[aaron001au]

Hey, im new here and looking at getting a suzuki sierra as my first 4wd and i just wanted to know of any common problemss they have or what to look for when buying one (other than rust )....... any help would be great

Thanks

[Saam]

transfer lever bush

[appsie]

they are slow....and rough.But apart from that a great car,cheap to run,maintain and a hole lot of fun.i have had 4 now,its a bug.

Just the usual rust a few seem to have and alot of 1.3s have had head gaskets go or going,so keep an eye on that?

Goodluck,appsie

[Scrawny]

Heads and blocks cracking, rust, perished seats and soft tops, gear lever & bolt and transfer lever bushes.......

But on the plus side, they are all cheap and easy to fix. Buy a small set of tools and start reading up about mechanical stuff. Don't be afraid to ask q's or have a go yourself. They are heaps of fun!!!

[lump_a_charcoal]

Some have non standard valve caps, watch for that.
Aside from that, rust likes to lurk behind the plastic sill covers, and near the wiper holes on the windscreen frame.

[eldo]

if your zook doesnt have a milk crate get one fast!

[aaron001au]

first of all thanks for ya help

Lamp_a_charcoal - what do you mean by " Some Have Non standard valve Caps" ???

And

ScrawnC - "Heads and blocks cracking, rust, perished seats and soft tops, gear lever & bolt and transfer lever bushes"

heads and blocks cracking is that only in the 1.3L or is that in the 1L as well ??? and what do perished gear lever & bolts look like ?? just all rusty????

[appsie]

the little bush at the gearstick itself where they go into the top of the gearbox n tcase rot and perish.they fall into a million pieces,make changing sloppy and can jam your case into 4wd etc

[shep]

just remember that they are becoming an old car and don't be to concerned with the
Ks it has traveled. rust is the biggie for me as all the driveline bits are very cheap.

[MART]

The driver , Cheers Paul.

[S13RR4]

appsie wrote:

the little bush at the gearstick itself where they go into the top of the gearbox n tcase rot and perish.they fall into a million pieces,make changing sloppy and can jam your case into 4wd etc

i had the bush on my gear lever perish and it got stuck in third, easy fix though or only about $120 if you wanna get someone to do it

[S13RR4]

aaron001au wrote:

Lamp_a_charcoal - what do you mean by " Some Have Non standard valve Caps" ???

some of these guys have too much spare time... which might be better spent moding or actually wheeling their zooks... hahahahah

[BlueSuzy]

yeah. Dam lampacharcoals. Siting around like they are furniture.

Oops. Forgot tech.

Seat mounts have a habit of cracking. Body, and the actual seat rails.

Squeeks, rattles, noise. All normal.

Make sure the diffs/gearbox/transfer are quiet in every gear, including going through lowrange..(like any 4wd) No whining sounds.

Handbrakes, most dont work due to mud/sand in the rear drums chewing out the shoes.
If front brake pads are too low, they fall out. Yes, not good. Drove home in 1st gear lucky i was close to home.

Wobbles of steering is another thing with sierras. If you get one that does it. It will only get worse. The front end needs attention. bearings/alignment/balance/bushes/worn box. Alot on contributing things that may be an answer to it..

Carbies play up, generally offroad. Mine did it onroad and offroad..

Alot of sierras will have oil leaks. Lazy owners. They can be fixed.

And rust can be a problem. floor pans, in guards, behind headlight buckets in engine bay(i have 2 that have done this), Window wiper mounts,corner of the support for the window frames (the body) hard to explain..

Another sure sign that it has been offroad is a dented tank, and the chassis crossmember mounts underneith will be bent from rocks etc..

There is probably more i have forgotten about, But after all these problems. You will still love them

[TASSIETOYUKI]

BlueSuzy wrote:

If front brake pads are too low, they fall out. Yes, not good. Drove home in 1st gear lucky i was close to home.

If your Disc rotors were not undersize , this should not happen...

BlueSuzy wrote:

Alot of sierras will have oil leaks. Lazy owners. They can be fixed.

The vehicles or the owners??

[SuziBlu]

They leak like a sieve in the rain, cold, noisy, slow, vary jolty off road being such short wheel base, being a tall bloke leaves no room for legs, fuel tank too small, lots of rust.

Would not trade mine for all the tea in china.

Once you own one you will be blind to the little things, and will love getting out and doing things that other "propper" 4wds cannot do, and laugh at them as you sail past them easily while they are bogged down to the diffs.

[BlueSuzy]

TASSIETOYUKI wrote:

BlueSuzy wrote:

If front brake pads are too low, they fall out. Yes, not good. Drove home in 1st gear lucky i was close to home.

If your Disc rotors were not undersize , this should not happen...

BlueSuzy wrote:

Alot of sierras will have oil leaks. Lazy owners. They can be fixed.

The vehicles or the owners??

My rotors were 10mm? original size?

Also I never looked at it that way

[TASSIETOYUKI]

Yeah were 10mm when they are new, not after you ground the crapper out of the with your worn out disc pads

Anyway I did say "Should not happen"..

[GreyDream]

Arh. I'm new here too. And just bought my second zook. Reading all these common issues is scaring me! I should have looked into it before buying it. Was a bit of an impulse buy... It broke down on the way home. The startor motor died and it started leaking brake fluid at the mechanics while I was trying to get someone to patch up the startor to try get it the rest of the way home. The mechanic didn't think much of the car. Is this a common occurrence? General mechanics not having an understanding/appreciation of heavily modified Sierras?

[Teracis]

GreyDream wrote:

Arh. I'm new here too. And just bought my second zook. Reading all these common issues is scaring me! I should have looked into it before buying it. Was a bit of an impulse buy... It broke down on the way home. The startor motor died and it started leaking brake fluid at the mechanics while I was trying to get someone to patch up the startor to try get it the rest of the way home. The mechanic didn't think much of the car. Is this a common occurrence? General mechanics not having an understanding/appreciation of heavily modified Sierras?

There are a lot of people out there that will look down on something just because it is older or "no new, why didn't you just buy a new one" if they knew then they would be more helpful. AZ will help you out, get reading and learning!

[Heideisadog]

You'll get use to the smart arse comments and stupid replys here on AZ.
But if you ask a question that's dumb expect a dumb/ sarcastic response.
Don't get cranky at them, just reword yourself and start over!
Good luck with your zook, and check back on AZ often! Helps a shit load!!
And have fun with it!

[suzukikid]

They get tired and need a nap easy

[KEENSY85]

Heideisadog wrote:

You'll get use to the smart arse comments and stupid replys here on AZ.
But if you ask a question that's dumb expect a dumb/ sarcastic response.
Don't get cranky at them, just reword yourself and start over!
Good luck with your zook, and check back on AZ often! Helps a shit load!!
And have fun with it!

Nicely said

[jonfromhamilton]

they are underpowered amnd have no aerodynamics, if you daily drive it at 100kph you may resent it, especially when the carby begins to be unreliable, which i had heaps of dramas wiith.
If you don't mind a rough and noisey car and like to go 4wding then this is the car for you!
AZ will be your new god now as Sierras take a lot of work, not because they break down, but because you can't leave them alone and you are always modifying them or fixing them after you go through walkers track and your car gets all fucked up.

It's a lifestyle choice, not a vehicle choice.