[ricky_191]

hi all. I have a 1989 Suzuki vitara jlx with 1.3l carbie manual. It runs really good and has 315000 on it. It didn't come with a service history and it's so old I have no idea what's been done to it.

wondering what these normally cruise at sitting on 100kmh. mine revs close to 3900 with stock wheel size.Is that normal?

It had some typical four wheel drive mods when I got it and wondering if the diff could have been changed or why it would rev so high.. Thanks

[Scrawny]

Yep, that's about right. These motors (should be a G16 or 1.6) were built to rev, I wouldn't be too worried about it

[ricky_191]

Yeah Think it's 1.6. do they normally have such a low gear ratio? First gear is almost useless for anything other then four wheel driving. And over taking going over 100 it revs so high. It has a lot of power for a little car aha.

is there a chance it's been modified? reving that high coupled with a great running car and 26 years and countless owners got me thinking it might not be stock. seems to rev really high.

thanks

[AckerDackerly]

A very small number of very early (1989) Sidekicks came with carbed G13 engines (at least in North America...)

That said, you can determine the engine size yourself by looking at the very rear edge of the engine block on the exhaust side from above. Cast into a flat surface you will find the engine's displacement:

"1296cc" for the G13B, "1598cc" for the G16. I am working from memory here on those numbers - they may off by two or three digits but you get the idea... There is also an earlier G13 block that had a displacement of 1324cc. If that is the indicated displacement, I would bet that it is a swapped engine.

...and yes, these little beasties are high-revving engines.

I hope that this helps!

[Gwagensteve]

There's no 1.3 Vitaras in Australia.

3900 sounds too high, but there's no feasible way to lower gearing (increase road revs at a given speed) for a carby manual Vitara- they already have the shortest diff gears available locally (5.12)

Have you checked your road speed with a gps?

[ricky_191]

yeah it's a 1.6 carbie. I have had too many cars to keep up with them all.

On the highway it revs a lot and pretty sure the speed is correct cause I keep up with the other cars and have been in a convoy all doing the same speed.

What else would make it rev so high. almost certain it's not brojen. just always had low gearing. some times I think it's still in low range.

[jdk81]

Does it have a 5th gear?

[Reubs]

A stock SE416 manual vitara does 3200-3300 at 100km/h.

If yours reads otherwise then it isn't stock or isn't reading correctly.

[tanshi]

as above are you sure your using 5th gear? my calcs give me 3700rpm at 100 in 4th gear
also define stock tyre size. just cos they are small doesn't mean they are the right size. I think vits came with 215/75/15s??

[Reubs]

Placard size is 205/75R15 - just slightly taller than Sierra!

[ricky_191]

Hi all. I actually have this car in my possession now so can shed a bit more light on this.It has always revved high and close to 4k on the highway at 100kmh in fifth gear.I'm lost as to why tho and after googling a lot it seems way to high. They all seem to run around 3200-3300 like stated above. Could it have a new diff or transfer case? I also am pretty sure it's got an lsd if that helps. It also crawls so slow so still thinking it's got something done to it. How can you tell tho with out taking it all apart. Checking numbers would be the same. Thanks guys

[jdk81]

Someone might have done an xfer swap?

[shandy92]

Maybe a 1.3 sierra gearbox? A lot of work to fit but could be done. Transfer case wouldnt of been swapped, not a highly comparable bit.

[atari4x4]

for it to be effecting high range it can't be vitara xfer case gears, maybe an undertaker?

some pics of the transfer case would ID a sierra case quickly. check the circle spin ration, might have 5.72's in it.

[AckerDackerly]

I did some poking around with the gear calculator at Acks' FAQ (sorry, but it has the ability to input RPM and tire size along with lots of Suzuki gearing combinations...) and I came close to what atari4x4 suggested with this combination:

Sierra gearbox 5th gear (0.865)
sierra divorced transfer case (1.409 2-hi)
Vitara differential ratio (5.620)

- all a possible factory combination in a 1998 Vitara 1.3 -

with 27.1-inch diameter 205/75-15 tyres

and came up with the speed at 3900 RPM is 65 MPH or 104 KPH

I have never actually seen an '89 Vitara (I have heard of them existing as Sidekicks in North America), so I can only guess that, for purposes of getting the new model on the showroom floors, Suzuki may have opted for the Sierra drivetrain behind a G13 engine in this particular vehicle.

All of this is speculation on my part... Interesting guesswork but pure speculation.

[fordem]

AckerDackerly wrote:

I have never actually seen an '89 Vitara (I have heard of them existing as Sidekicks in North America), so I can only guess that, for purposes of getting the new model on the showroom floors, Suzuki may have opted for the Sierra drivetrain behind a G13 engine in this particular vehicle.

All of this is speculation on my part... Interesting guesswork but pure speculation.

Perusal of the export market parts catalog suggests the '89 SE413 was a US market only offering, and at a glance the drivetrain appears to be more Sidekick/Vitara than Samurai/Sierra - it has the chain driven "married" transfer case rather than the gear drive "divorced case. I didn't dig too deeply

[AckerDackerly]

fordem wrote:

AckerDackerly wrote:

I have never actually seen an '89 Vitara (I have heard of them existing as Sidekicks in North America), so I can only guess that, for purposes of getting the new model on the showroom floors, Suzuki may have opted for the Sierra drivetrain behind a G13 engine in this particular vehicle.

All of this is speculation on my part... Interesting guesswork but pure speculation.

Perusal of the export market parts catalog suggests the '89 SE413 was a US market only offering, and at a glance the drivetrain appears to be more Sidekick/Vitara than Samurai/Sierra - it has the chain driven "married" transfer case rather than the gear drive "divorced case. I didn't dig too deeply

So much for speculation... Oh well