I picked the car up this afternoon, drove it home and it was absolutely fine - hard to believe there's something so serious wrong with it. I popped the bonnet when I got back (not that I have a clue what I'm looking at other than what I read last night) and I opened up the oil cap and sure enough it had that creamy looking residue inside the cap - not just pure oil, so I'm guessing that's the coolant getting in there. I could also see that my mechanic had looked at the coolant etc. as the lid on the reservoir hadn't been put back on properly.
I was out shopping with the daughter all day and we talked about it and I said pretty much what has been written here. It's been a brilliant little motor at a time when I was very hard up and has cost me next to nothing over the past five years. The major expense was the new wheels and tyres and I will probably get my money back (or close to it) on those anyway. It also has a value - as you've also pointed out - all the various bits and bobs and I've seen similar on ebay getting a fair few bids. Last car I had before this was a Seat Alhambra from new, but it got hammered due to my work, and ferrying kids around everywhere, and elderly parents living in a remote area several hundred miles away and trecking back and forth up there every half term and school holiday and weekends in between. From the time it needed MOTs there was always a problem. It went through tyres like there was no tomorrow, the electrics (alarm, windows etc) were always going wrong, I had to have a new gearbox in it (£1350) until it finally gave up the ghost and got carted off to the knacker's yard.
This little car by contrast has been a real godsend at a time when I needed one, and I will be very sad to see it go.
If you only do short trips then you will get condensation in the filler cap. You need a compression test or a sniffer test to diagnose a head gasket failure. Have you checked the oil? is there any signs of coolant in the oil on the dipstick?
Hi you could try using a product called k seal (blue bottle with orange wrighting) we have used this in are ldv tipper truck that was letting water into the oil through the head gasket .3 years later and the truck is still going and we havent changr the gasket.
I am not saying this will work on your vitara but it could be worth a try the k seal is quite expensive around £18 pounds for a little bottle.You should be able to get it from any good motor factors.
cheers chris
Well after all that I decided to spend a bit of money on it and it is currently with the mechanic - the cylinder head has just been sent off to be skimmed and he's putting it through it's MOT in the next week or so.
I left it on the driveway for a few weeks while I looked around at other motors - I could afford three grand tops and it was all Corsas and so on. All the time I kept looking at my little Suzuki sat there ready to go up on ebay for spares and I just didn't want to do it!
The thing is I work from home, so no journey to work, I cycle a lot anyway to local shops etc., there's a door to door bus service every 10 minutes to town that is quicker and easier than trying to drive and park, and if I travel any distance I always hire a motor anyway. I just need a vehicle for occasional local trips, a bit of shopping etc. probably not more than 20-30 miles a week, and the Suzuki has been perfect. I also do up old furniture as a hobby, so going round the junk shops buying bits and bobs and the Suzuki is ideal with the big back door that opens wide and lots of space in the back with the two seats down. I like having something old and I like having something a bit different, and apart from the wheels I bought last year, this car has hardly cost me anything.
So I'm going to treat it as a project and spend a bit! As well as the engine work and full service, I'm getting some welding done underneath, and also going to get the bodywork spruced up a bit - there's some peeling paint on the rear wheel arches and a dink on corner at the back where I reversed (gently) into a wall once. I'm even going to treat myself to a new stereo system!
Even if I only get another year or two out of it, I'll be happy. I could spend two or three grand buying another second hand car (that I wouldn't like as much) and still have problems.
Anyway, thanks for the help and advice everyone, much appreciated. If anyone's interested, I might pop back and post a picture when it's all done.
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