Martins Test

Buying a Suzuki Jimny

This article has been generated from both a forum post by Kirkynut and Wikipedia entries.

Some Jimny history

It is important to understand some Jimny history. First, as this forum has a large UK based membership, visitors from other countries may be confused by the vehicle name. Within the UK only the latest version of the "Jimny" (sometimes refered to as the 3rd Generation Jimny) is called the Jimny. Previous versions, that were called "Jimny" in other countries were called LJ50, LJ80, SJ410 , SJ413 and Samurai within the UK market. Therefore this website uses the term Jimny only to refer to this latest generation vehicle.

The compact off-road capable Suzuki Jimny was Suzuki's first global success, lending it name recognition and a foothold in markets worldwide. The Jimny slotted into a hitherto unfilled gap in the market.

First Generation

LJ10/LJ20

Suzuki LJ10

Suzuki Jimny LJ20 (1973), note spare tire placement

SJ10

Suzuki Jimny 55 (SJ10)

SJ20/LJ80

Suzuki SJ20/LJ80

Second Generation

SJ30

Suzuki SJ30

SJ40/SJ410

Suzuki SJ40/SJ410

SJ413/Samurai

Suzuki SJ413

Maruti Gypsy

Coil Sprung versions

Suzuki SJ413

Suzuki SJ413

These are particularly interesting as they were the last of the SJ413 developments and effectively had the "3rd Generation" suspension (coil springs) making them very similar to the Jimny as we currently know it.

3rd Generation

The 3rd Generation vehicles came along in 1998, initially with the JB33 variant which had the 1300cc SOHC G13B Series engine. This was built in hardtop (Japanese) and a Softtop (Built by Santana in Spain from 1999 to 2009)

This was followed by the JB43 variant with the 1300 cc DOHC M13A Series engine.

Within some markets a JB53 variant was produced with the Renault sourced K9K Diesel engine.

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  Suzuki Jimny Sierra

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  Suzuki Jimny

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  2001 Suzuki Jimny JLX softtop

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  JB53 Diesel

Buying a Jimny

After about 2000 hard tops got a twin cam engine with a timing chain instead of a cam belt. Soft tops retained their single cam engine until the end of their production in about 2005.

You can buy hard tops to go on soft tops. This may be appealing as the soft top is in two parts with a front section over the front seats. You can remove just this section, which would be nice in the summer months! There were 2 designs of the hard top for soft tops and owners with more experience of these will tell you when they changed over and what he differences are.

New soft tops can be bought from Monsoon. Their quality is awesome but I am led to believe their UK Customer Service isn't as good as their products.

The main issue with buying a Jimny with a few years and/or miles on it will be Rust. It's not hard to find it.

The main places to check for rust are in no particular order:

Behind the headlamps and underneath them where the splash guard keeps moisture in.

Sills under the plastic covers.

THE BOOT FLOOR written in capitals as it's the main place! This extends forwards to under the rear seats and the sides of the rear floor. This is a massive problem on older Jimny's. The fuel tank is under the rear seats, so be careful welding and remove it for safety.

Parts of the axles where the Radius arm brackets are welded to the chassis and bottom damper brackets front and rear.

Mechanical issues as a rule are not numerous but there are a couple of problems that can pop up from time to time, especially if you go off-road.

The King Pin bearings in the front axles wear quicker on the Jimny than they ever did on the SJ. The movement created by this causes the axle tube oil seal to leak and mix with the CV grease. You then have the gunk created by their mixture leaking out of the Swivel Ball Dust Seals. This is no biggie for the DIY mechanic. The biggest issue will be rusted in bolts but they are all available in the Big Jimny Shop at a reasonable price with a very good and quick service from the site Owner - Martin Lines.

The trouble is that many Professional Mechanics do not see the old SJ very often to know the Swivels on Suzuki's do not have oil in them for the CV's like the Land Rovers they are used to repairing. The CV is just greased with a rubber dust seal that wipes over the swivel ball. They then quote silly things for the simple repair.

A home mechanic can change the King Pin Bearings in about 3/4 hours per side when all the bolts have been off before. There's a "How To" Guide within here: www.bigjimny.com/index.php/information/qhow-toq-guides

Moving on a little from the King Pin bearings but still linked to them is a phenomenon called "Death Wobble". It has it's own thread here: www.bigjimny.com/index.php/forum?view=topic&catid=7&id=51883

I won't repeat the contents of this thread again but essentially you can have a horrible wobble of the steering wheel, usually about 45 MPH that gets so bad you think you are going to die. Hence the name. Worn King Pin Bearings are one cause of it. The thread will tell you about all the others.

The Jimny is not the only Live Axle vehicle to suffer with it. Jeeps also suffer and I have known of Land Rovers to do so. The Jimny is particularly susceptible to it though.

In about 2005 the twin cam engine was developed to have Variable Valve Timing - VVT. This gave the Jimny a few extra Horses but there was also a new Gearbox added at this time and the 4WD mechanism went from a gearstick from the transfer box push button selection for 2WD, 4WD HIGH and 4WD LOW.

The Jimny is normally 2WD you see and has no Centre Differential like some Land Rovers do. You must only put it in 4WD when the ground is of a slightly lower grip (wet grass, gravel, ice, snow). Otherwise you will suffer what is called transmission wind up, where tension builds in the transmission as the front and rear axles have turned as different speeds from cornering etc.

Both methods of changing from High to Low and 4WD to 2WD appear reliable.

The transfer box has a chain inside which can stretch and start to make vibration noises through wear. To test, drive in second and go on and off the throttle to see if you can hear it vibrate as it goes slack when you take your foot off the throttle. Second hand transfer boxes are easy to get and cheap enough. Replacement is easy. They are divorced from the gearbox, connected with a mini prop and light enough for a single person to bench press up with one arm whilst guiding it with the other. Or use a Jack!

The VVT engine received a new gearbox though. This gearbox on the whole is reliable but being a forum specialising in these cars we hear of all the problems. One of them is that this VVT gearbox does sometimes go wrong and is expensive to repair and next to impossible to find second hand. When you do find one it will be expensive. The symptoms to my understanding are worn bearing like noises but the problem, a transmission specialist new to this site recently posted, is more syncromesh related, hence the expensive repairs. He suggested the oil Suzuki spec is too thin and burns too quickly. No other gearbox can be fitted in its place from older cars. So you have to fix it or find a like replacement.

I believe later models have a new gearbox again that is probably too new to show any issues. When this was introduced I am not sure.

There are many other small issues, such as the bolt holes for the rear radius arm mounts elongating, allowing the bolt to move and clunk. Sometimes they are just loose and need nipping up. I've experienced this twice. I've nipped them up and have not got elongated holes as a result.

The vacuum operated hubs can fail where the vacuum leaks from the rubber seals of the pipework. This can be solved by finding the leak and replacing the parts required or blocking it off and fitting manual hubs / fixed hubs.

I started this thread about converting your vacuum hubs to fixed for free: www.bigjimny.com/index.php/forum?view=topic&catid=7&id=55862

There is school of thought that this is no good for your front diff or transfer box as it is not designed to always have the reverse forces on the gears when you let off the throttle and are in over run. My personal experience is that there is no need to worry and my old SJ had fixed front hubs from the factory. You make your choice. I've run fixed hubs for a long time with no issues on my Jimny.

If you are planning to go off road you will likely want to modify your Jimny. The first things you will want to do are give it a suspension lift and bigger tyres. These are topics in their own right but a point to bear in mind is that the Low ratios in the transfer box are not that Low and you'll find tyres bigger than 215/75/15 will make Low ratio far too High.

We solve this problem the same way as SJ owners do. We use a Rocklobster Transfer Box. This is an SJ transfer box casing with some magic performed inside to give a slight reduction in High Ratio and a much, much lower Low ratio gearset. Richard Wattam from RAM AUTO DESIGN is the main man for this and does a great fitting kit. Jimnybits.co.uk also sell them.

I mention Rocklobsters in this Buyer's Guide as fitting a Rocklobster to a Push Button Transfer Box car is a bit harder than fitting it to a stick shift transfer box car. It is not insurmountable but if you know you will be going down the Rocklobster route with massive modifications at some point, you might just want to make your life easier by buying a stick transfer box car in the first place!

Having said all of this, my personal pick of the bunch from across the years of UK Jimny models is the 2000 model hard top up to the end of February 2011.

My reasons for this are that it has the twin cam engine (no cambelt to change or head gasket issues) in the lower tax bracket and the reliable gearbox with stick shift transfer box. You just have to look out for the rust! After this it is a pre 2005 twin cam, just suffering the little extra tax.

I would personally buy a 2005 on VVT but would change the gearbox oil nearly as often as the Engine Oil - it's not hard! The younger it is the less rust it will have. There are many VVT engine cars that have never had gearbox troubles. So don't think because we are aware of it on a forum that it is a massive issue. Forums are magnets for the problems but don't publicise the hundreds of thousands of cars that never had the issue!

There are other things that go wrong like on any car - blocked and worn out cats, cam and crank sensors. cooling system faults. Nothing more than other cars though.

One last thing to mention is that if you are buying to create an off road monster with massive tyres, the shafts and CV's are not as strong as on the SJ413 or Samurai. They are more akin to the SJ410 in dimensions and strength, yet have more power and torque than any of them before it. You will therefore need to budget for HD front shafts and CV's from one of the several manufacturers selling them now. They are not cheap! This is no different than for Land Rover owners who spend fortunes with Ashcroft Transmissions!

I hope this helps.

Kirktnut