The Field Guide

The O-ring on the distributor housing, and the one on the distributor shaft, leak a lot of oil. It drips down onto the top of the bellhousing and looks like a rear main seal leak. Several owners found this was their leak.

The top of the heater core almost always packs with leaves, twigs and mud, which blocks airflow and leaves no way to defrost the windshield. Cleaning it requires removing the dash. One owner recommends household window screen between the heater intake box and the body to keep debris out.

The drains in the fresh-air cowl vent fill with leaves and dirt, so rainwater backs up and pours in under the dash, often onto the passenger side or driver's feet. Several owners say it is the most likely cause of a wet floor, especially on trucks that sat under trees.

The rubber seal around the windshield glass, and the seal between the windshield frame and the cowl, can let a steady stream of water in when rain is driven into the glass. One owner's leaked on a brand-new truck and stopped after he massaged the seal.

Owners name carb problems as a common Samurai engine issue. Some say a rebuild kit fixes it, but at least one owner found his rebuild kit very disappointing. Others replace the problematic stock carb outright.

Water runs down the door jamb seal and enters where the targa bar meets the tub. It also gets in through the gap where the targa bar and soft top meet, and at the zippered rear window over the tailgate. One owner had about an inch of water inside until he siliconed around the targa bar base.

Owners had trouble getting the fuel pump to seal to the head, even with a new gasket, and used RTV with or without the gasket. To check it, run a hose from the pump's downward vent into a bottle, drive a while, and look for oil.

After spring-over lifts, rear driveshafts are among the most common trail breakages, caused by axle wrap. SPOA on stock springs also beats up the springs, so plan a way to control wrap.

One owner's intermittent wiper fault was the park switch in the gear housing near the wiper motor losing contact in one spot. The built-in relay was also bad.

Repeat rear main seal leaks are often a crankcase ventilation problem, not a seal problem. Clean the PCV system before buying another seal.

Before replacing seals, clean or replace the PCV valve and hoses. Cheap, fast, and frequently the actual fix.

Moving the Samurai rear springs to the front and fitting CJ springs in the rear is called the best budget setup. Both are 2 inches wide, so stock hardware can be reused. YJ springs are 2.5 inches wide, ride best, but need all-new mounting hardware and will not fit the Calmini shackle reversal.

Spring bolts can seize in the bushings and snap during a shackle reverse install. Owners advise spraying all bolts with PB Blaster a few days ahead. Some installs come apart with no trouble.

The general consensus reported is that swapping in a Tracker or Sidekick 1.6 beats trying to coax more power from the 1.3. The 8-valve shares many parts with the 1.3, the 16-valve differs more, and vendor kits make either swap fairly easy.

A floppy shifter that is hard to get into first and second comes from worn internals in the shifter housing. Owners say it is an easy, cheap fix, so it should not scare off a buyer and can be used as a bargaining point.

The classic Samurai fault is a click-click with no start when the key is turned. Cleaning the contacts inside the ignition switch gets it starting reliably again.

With stock front-mounted shackles, hitting a rock swings the shackle back and bends the spring; a reversal mount just takes rock rash. Others prefer plain SPOA without reversal for flex and ride, and one says SPOA springs sag sooner than SPUA.

Take the cowl apart and clear the debris so the drains work. One owner then covered the top opening with black-painted aluminum mesh sealed with silicone so it cannot plug again. One owner cleaned it and still had leaks.

Pry a small gap in the windshield gasket with a screwdriver and run a silicone bead all the way around. Do this on both the glass side and the frame side. The owner who did this said the leaks stopped.

Because the 1.3 is so underpowered, one owner says ignoring gearing is the biggest build mistake. He found that going from stock to 4.16 and then 4.89 transfer case gears made a big improvement with 30-inch tires, and says stock gearing with 33s performs poorly.

Slow or stuck wipers are usually caused by rusty wiper linkage, not the motor. Penetrating oil and grease restore factory speed. Fill the plastic caps over the wiper shafts with grease to keep water out.

Replace the distributor O-rings before pulling the transmission. Get genuine Suzuki O-rings from a parts vendor rather than generic NAPA ones.

North American Samurai fenders and body parts are the same through the whole model run, so a '90 fender fits an '89. New body parts can be hard to come by. Where people found it: Salvage yards; local suppliers that sell body parts to body shops (some sell to individuals); Rod's Used Samurai (whole front clips, pricier); showcars-bodyparts.com; Ack's FAQ for aftermarket sources

Hardtop door parts are available new. Sidekick/Geo Tracker window rubbers are said to work well on Samurais.

Where people found it: Suzuki dealer, Trail Tough (trailtough.com), eBay; Sidekick/Tracker window rubbers

Many owners regret cheap Z-links, which do not eliminate bumpsteer and are the most common trail failure because they are welded from several pieces and bend. They recommend a reputable unit or knuckle-over/OTT steering instead. Some owners with a Rocky Road Z-link or a one-piece Breeze drop drag link report little trouble, though one Breeze owner still has some bumpsteer.