Hi everyone,


MY brother has a 1993 Rodeo with 160K. It has an apparent lifter noise. I did a search on this forum and found it is somewhat common on this vehicle. I already got a price quote on the parts to replace the rockers and shafts. I was wondering if someone knowledgeable would tell me how many hours it is to do this job. I'm a Mercedes Benz tech, and am thinking about doing this for him to save money.


My main questions are: How many hours does it take to do both sides? Does the intake manifold have to come off, or can I sneak the valve covers off without removing the manifold. And, can I leave the timing belt on and do one side at a time? Or do I need to pull the belt.


I already ordered the Chilton book, just want an experts advise. Thank you in advance

every rodeo i've EVER heard has had that same lifter noise.

If you want to really save him some money then dont bother with it. That engine uses hydraulic lash adjusters and every engine I've ever heard with them ticks. Mitsubishi uses the same type and their boards are full of posts about it.

You can change them and get it better but it will always come back. Just learn to live with it. Some have had a bit of success making it less noticable by using auto rx, sea foam treatments, or changing to a different oil.

Do a search on planetisuzoo.com and the isuzu part of automotiveforums.com for lifter tick and oil to see what has worked best.

'98 and newer rodeos used bucket and shim type lifters and dont tick, but gets expensive and time consuming when they do.

Thanks for the quick response.


Are the sticky lifters wearing out the cams or valves?

Not that I've heard of. My mitsu did it for over 140k miles before I sold it with no problem. Others have isuzus with over 200k miles with no problems from it. Have seen a couple posts where those with noisy lifters tore theirs down around 200k for some other problem and reported the valve stems and cam looked fine.

i agree with gizmo.doing the job may take you 4-6 hrs,but spending that much time an money in a 160k truck.......kinda not worth it.isuzu design of that was really poor,the shafts wear out from not enough oil an for those you dont change there oil on time.but also to your question.the upper intake comes off,an the timing belt has to come off.then you can access the entire valve train.replace everything,shafts lifters,an followers.pay close attention on the re-assembly,make sure everthing laying like it should.use assembly lube.an it will start up like it was brand new again.from that point keep the oil changed with a quality brand.20/50 would be great for it.since your a mercedees tech it shouldnt be that difficult for you.oh if you do chose to fix it,buy a couple of extra cam journel bolts,they are allen ,sometimes they strip comming loose.you dont have to get everyone,but a few extra would be helpful.

my 96 rodeo has done it since the day i bought it... and it only has 78k miles on it. i wouldnt expect anything to be wrong if the damn thing has only got 78k.


i did notice a difference in the noise when i switched from reg oil to synthetic. synthetic seems to make it less noisy.

Thank you VERY much, that's a lot of help.

my 97 does it as well it makes me nervous sometimes[img]smileys/smiley5.gif[/img]

mine does it when it wants. one minute its loud as hell, and then it will just stop and be completely quiet. then later on in the day it will start back up... i dont know what it is.