A place for general chat about the Jimny. Please make sure you post in the correct section on the site, this way it keeps the site tidy AND ensures you get a more relevant answer.
Suppliers/Dealers or anyone selling with a commercial view in mind CANNOT post here unless responding to a specific request of a member in a "wanted" post.
Suppliers include people "breaking for spares" on a regular basis, when purchasing spares members should ask a supplier what they contribute to the running of the forum particularly if contacted by a Private Message
Suppliers or Members who have contributed to the forum can be identifed by the
My 4WD system does not work and a Suzuki garage who came well recommended have told me it is uneconommic to repair. I have looked at YouTube videos about rebuilding the ends of the axels etc and it looks straight forward so I am unsure what the problem is but if they are correct will fitting a pair of manual free wheeling hubs restore the car to 4wd?
Any advice welcome and appreciated.
If they're wanting to replace all of the factory hard vacuum lines etc then yes it will get expensive using factory parts. This assuming that the vacuum system is actually at fault. Other than that 4x4 not working and a garage telling you it's going to be expensive what are your actual symptoms and what if anything have you done in the way of diagnosis? There's a comprehensive trouble shooting guide in the information section at the top of the site to read through. But certainly there are always options to keep it going in a wallet friendly manner.
Temeraire (2018 quasar grey automatic)
One of the last 200ish of the gen3s, probably.
ADOS Attention Deficit Ooooh Shiny!
There are numerous points of failure but things like the vacuum lines across the front axle - which rust merrily - apparently require genuine (expensive) Suzuki parts as they are not the same size as brake piping. If the hubs aren't sufficiently airtight they can also require a total rebuild.
Basically, it is hard to narrow down the problem so most people plug the vacuum lines under the battery box and fit manual locking hubs. The loss of convenience is not huge, as it is no real issue to drive in 2WD with the hubs locked if your journey varies between slippy and grippy surfaces.
i am quite sure that i should get it to work with other near same dimension pipes and hoses as long as it is approx the same volume and air tight. Cant see why not.
I like the vacuum hubs and do not miss having to dive into the mud or snow to engage the manual hubs on my SJ.
I am not put together so that I would remember to engage them before the need would occur more than once every leap year.
I read somewhere else it was 8mm pipe, screwfix do an 8mm copper pipe, no idea if it's suitable or not, but it might be with an investigation, I use it on my kitcar as fuel line.
I think (from memory) it is 4mm internal diameter pipe. My vacuum lines became blocked last year and after wasting hours trying to free them off I bought manual hubs and have never looked back.
Suzuki's arrangement of metal pipes and several flexible sections is horrible and I was going to get some lengths of coloured pipe, then put the T-piece at the top and run a separate pipe for lock/unlock to each hub in the summer so I could go back to vac hubs, but just didn't get round to it.
The pipe is very easy/cheap to get on eBay.
Robin
2020 blue SZ5 (one of the last to be registered in the UK)
Ex 2011 Blue Jimny SZ4
Northumberland Jimny Blog
I took mine off the axle and made a copy with standard copper alloy brake pipe, it worked perfectly, IIRC, brakepipe is a slightly larger diameter, but the rubber hoses still push on ok. The difficult part is the Tee junctions, brake pipe Tees are expensive, so I made some up and brazed them on, I was brazing the fixing plates on anyway..
I have an idea that the old pipes are behind my toolchest, I'll have a look late and measure the diameter if they are.
If it suddenly breaks, go back to the last thing that you did before it broke and start looking there
You can replace the entire vacuum hose system with a better and more durable solution for under £15.
Buy 10m of 4mm id hose (I use PVC, some prefer more expensive silicon), 2x 4mm hose tees and a pack of cable ties.
Run the hoses from the vacuum solenoids around the engine bay, along the brake lines and down the brake flexis to the hubs. This is far preferable to the original convoluted and exposed hose routing.
Its a simple job that takes less than an hour.
If its the vacuum hubs themselves that are the problem (uncommon but it does happen) a working pair can be obtained cheaply and easily from anyone who has fitted manual hubs. The same goes for the vacuum solenoids.
Another simple option to get 4wd working is to permanently lock the vacuum hubs by driving a 20mm long self tapping screw through the centre of each hub. This pushes the collar into the engaged/locked position and holds them there. They then operate in the same manner as old fashioned drive flanges, or manual hubs being left in the locked position, with 2wd and 4wd being selected using the transfer case lever/buttons as normal.
logo.
