Outer Limits 4x4 Board

I recently picked up a 93 LWB Vitara for the wife. Seems to go alright, and was happy to get 517km from 43L for the first fill. Much better than what my troopy gets! Amazed at how different they are to drive than the troopy also - almost ready to sell the troopy and buy myself one now!

I noticed a couple of issues on the drive home that I didn't pick up during my pre-purchase inspection.

First, there's a noticeable whine coming from what I think is the rear diff. It was hard to pinpoint, but there's a small chance it may be coming from the gearbox, but I don't think so. It starts at about 70kph, in third gear, and continues up to top-speed, but only when the accelerator is pressed. Any ideas what this might be, and the ballpark cost to fix?

Secondly, the dash has a bit of a rattle to it. The left side is firm, but the further to the right you go, the worse it seems to get. At worst, it seems to shake up and down about 5mm. It's not critical, but I wondered if you've seen this before, and how I go about inspecting the screws to see if they need tightening. I've tightened all the ones I can see, and replaced one that was missing, but the rattle still remains.

Any info would be greatly appreciated. And apologies in advance for the numerous posts you'll probably all be bombarded with in the future!

its common for sierras and vits to have a gearbox whine in main bearing. no need to fix as it last like this for years without a worry if it is that. never seen the dash like that, a bit hard to tell without looking. im guessing ita a manual, my auto gets about 100km less per tank, bloody thirst autos.

ryangus wrote:I recently picked up a 93 LWB Vitara for the wife. Seems to go alright, and was happy to get 517km from 43L for the first fill. Much better than what my troopy gets! Amazed at how different they are to drive than the troopy also - almost ready to sell the troopy and buy myself one now!

I noticed a couple of issues on the drive home that I didn't pick up during my pre-purchase inspection.

First, there's a noticeable whine coming from what I think is the rear diff. It was hard to pinpoint, but there's a small chance it may be coming from the gearbox, but I don't think so. It starts at about 70kph, in third gear, and continues up to top-speed, but only when the accelerator is pressed. Any ideas what this might be, and the ballpark cost to fix?

Secondly, the dash has a bit of a rattle to it. The left side is firm, but the further to the right you go, the worse it seems to get. At worst, it seems to shake up and down about 5mm. It's not critical, but I wondered if you've seen this before, and how I go about inspecting the screws to see if they need tightening. I've tightened all the ones I can see, and replaced one that was missing, but the rattle still remains.

Any info would be greatly appreciated. And apologies in advance for the numerous posts you'll probably all be bombarded with in the future!

my old vit dash used to shake up'n down on the hwy as well but worse than that but I never botherd with it it never worried me

CONGRATS! another vitara owner =D

my vitara dash just cant seem to sit still it rattles like a coal train lol

Hey Ryan,

Congrats on the new truck , Yea as stated already dont worry about the gearbox to much as they are a noisy thing anyway. As for the dash, it will just be a few screws in the lower part of the dash that hold the plastics to the support bar, grab a large phillips and start looking, easy fix

Toecutta wrote:Hey Ryan,

Congrats on the new truck , Yea as stated already dont worry about the gearbox to much as they are a noisy thing anyway. As for the dash, it will just be a few screws in the lower part of the dash that hold the plastics to the support bar, grab a large phillips and start looking, easy fix

The whine is ok at low speeds, but gets a bit annoying after a while on the road. I'll check the diff oil also when I get a chance.

Did you sell the JLX yet?

ryangus wrote:

Toecutta wrote:Hey Ryan,

Congrats on the new truck , Yea as stated already dont worry about the gearbox to much as they are a noisy thing anyway. As for the dash, it will just be a few screws in the lower part of the dash that hold the plastics to the support bar, grab a large phillips and start looking, easy fix

The whine is ok at low speeds, but gets a bit annoying after a while on the road. I'll check the diff oil also when I get a chance.

Did you sell the JLX yet?

yeah good idea to change oil with a quality oil. if its maunal use penrite transaxle 75 which is semi sinthitic or slighty cheaper castrol vmx 80 which is mineral based. u can add a addative in the also if u want, not sure which one but they are out there.

Normal whine from gearbox, diff, tailshaft, should here mine I put some high density foam in the console to block some of the noise.

gearbox whines, thrustbearing whines, diff whiles but no problems, turn your radio up louder, the whines will last for years and probably never fail...

dash? all the vits i have seen or been in including mine shakes quite a bit,
check the screws which are on the steel mounts to the body, mine were loose and had a few missing... fixed the rattle 99%

otherwise most reliable vehicle i have ever owned.. 350000 km never let me down

yeah mine had a loose dash when i got, ended up being that one of the threads were stripped, might be a good thing to look for

Well done on the purchase mate, my vitara is almost at 400,000kms and its still going strong!

Don't worry about the whines as everyone else has said, the gearboxes hardly ever fail but they are noisy. Mine sounds like a steam train in 5th, probably due to the fact i have no gear boot there.

Dash rattles are fairly normal, I fixed it by installing a sub and turning the volume up. Works awesome.

Hi Ryangus
I supprised by all the answers because it confirms what mine is like at 210000 kms. Whine isn't that bad though.

The rattle for dash . There are screws along the top of the dash where it meets the windscreen . They are under little plastic covers the size of your thumb nail. Use a flat screw driver to remove these and you will find that by tightening those screws the rattle will be gone . Took me a month before it drove me nuts.
I still haven't done anything about the diff yet as I thought later if i decide to put a locker in that this would be the time to do something.

The stereo is great for getting rid of the noises.

The screws in the bottom of my dash fall out every now and then.

danssurf82 wrote:gearbox whines, thrustbearing whines, diff whiles but no problems, turn your radio up louder, the whines will last for years and probably never fail...

dash? all the vits i have seen or been in including mine shakes quite a bit,
check the screws which are on the steel mounts to the body, mine were loose and had a few missing... fixed the rattle 99%

otherwise most reliable vehicle i have ever owned.. 350000 km never let me down

Love how many klms a coulpe of you have done in your Vit's

fe11xx wrote:Well done on the purchase mate, my vitara is almost at 400,000kms and its still going strong!

Don't worry about the whines as everyone else has said, the gearboxes hardly ever fail but they are noisy. Mine sounds like a steam train in 5th, probably due to the fact i have no gear boot there.

Dash rattles are fairly normal, I fixed it by installing a sub and turning the volume up. Works awesome.

ryangus wrote:

Toecutta wrote:Hey Ryan,

Congrats on the new truck , Yea as stated already dont worry about the gearbox to much as they are a noisy thing anyway. As for the dash, it will just be a few screws in the lower part of the dash that hold the plastics to the support bar, grab a large phillips and start looking, easy fix

The whine is ok at low speeds, but gets a bit annoying after a while on the road. I'll check the diff oil also when I get a chance.

Did you sell the JLX yet?

Like everyone has said Ryan turn up the radio

The JLX might be gone tomorrow, its one in a million, its got a quite gearbox and no dash rattle

If it does not sell I will give you first crack if you like

Toecutta wrote:The JLX might be gone tomorrow, its one in a million, its got a quite gearbox and no dash rattle

If it does not sell I will give you first crack if you like

Sweet - mind you, the wife said I can't buy another Vit until I sell my troopy :(

Wanna swap?!

suzukiboy wrote:Love how many klms a coulpe of you have done in your Vit's

fe11xx wrote:Well done on the purchase mate, my vitara is almost at 400,000kms and its still going strong!

Don't worry about the whines as everyone else has said, the gearboxes hardly ever fail but they are noisy. Mine sounds like a steam train in 5th, probably due to the fact i have no gear boot there.

Dash rattles are fairly normal, I fixed it by installing a sub and turning the volume up. Works awesome.

Hehehe yeah but i've replaced pretty much everything under it. Full Calmini kit, engine was replaced before I bought it (want injected though), new clutch, new brakes, new bearings, new exhaust, new interior, new driveshafts etc etc etc it goes on! But still, for a car designed as a cheap form of transport the humble Vitara has done pretty damn well.

Ryan I am a Suzuki Guy, I dont want a troopy but it was worth a try.

Alex, have you got any pics of yours.

Yeah mate it's a bit of a rat at the moment though. I a have a few pics, I have to start a thread on it but heres one for you

Looks good to me!!

Toecutta wrote:Looks good to me!!

mate i just had a look at your pics, hows the calmini kit go for wheel travel and do they sell 2inch kits as 6'' is too high for me and wont get insurance. 2'' with 30mm spacers is what i idealy would like.

ps. wheres ya sliders.

The Calmini 6" lift is combined with the 3" body lift. so you can get a 2" or 3" Calmini lift kit.

Wheel Travel is great, I run 30" and no rubbing.

Yea heaps of travel, I like it.

I am not sure they do teh 2" kit anymore but either contact them or Cal and CalOffroad and you will be able to find out.

Yea sliders are next on the list but I Twins coming very soon things have been slow because I have been preping myself, and the house, for that.
My mate just got himself a new welder so I am going to try it out soon

I'd suggest going the full 3" suspension lift. Don't do spacers thats just a body lift for your springs.

You don't have to do a body lift though, so you could stay with 3". I'm running about 5" maybe 5.5"... my 2" BL turned out to be more like 2.5" by accident haha. 31s no rubbing, could probably go bigger as my guards have been trimmed a little as I was running 31s with no BL and only 2.5" spring lift before.

Flex with the Calmini kit is great for an IFS vehicle. Just have to disconnect the swaybars otherwise it flexes like a pebble. Bash plate is a must unless you like hitting your diff on things and bending centre diff mounts hehe.

fe11xx wrote:Yeah mate it's a bit of a rat at the moment though. I a have a few pics, I have to start a thread on it but heres one for you

looks great

what size wheels and backspace are they?

They're F100 rims, 31" BFG muddies (fronts are bjorked). I'll start a thread on it after the weekend as to not hijack this one haha

vit94 wrote:Hi Ryangus
I supprised by all the answers because it confirms what mine is like at 210000 kms. Whine isn't that bad though.

The rattle for dash . There are screws along the top of the dash where it meets the windscreen . They are under little plastic covers the size of your thumb nail. Use a flat screw driver to remove these and you will find that by tightening those screws the rattle will be gone . Took me a month before it drove me nuts.
I still haven't done anything about the diff yet as I thought later if i decide to put a locker in that this would be the time to do something.

yeh i have a 93 widetrack vit and i get the whine and bouncy dash as well