen 32k miles. I plan to check locally, too.

what about jdm imports?

>
> -- Evidently going up hills in too high a gear can throw a
> rod.

not on its own.

> The high gear translates to low revs but high torque,
> stressing, from what I understand, the piston rod,
> crankshaft, and associated bearings. Can anyone elaborate
> further on this? It might help me to identify whether a rod
> was actually thrown.

"lugging" [too low revs] can cause fatigue which will throw a rod when a
cap bolt fails, but over-revving will do the job just as effectively and
is much more common. or it's just a substandard cap bolt. lugging is
most unlikely if the vehicle's automatic.

>
> -- I understand installing a new engine is around a day's
> work, maybe less. This so?

yes.

> I am going to try to get a quote
> for the labor from my favorite import shop in mind but will
> also inquire at the nearest Isuzu dealer. Anything in
> particular I should ask them other than: "How much to remove
> an old engine and install a second-hand one?"

basically.

>
> The owners of this car do an astonishing amount of volunteer
> work in animal rescue. They are down to one truck (while
> normally having two). Given the circumstances, your
> assistance is especially appreciated.
>
> (Honda note: Isuzu has done some business on the trucking
> side with Honda.)
>
>
>