Transmission nightmare

STUCKINBEND

MEMBER
2000 ISUZU TROOPER
3.5L
6 CYL
4WD
AUTOMATIC
200,000 MILES

I flew to Portland, Oregon and bought a high mileage Isuzu Trooper S (automatic transmission, 3.5L 6 cylinder, 4WD) with the intention to drive it back home to the midwest and that was over a month ago. I asked the seller on multiple occasions if it will indeed get me back to Iowa and the answer was always an emphatic Yes. In my defense I wasn't learned to the drivability of this vehicle and hadn't a clue what was right or wrong with the vehicle in all aspects, however it just needed to make the trip back and any issues I could handle myself at my cousin's automotive shop. Anyway, 100 miles into the trip as I was ascending a somewhat steep grade I reached down for something and hit the Winter switch and suddenly the thing progressively bogged down, high revs, no forward power and barely made the remainder of the hill after putting it in a lower gear. I was 40 miles from Bend, Oregon and 6 hours later and what little back roads there was I finally made it. That was September the 18th and I have been stuck in Bend still to this day. I have read every conceivable blog and forum, downloaded the both the 2000 page manual and the 3400 page manual and have burnt my eyes and brainpower to a crisp with videos and everything else under the sun regarding this thing not shifting out of whatever gear it's in, but it isn't a high gear and that I know for sure. Maybe I can get it up to 25 mph until the engine flares at 3200 rpm but that on a good day. I have shredded this vehicle apart trying to find what I believe is a short circuit that is compromising the function of all of the sensors this thing has in its circuitry. At night when frazzled, dumbfounded and humbled from that days fix it failure I hear relays snap and click from behind the driver's seat, my home. Before all of that I pulled both front seats out and the center console only to discover a sticky substance completely inundated the carpeting, door switches and more so the winter/power switch and the steering column. Its evident to me that a soda pop the size of a dirigible was unleashed at one point but then again the vehicle seemed to drive fine for the first 99 miles, but. I have replaced the transmission fluid 4 times, two filter, all solenoids, refurbished the front actuator, put in new brushes (alternator), swapped the cv axles so to quell the rumbling that now I'm sure is/was the torque converter and I only have about 3 more miles of wire to look at. I say look at because I've yet to find the wad of burnt wires that will bring me joy to no end. I have taken it to two shops to only be told the transmission is spent. I do not or cannot come to grips with that diagnosis because in my experience when something catastrophic happens it makes a noise and is usually pre-known somewhat, but that the farm boy in me. I had the front driveshaft off for a few hundred yards during the first week and the rest of the Macgyvering I have forgotten. I'm close to wiring my brand new shift solenoids direct to the winter/power switch (which I have completely disassembled, cleaned, reassembled and checked continuity) and "shift on the fly" on my terms. I guess the questions I'm most interested in knowing if anyone cares is, can/how to bypass the TOD, ECM, ABS and I suppose all of the sensors so can get it and myself back home? Also, if there is such a thing as limp mode then it stands to reason that the engine and the transmission should last 500k miles instead of the 100k-120k horror stories I've read about these past few weeks. Which is why I am not convinced that my transmission is shot. Nor do I believe any of the myriad of sensors that I've pulled from the error codes are bad. One more question. Just tell me where the known problematic wire harness is located and what it is I'm going to find so to put to rest this insanity known as the 2000 Isuzu Trooper S? Sincerely, Get me out of here!

3 Replies

ASEMASTER6371

MECHANIC
52,797 POSTS

Good morning,

It sounds like you may have damaged the transfer case by shifting it into 4 wheel while driving it.

Did anyone check for any codes?

Roy

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Saturday, October 26th, 2019 AT 5:47 AM

STUCKINBEND

MEMBER
2 POSTS

I had the vehicle scanned within hours of its failure and discovered that the scanner wasn't compatible to the vehicle thus no codes were pulled. The following day at a different parts store was the same story. The guy went as far as using his personal scanner of a different model and the outcome was the same. Reading, I found the procedure and pulled front and rear speed sensor fault. Not being familiar with speed sensor failures on my F150 I was set back a day or two deciphering which speed sensor/s are being targeted as being faulty. Was it wheel? Was it the VSS? Was it the transfer case sensor/s or was it the OSS so I pulled them all except the front wheel and did so when swapping the LF and RF cv axles. I checked the continuity and for output A/C voltage of all 8 sensors with the vehicle in motion via sewing machine needles, alligator clips, electrical tape and 8 or so feet of wire (� 2) and all 8 were good. This is when I began to doubt the error code findings and focused my thoughts on my first assumption, an electronical fault causing mayhem upon the ECM, the TOD or a combination of both. I add, I am not convinced those modules are bad either. I have checked the GND pins and Battery feed to the two and have since moved on to finding the real problem rather than check every pin on both of the controls. My reason for this is because of the intermittent yet constant clicks I hear emanating from the rear passenger doors. My only conclusion is that the capacitors within the power window/power lock circuit boards are getting power enough to charge and then release what little have stored and momentarily energizing to cube relays but not enough to unlock, power a window or even to fully make a relay switch its position. It sounds exactly as if the sun is beaming down on a tin roof and the heat causes the metal to expand ever so slightly and snaps and/pops. This goes on with the key off and no accessories. This is why I believe those false positive error codes were set and the speed sensors had been pinned as being the cause when they check out as being good during an isolated and controlled test. In short, it's an electrical feed problem that's affecting the sine wave output of perfectly good sensors. Its important that I clarify my diagnosis. The vehicle feels as if the transfer case is stuck in the wrong gear ratio instead of the correct ratio for 2H and this is why the transmission isn't shifting as it should. As for your thoughts of my pushing the winter switch in error and causing this failure, I have to disagree. I certainly cannot be the very first person on earth to have hit that button in error, at that speed and at that gradient to be left with a shelled out transmission and stranded in Central Oregon. Well, that last part is a stretch but am I making sense or have I lost my cognitive reasoning?