[Jezzza]

Hi guys.
I'm new to Suzuki 4x4s, and just want to get some thought before I purchase one.
Please correct me if i say something stupid about zooks!

What I plan to do with the car:
- Daily drive, roughly 30kms to work. Includes freeway run of about half of it, the rest is suburb driving
- Sand dune/beach
- Some light trails/dirt/mud (prob not rock)
- Camping dirt trails (ie. Perth Southwest)
- Budget $5-6k

What matters to me the most:
- Reliability
- Sufficient ability to do above '4wd'
- Not going to cost me an arm and a leg to fix if something breaks <-- Im sure the cars im looking at are all pretty cheap

Mod plans:
- Lift kit
- 31s (or big tyres) + any other suspension needed
- Others.. light bar/spotties, canopy, basket. bull bar

Cars im looking at are:
1. 1994 Sierra
The good: Decent mods including a Baleno 1.6 EFI conversion and receipts for work
The bad: No aircon!
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/joondalu ... 1132603022
Comments: Can I retro fit an aircon to the car? Would it be from a Baleno or Sierra?

2. 1998 Vitara
The good: Pretty much stock, appears to have had an easy life. Relatively low kms
The bad: Looks like carby? Paint damage/flaking (already own a carby car and would much prefer EFI for a daily)
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/margaret ... 1132345320
Comments: Not sure how to tell if engine is a G16A or G16B. How reliable is carby?

3. 2000 Jimny
The good: Newer, air con, some good 'starting' mods etc
The bad: High kms for a 1.3L? (Dont know engine model)
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/innaloo/ ... 1130415046

4. 1995 Vitara
The good: JLX version, looks clean and has full service history! Apparently its EFI! I assume air con on a JLX version?
The bad: High kms
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/tapping/ ... 1131107690

edit: removed original post

[Gwagensteve]

Quote:

1. If things break on the engine, how hard is it to replace? I've been reading up on baleno G16B conversions, and seems tricky/complicated

You won't need to do a conversion though - if the car is already running a baleno block and injection you just swap everything like-for-like. Baleno motors are common and cheap. If the engine is running coil packs it's most likely running complete Baleno injection, sensors and manifold, although it could have been done a number of ways. Still doesn't matter - just remove and replace from the old clock to the new.

Quote:

2. Are these engines realible? Read that cracking the block is a problem? Or is this only for vitara G16B?

Block cracking is a problem, especially for Vitaras. It's very common/unknown in Balenos. It appears likely this is due to coolant flow - in the Baleno it flows in one end of the head and out the other. That's not the case in the Vitara.

Otherwise, they suffer from worn valve stem seals. If these haven't been replaced, Id expect the motor to be little smoky on startup by 200K. Little else gives much problem. Crank pulley keyways can flog out.

Quote:

3. Car doesn't have air con hooked up (no belt, or controls).. but has compressor and everything else. Now I assume this is the set up from baleno.. how hard is it to get it to work in the vitara?

No idea. only the compressor will be from the Baleno. If everything else is intact then it should just be a matter of getting the right hose configuration made up and gassing the system, but, as always the devil is in the detail.

Quote:

4. Runs rough on idle.. read it could be an o2 sensor, possible vacuum line?

Not sure where you read that, the 02 sensor has nothing to do with idle quality. Could be any number of things - obviously plugs, leads, coils, but also fuel pressure, crank keyway failure.... Yes, it could just be a vacuum leak too.

Quote:

5. Any other prob to look out for? Common leaks or fixes?

How long is a piece of string? This is a 25 year old car with an engine conversion and EFI wiring. There's many different ways this could be done. Maybe it's been done really well, maybe not. Does the check engine light work (as in, is it connected?) how was the fuel system done? how was the water piping done? how was it wired? Was an EFI instrument cluster with a VSS swapped in? how was the inlet piping and airbox done? Were the brakes upgraded to EFI spec?

The most important question is why THIS car? it would need to be REALLY cheap. Suzuki sold thousands of EFI vitaras with the G16B engine. Converting a carby car to EFI is a big and expensive job to do properly, yet the price of the converted car should/must be lower than genuine factory EFI car, which will be newer, and you won't ever have to wonder how/why/if something was done properly.

Steve.

[Jezzza]

Thanks for the reply Steve!

I havent seen the car yet, but the ad is here:
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/hilton/c ... 1131640687
There are a few cosmetic things to replace/fix.. should be easy

Because im brand new to 4wd and Vitaras (not Suzukis.. I have a Super Carry ) im just cautious and dont want to buy a lemon. Liek you siad, no idea how the conversion was done, if properly/professionally or by a backyarder experimenting
Tried looking everywhere for this car on the net, and if it had a build thread somewhere but cant find anything. Maybe someone knows something about this car?

[losfer]

Any suzuki 4wd you purchase would be a vast upgrade on a super carry ! im not dissing the carry i owned one and loved it , but the parts availabilty for any of the 4wd's are far greater than a super carry !

[Jezzza]

Ill never sell the carry haha
I had a look at the Vitara, and although looked awesome.. was defintely built for offroad, and not suitable to daily!

[Gwagensteve]

Did you not see the baleno cluster propped on top of the dash! Yuk!

Not cheap enough for the dramas. The body lift and suspension lift aren't worth very much. No mention of lockers or gears or a steel diff . If the current owner isn't mechanical enough to own it that code for "I don't know what's wrong with it and can't fix it" which isn't really encouraging and casts doubt on the other claims (like HD cv's)

[Jezzza]

My thoguhts exactly
I did see the baleno dash, but that was just the tip of the iceberg unfortunately

He did say it was an offroad vehicle, but with plates

[Gwagensteve]

It's not an off-road vehicle though- it doesn't have lockers or gears.

[Kor3y101]

It does say it has a lockrite in the rear Steve.

[Gwagensteve]

Oh I missed that. Still, not a great buy.

[Kor3y101]

Still an absolute horrible buy. If they chose to just zip tie the cluster on, they obviously just did a dodgy as hell install.

To the OP, the best plan of action is buy a stock vitara, then do what you want to it. At least you know the quality of the work and exactly what's been done.