[sjzook]

G'day guys just asking the jimny owners on here how the little auto jimnys go?

I've owned a manual and I plan on buying Another jim but unsure whether auto or manual is the go. Price is bit cheaper to buy auto as well then maybe convert to manual later?

Thanks for any feedback

[jono165]

The jimny auto's are fine as long as they are kept cool, they are not very big and have a much smaller oil capacity than say an AW4, so fit the biggest cooler you can to it and it should be fine. They may be expensive to rebuild AFAIK they share no parts with any other auto boxes.

If its for a weekend warrior/crawler type build auto would be the go, if its more touring based then a manual is probably a bit more fun.

[Dan85]

I've got a 12 auto and its great! The lady and I spent the best part of 5-6 hours exploring the dirt east of perth and it didn't miss a beat. On road is good off road it's magic! Much better than manual 4x4's I've had previously

[Gwagensteve]

I wouldn't consider converting back to manual - it's never going to be as good an outcome as buying a manual car from the outset, and in fact, you would almost need a whole manual donor Jimny to get everything you needed.

Autos are superior off road to manual, but as per Jono's comments, they're a tiny auto so they need lots of cooling if you're driving off road. Fit a temperature gauge so you know how hot it is getting and you'll be fine.

[sjzook]

Yeh thanks would basically be a weekend warrior drive to mates and go for a wheel sort of car, I have a d40 nav for a tourer. More for fun, but if I can get an auto cheap I will then. Thanks for the input guys

[joel]

i could never own a manual again, the auto just makes the jimny so much more capable off road, as you can really control the crawl speed, but yeah i have heard if you get them hot (especially in sand) they will die.

[joeblow]

Just to let people know. Recently a friend blew his Jimny VVT auto up. Price from Suzuki for all the parts plus a three month wait $6000. Price for a used second handy $2000. The Jimny is one of the only models I recommend buying a manual. All depends on what you are doing with it.

[Dan85]

joeblow wrote:

Just to let people know. Recently a friend blew his Jimny VVT auto up. Price from Suzuki for all the parts plus a three month wait $6000. Price for a used second handy $2000. The Jimny is one of the only models I recommend buying a manual. All depends on what you are doing with it.

6K!!!!!!!!! holy shit thats alot! although good excuse for a bigger motor and tougher gearbox and sierra transfer swap and hd axles and cv's and all the other related paraphenalia see that for me is a curse and a blessing. a curse in the sense its 6K!! blessing in the sense that i could sell the upgrades to the missus if thats the price 6k is alot think i might go get that tranny cooler(not the he/she) sooner rather than later.

[Gwagensteve]

Pop quiz:

Does anybody actually have a temp gauge on their Jimny auto?

Gregc has one on his jimny auto in his sierra, and I can confirm they get HOT. He's just doubled his cooling capacity to TWO 10"X10" PWR coolers, and has reported back that the auto runs much, much cooler.

Anyone who is running larger than stock tyres, stock gearing and stock trans cooling with a Jimny auto is going to kill it. They are already right on their torque ceiling in a G13BB. They were designed for the 660cc motor.

A complete replacement Jimny auto is over $8.5K from suzuki. Makes $100 in gauge and $200 in cooler look cheap, but I bet nobody has done it.

Steve.

[Dan85]

Steve i havent but im going to now. I havent looked on mine to closely yet but i assume that stock form it runs to a small cooler part of the radiator? does gregc have a build thread? ill go have a look now.

Cheers

[Gwagensteve]

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=28386

It's been running the stock Jimny auto for about 6 years. Last year, Greg noticed that auto temps were getting far too high after extended low speed crawling on steep tracks at high ambient temperature, even with the 10"X10" cooler in front of the stock radiator. The problem, it seemed, was that when crawling there was insufficient natural air flow, and very little engine speed (typically <2000rpm) to shift enough air past the cooler, and temps were nudging 120˚C. The answer has been to package a second cooler with an electric fan in the engine bay. The auto now stays below 100˚C under similar conditions as far as I recall Greg saying. Bear in mind though, this is twice the cooler that would normally be recommended for a V8 for heavy towing.

Greg's car has always had a temp gauge on the auto, so at least he knows when to shut it down. I also run one in my car, and in the same use the AW-4 in my car was running up to 40˚C cooler than the Jimny auto, with a cooler 1/2 the size. That's how I know that jimny autos run hot and that that's what is probably killing them.

Yes, AFAIK the stock jimny cooler is in the bottom of the radiator. Could be wrong though.

Steve.

[royce]

Gwagensteve wrote:

nudging 120˚C.

Holy Shit!

I remember seeing a chart of oil life vs temp for auto fluid and those kind of temps you would measure oil life (and therefore transmission life) in hours

Where do you measure the oil temp?
Ever thought of a bigger sump?

[christover1]

I run 2 external coolers on my Vitara.
Easier to fit than one big one.

[Dan85]

Ok ive had a look and i have some questions and there are some assumptions ive made that id like confirmed or destroyed please.

1: I assume you would measure temp on the outflow side of the trans?
2: with mounting two oil coolers is there an issue with flow reduction? does there need to be a second or larger pump installed?
3: following on from two does the height the coolers are placed at effect the flow adversely? eg if i was to mount one and make my useless bonnet scoop useful and another further down with a fan would this be an issue? only tinking bout the scoop as this would give me some nice clean are flow when rolling down the highway and wouldnt block cool air hitting radiator?
4: when installed do i just calc the volume of the extra coolers and add that volume of trans oil?

Thanks everyone. I love forums like this so many smart and helpful people.

[christover1]

Position of sender depends what you want to measure.
I chose the hot output line, so I could instantly see whats happening.
Expect to see bigger temps and bigger variations than if fitted to sump.
Some fit to return line, to measure cooling ability of cooler/s.
Some do both.

I personally haven't noticed any issues with 2 coolers.
Both my coolers are a similar height to the original in radiator cooler.
But people have run them higher without issue.

I had to add about 400mils of ATF to mine.

You

[Dan85]

Christover1 thanks mate. i might see if i can fit something useful under the scoop. thanks all.

[Gwagensteve]

Spot on Royce. but at least Greg knew is was nudging 120˚ so he could stop driving it. Might be happening all the time with stock jimnys... who knows?

Yes, we measure temperature on the outlet to the cooler.

I don't think there is a significant issue with flow reduction. the KOH guys run their coolers all over the place.

The coolers run under pressure, height isn't an issue. Mine is much higher than under the bonnet - it's just under the rear window on my ute but I definitely wouldn't run one under the bonnet scoop, not because of the height, but because of the heat. Unless you are travelling at quite high speed, that "cooler" is going to be being heated by the heat radiating off of the motor.

Yes, you could add the volume of the coolers and add that much, still go through the process of checking though, which is done with the engine running and the trans is hot so the dipstick will still read correct even with the added volume.

Royce - Greg and I have discussed a deeper pan. I guess an alternative would be to add a reservoir somewhere in the cooling circuit with a litre of fluid or so in it. Might be easier than a deeper pan.

Steve.

[joel]

gwagon, any pics and instructions on the fellas cooler, and what is the best way to set one up, what and where are you tapping the lines into?

[Dan85]

Yeah fair call Steve I didn't even think about that. Ill have a poke around under there see where I can fit a decent sized cooler or a couple of smaller ones. Seen a few nice looking ones with fans and the like for $100 or so. Thanks.

[Kayday]

So in a related matter, my trans has just given up the ghost.
It's a 98 model with 235/75 15s.
Poor servicing by the previous owner, bigger tyres, standard gearing (and cooling) and my not so sympathetic driving style has just pushed it too far, I guess. If only I'd seen this thread earlier, but oh well the power of hindsight, I guess.
My question is up to what year did Suzi use this trans and when did they change. I'm happy to reco this box, but only if I can't find a second hand one from a wrecker and just swap it in. Make for less time off the road.
Then definitely fit a cooler (or two) and a temp gauge.
Any help would be heaps appreciated, guys.

[Gwagensteve]

Sorry I didn't pick up on your question back in April Joel. No, I don't have any photos of Greg's setup. It's on the inner guard roughly where the jack is located (in a sierra)

Kayday, there was never a "change" to the Jimny auto, although there was a motor change to the M series motor and so the bellhousing will be different between the M models and the G models. I imagine the rest of the auto would be the same, but that's a guess. Best option would be to find an auto from a G engined car like yours.

So, 4 months later, has anyone fitted a temp gauge to a Jimny auto?

Steve.