Vitara with problems

[Premium]

Hi,

I recently bought a 1992 Vitara softtop 1.6 8v for not that much money.
What could be expected, it has some problems..
Although I have no problem driving it around and it gets us where we need to go, I was hoping someone here could help me with identifying these problems and possible solutions:

-Black smoke when i start the engine (for about a min.) + engine goes up to 2000rpm.
when i fixed the exhaust I saw some oil comin down the downpipe so that probably explains it, burned oil? is this head gasket thats leaking?

-When driving over speedbumps there's a squeeky noise coming from the suspension.

-When turning the wheels there's another squeeky noise from the suspension.
When I jack the car up this noise i gone (with the wheels in the air).

Other than this, I really like the car

[jtgh]

tuneup?
check engine lamp on , at key ON, no start and goes out after start?

cold engine should go to 1200 and then drop to 800 when hot.
if it keeps racing , that is a vacuum leak, 8v cars race with extra air (not 16v)
your ECT is prabably bad ( they drive to the cold side with age which is richer)

leak is valve cover gasket and/Or the dizzy base mount o-rings bad. (both common)
squeeks, spray all suspension joints with silicone spray.

want top MPG
Make cel lamp go out (fix what it gripes about)
replace ECT (engine coolant temperature ) sensor, 2 pins, just behide thermostat.
replace Oxygen sensor. on top of exhaust manifold.
amazing ,get 30mpg.

issues: look for melted vacuum lines , at this year the first to melt is the MAP sensor on top center of fire wall in engine bay.

cheers

[Premium]

Thanks for the reply will check out a few things tonight. The car could most def. need a tune up. but i want to fix everything at the same time.

I think engine revs up to 2000 rpm then goes down to 1000.
The temperature meter on the dash doesn't go up so you're probably right about the ECT sensor..

[jtgh]

there are 2 ECT one is called ECT just for Computer, the other is just for dash gauge calld a Sender. the sender has 1 wire and the ECT has 2.

first find out if the engine heats up to full operation temperture , 180-200 Deg. F.
there are a number of way to do that ,
the quickest is to point an IR gun to the stat housing.
the other is to put an old fashioned thermomenter in to the RAD filler neck (cold) and then run engine unit the temperature stablizes and then take the reading.
some fluid might dripple out Rad neck but that's normal.
the shade tree way is to get engine hot, and then pop hood and feel the upper rad hose
if it too hot to keep hand on hose, its OK. (crude but effective)
if stat is stuck opon, missing or some XXXX PO put in a 160, the car will never run right.

after fixing all air leaks in the induction , there is an idle setting procedure.
but you could just fiddle the idle on the air horn.

idle is the most hard to set because so many things can mess it up.
16 things >>>click>>>racings

check out frame #5 here>>> fresh-air
this last link is a worst case , procedure, so dont do them all,
most are factory set and should never need touching.
Just the bleed, the fast idle dashpot and the IAC adj.screw.

that is the adjust idle , air screw bleed, has a rubber plug , pull it.

if your ignition timing is off , the idle will be off and adjusting it will be a waste time.
good idle needs: (short list)
1: hot engine with good compression
2: cam belt not slipped
3: igniton set to 8 deg BTDC ( place the freeze jumper per my page)
4: No air leaks.
5: Proper Air Fuel Ratio AFR.
(eg. CEL lamp out, you hear RPM drop at cold to hot transition , OXY swings around .45v center point, and ECU not stuck in Limphome mode , which kills idle function)

Idle the last thing to set , jointly with IGN timing. ( they interact)
after a full tune up.

[Premium]

Wow, lots of information again, thanks.
I didn't get to checking everything out but I notice yesterday that the Check Engine light doesn't come on with key ON. The other warning lights do come on so the previous owner could've removed the light bulb to hide a problem. i guess i will have to the open up this part of the dash to check the bulb.

[jtgh]

hellow black smoke: 8v.
you need that lite working.
it is very important.
it can tell you if something completely broken.

once working we can flash out some codes.

Not hard:
Engine good.
EFI good
car good.
bida boda boom, hahahaha

[Premium]

I checked all the light bulbs on the dash and they are all good.
2 light don't come on when I turn the key to the ON position:
the Check Engine and the Brake warning lights.

So it;s not the bulbs but the CEL doesn;t come on...

[Premium]

Still haven't gotten any further with the Vitara. Just been driving it as is, black smoke on start. The check engine light doesn't come on and i dont know how to fix this??

Also anyone have a picture or drawing of the vitara 1.6 8v engine so I can see where the thermostat, ECT sensor etc are suposed to be located?

Thanks!!

[jtgh]

click my sig link, see it there. then got to the sensor page and click find all my sensors.

your ECU is bad.
open lid and change that corner electrolytic capacitor for $1 , now Processor will stop crashing , over and over from all the noise. then CEL lamp will come on.
you car is in LIMPHOME Failsafe mode. rich and retared timing. and no idle control.
it can drift in to and out of sanity ,depending on temperature and alternator noise which is huge.
try reseating ECU plugs and the lamp cable plug at the back of the Speedo.
battery disconnected, at minus term.
reseat them in the hopes the connections will wipo and dirt away and make contact.

ok?

you are 100th bad ECU year , Ytd.
You get the Door prize. Its free advice. that is the price.
or my fix ecu page. easy fix it is.
My ECU is bad now what?
\
cheers

[modhanji]

Hello,

I have a suzuki vitara 1992, with a Baleno engine in it now and it has been working fine but lately i has some trouble with the Main Bigan and i had to replace them. Unfortunately the problem is still there after even putting new set of Bigen in the engine, the noise came up again so I am chaning the engine completely and putting a new one.

I wanted to get immediete help from the right person who knows if i can put the J20A - 2.0 Petrol engine in my 1992, Escudo, 5 Door.

Will the gear ratio match or I have to put the J20A with its own Transmission aswell?

Will the J20A fit on my old vitara chassis exactly or i have to get alterations?

Please help or can email me aswell modhanji@yahoo.com

Thanks.