[karlmarkiewicz]

Hello, i have a 1995 LWB Suzuki Vitara, V6 2L Automatic.
At the moment I am getting 250 – 270km to a 70L tank (really about 60L because I don’t drain it till it turns off). This is roughly 22L/100km and after reading reviews, they said it should be about 12L/100km. I understand that number is probably when it is new, but still, im sure it shouldn’t be as high as mine?

Is this fuel consumption normal for a car of this age? If not, what could I do to fix the fuel consumption?

Below is a list of part I have swapped out in attempt to improve the fuel economy. ALL PARTS where changed within a week of buying the car, and I bought the car 2 months ago:
- Throttle Body Cleaned
- Oil changed including new oil filter
- New Air Filter
- New Fuel Filter
- 6 Brand new spark plugs
- That is it I think…
Thank you.

[atari4x4]

manual or auto?

pulled the error codes?

i'd be looking at the o2 sensors & are you accounting for the larger rolling diameter of non standard wheels?

[karlmarkiewicz]

atari4x4 wrote:

manual or auto?

pulled the error codes?

i'd be looking at the o2 sensors & are you accounting for the larger rolling diameter of non standard wheels?

It's an Auto. I don't know what error codes are?

Yeah i was thinking of replacing the O2 sensors, but they are $150 each, which is a bit exy

[atari4x4]

what's going to work out cheaper... burning fuel @ 22l/100kms or a pair of o2 sensors, should be able to pick them up for around $100 each off ebay.. check 4wd products store out

[karlmarkiewicz]

atari4x4 wrote:

what's going to work out cheaper... burning fuel @ 22l/100kms or a pair of o2 sensors, should be able to pick them up for around $100 each off ebay.. check 4wd products store out

I suppose i would just like to know whether they are going to make a significant difference or not.

I had a skim through those images, it seems as if i need a special tool, is this right?

[atari4x4]

no you can do it with a paper clip, last section of the first image walks you through the process.

if it comes up with an error for the o2 sensors, replace them.

one day when i finally start giving a shit again, i might put together a good tech how to on pulling error codes... but this show's the basics.

[karlmarkiewicz]

atari4x4 wrote:

no you can do it with a paper clip, last section of the first image walks you through the process.

Oh Awesome! I will try it when i finish work tonight, and let you know how i go.

Thanks for that.

[Ausuki]

what about the throttle position sensor or the MAF?

[fordem]

It'll usually run pig rich with a failed MAF, you'll be able to smell the fuel in the exhaust

[DarkHorse]

MAF would come up on codes wouldn't it? Or only if it's completely cactus?

Long shot I know, but I had a caliper dragging on mine which was obviously stunting power and economy...

[atari4x4]

karlmarkiewicz wrote:

atari4x4 wrote:

no you can do it with a paper clip, last section of the first image walks you through the process.

Oh Awesome! I will try it when i finish work tonight, and let you know how i go.

Thanks for that.

how did you get on with this??

[Virt]

You can get cheap O2 sensors, almost all sensors I've seen on zooks are the same thread and diameter, I chucked a universal 4-wire sensor in my g16b with no problems, think I paid 40 or 50 for it shipped off eBay.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/OXYGEN-SENSO ... e9a&_uhb=1

[karlmarkiewicz]

fordem wrote:

It'll usually run pig rich with a failed MAF, you'll be able to smell the fuel in the exhaust

It's not quite the smell of fuel, BUT i do always smell burning oil (i think that is what it is) whenever i go driving. The more i drive and the more i go high revs the stronger the smell. ALSO, sometimes there is a very tiny amount of smoke coming from the engine, which seems likely to be related to the burning oil. NOT SURE, if this is related to the fuel consumption, but i thought i would just mention it... I might have to post another thread later on about it XD

atari4x4 wrote:

how did you get on with this??

Soo SORRY! I have been super busy so i didn't get the chance to check them out. I will do it this afternoon i promise, hopefully the rain settles down. Either way, i should get back to you tonight

Virt wrote:

You can get cheap O2 sensors, almost all sensors I've seen on zooks are the same thread and diameter, I chucked a universal 4-wire sensor in my g16b with no problems, think I paid 40 or 50 for it shipped off eBay.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/OXYGEN-SENSO ... e9a&_uhb=1

Wow, repco is a rip off then! That is alot cheaper. Thanks for that, might come in handy.

Thanks heaps everyone.

[atari4x4]

you can get plug & play o2 sensors for about the same price off ebay, check out 4wd products. the universal ones require a bit of a fiddly adaptor to join them in with the original wiring.

[karlmarkiewicz]

atari4x4 wrote:

you can get plug & play o2 sensors for about the same price off ebay, check out 4wd products. the universal ones require a bit of a fiddly adaptor to join them in with the original wiring.

Oh awesome! I'm just about to start diagnosing it so we will.soon know whether I actually need one
Thanks

[karlmarkiewicz]

One question about the diagnostics. My car has two plugs each plug has its own little rubber cover. Although only one plug looks like the one in your video atari. Which one do I do it to? I have only done it to the one that looks like yours and I got the following pattern: blink"pause"blink blink. I couldn't find what that pattern means according to the images you sent me. The way I read it, it seems like.my error.code is 12 but i can't find 12 in the tables. Would you know what it is?
Thankd

[Virt]

12 is usually normal conditions, IE. no errors.
you will usually get a 12 if your check engine light never comes on.

If this is different in Vitaras I apologise but should be the same in nearly all zook ECUs.

[atari4x4]

2 plugs you say, one might be for the auto TCM.

i just checked my auto SV620 & there is only 1 plug by the airbox, it's a 6 pin plug & has 2 blue, 2 purple, 1 black, 1 white wires.

have you disconnected the battery recently as that will clear the codes & yeah from memory 12 means it's all clear.

[karlmarkiewicz]

Virt wrote:

12 is usually normal conditions, IE. no errors.
you will usually get a 12 if your check engine light never comes on.

Okay, thanks for that.

atari4x4 wrote:

2 plugs you say, one might be for the auto TCM.

i just checked my auto SV620 & there is only 1 plug by the airbox, it's a 6 pin plug & has 2 blue, 2 purple, 1 black, 1 white wires.

have you disconnected the battery recently as that will clear the codes & yeah from memory 12 means it's all clear.

I took some photos of the plugs for a better description (See below). But basically i have that same plug as you do with 6 pins from it, but i also have a BLACK plug with 2 wire coming from it.





The video below is a video of the error code i am getting. TELL ME if the pictures or video are not viewable.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPEne_VV ... e=youtu.be
or
http://youtu.be/UPEne_VVpuI

[atari4x4]

weird, never seen the black plug in my travels, the clear/yellow is the one you want... i'm guessing the other one is for the auto, but it's strange mine doesn't have one being an auto too?

disconnect your battery for a few minutes & press the brake a few times to drain any residual current, this will clear the logged codes & give you a fresh base to start from.

on another note, what sort of fuel are you using?

mine runs like a bag of dicks on BP 98ron, has a weird hesitation/miss on start up when cold but with a tank full of Caltex 98 it won't do it & I'll get 50kms+ more out of the tank.

[karlmarkiewicz]

atari4x4 wrote:

weird, never seen the black plug in my travels, the clear/yellow is the one you want... i'm guessing the other one is for the auto, but it's strange mine doesn't have one being an auto too?

That is very weird :/ Possible something aftermarket the previous own added? I dunno. It's probably unimportant.

atari4x4 wrote:

disconnect your battery for a few minutes & press the brake a few times to drain any residual current, this will clear the logged codes & give you a fresh base to start from.

I disconnected the battery (Ground wire) before an after doing the test (the one you see in the video), but did not press on the brakes, i will try that another time.

atari4x4 wrote:

on another note, what sort of fuel are you using?

I have only ever used 91 Unleaded, but i go to different fuel stations all the time, (e.g. BP, 7 Eleven, Caltex and Coles are the main ones). I have never used E10 because apparently it's shit, and haven;t used 98 because it's really expensive.

[atari4x4]

ahhh by disconnecting the battery before hand you've cleared any logged codes, hence it giving you a 12 (all clear).... give it a week or two & pull the codes.

you are living up to the reputation of suzuki owners being tight asses, put a tank of 98 in it & see how it goes.

[karlmarkiewicz]

atari4x4 wrote:

ahhh by disconnecting the battery before hand you've cleared any logged codes, hence it giving you a 12 (all clear).... give it a week or two & pull the codes.

Ahh okay, well yeah, i have been taking my battery on and off for about a week now trying to find a parasitic drain (i think it is my amplifier), so i will try again after not taking it out for a while. Thanks for that.

atari4x4 wrote:

you are living up to the reputation of suzuki owners being tight asses, put a tank of 98 in it & see how it goes.

Hahahaha, yeah, okay. I will fill it totally up with 98 and see how it goes. Thanks.

[Virt]

You can check your error code as soon as the check engine light comes on, even while your car is still running.

[karlmarkiewicz]

Virt wrote:

You can check your error code as soon as the check engine light comes on, even while your car is still running.

Oh okay. How do you do that? Just start the car and look at what the engine light does?

[Virt]

karlmarkiewicz wrote:

Virt wrote:

You can check your error code as soon as the check engine light comes on, even while your car is still running.

Oh okay. How do you do that? Just start the car and look at what the engine light does?

Yes, same thing as Atari has mentioned, by shorting the diagnostic connector pins, I was just saying you can do it with he car running as well.

[atari4x4]

Virt wrote:

karlmarkiewicz wrote:

Virt wrote:

You can check your error code as soon as the check engine light comes on, even while your car is still running.

Oh okay. How do you do that? Just start the car and look at what the engine light does?

Yes, same thing as Atari has mentioned, by shorting the diagnostic connector pins, I was just saying you can do it with he car running as well.

personally i wouldn't do it, you'd think the FSM would mention it if it was the thing to do?

[Virt]

atari4x4 wrote:

Virt wrote:

karlmarkiewicz wrote:

Virt wrote:

You can check your error code as soon as the check engine light comes on, even while your car is still running.

Oh okay. How do you do that? Just start the car and look at what the engine light does?

Yes, same thing as Atari has mentioned, by shorting the diagnostic connector pins, I was just saying you can do it with he car running as well.

personally i wouldn't do it, you'd think the FSM would mention it if it was the thing to do?

I can guarantee it wont cause any problems, have done it many times on different models, including Vits.
The reason I mentioned this option is because some faults clear as soon as you turn the ignition off, leaving you unable to recover the code.

[karlmarkiewicz]

Alright Guys, i think I have found something.

I followed what Atari said and I just drove my car normally without removing the battery for about a week, just to see if any more error codes came up... And one did!
I am currently at work so it is a bit difficult for me to upload the video of the error code, but this is the one and only code pattern i am getting: blink *pause* blink-blink-blink

Now, the way i understood the manual that Atari posted, this error code pattern would equal a code 13. Which, i think, is a HO2S problem (see the attached image for the part of the table i read).



Could you guys please confirm this error code with me, and maybe tell me what parts need to be replaced? I will post video when i get home.

Thank you so much!!

[karlmarkiewicz]

atari4x4 wrote:

put a tank of 98 in it & see how it goes.

On a side note, I tried 98 fuel. Although i did a mix of Urban, Highway and beach driving i am pretty sure 98 wasn't a huge difference. Definitely not saving $15 when compared to 91 ($15 is the price difference between the two on a Full tank).