Hello all, first post here. I did some searching and couldn't find an answer.

I bought my first zuki yesterday, and I know the little 1.3 doesn't pack much power. But, I can only get this thing up to about 55-60mph tops...60 is pushing it, and downhill 

The engine runs great with little or no smoke, but there is a check engine light on intermittently.

The samurai has 235 tires (about 28"), is this larger than stock?

As far as I can tell, the gears are stock.

Also, it has A/C...not sure how much that drags them down.

I'm wondering if I have engine problems, or if it is normal. A 1.6L is in the future, just not quite yet and I want to make the 1.3 work until then.

Thanks
Shawn

Sounds about right!

205's would be a stock tire, so you are a little taller than stock. 

Your speedo is also reading a little slow do to the taller tires.

Cwkick

235's are just shy of 29" (about 28.7").  I had a set of 29" swamper sx's on my Sammy when I first put it on the road.  only power mod was a header w/ 2" CAT and exhaust but my engine did smoke and was about 12k miles away from death so it probably was about the same as you truck on the power scale.  Also the swampers are alot heavier, wider and have more rolling resistance than any radial out there. 

With the bigger tires your speedo is about 7% slower than your actual speed so you actually top out at 64-ish mph.  I used to pull about 65mph indicated (69.8mph) on level ground w/o wind.  Uphill i got about 50-55mph indicated (54-59 reality) or less if the hill was really bad.  Down steep grades 75 indicated (80mph reality) was just barely do-able but 70 indiacted was not too uncommon.

I'd say you should be getting a little more top speed, at least 65 mph indicated.  Especially down-hill.  When does the check eng light come on?  Are you running it the original CAT?

Either way, a high flow exhaust and intake will help alot.  Also, have you done the all too common vent tube mod to the carb?  That alone will help out the power in the mid range alot which should help alot on the highway.

truckasaurus,

Thanks for the reply.

I haven't checked the vent tube mod, nor am I familiar with it. Is there a write up on it available?

When I first got it, there was a vacuum line off of what looked like a regulator, right on the carb (passenger side). I checked the engine with it on and off, and it ran the same both ways. I put the line back on just to be safe. Is this the line that should be off?

Also, the check engine light is on almost all the time...unless I am just idling. If it is idling, it is off sometimes...but if it has a load, it is usually on.

I'm not sure if the cat is stock or a replacement. I do believe the o2 sensor (or a sensor in the exhaust near the manifold) is new. It looks brand new. I can't tell about the CAT though because I haven't owned it. It looks fairly clean, but the whole truck is pretty clean. it does have a rear exit exhaust, so I think it may be aftermarket...but that doesn't mean they messed with the CAT. I live in TX, and I'm pretty sure I can pull the CAT off and install a 'TEST' tube (  ) and get away with it. I will probably lose the CAT and try it out.

I've heard mixed reviews on open element filters. Should I use a conical filter or stay with the air box and a drop in? The air box looks very restrictive on these. I don't plan on crossing any high water, so I should be OK with an open element...but if it doesn't help, no sense in spending the money.

I may be able to pull 65mph down hill (indicated)...but I haven't really pushed it too hard. Is 4th gear the gear I should use to achieve top speed? I don't have a TACH on it so I don't want to over rev it. Also, what's the 'redline' RPM?

Thanks for the help.

Shawn

Redline is 6500RPM.  If you are like me, you won't need to look at the tach.  When the RPMs get to 4500, it sounds to me like a rod is about to go through the side of the block, so I back off.

I have an EFI 1.3 engine, and my top speed with ~28" tires is 75 (that's when it starts to make weird noises/vibrations) so I am afraid to push it any farther.  RPMs are running just under 4K in 5th, IIRC.  Oh yeah, I have the higher geared 5th in mine too, which is good for about a 3-400 RPM drop, from the later trannys.

They had a recall on the exhaust down pipe coming out of the castiron manifold, check to see if the pipe narrows just befor bolting up to the manifold, if so your going to need to replace the pipe from there to the cat, they are double walled and collapse on the in side. the guys around here run the stock 1.3's to about nine grand, I would not do that but these guys don't seem to mind, they run at five grand going down the highway at fifty five mph. You might just have to get used to running it with out using fifth gear they will run at four grand forever.