Testing 4 wheel drive

we recently bought a suzuki grand vitara from a garage( Luckily as it had 6
months warranty)
Upon the first heavy snow we discovered it jumped out of 4 wheel drive, a
problem with the transfer box apparently, which the garage claims is "very
rare". What I need to know before we get it back....can the Grand Votara be
driven on the road in normal conditions in 4 wheel drive to check all is
well when we get it back without damaging any of the drive components?

David Harvey wrote:

> we recently bought a suzuki grand vitara from a garage( Luckily as it had 6
> months warranty)
> Upon the first heavy snow we discovered it jumped out of 4 wheel drive, a
> problem with the transfer box apparently, which the garage claims is "very
> rare". What I need to know before we get it back....can the Grand Votara be
> driven on the road in normal conditions in 4 wheel drive to check all is
> well when we get it back without damaging any of the drive components?
>
>
In a word NO. The GV does not have a centre diff, so driving it on road
will cause the varying speeds of the four wheels to 'wind up' the
transmission - cuase stresses in the components, which can quite easily
break a half shaft.
Best to find a nice muddy field to try it out on!

On 2006-04-01, David Harvey <[email protected]> wrote:

> Upon the first heavy snow we discovered it jumped out of 4 wheel drive,

Bear in mind that just because it starts to snow, it doesn't mean you
should engage 4wd, it doesn't give you "more grip", and certainly
doesn't help you when you want to go around corners. It allows you to
put more power down on slippery surfaces, so you can accelerate harder
which isn't useful on snow, and it would allow you to climb steeper
hills but unless you start to slip on the hill then no need to engage
it. Engaging it on tarmac even when snow is around can feck it up.

--
Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!

Ian Rawlings wrote:
> On 2006-04-01, David Harvey <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Upon the first heavy snow we discovered it jumped out of 4 wheel drive,
>
> Bear in mind that just because it starts to snow, it doesn't mean you
> should engage 4wd, it doesn't give you "more grip", and certainly
> doesn't help you when you want to go around corners. It allows you to
> put more power down on slippery surfaces, so you can accelerate harder
> which isn't useful on snow, and it would allow you to climb steeper
> hills but unless you start to slip on the hill then no need to engage
> it. Engaging it on tarmac even when snow is around can feck it up.
>
It's also worth bearing in mind that in 4WD on snow or mud the vehicle
will handle in a way that many drivers find disturbing until they get
used to it. Especially when the vehicle has no centre diff. It takes
practice, and rather than finding out what your 4x4 is going to be like
in slippy conditions on the road in snow it's a good idea to book in for
an off road session in mud where you will get a feel for driving a 4x4.

"David Harvey" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> we recently bought a suzuki grand vitara from a garage( Luckily as it had
> 6 months warranty)
> Upon the first heavy snow we discovered it jumped out of 4 wheel drive, a
> problem with the transfer box apparently, which the garage claims is "very
> rare". What I need to know before we get it back....can the Grand Votara
> be driven on the road in normal conditions in 4 wheel drive to check all
> is well when we get it back without damaging any of the drive components?
>
Get the garage to check the condition of the transfer box mountings. If one
(or more) has failed it is possible that the T-box is 'leaning' to one side
and restricting movement of the selector lever so that it doesn't engage
properly. Mechanical problems with Vitara t-boxes are very rare.

Hope this helps.
Simon H

Thanks for all your help.
Have done a little offroading previously, and it was serious snow requiring
4 wheel drive that day,
(Live in Scotland)
Also have owned various 4 wheel drives before. My favourite was my old
Landie S2A.
As an aside, we looked at about 12 freelanders when looking for something to
buy.......what a disappointment.


"Simon H" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "David Harvey" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> we recently bought a suzuki grand vitara from a garage( Luckily as it had
>> 6 months warranty)
>> Upon the first heavy snow we discovered it jumped out of 4 wheel drive, a
>> problem with the transfer box apparently, which the garage claims is
>> "very rare". What I need to know before we get it back....can the Grand
>> Votara be driven on the road in normal conditions in 4 wheel drive to
>> check all is well when we get it back without damaging any of the drive
>> components?
>>
> Get the garage to check the condition of the transfer box mountings. If
> one (or more) has failed it is possible that the T-box is 'leaning' to one
> side and restricting movement of the selector lever so that it doesn't
> engage properly. Mechanical problems with Vitara t-boxes are very rare.
>
> Hope this helps.
> Simon H
>

David Harvey wrote:

> As an aside, we looked at about 12 freelanders when looking for
> something to buy.......what a disappointment.
>

What was wrong with them?

Huw

Huw wrote:
> David Harvey wrote:
>
>> As an aside, we looked at about 12 freelanders when looking for
>> something to buy.......what a disappointment.
>>
>
> What was wrong with them?

The Freelander badge for a start. A cynical pile of ****e mobile, badly
built from the remaindered bin of Rover 214 parts. Reliability right up
there with the Lada and Moskvich.

10 out of the 12 were flooded/damp and 2 were even mouldy.
It "looks" as though the water is coming in through the rear window as 2 or
3 of them had floods in the little safe box in the luggage area.
The worst even had a blue/green mould on the dash board. We were looking at
vehicles in the £8000 approx value range by the way.
But as previous poster mentioned, overall build was poor too, and one
vehicle in particular with alleged mileage of 30000 miles the seats were
worn shiny. would be interested if anyone has a freelander...check for that
water ingress in rear.


"Steve Firth" <%steve%@malloc.co.uk> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Huw wrote:
>> David Harvey wrote:
>>
>>> As an aside, we looked at about 12 freelanders when looking for
>>> something to buy.......what a disappointment.
>>>
>>
>> What was wrong with them?
>
> The Freelander badge for a start. A cynical pile of ****e mobile, badly
> built from the remaindered bin of Rover 214 parts. Reliability right up
> there with the Lada and Moskvich.

Steve Firth (%steve%@malloc.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying :

>>> As an aside, we looked at about 12 freelanders when looking for
>>> something to buy.......what a disappointment.

>> What was wrong with them?

> The Freelander badge for a start. A cynical pile of ****e mobile, badly
> built from the remaindered bin of Rover 214 parts. Reliability right up
> there with the Lada and Moskvich.

Could be worse. The next one's a Focus.

Not being a lover of Gaylanders, but its worth pointing out the water ingress you mention, isnt.

Common thing with them, the rear cubby boxes suffer badly from condensation when closed, leading to a pool of water. Anyone who knows them will tell you, cured with either a bag of silca placed in there or leave the door open a touch, or drill a couple of very small holes in door to allow for air circulation.

Me thinks you werent exactly clued up when you went looking for your 4x4, hence using a non centre diff vehicle on a normal surface.