[puddles]

hey guys ive always wanted a little suzuki vitara to go 4x4ing with and i finally got one yesterday and i was soo eager so i took her out to the local dirt track and took it across a bit of uneven terrain and through some water and when i tried to get her home the clutch wont engage i got my bf to take it down to the mechanics to have a look at it and he tightened the clutch cable and she went good, with a little bit of a noise from the thrust bearing, but it had a similar noise with before it broke, but it only happened when i had engaged the clutch my bf and his mate said it might be just a little bit of rust on the face of the thrust bearing. Now i took it out again to the dirt track today and the exact same thing happened. I wanted to take it to do some 4x4ing with some of my bf's friends but i dont want to get stuck so could it still be the clutch cable? and how would i fix it?

Any positive help is always appreciated
thanx guys

[royce]

when it plays up has it been siting idling for a while?

you need a new cable anyway, look around the firewall for cracks or the cable bunching up and where it curves past the bottom radiator hose for it stretching out of shape.

[mrw82]

check the things royce said. but worst case scenario could be a ceased thrust bearing and as it wears the fingers of the pressure plate you lose clutch engagement (i've had it happen once before in a sierra) if this is the case your up for a new clutch. but check the easy/cheap options first.

[puddles]

yeah ill have to do that in the light tomorrow but nah it idling doesnt affect it but then i put it in gear and have the clutch fully in it stalls and sometimes when its in neutral and i push the clutch in the engines run as if its under a bit of load my bf thinks the thrust bearing is dead but he was thinking of waiting until she needs a new clutch to do it.

[royce]

nah its the cable, they all die all the time, I once went through 4 in 5 months even had one fail trying to park at teh airport

[puddles]

sorry mrw82 i was replying to royce's post but yeah hopefully its the cheaper option lol thanx guys for the help how hard would be be to take the gearbox and replace the clutch and the bearing?

thanx guys

[steak_knife]

royce wrote:

nah its the cable, they all die all the time, I once went through 4 in 5 months even had one fail trying to park at teh airport :)

That's hard core...

[royce]

steak_knife wrote:

royce wrote:

nah its the cable, they all die all the time, I once went through 4 in 5 months even had one fail trying to park at teh airport :)

That's hard core...

getting through the boomgate and up all them ramps to a spot was interesting

puddles, I can do one on a hoist taking my time in 3-4 hours,2 guys with some decent jack stands will do it in a day easy if they have ever done a clutch before, none of the bolts are hard to get at and the box isnt too heavy

but please, do the cable first, even if you replace the clutch you should still do a cable

[puddles]

does anyone have a part number or anything for it? because i was searching on the clutch problem and i read that there are like 3 different length's.

[royce]

http://www.suzistore.com.au/shopexd.asp?id=577

to be sure its the right one, where the outer cable attaches to the bracket off the engine, it will be held on by 2 nuts, not sitting in a big rubber bush

[puddles]

ok cool thats a bit exxy for a bloody cable lol, is it any cheaper at super cheap or anything like that?

[buzbox]

type in vitara cable in ebay, you can get one for just under $50 incl delivery.

I had the same issue as you are having, I had the clutch replaced and it turned out to be the cable.

I was stuck in the middle of no where so I had no choice other than take it to a mechanic to get it repaired. When I saw the bill, I was a little pissed off to say the least. I could have done it for the third of the price he charged me. I didn't get the clutch I wanted but at least it got me home.

[puddles]

cool thanx for that

[puddles]

SSsooooooo...............
We went out and got a new clutch cable and my bf put it in, and he thinks it may keep undoing or something like that because it feels like the clutch gets worse eg: putting it into gear and friction point, after like 40mins of driving its better than yesterday but its still get loose after a drive he said he must have to put locktite on it or something what should we do?

Thanx again guys

[royce]

give it a few days to stretch and settle in

[puddles]

ahh ok so it will stop stuffing up after a few days? because its becomes undriveable after like 40mins of driving and he has to get under there and tighten it again.

but thanx royce for the help