New here but I've owned a few Suzuki's over the years. I just picked up a 95 Sidekick for winter use. Automatic w/165k miles. I took it to a guy/auto repair place I've worked with in the past for an inspection and he gave me a gave a little rundown of things he recommends taking care of on it.
- get a new timing belt (says the one that's on it is old and cracking)
- replace water pump (corroded and won't charge labor since it's off with the timing belt replacement anyway)
- Tune-up
The car does leak a very small amount of oil and puffs some blue smoke on startup/take offs...I told him to run a compression check, but he didn't come back to me with any issues on that - he thinks it's probably valve seals and didn't seem concerned at all about it being a problem...also said it would be a pricey repair if I pursued it.
I'm figuring I can do the tune-up myself (I hope). Do any of you have any sites or links to recommend for any specialized info I would need to know about a 1995 Sidekick specifically in regards to distributor, rotor, etc...?
Also - it there anything else anyone would recommend I do while I'm at it - or have my mechanic look into while he's doing the timing belt/pump repair?
let me guess, a 1995 sidekick with 1.6Liter, 16 valve ? engine and 4 speed automatic.
3 speed or 4 speed? ( 4sp has over drive, nice for highway MPG)
the belt is manditory , if it snaps the engine will smash pistons against the valves.
nasty deal that is. ( you are lucky , he found that )
i'd pop in a new IAT,ECT and oxysensor. ( there will be short pay back in mpg)
and a 195 deg. thermostat. < mpg upper STANT makes a nice one.
Intake air temp sensor $45 at rock auto dot com
Engine coolant sensor 2 wire. same price.
Oxygen sensor every 50k ($50 is cheap on fleebay, Bosch pn is easy to get)
those are the low prices, more at locals.
others:
filters, air and fuel.
check condition of vac hoses.
get the best quality water pump you can , most of the rebuilts and china import pumps are crap. ( just got burned 3 times this last year on pumps)
recommend real SUZUKI pump, and no rebuilds (tell him that exactly)
Get a Top brand belt, not a no name china belt, good ,like Gates, or Beck.
it is sad when you remove a perfectly good OEM pump (not leaking) and swap in some
junk made pump. water pumps can be a real pain.
blue puff , is ok. (during compression braking or shift points)
black is bad.
let me guess, a 1995 sidekick with 1.6Liter, 16 valve ? engine and 4 speed automatic.
Yup.
3 speed or 4 speed? ( 4sp has over drive, nice for highway MPG)
4spd
i'd pop in a new IAT,ECT and oxysensor. ( there will be short pay back in mpg)
and a 195 deg. thermostat. < mpg upper STANT makes a nice one.
Intake air temp sensor $45 at rock auto dot com
Engine coolant sensor 2 wire. same price.
Oxygen sensor every 50k ($50 is cheap on fleebay, Bosch pn is easy to get)
those are the low prices, more at locals.
others:
filters, air and fuel.
check condition of vac hoses.
Thanks! Are these sensors pretty simple to replace? I know I've done a thermostat before...If the sensors and thermo are okay...does replacing them all just basically gain me better gas mileage?
get the best quality water pump you can , most of the rebuilts and china import pumps are crap. ( just got burned 3 times this last year on pumps)
recommend real SUZUKI pump, and no rebuilds (tell him that exactly)
Get a Top brand belt, not a no name china belt, good ,like Gates, or Beck.
it is sad when you remove a perfectly good OEM pump (not leaking) and swap in some
junk made pump. water pumps can be a real pain.
Good info - thanks.
blue puff , is ok. (during compression braking or shift points)
black is bad.
Blue is what I got...so hopefully all is well. My father was telling me of some kind of liquid additive that you can run through the engine that's supposed to seal up loose or old seals? Are those any good?
yes, there is a chemical that claims to do that. but it is hard to find.
I suppose many lawsuits scared them off. ( common)
valve seal treatment..
if seal is cracked all the softening in the world will not help.
it can collide with the oil chemistry , or the oil additive package (diff. in each oil)
I know of no treatment that is safe or all oils. how could there be.
switch to 10w-40 oil or heavier in the summer.
seals can be changed without removing the head .
any pro knows how to do it. (shop air is all it takes)
some say if its strong enough to soften the valve seals it might harm the
main seals, and that would be bad.
unless those puff, of blue smoke foul the plugs , they want hurt MPG.
may here have puff cars.
LOL
Ha! I suppose...anything w/high miles over 12-14 yrs old has the potential to turn into a blue puffer.
Thanks jtgh! You're a fountain of knowledge. Are these sensors pretty simple to replace? I know I've done a thermostat before...If the sensors and thermo seem to be okay...does replacing them all just basically gain me better gas mileage?
if they look origional, they are bad.
at somewhere past 10years they drop in value,
if your is 16v ,
best mileage can be optained, with , assuming car is tuned up first. (ignition parts and filters)
1st , ECT < likes to drift high in ohms with age , which says Im colder and ecu throws exctra gas for colder.
2nd, OXY , when engine is running perfect ,this sensor comes into PLAY and gets that last 10% better MPG.
The IAT sensor is less important on any 16v, but can help a little. Id skip it , and see what you can do.
the are very easy.
the OXY is easy , just un screw it like a spark plug (there is a cheap tool for it at harborfeight.com and brick store.
the ECt screws in to the water jacket, .
I just keep the cap on RAD and swap it fast , use teflon tape on new sensor.
let a little green dribble out, or drain rad 1/3 then change out.
it just screws in , again, like a spark plug, it has tapered pipe thread so do not over torque it. treat it like an oil sender.
is yours a 16valve ? engine , the horizontal Throttle body. (looks like sided draft carbi)?
cheers.
with the new belt and tune up , tell out it runs hot and cold and under load.
then work from there.
Yes it's a 16v. Friend owned it - she just traded up to a 01 Tracker, so I suggested she sell her old zuk to me at a discount if I take care of the repairs. I'll use it come this winter as my little 07 Honda Fit has a bit of difficulty getting around in snow....it works...just not like a 4x4. I had an old 92 Sidekick a few years ago and loved it, but the computer died on on me and I donated the truck rather than repair it. Somebody fixed it up and I see them running around with it still - burns me everytime I think of it. So, I'm hoping this 95 could be a little redemption.
hello 16v.
sorry to hear about 92, we could have fixed that. but ... 95 is better , more potential
the 95 , if it has good compression can be fixed and made to run great.
with little money.
yes, lets tune it up.
put in new rotor cap, wires and plugs( I use bosch , easy to get and fair price) .
just mark old dizzy cap with 1 to 4 with tape. and cap to dizzy base wth vert. line .
some caps fit on 2 ways, not good that. or go all NGK, .
set gaps, on plugs, do not over torque plugs ,as head is aluminum. 21-ft.is max would stay below that. I set the to just compress the new gasket under tip.
on 16v, would add new ECT, and not look back . it is a major economy divice.
on yours there are 2 ECT's ,one for gauge, (sender with 1 wire) and the ECT 2 wires.
just be sure when you buy one, to demand 16v part. ( ignore A/C ECT on other side)
many here report the parts houses get stupid about that. 8v and 16v.
look for MPI on the titles.!
rockauto has them for more, tx40 (sidekick) and TX40T (t= tracker)
for the life of me cant figure the need for T tracker version. (may be california only?)
the tx40 plain , works perfect and i tested it against the factory manual data points.
it is exactly perfect.
some times these thermistors open when hot and that causes a huge waste of fuel.
very bad that is. and flooding... big time.
My mechanic just called and said when he pulled off the radiator, fins and parts of it were falling apart/has to be replaced. I get this sinking feeling like I'm opening a rats nest of things that will need to be replaced....gonna end up costing me more than it's value...kinda the reason I got rid of the '92 before. Sucks.
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95 Sidekick Tune-up/link request/advice
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