[mut59]

Hi, I am a noob with the Suzukis and have bought an 06 SWB manual. The car has constant 4wd and I am wondering if there is any way I can convert it to part time with low range like other models. I figure this might help with the poor fuel consumption on road and make it more capable off road. My other question relates to the pre cat O2 sensor. My mechanic has diagnosed that it needs replacing and tells me that the genuine replacement is around the $300 mark. I notice there are less expensive replacements overseas and am simply wondering if any other forum members have advice regarding the replacement if this item.

Cheers.

[Mike_B]

Firstly, if you have ever seen Extreme 4x4 from USA, then yes in 4wd vehicles anything is possible, however assuming your '06 SWB is a new GV, then the cost to convert it from full time 4wd to part time 4wd will almost certainly make the conversion not worth doing. The earlier style GV with the separate chassis had a variation on part time 4wd that meant the front drive shafts were always turning, and the can benefit from having free wheeling hubs fitted.
Second, when I bought my Vit it had a known drivability issue that was also the O2 sensor, in this case someone had fitted a cheaper replacement and attempted to just splice the wires into the factory loom.....which doesn't work properly, it was replaced with a genuine O2 sensor, which came with proper connection to plug into the factory wiring loom, and works fine.
Recommend you get a genuine replacement sensor, then make sure everything else that affects the engine tune is good and you should get an improvement in fuel economy, provided of course that you drive it with some consideration for fuel consumption.

[mut59]

Thanks for this info Mike. I will go ahead with the genuine sensor then, just don't like the hike in price for genuine if the item can be bought at a more realistic amount. Looking under the car it appears that there is a small transfer type box attached to the gearbox to redirect drive to the front diff and I just thought that a dual range transfer box from another model might fit.
Thanks again.

[Gwagensteve]

mut59,

you would need to fit the transfer case from a 2.4l manual NGV, assuming the manual gearbox is the same* between the 1.6 and 2.4 litre models. This should be a mechanically easy conversion and the transfer case itself shouldn't even be very costly from a wrecker.

*and there's where it gets tricky. You'd need to confirm that the output shaft length and spline was the same between the 1.6 and 2.4 manual, or else even if the bolt pattern is the same between the 1.6 case and the 2.4 case, they still won't swap.

Then, you'll have to deal with the electronics. All NGV's have pushbutton shifting, and this system has a level of diagnostics to confirm the shifts are complete etc. I don't know whether this is a function of the ECU or handled externally.

If you wish to pursue this conversion, you need to talk at length with someone with access to the Suzuki Parts database to try and work out what's compatible/possible.

This swap if completed successfully, will give you low range.

It won't, however, give you part time 4WD. All NGVs are full time 4WD. The front hub design has no provision for a separate freewheeling hub, so even if you fitted a transfer case from an older Vitara/GV (guaranteed NOT to bolt up, but at least does have a normal shift lever) all of the front end components are still spinning even when in 2WD. this is the cause of the deceased fuel consumption, not where the drive is going.

In short, if you want a NGV with low range, it's probably cheapest to sell your 1.6 and buy a 2.4. I'll add, I'm not a great fan of manual NGV's offroad in low range as the traction control tries to stall the engine, so an auto would be my preference.

Also, these kind of conversions generally devalue the car by approximately the cost of the conversion. Trying to find a market for a 1.6 NGV with a low range transfer case fitted will be very, very hard. Worth considering.

[mut59]

Thanks for this info. I'm still waiting for the O2 sensor to arrive and we'll see how it improves the economy once fitted. My daughter loves the car and probably won't need low range in the short term. She can always change to something else if she wants to in the future.