Isuzu 6VE1 / 6VD1

Isuzu's V6 — 3.2 as the 6VD1 and 3.5 as the 6VE1 — in the Trooper, Rodeo, Axiom and VehiCross. It reaches further than the Isuzu badge: the same vehicles were sold as the Honda Passport, Acura SLX and Opel/Vauxhall Monterey, so a fault documented on a Trooper describes those exactly.

It is belt-driven and it is an interference design. A snapped timing belt bends valves, and on a vehicle of this age and value that is usually the end of it. Belt history is therefore the whole question on any example, and an unknown belt should be treated as due rather than probably fine.

The camshaft position and crankshaft position sensors are the recurring electrical fault, producing intermittent stalling and no-starts that come and go with heat — chased through fuel and ignition for months on vehicles this old.

Oil consumption climbs late in life, and on a neglected engine the pickup screen blocks. These are cheap vehicles now and the maintenance record matters more than the mileage, because nothing about the design tolerates being run low on oil.