Hello,
Da patient:
- 1991 Vitara MT, 2 door, G16a, 4wd.
- 242000km / 150 000 miles
- Plate in engine compartment.
- TYPE: ETA01V
- LAK625K17 (SWE, car has actually been sold in neighbor country FIN)
- No AC
I bought a Vitara as secondary / hobby car a few months back. History is some what fussy with the maintenance part, especially as the previous owner has only used it on hunting trips for last 5 years.. ie have not cared about small problems like engine running cold. Before him the car has been owned 10 years by some safari company and before that some years by another private owner. Maintenance records lost.
I started doing some maintenance as the car miss fired now and then at summer temps when idling normally at 800rpm. Back then the temp gauge was showing quite low, but I dont trust that bastard a lot.. mostly it seems to show if you have any coolant flow or not.
Due to very minor missfire I have changed:
- intake filter
- spark plugs
- checked resistance of plug cables
- checked the rotating thingy that gives sparks is ok (it has been changed in near future).
Also previous owner has changed timing belt + alternator as he had no idea how old the belt was. (Car accelerates ok. I drove it 135km/h (83mph) on highway, so I guess the belt has not skipped. Car was still accelerating but I did not want to push too much over speedlimit, any how about hit the factory promise).
On summer temps it was "hunting for idle" 3 minutes after cold start. First it ran about 2000rpm, then started hunting between 900-1500rpm and after doing that for 5 minutes or so it settled for 800rpm idle. (Outside temp was around 26C (79F)).
Now as its cold outside (5C (45F)) car lost idle.. its runs around 1500-1600rpm when "warm". So I replaced thermostat. I read the bulleting (TSB) about changed stat, ordered it with know car age (dealer could not check with VIN). Got the newer STAT and found out it to be new model, went back to shop to change it to the older style STAT without rubber o-ring, it got paper gasket etc, seemed to fit perfectly.
If I can trust the temp gauge at all, temps rose a few degrees. Normal idle is still lost, now between 1300-1600rpm. MPG got better (18MPG -> 30MPG, 62 miles test drive, 90 % of the time 50-60mph). New O2 sensor arrived, I changed it --> No difference.
I have read your fixit pages a bit. Mainly I am interested in following.
"8. The clutch fan is seized and and over cools the radiator at all times, it must free wheel, that fan ,when it is cold outside."
How well does it need to freewheel. If I give very hard push to the fan, it will rotate a few revolutions and stop. Ie there definitely is some friction there.
While driving if I demand max power the blower (heating on) instantly blows warmer air.. and when load goes down so goes the temp.
I did not get original suzuki STAT as there was none in the country, would need to wait. Don't remember who has made the STAT, but I do not think it matters, most of the spares seems to be different brand than what you got in USA. Would like to know if the fan clutch is to blame, before going to order the suzuki STAT.
After 20 miles trip (14 miles of highway, rest suburban traffic) the thermostat housing burns fingers about immediately. You can touch the rubber hose coming out of it for a some time, also it is rigid. Radiator top is very hot to touch, cant touch long. (Thats best I can do until I figure out IR gun +
So I think there are at least 2 issues on my car.
1) Temp regulation is not working, runs too cold.
- Most probably also causes idle being lost, as in summer it did get normal idle after warming up.
- Also on very light acceleration pressing at 2500rpm its easy to get the engine jumpy (it doesnt know whether to cut of fuel or feed it)
2) There is definitely something wrong with ECU sensor stuff. As between really cold engine and warmed up it hunts for idle.
- full cold start. RPM goes up to 3000, after a while comes to 2500.
- shortly after it hunts 900-1500
- (if you get it fully warm) 800rpm idle, if not like now in cold weather 1300-1600rpm idle depending on engine temp.
My immediate concern is to get the heat up, idle to < 1000rpm, as that's here the regulation for yearly inspection and its emission test. It must be taken at idle speeds.
Other stuff:
- coolant looks quite ok, its green and meter says it will freeze in -37C (-34-35F). (Bit less than my Auris hybrid's factory setup which can take -40C/-40F)
- I am sure that the car has not been running with only, except if there has been some emergency. Our climate is somewhat like Alaska.
"The 1.6L does not do not have this weird temperature effect (at pump housing) but if the ISC/IAC coolant path is blocked, Idle speeds can/will be stratospheric. 3000 RPM?"
^ Is there some easy way to open and check ISC/IAC path or is only way flushing.. ie if I drain the system I want to be sure its not blocked.
Thanks in advance. And very much thanks for making and gathering all that info in fixkick.. have been reading it on several weeks.
Sry for rally English..
Da patient:
- 1991 Vitara MT, 2 door, G16a, 4wd.
- 242000km / 150 000 miles
- Plate in engine compartment.
- TYPE: ETA01V
- LAK625K17 (SWE, car has actually been sold in neighbor country FIN)
- No AC
I bought a Vitara as secondary / hobby car a few months back. History is some what fussy with the maintenance part, especially as the previous owner has only used it on hunting trips for last 5 years.. ie have not cared about small problems like engine running cold. Before him the car has been owned 10 years by some safari company and before that some years by another private owner. Maintenance records lost.
I started doing some maintenance as the car miss fired now and then at summer temps when idling normally at 800rpm. Back then the temp gauge was showing quite low, but I dont trust that bastard a lot.. mostly it seems to show if you have any coolant flow or not.
Due to very minor missfire I have changed:
- intake filter
- spark plugs
- checked resistance of plug cables
- checked the rotating thingy that gives sparks is ok (it has been changed in near future).
Also previous owner has changed timing belt + alternator as he had no idea how old the belt was. (Car accelerates ok. I drove it 135km/h (83mph) on highway, so I guess the belt has not skipped. Car was still accelerating but I did not want to push too much over speedlimit, any how about hit the factory promise).
On summer temps it was "hunting for idle" 3 minutes after cold start. First it ran about 2000rpm, then started hunting between 900-1500rpm and after doing that for 5 minutes or so it settled for 800rpm idle. (Outside temp was around 26C (79F)).
Now as its cold outside (5C (45F)) car lost idle.. its runs around 1500-1600rpm when "warm". So I replaced thermostat. I read the bulleting (TSB) about changed stat, ordered it with know car age (dealer could not check with VIN). Got the newer STAT and found out it to be new model, went back to shop to change it to the older style STAT without rubber o-ring, it got paper gasket etc, seemed to fit perfectly.
If I can trust the temp gauge at all, temps rose a few degrees. Normal idle is still lost, now between 1300-1600rpm. MPG got better (18MPG -> 30MPG, 62 miles test drive, 90 % of the time 50-60mph). New O2 sensor arrived, I changed it --> No difference.
I have read your fixit pages a bit. Mainly I am interested in following.
"8. The clutch fan is seized and and over cools the radiator at all times, it must free wheel, that fan ,when it is cold outside."
How well does it need to freewheel. If I give very hard push to the fan, it will rotate a few revolutions and stop. Ie there definitely is some friction there.
While driving if I demand max power the blower (heating on) instantly blows warmer air.. and when load goes down so goes the temp.
I did not get original suzuki STAT as there was none in the country, would need to wait. Don't remember who has made the STAT, but I do not think it matters, most of the spares seems to be different brand than what you got in USA. Would like to know if the fan clutch is to blame, before going to order the suzuki STAT.
After 20 miles trip (14 miles of highway, rest suburban traffic) the thermostat housing burns fingers about immediately. You can touch the rubber hose coming out of it for a some time, also it is rigid. Radiator top is very hot to touch, cant touch long. (Thats best I can do until I figure out IR gun +
So I think there are at least 2 issues on my car.
1) Temp regulation is not working, runs too cold.
- Most probably also causes idle being lost, as in summer it did get normal idle after warming up.
- Also on very light acceleration pressing at 2500rpm its easy to get the engine jumpy (it doesnt know whether to cut of fuel or feed it)
2) There is definitely something wrong with ECU sensor stuff. As between really cold engine and warmed up it hunts for idle.
- full cold start. RPM goes up to 3000, after a while comes to 2500.
- shortly after it hunts 900-1500
- (if you get it fully warm) 800rpm idle, if not like now in cold weather 1300-1600rpm idle depending on engine temp.
My immediate concern is to get the heat up, idle to < 1000rpm, as that's here the regulation for yearly inspection and its emission test. It must be taken at idle speeds.
Other stuff:
- coolant looks quite ok, its green and meter says it will freeze in -37C (-34-35F). (Bit less than my Auris hybrid's factory setup which can take -40C/-40F)
- I am sure that the car has not been running with only, except if there has been some emergency. Our climate is somewhat like Alaska.
"The 1.6L does not do not have this weird temperature effect (at pump housing) but if the ISC/IAC coolant path is blocked, Idle speeds can/will be stratospheric. 3000 RPM?"
^ Is there some easy way to open and check ISC/IAC path or is only way flushing.. ie if I drain the system I want to be sure its not blocked.
Thanks in advance. And very much thanks for making and gathering all that info in fixkick.. have been reading it on several weeks.
Sry for rally English..