My Engine Needs Help - What To Do

[TheGanzman]

On an engine with KNOWN "starvation" issues to some cylinders, I can't imagine why on Earth ANYONE would want to knowingly run this motor for even 30 seconds with the oil capacity half full...

[VehiGAZ]

In defense of Gussie, the oil light doesn't come on until you are down about 2 quarts from full, which is of course around 2.3 quarts in the engine (using Gussie's 4.3 qt capacity figure). If the Isuzu engineers designing the system believed that 2.3 quarts was far beyond "not enough" then I think they would have set the light to go off before 2 quarts were gone.

That said, it is not necessary to run the engine 10 minutes in the low-oil-level state to get the remaining old oil out (2-3 minutes would suffice), but I think it's all overkill anyway - just drain and refill and run the engine, and you will see that the oil looks nice and fresh, not contaminated by a few ounces of old oil.

By contrast, my wife's A3 flashes its oil warning when it's down only about 1.2 quarts (out of 4 or 5, IIRC).

[lasturbo]

How often are you all changing the oil on this thread? If the oil is changed every 3k-5k with synthetic, I would say just perform an oil change with a quality oil filter. What am I missing? Are these 3.5l that prone to gunk build-up with the oil frequency changes I mentioned?

[pbkid]

and dont forget that PCV

[hyperkid]

There is a used motor on ebay with less than 10k miles on it (says the listing) and it's starting bid is $1200. I'm guessing he had his rebuild too. Unfortunately I have been unemployed since Feb when I was fired so the company could hire cheaper help. I don't think I can scrape that up in 5 days. This sucks! These last few weeks just suck

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWAX%3AIT

Info: My engine has 135K miles on it before it went crash.

[Gussie2000]

I'm just curious Gussie, where did you get the idea to do oil changes that way? Was it passed down by dad or researched or what? I personally, run seafoam thru everything for a few days before an oil change to loosen up gunk. I also used to use a quart of Marvel to replace a quart of oil during changes (4 qts oil/1 qt Marvel) but found the oil level drops a quart pretty quickly - a few hundred miles. When I use a full 5 quarts of oil though it seems to maintain its level.

Hi zeus
Being on the inquisitive side of the street is better then be on the challenging one,that's why i replay to you........

I change my oil that way simply because a engine with low mileage doesn't need any seafoam,although the seafoam is the best known engine flushing aplication so far,but it should only use on high mileage engines that doesn't had a good maintainance's record,today's engine oil has enough detergents & cleaning properties to keep the engine clean,especially if you bought the car brand new.

Some engines does well with other cleaning aplications,others engines no,even engines built by the same manufacturer for the same vehicule does not respond to the same cleaning proceeds at the same mileage because once a brand-new car hits the street the engine will be exposed to different factors & conditions & even performed differently from another car with the same engine.

That's what i stand for,i don't challenge any body way's to maintain their vehicule,but is also good to read,learn,watch & understand other's point of view even though you may not agree,follow & just think is bogus or a bunch of BS.

My 1rst vehicule was a 2nd generation toyota MACHO,a SUV that looks quite similar to the two doors trooper,which i purchased brand new when i was only 17 in 1991 & turn it into a rally cross SUV back in my country (venezuela) & became member of the national isuzu 4x4 rally club,that buggy never,ever dropped on me even with all the beat i gave him,months before coming into the US back in 2004 i sold it to my cousin with the average of 135K miles performing the same oil proceed i've shared with you guys & as today that buggy still runs with almost 240K on the clock because my cousin does the same stuff as i did.

I'm aware that i'm a newbie here & probably many old members consider that newbies aren't well aknowledge about cars,but that theory doesn't always apply,even though i am not the hand-on-tool kind of guy because never liked to mess around with greasy parts,but i know pretty well how a car works from up down,have no doubts about that.

I never add any oil flushing additives into that toyota macho's engine which in fact is also a V6 with 198 HP & never had to do any rebuilt job on it & because my Vx had only 38K on the clock at the time of purchased i knew oil additives isn't needed & confirmed by my mech when he tear down the upper block to work on the valve train.

And with this post i consider this thread over. Thank you !

[Gussie2000]

There is a used motor on ebay with less than 10k miles on it (says the listing) and it's starting bid is $1200. I'm guessing he had his rebuild too. Unfortunately I have been unemployed since Feb when I was fired so the company could hire cheaper help. I don't think I can scrape that up in 5 days. This sucks! These last few weeks just suck

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWAX%3AIT

Info: My engine has 135K miles on it before it went crash.

Hi hyper,i don't think you can scrap the VX if you own money on it.

I think you better move is to sell it like that for the amount you still owe & pay off the loan.
Your other option is to hold on 'till things gets better & you can be able to rebuilt the engine which is what i'll do,however the last word is yours.

Is unfortunate to know that such vehicule was paired with the worst engine i've ever dealt with,as you said ..it just sucks

[hyperkid]

This thread is supposed to be about ME! A proud VX owner with a nasty problem. This thread isn't supposed to be a pissing contest. I was simply looking for some thoughts from my fellow VX comrads. Some thoughts that might give me some hope.

Technically I can do whatever I want with my truck so your right the last word is mine. I could sell it piece by piece and probably make some money but not all of us can simply go out and get another car loan. Especially us unemployed ones.

I love my VX. My interior and exterior are flawless and I have had no other problems with this truck other than the damn windows. I still get all the chicks looking at me and their boyfriends looking at me twice saying "I want one".

And yeah this SUCKS!

[pbkid]

well...if you want advice...

when my motor blew up at 74k i went to an isuzu certified mom and pop shop....and ended up paying them somewhere around 5k for a used shortblock with all new parts...

they purchased everything out of california and charged me $4,800 if i remember right for parts and labor...

[djvx]

I know Ldub pointed you to that Axiom swap link/thread. Maybe print that and take it to a local mechanic- they may help you "find" a motor as well. There are (i believe) places that would finance the operation.I'd hang on to the vx man, try to get back to work, buy a beater (or a cheap motorcycle)for the time being and take out a loan for a new engine. I hope other VX'ers have more help for you soon. Keep us posted and private message me anytime if you just want to bounce an idea off me.
Hang in there dude-

[Gussie2000]

[quote=hyperkid;160579]This thread is supposed to be about ME! A proud VX owner with a nasty problem. This thread isn't supposed to be a pissing contest. I was simply looking for some thoughts from my fellow VX comrads. Some thoughts that might give me some hope.

Technically I can do whatever I want with my truck so your right the last word is mine. I could sell it piece by piece and probably make some money but not all of us can simply go out and get another car loan. Especially us unemployed ones.

I love my VX. My interior and exterior are flawless and I have had no other problems with this truck other than the damn windows. I still get all the chicks looking at me and their boyfriends looking at me twice saying "I want one".

Hey hyper,as you said the thread was about what can you do..if you check the 1rst three post you can see i was the only one who came foward & told you about the engine on ebay.com,wasn't supossed to be a contest as you figured out.

I feel bad that inmediately my 1rst post the thread was turned around to what you saw,i was attacked because i just shared what i usually does when it comes down to oil change.I don't like the confrontation in any way,the board is to share common interest issues about the VX & our personal experiences so can be applied if you believe it could work for you as well & make new friends.

I don't know what else to say,i'm sad to know that another VX is out of the streets where it belongs to.

As i always do i respect every one's decision no matter what it is.

And yeah this SUCKS!

[Bantan]

This thread is supposed to be about ME! A proud VX owner with a nasty problem. This thread isn't supposed to be a pissing contest. I was simply looking for some thoughts from my fellow VX comrads. Some thoughts that might give me some hope.

Technically I can do whatever I want with my truck so your right the last word is mine. I could sell it piece by piece and probably make some money but not all of us can simply go out and get another car loan. Especially us unemployed ones.

I love my VX. My interior and exterior are flawless and I have had no other problems with this truck other than the damn windows. I still get all the chicks looking at me and their boyfriends looking at me twice saying "I want one".

And yeah this SUCKS!

Brother I feel your pain, I'm in the same boat. In the past year or so I got laid off then used all my savings and 401K to start a business which as of last week is no more. Short saled my house, forclosed on 2 condos, burst 3 veins in my leg to which I am now undergoing a series of surgeries, and now a blown VX engine just I was about to sell my 2000 ford Excursion to help pay my escalating medical bills and keep me going until I recover enough to get a job.

Try to stay positive brother, when you hit rock bottom the only way you can go is, UP.

[Gussie2000]

I know Ldub pointed you to that Axiom swap link/thread. Maybe print that and take it to a local mechanic- they may help you "find" a motor as well. There are (i believe) places that would finance the operation.I'd hang on to the vx man, try to get back to work, buy a beater (or a cheap motorcycle)for the time being and take out a loan for a new engine. I hope other VX'ers have more help for you soon. Keep us posted and private message me anytime if you just want to bounce an idea off me.
Hang in there dude-

I'm 100% with djvx,hang in there & be pacient,right now your priority is finding a job.
Once you get on a job things would begin to get better for you.
The axiom's engine is a good option,iamironman did the swap & now the VX is running,your horse could be the next on the list

[Riff Raff]

[iamironman]

How can I put this as subtle as possible...


GET AN AXIOM ENGINE ASAP!!! LOL

I did it and it's the best way to go.. you can go through this site:

http://www.car-part.com/

right now there are a couple for $1000

put in 2002/ Isuzu Axiom/ ENGINE/ All Areas/ and your zipcode

Look at MY thread about MY actual Swap of an Axiom engine in MY VX.

It works... I have not had one single problem with MY engine since I did this (I've had unrelated electical issues, but NO engine issues).. Absolutely no oil consumption... runs better than it did when it was a VX engine... or a Trooper engine... yes, this was the third engine I put in it... first, original '99 VX spun bearing and threw rod less than 2000 miles after I bought it... put a '99 Trooper engine with 88k on it and it DRANK oil like a quart a week.. approx every 200 miles... I got sick of feeding it more oil than gas (slight exageration). SO I researched and researched... an Axiom motor fits/works, it's the exact same engine... even had an argument (no yelling involved, maybe heated debate would be a better descriptive) with Tone Monday (God rest his soul) while he was putting my hitch and electronic torque convertor on... he said it wouldn't work because of the ECM issue... if you read MY thread THOROUGHLY, you don't use the Axiom ECM... you use the VX ECM and intake and injectors... make sure your mechanic xfers/puts on the cam rpm sensor and the knock sensor, the Axiom doesn't use these but the mounts are still there because its the SAME engine just with the oil consumption problems fixed. But if he's a good mechanic he'll see it anyways... mine did. I hope this helps... it IS the best solution to a blown VX engine... the labor and extras (gaskets etc...) should be around $1500... maybe less. You could do this for less than $3000!

READ THESE THREADS:
http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?t=15031

http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?t=15156

http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?t=15789

I can't wait to take RUTHLESS off -road on July 18th in the Central Texas Mini Meet (yes, another shameless plug).

I wish there was some place Moncha could put these threads/info to be able to point people to this solution whenever there is a blown engine.

GOOD LUCK!

P.S. If you don't mind, PM me with what you owe... I MAY be able to help out, take it off your hands and get you out of the loan... emphasize MAY... no promises... I want a new project... thinking about putting a V-8 in a VX... /looks off to the horizon dreamily, wonders what a VX with 350HP could do?




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