I managed to get a second car seat for the little-un so the pathetic amount of hot air that came out of the Suzuki’s heater and the resulting minus degrees inside the car became a problem that, even more than before, needed to get fixed.

I’d been putting it off, because, like most cars it appeared that the car was built around the heater and it was going to be a real sod to get out. And so it was. In the end, after much brute force and a quantity of broke plastic, I gave up and decided that I would have to dismantle it in situ.

When I finally seperated it, I was left in no doubt about the source of the problem.

I seems this car has spent an amount of its life parked under a birch tree (thats the heater matrix btw)!

The water drain on the air intake was’t much better, this time pine needles which had actually composted quite nicely.

Putting it back together was the reverse of dismantling and just as much fun (including some super glue and gaffer tape to repair the damage I caused getting it out)!

Now, with the additional extra warmth from an 88 Deg C “winter” thermostat instead of the 82 Deg C “summer” one I foolishly had fitted, it’s like a sauna in the car and you even have to turn the heating down!

Ever since I got the car, it’s jumped out of 4wd High ratio (back into 2wd). Low ratio works fine, so as long as you don’t need to go more than 50Km/h then you can use 4wd. Kind of irritating as it would be great to be able to drive along the snowy/icy back roads with the added security of 4wd.

So, I decided to bite the bullet and take the transfer box off and see what I found inside.

It had been suggested to me that the 4wd selector ring and forks were the most likely candidates, so I started by taking off the front drive housing.

The selector fork looked like it could be worn and slightly bent, but wasn’t really all that convincing. Feeling as though there was no other option I decided to change both the fork and the ring. Naturally enough, when I removed them a little ball and spring fell out that I couldn’t get back in without seperating the box. Which I couldn’t do until I’d got a new gasket, which had to come from Japan and took a couple of weeks.

Putting it all back together, and installing the new selector fork and ring was pretty easy.

As was bolting the whole shebang back on the car.

Pity, it didn’t fix the problem though. I’ve really don’t know what to do next. If anyone has any suggestions, they’ll be greatfully recieved.

Late is better than never, so I’m continuing my write up of Octobers work on the Suzuki.

After taking apart the first side I decided to change the following parts on both sides. Top and Bottom Swivel Bearings, axle oil seal and swivel seal.

As you can see, I used genuine Suzuki parts. Suzuki is very close to my work and I must say I’m really impressed by their parts department. They’ve got a parts book for the SJ which shows every part of the car in detail, with seperate part numbers for every single nut, bolt, washer and so on. Even better, everything is available, although sometimes you have to wait for it to be sent from Japan! Prices are not too bad either.

The first challenge was to get the top and bottom bearing carriers out. I didn’t like the look of this job, because there is very little of the inside of the carried visible.

Amazingly and luckily my Sealy 24mm impact socket fitted perfectly.

And the carriers were out in no time.

Then, once the oil seal was changed, it was a case of cleaning up the pile of bits.

And bolting it all back together.

On the other side it was clear that the axle oil seal had failed, still, at least the UJ had sufficient lubrication!

I had to borrow a 50mm socket from the Neighbour to adjust the wheel bearings. All in all not a bad job to do. I guess I should take it apart again every few years and pack bearings and UJ’s with new grease, if I can be bothered.

Pretty much ever since I got the car a year ago it’s been suffering, with varying degrees of severity, from wheel wobble between 70 and 80 Km/h. It also has made a nasty “craunch” noise when turning to the right and over speed ups, suggesting some part of the steeing swivel housing arrangement was not as it should be.

So, with the car in the garage, and without further ado I set about taking the drivers side swivel housing and driveshaft out. Other than the disc brake instead of drum and the CV joint instead of the UJ it’s pretty much identical to the LandRover, so it all feels very familiar to work on!

First the calliper had to come off

To allow for removal of the hub,

Then the back plate and hub carrier came off

To expose a rather dry looking CV joint, then once the sealing arrangement around the back of the swivel housing was removed and the steering ball joint was spilt, it was off with the king pins and removal of the swivel housing.

This exposed the top swivel bearing which was totally dry for grease, full of sand and rust and seized more or less solid, hopefully the culprit!

Having generated the first list of bits I needed, the next phase was to remove the transfer box and see what I found wrong in there.

As happened last year with the Volvo clutch, I’ve decided to bite the bullet and get on with the list of jobs on the Suzuki before the winter sets in and it gets unpleasantly cold and difficult the get heat in the garage. Other than a new centre section for the exhaust it’s been really reliable and had hardly any attention for a full year and 16000km. Really can’t complain and considering it’s over 23 years old it deserves some TLC.

Since the Suzuki is my main transport for the 50 mile round trip to work and who ever is at home with the baby needs the Volvo, no time is a good time. I’ll be relying on the Landy and Spitfire until it’s back together.

So, on Monday evening I started the process of getting the car in the garage, only I couldn’t because it looked like this.

A quick, “Move things away from the middle and out to the sides tidy” and it looked like this.

Just as well the SJ is small and it’s not the Volvo or the Landy I’m working on, I don’t think I’d even manage to get them in there. Really must get round to a proper tidy soon.

Then it was to work, here’s the list of jobs that have piled up.

1. Sort out the wheel wobble between 70 and 80 kmph (seems like there’s play in the top swivel bearing)


2. Stop the 4wd Box jumping out of 4wd high ratio (back into 2wd)


3. Change the Cam Belt and Tensioner


4. Fit new bushes on the rear springs


5. General service


6. Fit a new battery

Then when I’ve finished that I hope to change the cambelt and back springs and shocks on the Volvo so that’s ready for the winter too……