[TahneeMaree]

Hello

I'm only a newcomer to the Suzuki Wonderland.
Just under 7 months ago I adopted (bought) a cute little 2000 model 1.6L Grand Vitara.
I've been running into some strange little things and I keep ending up on this forum, so I thought I'd join!
Whenever I mention her quirks to people I see on a daily basis, I either know more about engines than they do (which isn't a great deal) or they get snobbish and tell me that the little car I've fallen in love with isn't worth the effort.

I'm 25 and willing to learn!

I'd like to know what the common problems are for the Suzie I have and what kind of life span I'm looking at.
She surges/misses randomly in higher gears (sometimes won't do it for a week or so, then numerous times in a day). She's blowing a single puff of lovely white/grey smoke every morning. She seems steadfast and reliable, but I get paranoid when people tell me horror stories and dollars, so I'm hear to learn from fellow Suzuki owners.
I get the feeling I could be on a slow steady track to a rebuild and I'd like to know the realities of that option. If anyone here can help out or if anyone knows what the dollars are likely to be, as well as her engine lifespan post rebuild.

I'd love to learn how to do all the work myself, with guidance. (I wanted to study to be a mechanic, but hey, life doesn't always work out exactly as you want)
Suzie is booked in for a diagnostic test and compression test on Tuesday, hoping it comes back OK and proves I'm just being paranoid.
I really love this little car and I want to do what I can to keep her running.

[JrZook]

Hi!

How many k's on the current 1.6?

[TahneeMaree]

Just over 219,000

[Abraxix]

my family have had the Vitara - G16B 1.6L engines in three X-90's currently two of them are still in possession and one we sold.

my vehicle was the Manual is yours manual / auto?
the "glitch" you're talking about if an auto could be as simple as your MAF sensor sounds like it could be on it's way out the door if it's a manual you'd just notice huge sluggish points when taking off and such more than anything

otherwise the only problem I ever had with mine was spark plugs I only ever used NGK plugs and when the thing was serviced by my brother he used BOSCHE and that was just horrible the thing did much the same as yours sounds like I swapped the plugs over my self and all better again - could have been a bad batch of bosche plugs or it could have been that my car just didn't like them? not sure but other wise my rig has now since been sold to my brother and he still drives it and drives it well it's got on 250,000k's by now easily there's probably more than that thinking about it, and it's running fine as I said spark plugs and MAF sensor (if auto) could be your hiccoughing, other wise i'd start with plugs / leads if you're getting spluttering and surges could be that the lead is loose or glitch but when you're driving it rattles out of place causing problems then after a good drive it shakes back into place giving you no problems until you hit a hole or something (big stretch I know but I have seen this happen before)

just a few things to look at maybe ?

[TahneeMaree]

Sorry, yes. She's a manual.
I should have mentioned that. Sparks and leads have been done (can't remember what brand)
She's leaking oil all over the place and my BF (farm boy with experience on pumps, engines and tractors) are hoping to not screw up a cam seal change, I've been researching for weeks and have been talking to my usual mechanic, they both seem confident about us doing it ourselves.
Nervous as hell though.

Her shocks/suspension seems very stiff/rough, which is probably normal for a little 4x4 like her. But when going over bumps, the steering wheel seems to jerky slightly to one side.
Is this a normal thing?

I'm still learning about what's normal behaviour for the Vitara and what might be warning signs.

[monley]

Hi and welcome to AZ!

For the surging check the alternator wiring, then slap a multi-meter on with out the engine running to see what volts the battery has, start it up and looks at it's voltage output (should be around 14.2/14.3) Increase the revs until you can get it to miss/surge and have a look at what's the volts are doing. If it drops below 12v you won't be getting 12v to the dizzy which will cause it to miss then surge. Sounds like a issue I was having with my g16b over the past few months which has 330xxxkm on it and runs perfectly now after i replaced the alternator

Enjoy!

[TahneeMaree]

Thanks ^_^

Provided I don't blow her up this weekend, I'll be trying that.

I've come from a 2003 1.8L MR Lancer Coupé, and the Suzie is SO different!
Something about the lancer being able to go fast easily made me a very angry driver, nearly lost my license, with the Suzie I'm more than happy to plod along at whatever speed suits her, just getting in her every morning makes me smile/relax.

She does around 90-95km/h at 3000revs. Also wondering what people push their Vitaras to? She'll do 100km/hour without much complaining, slight sound of her beginning to work. My mechanic has advised that I keep her to around 90 when I do the trip down to Byron Bay to visit my partner. My lancer could hit 140 with barely a winge, so its a big change.

I don't think she has been well looked after, people I bought her from had her for 3 years after purchasing from a car yard, they couldn't tell me if the timing belt had been done. "I don't know, it could have been done in one of the services"
It'd be hard not to know if you were charged for a new timing belt, I had it done and it was a ticking bomb.
She also has a new clutch.


How hard do people push their early Grand Vitaras on motorway runs?

[greenzook89]

3000rpm is easy work for a Suzuki engine. They love to rev. All mine have regularly seen 4000rpm+ on the highway with no issues.

[atari4x4]

both of mine would pull $1.60 before hitting that aerodynamic brickwall... need to shake n bake to get any more.

[TahneeMaree]

So we gave her a clean up and took her for a spin around the block. Hoping we were wrong about the cam leak.
Not buying the parts till I know I need them, the local autobahn has everything I'll need on shelf.

Sadly she's still leaking.
So Simons pulling her apart slowly, we've found a couple of things...

Cdi cable seems to have been rubbing on a belt and has holes in it. X.x (possible cause of random surging and engine light?)
An engine mount is rattling.
Exhaust seems to have a rattle.
Slight oil leak in the transfer case.
She has something that looks to be a fan clutch, but her fan is always on right from start up.
Water pump bearing making a squeegee sound.

Yet to get the timing cover off...

[atari4x4]

where is the oil coming from, the common one from the top of the motor on a G16 is the dizzy o-ring.

CDI cable? spark plug lead? fix that asap.

[TahneeMaree]

We're stilooking for her leak.
Suggestions welcome.
Dizzy, distributor?
I have coil packs.

The outer cover covering of the cdi cables is chewed
Inner ones look ok, but will have it checked out.

[TahneeMaree]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/ ... 58f21f68d5

[atari4x4]

ahhh that one leading down the front of the timing cover is the CPS (crank postion sensor). doesn't look like the wires are damaged, check it & if it's ok retape it, the crank sensors are a bit flakey in the g series motors so that could be your issue.

yeah dizzy = distributor

there should be a plug in your engine bay that looks like this, bridge the 2 pins shown & turn the ignition to "ON"


the CEL (Check Engine Light) should flash a series of codes, these repeat 3 times giving you the chance to note them down. 14 = 1 flash followed by a pause, then 4 flashes. 23 = 2 flashes followed by a pause, then 3 flashes. etc etc.

1/2 way down this page i have attached a word document on how to pull the codes from a j20a vitara. i don't have the codes handy for the g series but they are floating around. http://www.auszookers.com/forum/viewtop ... rror+codes

if you disconnect the battery it will clear the codes.

[TahneeMaree]

Damn.
Battery is disconnected and she was supposed to be going in for diagnostics and compression testing on Tuesday.

Hope she throws it again before then.

[TahneeMaree]

Having a lot of trouble getting the bolt that holds the crank shaft pulley on.
Any tricks?

[JrZook]

Are you trying to get the timing cover off? If so leave the large crank center bolt alone and undo the 5-6 little bolts that hold the actually crank pulley on.

[TahneeMaree]

Bolt is sorted.

I'm not getting to do much of the work myself...
I've been given the task of Googler, beverage supplier and moral support.



And we took a moment to appreciate the previous owners/mechanics skills...





Putting her back together and racing the daylight.

[atari4x4]

should duck down to the shops & pick up some daylight savings.

[TahneeMaree]

Got the belt back on before losing the daylight, turned it over (complete rotation, marks back to the start) and nothing seemed out of the ordinary
How many times should we turn her over to be SURE?
The timing belt seems to be trying to slide off the sprockets/pulleys. Simon has tensioned it up tighter than I was, could this be what is causing this?
(Simon thinks he may have not had it on the bottom spooked properly, will reposition tomorrow)

Gotta put the other belts back on, do the oil and oil filter change and put the coolant aback in, in the morning and before the terrifying start up.
Is there anything that should be checked before attempting start up?

[TahneeMaree]

Tensioner had some play in it so we decided to replace that and the 6 month old timing belt to be safe.
And She Lives!
Minor heart attack as we turned the key for the first time. Adjusted the tension.
Putting her all back together ^_^

Hopefully no more leaks. If she leaks again I think Simon will cry.
Except the transfer case, but I think I'll leave that for now. (Mechanics job)

Thanks for the info guys.
I feel a bit better about running her at the 3000 revs now.
I'll be replacing that pulley when my bank account recovers a bit.
Along with that rattling engine mount.
And one of the plastic mouldings that hold the soft top on...
The list just goes on...

[got_bar_work]

Shouldnt have a drama doing 110kmh get her revving over 3500 and it will make some power
I would pull almost 5k in 3rd to go up hills on the freeway in my vit