Chameleon Jimny (JB43) - From Stock to Now..

[whosthejman]

Nice build

Care to share who built your exaust and bumpers?

[Fearl3SS]

Nice build

Care to share who built your exaust and bumpers?

You can Contact Zook Spares for the bumper and the exaust System.


There is another Biiiig Post comming..

Just need to finish what I am busy with.

[...kRiLLiN...]

Nice, keep it coming. Whatsapp groups taking over too many of these build threads and info being lost on the wild web.

[Fearl3SS]

Love the detailed thread

What paint did you use on all the green bits underneath? Seems to have held up pretty well to stone chips and stuff

I used normal 2K and hardner mix.
Did about 6 or 7 coats. and let it sit for 2 weeks before installing it to let it dry properly.

I didn't remove the powder coating it came with, just sanded it down so that the paint would stick. It does have plenty of chips now. So I will send it in for proper powdercoating at some point. As I need to modify the mount points of the Rocksliders to make them a bit stronger. and to be able to remove the transfer plate for trips like kgalagadi where you can collect seeds and have a possible fire hazard as the exaust does heat up quite a bit.

[Fearl3SS]

Major update :
Part 1

On our Honeymoon everything went well.. But as I have come to learn there is always that 1 thing that you will clearly remember of your honeymoon..

We had a fantastic time at Caribbean Estates and from there we headed up to Cape Vidal and planned to drive all up the Kzn coast line.. Jimny was packed as if we where to do our planned trip to kgalagadi later this year. Because Swambo and I need to figure out what the fuel consumption will be ect. as we have not used the Rooftop tent on the Jimny yet.


Needless to say. we where quite happy.. keeping it to 110km/h max...


However.. Driving in pouring rain about 10-15km outside of Ballito, Noticed the heatguage going up (now I have seen this before on the Jimny). and slowed down even more in the pouring rain where you already can't see..

So underneath a bridge we found shelter and I send a cry for help on one of the many Jimny / suzuki whatsapp groups I am on. in this case the Kzn Jimny Owners group.. Recieved assistance in a matter of minutes, and got sorted with people comming to my aid and I guy offering me his workshop to check what is the problem.. On the side of the road I smelt antifreeze and after about 30-45min was able to open the radiator cap.. And no water in radiator.. Very Strange.. What can it be...
We Had 20L of clean water with us so I filled up, and limped Chameleon to the Workshop.

At the workshop I found that the top water-hose has burst.. And immediately just gave the closest Suzuki Dealership a call.. And in good old Suzuki Dealership fashion they did not carry a Simple part, and told me to wait a week for it.. So we set off with one of the Kzn Jimny club guys to go search for a matching pipe at all the Balito Spares shops, and found something that will work + antifreeze..
Got it all fixed and pressure tested the system as well as did a compression test. and found no issue... So off we went.

And stayed over at Salt rock caravan Park in Balito.


Continued our journey to Cape Vidal the next day..

After a few days being stationary at Cape Vidal decided we need to head up north towards Sodwana... Well Chameleon did not agree with us and blew the head gasket 50m outside the camp..




So we requested a recovery from insurance (which was at no help at all).. and in the end Parents came with the Hilux and a A-Frame and we towed Chameleon back..



While having to wait one day for arival, I organized with @GremlinCreeper and Zook Spares To Source me a New motor..

Now we have been wanting to do this upgrade since we did @GremlinCreeper upgrade in January.. And now it was the perfect time..
Sourced the Motor From MYM Auto, and collected from Zook Spares as they where also to get a few diffrent motors from them.. (if you looking to do this swop and don't have the capability Zook Spares can do it all).


The "new" import Motor in question is the M18a that can be found in the Liana and the Sx4 (China is the only country that has the sx4 with the m18a - 1.8L engine).


End of Part 1

Part 2 will contain some details on the requirements for a M18a Swop into the Jimny.


Unfortunately I lost the pics of us on the side of the road as well as the burst pipe..

Added pics of what the m13a looked like when I inspected it.

This engine was starting to make some bearing ticks but it could have gone quite a few 1000k km still. (motor was on 202 000km when it decided to be all head blewy)

Gasket blew on the water port side in 2 places..

[Johan Engelbrecht]

Now that is a huge upgrade! Mind to share the price of the M18a please.

[Fearl3SS]

Now that is a huge upgrade! Mind to share the price of the M18a please.

The Prices on them vary between R11 000 to R20 000 Depending where you get it from and the Exchange rates.

[Fearl3SS]

Part 2 - Requirements for a M18a Swop into the Jimny.

I only knew that the M18a a swop has been done by quite a few other people already.. And we have done GremlinCreepers M18a swop as well earlier this year. Neither of us are strangers to do these things our selves. (Also See Spongebob The SJ410 thread of my SJ that was way more complicated than this Swop tbh.).

Auszookers.com actually have the full writeup of the requirements as well. I will dot it down as well because it is mostly Spot on accept for a few things I have done diffrently.

Some Parts that you will need :

1. Full Service Kit and at least 3 Oil Filters and about 10l of Oil - Why do you ask 3 Oil filters and so much oil.. Well.. On some of these import motors they are not completely clean and you need to flush them.
2. A New Radiator - In Part 3 I will provide some explanation into this.. (Either Stock or a Custom one)
3. New Thermostat - Yes your old one might work but You will see how much work it is to replace it if it does not.. So replace it. it is just good practice.
4. New Impeller / Water Pump - This you can buy from either spares shop (This can be quite difficult to source) it is a "pirate Part". Or Buy one from Suzuki whom will tell you to wait a week - 15 Work days for it to arive at an exubarent price.. Again you can be lucky and the one you have or the one in your import might be still good. but it is good practice and just save you hastle later on.

The Process:

1. Tools you are going to need is an engine hoist and a very flexible socket set /breaker bar. basically a decent array of tools, but nothing special, some Diffrent Cleaning materials To clean up the new engine of Oil and gunk from shipping.. you'll need a mate for some jobs and it took me about two days. Start by disconnecting the wiring loom. No two electrical plugs can be pushed into the wrong connector, so you only need to have a decent memory of roughly where each cable route goes. You might need to label up the small vacuum hoses around the intake manifold just to make it easier later.

2.Reaching some of the electrical connections are a real pain - The one under the alternator, so pretty soon you will have to start taking parts off the engine to complete the job of disconnecting the wiring loom and hoses.

3. Take the ancilliaries off, First the radiator, fan, and belts, alternator take them all completely off. Leave the air con in situ except for the compressor. This is attached to the engine, so you take the power steering pump off and tie it to one side of the engine bay (no need to disconnect the power steering hoses or loose any fluid) then you can access the air con comressor underneath and do the same to that. Don't loose any refrigirant, just disconnect from the engine and tie it out of the way. You'll also need to disconnect the Injector rail from the engine, but don't bother disconnecting the two fuel lines, you can just pull the rail to one side out of the way.

4. The exhaust manifold will have to come off anyway, so i took mine off while the M13 engine was still in the car. Should make it easier to remove the engine with it off. With the exhaust manifold out of the way you can detach the two bolts holding the engine mount to the body. On the opposite side for the other engine mount don't undo those two bolts. Just undo the one nut by the water hose. Hard to access because the hose is in the way, but you can do it with a decent ratchet spanner.

5. Do a sweep to make sure you got everything electrical disconnected. Take out the starter motor and undo all the gearbox - engine bolts. I think there was about 6 bolts and a nut but don't rely on that I can't quite remember now. I also disconnected my clutch cable at the gearbox. It's hidden behind a triangular plastic cover, but I'm not sure this was nessecary after all. The gearbox bolts are a pain to access, but you can do it with some flexible breaker bar and use six-point sockets. Once these are all undone and you are sure about this, get the hoist and jack up the engine, making sure to lift the passenger side mount up first. then you have the room to swing the engine to the passenger side and hence unmount the drivers side engine mount. All should now be hanging on the engine crane. Don't jack it up too high or the gearbox willstart lifting the car body. put an axle stand under the gearbox to take the weight when the engine and gearbox separate. The gearbox has two main allignment pins on the right and left side. They will be corroded in so you will have to swing like an orangutan on that gearbox and engine to get them apart. But you'll get there eventually. A plastic wedge would help. Drive it in between the gearbox and engine.

6. With the engine out, swap all the components over. You want to use the Jimny parts for almost everything. Use the Jimny sump, you'll need some instant gasket gum to do this - it doesn't use a gasket. Swap over the oil pick up pipe to. As such you will have to use the Jimny rocker cover too and dipstick since these will be on the wrong side of the engine on the liana block. You'll find that the liana engine has blanking plates in all the right places. The main reason you have to swap all this stuff is because the liana is front wheel drive. You'll have to remove the liana engine mounting studs for one of the hoses. If you don't know how to remove studs, look it up on youtube.

7. Use the M13a Flywheel and clutch. The clutch is only 10mm smaller then the Liana/SX4, and a jimny weighs less and it will have less power, so it's going to be fine, jimny clutch is up to the job.On the flywheel bolts and look up the torque settings from the jimny manual,I can't remember what it said now though. Regarding the water impeller, You can swap the whole unit, or just the back half where the hoses connect and fit the studs and pully from the jimny unit to the front - However Rather Just replace the Water impeller / Pump.. You will also need to swap the Main pully on the end of the Jimny engine over. The bolt holding it in should be torqued up good and proper, but it does come off anti-clockwise as per normal. Also don't forget to remove the m18a oil filter holder. You may think it's better but it's going to whack your chasis when the engine shakes around. Tip - if you haven't got bolts big enough to do a proper job of removing the filter screw on stud, grind a small groove into it so that you can unscrew it with something flat like a flat-head screwdriver. - you'll understand what I mean when you do it. - You can also use a Thick cloth and a Vicegrip to remove it.. but be careful not to damage the thread to much. - there is a fix for that as well.. Bolt the good side into the M18a block, and use your old oil filter to retread it (the oil filter threads and metal is quite strong and works like a charm.)

8. Fitting the engine back in is the reverse of pulling it out naturally. Take some happy snaps for posterities sake!

9. Fill up all the fluids and connect the battery. Make sure that all your wiring and sensors are connected (Especially the cam sensor and crank shaft sensor.. they sit in such a place that you can easily overlook them).

10. Start up - Something I do. To check for leaks, you will need to prime the fuel system. to do this is simple just make sure the ignition is in the on position. you will hear the fuel pump running for a few seconds and then it will stop.. You will also hear the fuel rails come to pressure after about 2-3 on and of with the ignition. Before you start check for any fuel leaks


https://auszookers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=30308



So this is the basic process if there is no Issues what so ever....

But wait There is More in Part 3.

'Some Pics to be added'

[Fearl3SS]

Part 3 - The Saga Of the Dud M18a


This is where things gets interesting.

So New motor arrived and we started the cleaning. Opening up to change both the tapid cover and Sump + Oil Pickup revealed something different to what the prettiness of the external of what the motor looked like.
"Don't always judge a book by it's cover "

The motor had allot of sludge inside like if it has never been serviced(tapid cover was not opened at the Importers unfortunately). But this can be cleaned up. and so we did.


Got the motor installed, turned the key and it came alive.
Running high Idle as we have not yet adjusted the Idle control valve on the m18a throttle body.
Once adjusted all was good in the world..

Took it for a drive around the block and picked up a problem.. Oil light came on and could hear the lifters not getting oil we stopped and towed it home..
Dropped the sump and found the oil pickup to be blocked by Sludge that was still left over - this even after a thorough clean (I am not going to get into that process because there are different opinions on it.).
After this, Flushed the engine several times with engine flush and Oil at working temps to get the sludge out.. Oil became clean on the 4th or 5th flush. cant remember (Now remember you need to change oil and oil filter every time.. so a simple motor swop became an even more expensive exercise.).

Wife took a drive with it to the shops and came back complaining that there is this weird smell.. (Antifreeze). Checked the radiator and overflow bottle.. all seemed good..

Next day we took a much longer drive and while in city driving started to overheat...

We did the following over a 3 week period to try and solve the overheating problems.
1. Did a pressure test and leak test on radiator.
- To clean the standard Radiator would cost R2600, to replace it would cost R1500 for a Standard Radiator.
However being a bigger motor and all Already did some research into it, and found that a Bigger radiator would be more optimal and should also solve the Overheating and heatsoak problem as other m18a swopped owners has complained about similar issue.
- Thus set of to get a radiator built did allot of home work on the difference between a Copper core and Aluminium core radiator. And Opted for a Copper core radiator because of the better cooling options and "bush fix" options you have with them. The Down side is a Copper core Radiator nowadays is not cheaper than a Aluminium one anymore.
I had a 42mm copper radiator built that fits directly where the OEM radiator sits.

Differences between the OEM and Aftermarket :
OEM : Aftermarket
Core Thickness = 26mm : 46mm
Coolant capacity = 1.4L : 2L
Material built from = Aluminium & Plastic : Brass & Copper.

I waited around a week for the radiator to be built (Had 2x built for both me and @GremlinCreeper).
Installed it on a Friday night and took it for a drive.. all seemed good...
On the Saturday had a Swift speed Event to manage and decided it will be a good test.
Took the drive to Woodmead where we would meet up.. As I where getting some mcd's Motor started to overheat.. AGAIN.
Needless to say the Radiator replacement was not the issue.


2. Changed Radiator Cap to a 1.1bar cap (like what you use on the standard Radiator.).
3. Replaced the Thermostat again.(because even a new one can be faulty)
4. Replaced the Water pump.(the one that came with the motor seemed good, so did not replace it when inspecting and installing the engine).
Both 3 and 4 was due to testing showing that there the coolant flow is not correct (as was the reason for the Radiator change).
5. Changed the Exhaust system from my full branch and free flow back to a standard Jimny Exhaust system with CAT's intact.
6. Opened up the front bumper as we found that the Nice Steel bumpers we have has a airflow flaw on them.
Absolutely nothing worked. that we tried. - Thus we where fed-up with this and gave MYM a call and requested that we needed either a Refund or a swopout of the motor. All our troubleshooting was explained and they where happy to do either a Refund or exchange with no issues what so ever. As we where still within the 1 month Warranty period of the Motor. (MYM does provide a 1 month Warranty on all their engines).

Verdict in the end when removing and putting back all the original parts that came with the motor back to it, found that the Oil pickup was completely blocked again. Indicating that the internal lines of the block is in the same state..
Yes the motor can be cleaned by another process from a company that I know off that can do it reliably. But Because of all the overheating that occured already trust in this motor lasting 30 000 - 100 000km has been completely lost.. that motor is good for spares though, like sleeves, crank, pistons, conrods.. all the moving parts accept the head and block..


Thus this M18a was a Dud. - It happens with import motors that is one of the risks unfortunately.

Went to return the motor and unfortunately for me they didn't have another one in stock. So the wait started for a new engine to arrive. And we returned home with the paperweight as MYM made a note on my invoice and their system that I need to get an exchange.

More of this in PART 4

[AUB]

This is the exact thread i am looking for....

Did you change the ECU at all?

[Fearl3SS]

This is the exact thread i am looking for....

Did you change the ECU at all?

You use the stock ECU.

[Fearl3SS]

Part 5 – Second time Lucky, I guess.

After waiting for a month and a half and what felt like a lifetime and many follow-ups from both me and Gremlincreeper we received a call from MYM that the container has been unloaded and that they have M18a Motors.
They only had 2 motors come in at that stage and one of them was mine and the other one was allocated for Zook Spares.

There where no hassle or fuss around the motor exchange when arriving at MYM.

This time around I opened the Tapid cover to see what it looks like to ensure that the motor is clean. Even if it is Dirty on the outside. MYM had no quarrel about this.
The throttle body was slightly damaged on the exchange motor, and I exchanged it with the one on the motor that was returned (again no issues with that).
During all this time of waiting I Sourced all the parts again that would be required for the motor swop.

1. Ordered a new Thermostat from Suzuki Bramley including a top radiator hose.
2. Purchased around 15L of Ecstar full synthetic oil – believe it or not, buying service parts and oil from Suzuki is Cheaper than from a Midas or Autozone.
3. Also Purchased a Brand new Waterpump, to ensure that I do not have Water pump issues.
4. New Fan belts
5. New Spark plugs. (I do not believe in using sparkplugs again after it was in use in another engine)
6. Branches received Ceramic coating.
7. Drawn up a grille and had it Lazer cut. As I will be opening up the bumper completely at the front.

This time around the Install took slightly longer even though we did not need to remove the old motor. Mostly because we took more time cleaning and just installing the motor back.
See some pics and feel free to compare it to the Dud M18a:



It was quite a mission to clean up the Oil pickup as it has been sitting for a month and all the sludge became hard. Ended up slow Cooking the sludge off with a degreasing solution we made.
Before and After pics of that:




When changing things over I realized I had forgotten some things on the Dud M18a that I needed.

1. The Oil filter Plug that was originally transferred from the M13a. Zook Spares came to the rescue and was able to source a plug from him.
2. The M13a Fuel rail. Only realized this when the motor was already installed and connecting the fuel lines. Ended up being a blessing in disguise as the original rubber fuel hose was Perished and we would not have discovered it until it was to late. So, the rubber lines were replaced with new ones in any case as the rail required the rubber lines to be made about 300mm longer.

1st Start:
Motor install went well, and 1^st start-up was so quick it was like it was the original motor.





On the 1^st Test drive all seemed good. accept. Murphy… It spilled some copper slip on the clutch... SO, guess what… Next morning Gearbox got pulled and clutch removed.
This revealed that the gearbox breather hose was perished and had we had driven with it as is we could have been in some serious trouble... So now the gearbox also has some brand-new oil in it. The breather pipe was replaced.
Clutch has been cleaned from copper slip and everything re-installed with no copper slip on spicket shaft this time.
Clutch was still slipping. To fix that... all we did was “burn” the clutch. And it worked.
Installed my grille over the open hole in the bumper to see what it looks like and then sent it in for powder coating.

Before and after pics with the number plate relocated:




Finally, we were able to take it for a proper test drive. Engine temps where stable even under heavy load. And motor ran smoothly out on the highway. Then returned home through some heavy city traffic.
Temperatures :
Max temps recorded has been 93deg while idle at a robot after really giving it hell.
On avg it sits between 85-90deg. And when switched off right after a hard drive was max temps I have seen to date was 103deg.
We have compared the temps to other M18a swopped jimny’s with the standard Radiators and we can see a 15-20degree difference in temperatures. This indicates that the bigger copper radiators we have upgraded to does a fantastic job. I suspect it should be slightly higher in the summer.


Fuel Consumption:
I have now done almost 800km Since the motor was installed. And obviously with some mixed driving can start to report back on the fuel consumption as well.
1^st Tank not driving economically at all because it is so addictive and “new toy” Managed 320km on a full tank. (37L)
2^nd Tank had a more economical mindset with some “testing” in between and managed 360km on a full Tank (37L).
Will Continue to monitor. But at this point it is on par with the M13a’s fuel consumption I got, but with a much better drive. I can live with that.
Here is a small stint I did from Robot to Robot(400m) when there where no other traffic around.
Just to show how the m18a makes a difference when you drive it like it is a SwiftSport.

https://youtu.be/2sSJgyBd_FM

At this point the Stock Jimny Exhaust system is installed as we wanted to make sure that this motor is 100% healthy.

I will be doing a Before and After Dyno to provide information to what the power output is of the m18a using the standard exhaust system. And then install the Branch and free flow with a second dyno run.

Updates to be coming soon. On the exhaust change and power figures.

Currently busy doing some additional research on increasing the intake size.

[AUB]

Thanks! This is an invaluable thread to me. I start my swap this weekend an reading this has seriously just my life 100 times easier

[Fearl3SS]

Just a little update.

I was Able to Do a dyno run to get a Figure on the system running stock exaust.

I have however changed the exaust afterwards to my freeflow system that has undergone some Ceramic coating as well.

Still need to Get the new dyno figures. do For now I will not post those figures yet.


In the meantime We are preparing for a 14day Kgalagadi Trip. From TR - matopi - MabuasHuba - Mosomane-Nossob - Matamata-Augrabies.

And been driving with the rtt, 2x empty Jerry cans and my recovery crate on the roof and The NL 60 inside.

With the m18a it is a much nicer drive and you really don't struggle to get and Stay at 110km/h or even 120km/h.

Fuel consumption seems to stay the same (however I have added the rtt the day after I did the exaust system).Was able to get 320km on the tank which was 20km more than the previous 4x tanks.