[arson14]

Hi complete noob here, just bought a 97 swb vitara with a j20. owner was up front that it needed some engine work for rego but hopefully my mechanic can have it sorted and on the road before long. ill be trawling the forum posts to see if any of my questions have been asked and answered in the past. first up after its running is to service all fluids and parts I can then look at a lift, front bar and roof racks.

[Gwagensteve]

What engine work does it need?

[arson14]

at the moment I'm aware it has a leaking head gasket... i think, as there is coolant in the oil and white smoke out the exhaust. beyond that and a battery and a full service think this it. looking at having the head done and valves replaced while its apart.

[fordem]

Why replace the valves, are they bent or burnt? Do you mean replacing the valve seals or getting a valve job done?

[Gwagensteve]

I’d be getting a compression and leak down test done before I spent money on that J20. Replacement engines are pretty cheap, machine work and labour isn’t. It’s also worth trying to work out why the gasket went in the first place. If the rings/bores aren’t in good nick the repair cost is going to get out of hand.

It’s easy to spend far more than the car is worth just to get back to a running vehicle, which is a special sort of disheartening when you’d much rather be spending that money on making the car better at what you want it to be good at.

[arson14]

Gwagensteve wrote:

I’d be getting a compression and leak down test done before I spent money on that J20. Replacement engines are pretty cheap, machine work and labour isn’t. It’s also worth trying to work out why the gasket went in the first place. If the rings/bores aren’t in good nick the repair cost is going to get out of hand.

It’s easy to spend far more than the car is worth just to get back to a running vehicle, which is a special sort of disheartening when you’d much rather be spending that money on making the car better at what you want it to be good at.

mechanic has reported that there is no sign of coolant in the cylinders or on the pistons? might have dodged a bullet or the head gasket kit in a bottle has bought me time? either way gonna be a much cheaper bill this time so its in getting a full service and every fluid changed along with filters. The vitara is dirty and hasn't had much love/money for a while, it seems to have a miss down low in the rev range so might have to get that looked at if its still there when I get it back. my main goal is to get it running safely and getting it registered. From there ill go through what I can and start enjoying it. seems I cant find much in the way of winch bars being that I have an sv420 so ill have to talk to a local place to see what can be made.

[arson14]

well that was short lived, I have a check engine light come on when I keep constant speed over 80. I found the code list and instructions on another thread (how good is the search function on a forum?) and will give it a crack this weekend. Am preparing to need to change the O2 sensor as I don't know the history of the car it cant hurt either way. I will try to get the EGR off to clean it out and inspect the pcv while I'm at it, might need a coil as its got the hesitation down low. got about 225 ks to the fuel gauge being on the half way marker might fill up on the way home and work out what the economy is doing.

[Gwagensteve]

CE light coming on after a period of time at 80km/h is most likely 02 sensor.

It feels a bit like you're coming at this with a scattergun approach. Step back and assess before you throw more money at this engine.

You need to resolve conclusively if you have done the head gasket or not, or whether it's a different issue such as a cracked head. Pressure testing the cooling system will assist in this diagnosis. How much coolant is the engine using? How did you determine there was coolant in the oil? was the oil level going up? can you see a chocolate milkshake through the oil fill neck? If you're getting white smoke out the exhaust that's water in the cylinders, but of water is leaking into the cylinders on the inlet stroke (when there's vacuum in the cylinder) then you'd expect 120+psi of compression to be pushing combustion gas into the cooling system, so you'll likely have overheating, the coolant will smell of petrol/combustion, and you'll be pressurising the cooling system. If you're getting coolant in the oil as well, that's a pretty catastrophic failure, and easily the source of your miss.

A compression and leak down test will highlight whether the engine is worn and might therefore not be worth investing in. It will also tell you if there's a valve sealing issue, the only reason I can think to go through the valve train.

Replacing coils, cleaning and removing EGR ect is all potentially just labour and money for the sake of it if there are bigger problems with the engine.

"head gasket in a can" isn't a nice thing to do to an engine, you'll now have nasty gunk all through the cooling system. It also can't stop combustion pressure, only seal up a small water leak.

[Gwagensteve]

Oh, just in the event I've caused confusion - significant water in a cylinder might well cause a miss, not coolant in the oil.

[arson14]

The coolant was flushed when i had id serviced and mechanic did the comp and leak down test found no issues with it, as for the CEL seems a prior owner decided to attach the front coil... that is snapped half way down the tube ....with a tech screw to the rocker cover so that will be my first port of call as for the head gasket issue i was advised off the kid i bought it from that it was bad but now not too sure? i have checked the oil and the coolant and can't see any signs of contamination even with fresh oil and coolant it would be evident after a few ks i would think? will chase down a replacement rocker cover and new coil this weekend and report back once i take the rocker off.