[rustin]

Hey Auszookers, Rustin here.

Have been using this forum as a guest for a while now and it has helped me a great deal in the lead up to buying my first zook - a 1995 SJ70 1.3ltr g13ba soft top Sierra. Brought the car about two months ago with 180,000kms on the clock, a decent service history and a nice amount of reg but no rwc (only needed headlight globes, was stoked!). It's pretty much stock apart from a 2" spring lift, slightly bigger all terrains (about 27" I think), extractors and I installed some new seats. Had an issue with the fuel pump leaking oil from the ventilation pipe but replaced said fuel pump and oil leak has stopped.

Anyway, I'm starting this post because I would like some information from the experienced Sierra owners and drivers here. Now, this is going to sound like quite the noob question but at what RPM do you guys shift up gears in your sierra's?

I've been driving for about 4 years now and majority of that has been done in a diesel, so im not used to high RPMs.

Typically I have been shifting at no less than 3000rpm - is this high enough? On an incline I will push it to about 3500-4000rpm but I just feel like I'm going too hard on the little zook. The car is still accelerating at this point and the engine - to me - doesn't seem too tired, still reaches 110km/h at around 3500-4000rpm on flat road with minimal headwind, doesn't overheat, use oil or coolant and has no leaks now that the fuel pump has been replaced.

Also, when accelerating, especially up an incline, the engine has a bubbly sounding acceleration (apologies for the bad description), almost diesel-like to a point. There is no shudder or anything like that. Valve adjustment needed maybe? I know it's pretty hard to identify a problem going on the description of a sound but any information would be greatly appreciated.

Apart from that my Sierra has been great, love it! Have taken it off-road twice - only light stuff, still getting to know the car and am new to the 4wd scene so I've been taking it slow.

Anyway, any information would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers guys, Rustin.

[MrRocky]

3500-5500 shifting on road
In the sand the 1.3's are alot happier to touch 7000 on occasion more so than the 1.6.
I had a mate who hit 7500-8000 quite often over about 10 years with no ill effects.

[pezz]

I dont think I have ever rev'd mine past 4500rpm

[got_bar_work]

3-4k on road
4-5k accelerating up hill
Go my old coily to 7200 on stockton

[SierraDan]

Ive hit 6000 maybe 3 times. I didnt like it, even if the motor didnt mind. I would shift in the 3500-4500 range depending on gravity.

[Marko_SJ]

MrRocky wrote:

3500-5500 shifting on road
In the sand the 1.3's are alot happier to touch 7000 on occasion more so than the 1.6.
I had a mate who hit 7500-8000 quite often over about 10 years with no ill effects.

Same.

For on road, I'll rev it slightly harder to get up hills but you don't really need to. I've revved it out past the redline, more than 7000 feels just plain abusive.

If it was making power at this point yeah I'd drive it like that more regularly, but its not so I dont.

[Joshyboy26]

ive had mine to about 8500 off the tacho! haha but yeah generally used to shift anywhere from 3500 to 5000. depends how slow/fast you wanna go, they will happily change at 2500 but only if your happy to just chug around.

[alien]

on road i change around 3500-4000rpm... 5000 if im flogging it. I don't really like hitting redline.

off road i try to keep it around 3000rpm - feels like the right balance between rpm and speed in low range, and the 1.6 hit max torque somewhere around there too. I have hit 6500-7000rpm climbing up muddy ruts etc where there was no time for a gear change, but i try not to do that often.

[Reubs]

When daily driving both my Sierra and Vitara I find gear changes up to about 4500RPM are required to get up to speed on short on-ramps to the highway. A coil Sierra's standard gearing is 4000RPM @ 110km/h. Considering the car will comfortably sit on 4000RPM for hours on end there is no problem with 4500RPM for short periods.

[MrRocky]

Remember torque is one thing a 1.3ltr doesnt have compared to a 1.6ltr but the 1.3 does have rpm
1.6 efi cuts out at 6600ish and i hit that at least once every time im offroad its not needed but limiter = fun generally speaking i would love one of the rare (in wa anyway) 1500 import donks best of both worlds

[greenzook89]

Im between 3500-4500 most of the time. I had one of my old zooks to 6000 but I've never been over 5000 in this one.

[droverdave]

There is no right or wrong, don't think about it too much, just experiment to see where it likes to drive.

My g13a and the traffic i drive in to work and back i reckon i barely get over 3000rpm as there is no need, it just putts along just fine.

[smiley_666]

ill rev my g13 till the coil starts breaking down... usually around 6500, but thats on a tired, nearly 400k engine. Really it starts feeling like its running out of puff at 5000ish.

rustin wrote:

Hey Auszookers, Rustin here.
Also, when accelerating, especially up an incline, the engine has a bubbly sounding acceleration (apologies for the bad description), almost diesel-like to a point. There is no shudder or anything like that. Valve adjustment needed maybe? I know it's pretty hard to identify a problem going on the description of a sound but any information would be greatly appreciated.

Detonating/ knocking? If it sounds like fron about 20 second on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xTWHJADFe8
Its pinging/detonating. Its not good. More revs usually help (lugging an engine - not reving it enough- can cause it), otherwise it could be a timing issue. (too far advanced)

[fordem]

The 8v 1.3 will pretty much out of breath by 5000 rpm, you can wind it out to the 6500 rpm red line, but there is no point in doing it, you'll get where you're going faster by shifting.

[shep]

Why are people not revving their g13s? Some people here are recommending less revs then the car will be doing at highway
speeds. Every sierra I have owned was happy to cruise at 5000 revs for very extended periods, think 1000km and only stopping
to refuel. I have owned 5 sierras and redlined them at least once every time I drove them and I have never had a issue with a
motor, or any other driveline part.

Rev them as they love it and will thank you for it.

[shep]

The tired old g13 in my lwb made power all the way to 7000rpm. Have a look at the build thread to see how dodgy that motor was. I thrashed it for 3 years without issue

[mnemonix]

Offroad: As little RPM as possible to get the job done.
Onroad: Drive it like you stole it, they all like to rev.

[jdk81]

My shitbox baleno will rev to 6500 when WOT before the auto changes
I would rev sierra with g13ba and later g16a to 6500 often offroad, sometimes to 7000.
But I usually drive only as fast as needed.
On road: change at 4500ish, but not afraid to let it rev
long cruises or in headwind I would let it sit at 5000-5500 to avoid 5th-4th-5th-4th-5th-4th-5th etc

IMO labouring these engines leads to shorter engine life.

[rustin]

Thanks for all the replies, extremely helpful. Like I said im not used to revvy engines so some reinsurance to rev out a bit more is just what I was after, cheers.

smiley_666 wrote:

ill rev my g13 till the coil starts breaking down... usually around 6500, but thats on a tired, nearly 400k engine. Really it starts feeling like its running out of puff at 5000ish.

rustin wrote:

Hey Auszookers, Rustin here.
Also, when accelerating, especially up an incline, the engine has a bubbly sounding acceleration (apologies for the bad description), almost diesel-like to a point. There is no shudder or anything like that. Valve adjustment needed maybe? I know it's pretty hard to identify a problem going on the description of a sound but any information would be greatly appreciated.

Detonating/ knocking? If it sounds like fron about 20 second on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xTWHJADFe8
Its pinging/detonating. Its not good. More revs usually help (lugging an engine - not reving it enough- can cause it), otherwise it could be a timing issue. (too far advanced)

Thanks for the information. Didnt get much from that video as the sound quality from my phone is awful. It seems that it only happens when I dont rev over 3000 (this will no longer be happening haha). The higher the rpms before shifting, the less prevalent it is. 3500 or higher and its is gone. And more prevalent in 4th and 5th. Should probably have mentioned that it is not always there when accelerating, only when i initially accelerate after shifting, then it stops once higher rpms are reached. Had a few people, more knowledgeable than me around engines, come for a drive and they struggle to identify what im talking about. I have read a few descriptions of engine detonation/pinging stating that it sounds like wire tapping on an engine, popcorn kernels rattling in a tin can and in extreme cases marbles in a tin can - these descriptions dont match up to what I hear, the sound is much more subtle and softer. I dont know, maybe im looking to far into things. Or its just my early tentativeness towards higher rpms.

Appreciate all the replies auszookers, rustin.