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.

cheers

 

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.

 

Great - thanks jtgh!

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.

torque-all

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.!



cheap price ! wow.
Amazon.com: Standard Ignition TX40 Temperature sensor: Automotive

my car has this same part. Truetek TX40

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.

same part used in many toyotas. Lexux.
here:
Standard Engine Management

type tx40 in box

ok , that ought to get you started.

cheers.

 

that t-belts on this 4 cycl. is very easy to do.
unlike FWD cars.

 

Thanks again, jtgh. Good info.

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.

 

MPG, desiring Folks)
no, the,ECU can run perfect because it looks at the ECT sensor. (full time)

this sensor tells the ECU exactly what temperature the engine is operating at
and in fact moves the AFR (air fuel ratios) to a better place in the AFR MAPS and the engine
becomes more efficient. (the beauty of EFI ). EFI = electronic Fuel Injection.
or EMS ,engine managment systems.

To anwer other questioins here.
No, my 91 dont smoke. ever.
yes the sensors are easy to change.
if you can replace a spark plug then you can change any sensor.
see my first link on my sig page for most torques.

IAT, unscrew, put new one in (8v IAT is very important unlike 16v ; Night and day)
ECT, unscrew (coolant drips out a bit ,keep rad cap attached and cold engine)
unscrew it , screw in new one. It is a tapered pipe thread so dont torque it to 100ft lbs.
only like 10 max. (same for spark plugs,never over tighten them ,ever,ever,ever.)

on the very old early kicks these 2 sensors drift , and most drift low with age.
this waste huge amounts of fuel and if it gets too bad the O2 sensor cant compensate.
Bingo driving in Open loop mode and 20mpg. sux.

next the 02, never remove one with out the special tool. < my best advice.

i spray wd40, or the like, on it while still warm not red hot. then when it cools down
it sucks some in (free vacuum at the threads) and then apply the special tool
Harbor freight has one or like $3 , every shop needs one. IMHO.

then thread the leads thru the special tool and then start to get the O2 removed.
do not force it or go too high in CCW troque. maybe 50 ft/bls or so.
put more wd40.or heat it with a trouch and let it cool with wd40.
it WILL come off.
now the new one (see my o2 page) put in the new $50 sensor (oem style is best from bosch) it is special antisieze lube in the box , USE it.
others have the antisieze already applied.
replace the 02 every 100k. for max mpg.

02 = Lambda = Oxysensor = EGO ,,etc. ,or Oxygen sensor.

this above is my 100k + or 15year advanced tune up.

the total cost is $100 (all)

Hint:never work on any ALumnum engine unless you use the torque tables.

 

lecrack,
where in WI are you?
I'll be going to MKE for Thanksgiving.
I'm not sure what condition (or if it will fit) the rad
in the boneyards '97 Tracker is in, but I could pull it
for you.

 

In case anyone is looking at replacing IAT/ACT, make sure one exists first! The '93 Sidekicks (16v model) sold in Canada don't have them. Anyone want to buy a new unused/unopened unit?

 

some 93 and 92 , dont have one on 16v only.
it is only for very very fine trim of data from the mAF. I would not change it ,unless
it was way off valve. (open or shorted)
or reading way off scale by my chart here.

temp-sensors

IAT , list .16v only.
canada, e28 , 94 and 95 only present (no on 92 or 93)
usa calif. 93 only.
usa fed48, same as canada

that is confusing ,no ?