Uncle Softy's Welfare Garage, Episode 11

[ripcord]

So I get a text from my brother saying his kid over heated his 96 Rodeo and could I take a look?

Short story shorter... Its towed to my house, I found a heater hose with a small hole that sprayed coolant over the distributer. I slapped a new hose on it, filled it up with water only to see a geyser from the radiator when I tried to start it. Oh, boy. I pull the plugs and they're all wet. Crank it over and get a spray of coolant out of one or more plug holes.

Question... having never owned a 2.6 powered Isuzu, what are my odds of finding a cracked head if I tear into it?

 

[andyd]

Isuzus of that era were known for cracked heads

 

[Slick3914]

J.U.N.K.

 

[ripcord]

J.U.N.K.

I tend to agree. Found out the second gear synchro is gone, too.

I've never seen a case where ALL the spark plugs were wet.

 

[dumkid]

Dang he didn't just blow it up halfway
My friend had a 4.0 jeep and overheated it. It ran fine, no smoke, it just would geyser all the coolant out

 

[bullwinkle]

Nothing an engine & transmission couldn’t fix…

 

[ripcord]

Nothing an engine & transmission couldn’t fix…

It would have been a lot easier to find used engines for this 10 or 15 years ago. Not too many out there any more.

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

LS swap

 

[someonesomewhere]

Dang he didn't just blow it up halfway

Go big or go home!

 

[JustinH]

that is one to go to the crusher.

 

[ripcord]

that is one to go to the crusher.

It's a shame, really. It's in nice shape and otherwise had been a really reliable rig. No rust, barely any dings, ect.

 

[earlyre]

https://v6conversions.net.au/product/tf-rodeo-2wd-ls1-kit/
here's a kit out of Australia to Fit an LS1 ( Provide your own LS1)

LS1-powered 1998 Holden TF Rodeo

Ash Jones's LS1-powered Holden Rodeo is how all minitrucks should be built

www.streetmachine.com.au

 

[97K15004WD]

LS swap

Iron Duke swap!!

 

[DuckRyder]

parts for that thing are not easy to find.

Even ATK and Jasper don't seem to list a reman...

2.3 Ecoboost swap?

 

[ripcord]

https://v6conversions.net.au/product/tf-rodeo-2wd-ls1-kit/
here's a kit out of Australia to Fit an LS1 ( Provide your own LS1)

LS1-powered 1998 Holden TF Rodeo

Ash Jones's LS1-powered Holden Rodeo is how all minitrucks should be built

www.streetmachine.com.au

You'll shoot your eye out... er, I mean you'll bust the rear end and probably crash and burn.

 

[DuckRyder]

Might look at the trooper thread - is it the same engine?

 

[ripcord]

Just a follow up... I pulled the head and it is junk. No cracks in the head or block that it could see, but it's the worst warpage I remember. Twenty four thousanths of an inch between cylinders two and three. Since it's an overhead cam engine you can't just mill it flat as the cam journals would then be out of true when you bolted in on.

My nephew already bought a RAV 4 so I'm pretty sure we'll be sending it off to be turned into soup cans.

 

[dumkid]

Sell the truck to the offroad crowd? I've seen some isuzus turned into crawlers

 

[Gus_Mahn]

Is that the set up with the goofy auxiliary valves?

 

[Chris142]

It's a shame, really. It's in nice shape and otherwise had been a really reliable rig. No rust, barely any dings, ect.

Anything can be fixed. Is it worth it to you?