1.6 16v cracking ?

[Rotazuk]

Hi
I have been told that the 16v 1.6 vitara are prone to cracking the head and block ( reasons differ ) . Anyway has anyone see them cracked , either the head or block ?

People say to look at the block to see if its cracked so I assume its vissible from the outside ?

I have just stripped a 1.6 and can't see anything on either the head or block , yet the guy I got it off thought he cracked the head .
Bolts were tight at the front but the ones around the rear cyl were not , not finger lose but not tight either . Just wondered if its ok and worth getting the head pressure tested before I biff it .

Cheers

Chris

[joeblow]

ok....the vitara 16 valve engine does not suffer from too many head cracks.if it does than the crack will follow the cam journals.i would get it pressure tested.the blocks on the vitaras can crack on the last welch plug near the starter motor,but out of all the cars i have dealt with i have only seen two and both were repairable.the swift 16 valve head is another story.every local one i have seen has been cracked.a good repairer should be able to fix it.if they stress relieve it properly it should not happen again.if anyone in melb has a crack[stop laughing.....i mean in you cylinder head] e-mail me and i will put you on to an expert repairer.

[Damo]

if anyone in melb has a crack e-mail me and i will put you on to an expert repairer.

I bet this bloke sees a lot of plumbers

Seriously though, do you have any idea what causes this cracking? Is it misuse or lack of maintenance, or something like a design or production issue?

[Rotazuk]

The popular theory here on the 16 valves is they have a twin pipe exhaust , ie one pipe inside the other just after the manifold . As they heat up and cool down at different rates the inner tube gets crushed Restricting the flow and causing heat build up etc and loss of power . I had some good pic somewhere of one will see if I can find them .

[Damo]

The popular theory here on the 16 valves is they have a twin pipe exhaust , ie one pipe inside the other just after the manifold . As they heat up and cool down at different rates the inner tube gets crushed Restricting the flow and causing heat build up etc and loss of power . I had some good pic somewhere of one will see if I can find them .

If that's the case then you should be safe if you run extractors?

[Rotazuk]

Yep , most of the import 5 door vitara' s are now sporting extractors . My old mans came with a new head and extractors .