[Chrisau]

Hey guys,

I'm trying to determine the correct starter motor to use on a friends G16B EFI conversion into his Suzuki Sierra. His neighbour offered to do the conversion, but then packed and left half way through the job, leaving him with a pile of parts and with little idea of what to do with it all.

So am currently in the process of getting the starter onto the engine. The frame has been removed from the car, so the G16B EFI engine, flywheel and clutch kit - bolted to the G13BA transmission, are currently mounted to eachother with an adapter kit from Suzisports, and the engine and transmission are mounted to the chassis using said kit mounting bracket and other standard mounts. It is uncertain whether the G16B EFI was sourced from a manual or automatic Vitara, if this matters. The Suzuki Sierra that the G16B EFI is going into is a manual 4WD SJ413.

The starter motor that my friend's neighbour has given him is shown in the following picture. It has a sticker with a part number on it which is 31100-8301. It also states 'Type' as M3T38981. From searching this part number on the internet it has led to a few sites which list it as a 1.6L Vitara engine starter motor. Not sure whether EFI or Carb - Manual or Automatic. Please note there is a plate on the front of the starter in the pictures, this is from the Suzisports adapter kit. It is unsure why this is required. The holes on that plate do line up with the flange holes on the starter motor, even though it does not look like they do in the photo.

I have contacted Suzisports to talk to them about what starter motor is meant to be used with the kit, but will not get contacted back until the kit designer returns to work in a few days. So I thought I would get some info from forum members in the mean time.











We have tried to fit the starter but it does not fit on the engine and would require grinding to fit. Also the lower starter motor bolt hole on the Suzisports adapter plate (main gearbox to engine plate, not the plate on the starter motor) was slightly offset so I had to drill the hole larger to get a bolt to thread properly as shown in the following picture. This may have been an error with the cutting of the adapter plate, but I included this info in this post in case it is relevant (for example if the adapter plate was perhaps meant for a 1.6 transmission?) If it's not relevant please ignore.



From all the forum searching I've done I have come across a lot of conflicting information. From what I have read there seems to be a narrower bodied 1.6L Vitara starter motor that will fit without the need for grinding. It is unsure if this is from a Carb or EFI - Auto or Manual Vitara 1.6L. I have also seen many mentions of a reduction gear starter motor being the correct one to use. It also seems that there are issues with gear meshing/engagement between the starter motor and flywheel teeth when using certain starter motor and flywheel combinations and this can lead to failing starters and damaged flywheels.


So based on all of this, the questions I have are;

1. What starter motor does this look like in the above photo? (Please give as much info as possible please, ie. 1.6 Carb, 1.6 EFI, Auto, Manual etc.)

2. What starter motor is required for this setup (the setup being a 1.6 engine/flywheel/clutch on 1.3 transmission)? (Once again as much info as possible would be great.)

Thanks in advance,
Let me know if I can provide any more info that will help answer the questions.

[atari4x4]

hope this one is some help viewtopic.php?f=5&t=19727&hilit=starter+grind

[shep]

If you are using the g13 box then ya also use the g13 flywheel, clutch and starter.

[Mickc]

2x what shep said

Starter you have will fit G13, G16 carby and some G16 efi engines using the earlier G16A type block.
ie block casting is thiner around starter area.

The narrow body starter should also fit the block you have without mods but as above, it's possible to grind yours.

Not familar with Suzisports kit, from your pics above the hole centres you are are refering to is on the
starter only adapter plate?
From memory I think the swift starter looks like the sierra one but holes centres were further apart
just like the adapter plate you have. I'd keep yours and grind it down.

Note the Ben T adapter in this thread viewtopic.php?f=37&t=36926
Is that what your adapter plate looks like? (The starter adapter is part of the gear box adapter plate,)

[Chrisau]

shep wrote:

If you are using the g13 box then ya also use the g13 flywheel, clutch and starter.

Mounting the flywheel, clutch and transmission was done by the friends neighbour before he disappeared. My friend purchased a new clutch kit that he says was a Vitara clutch kit and he is quite sure the G16B flywheel stayed on the engine. So once again from what I am told it is a G16B with a G16B flywheel and clutch, but with a G13 transmission. It all fits together fine, with the transmission input shaft slotting inside the clutch disc centre properly. So from what I can gather either;

1. My friend has misinformed me and it is actually a G13 flywheel and clutch, OR

2. The requirement of having the G13 flywheel, clutch and transmission goes beyond just fitment issues?

Mickc wrote:

Not familar with Suzisports kit, from your pics above the hole centres you are are refering to is on the
starter only adapter plate?

The bolt hole diagram refers to the main gearbox-to-engine adapter plate, not the starter motor plate. I edited the original post thanks.

[zukmeista]

The G16 flywheel will not fit inside the G13 gearbox bell housing.

[blakej]

zukmeista wrote:

The G16 flywheel will not fit inside the G13 gearbox bell housing.

from what i was told it wont. i use a g13ba clutch and flywheel on the g16b block

[want33s]

As above... if you have a 1.3 gearbox you will also have a 1.3 clutch and flywheel.

I fitted a 94 G16B from a Vit to my Sierra with a Petroworks kit, the starter bolts lined up and after I ground a few mm off the block side of the starter it went in nicely and worked fine.
Otherwise the small body reduction starter from a late G16B is the one you want.