Hi guys, new here. Was over on the Suzuki Forums Sidekick forum for many years (3 Sidekicks over the years.) Abandoned ship over there several years ago.

Sorry about the 'lost data' problems here.......Anyway.....

Just picked up a very straight, no rust, '87 Samurai. Had it shipped from Pueblo CO (5,000 ft. altitude) to Northern IL (800 ft. altitude). Started it up, took it for a spin and lots of pinging. Retarded the timing and pinging goes away, but I'm way retarded on the timing marks, about 0 degrees TDC. I'm assuming that I need to mess with the carb as well to adjust to the extreme change in altitude. I'm assuming I may be very lean. Any recommendations?? I'm a total novice as regards the stock carburetor. Where do I start??

Also, my plan is to switch out the stock carb for a manual choke Weber sometime before the winter. (I'm not a rock-crawler so I don't mind the 30 degree 'tilting' problem.) I'm hoping I can pretty much toss anything related to the ECM at that point. Please tell me if I am wrong about that.

Thanks!!

The Samurai actually has an altimeter in the engine compartment.  It is the small cylinder-shaped sensor, just right to the battery.  This sensor along with the ECM helps to adjust the mixture based on the altitude.



FYI, I experienced a similar problem several years ago when I flat towed a Samurai from Tulsa, OK (636 feet) to Gunnison, CO (7,700 ft).  Basically, the reverse of your situation.  In a nutshell, the Samurai ran extremely rich at the higher elevation.  However, after about an hour of driving it around, it started to run a lot better.  I believe that the abrupt change in elevation without the vehicle in actual operation created a little hiccup.  So my advice is to make sure all of your sensors are present and plugged in.  Then I would just drive it around, and get the cobwebs out.

Very interesting...I've driven it about a week or so (200 miles??) so I'll reset the timing and see what happens. Thanks!!

I've never owned a Sammy, but I keep learning really interesting little tidbits about them.  That altimeter sensor is definitely one of them.  I still think Suzuki's engineering was FAR ahead of their time.

The correct name is "barometric pressure sensor" and they were only used on the 90 & later models - they are also not that uncommon - most vehicles with any sort of electronic fuelling control will have one.

Fordem,
These altimeters aka "barometric pressure sensors" were also on 1986-1989 US-market Samurais as shown on the engine compartment picture. 

Do Trackicks have them as well fordem?

I believe they do, most EFI systems do - I'll check the parts catalog in the morning and confirm - would have been known as the MAP (manifold absolute pressure) sensor.

Although the MAP sensor is intended to measure the pressure (or actually vacuum - lack of pressure) in the manifold so that the load on the engine can be estimated, the ECU will determine atmospheric pressure (and therefore altitude), from the MAP when the EFI system powers up, before the engine is started.

Edit...

Yes, the Trackkicks do - the TBI systems used on the 8v engines have a sensor very similar to that used on the Samurais, (which, by the way, the parts manual does not show as a cylindrical canister), the MPI systems used on the 16v engines have the MAP sensor on the manifold.

So, generally speaking, if I were to drive from here (at around a 750' above sea level) west to the Rocky mountains and drive up Pikes Peak, my engine would adjust for the differences in the atmospheric pressure, and not seriously degrade performance like a carburated engine at extreme heights?

You might have to switch off and back on for it to recalibrate itself, and I believe there will be some loss of performance at higher altitudes - how much might depend on your idea of extreme heights.  Go high enough, and the only way to compensate might be forced induction.

I'm thinking somewhere around 9,000-10,000 would be the highest you could drive in North America and still have a road/trail to follow.

According to Wikipedia, the Pikes Peak track goes up to 14110 ft.  I really have no idea how much of a power loss you can expect.

If you're curious, google Suzuki altitude record - a couple of guys took a Samurai to 21,000+ feet - up a volcano in Chile.

I've driven and ridden up Pikes Peak to the top a few times and the power loss is substantial and quite noticeable.
 

I've driven and ridden up Pikes Peak to the top a few times and the power loss is substantial and quite noticeable.
 

At that altitude I can imagine!  The oxygen density reduction at that elevation is considerable.  A small reduction in the already limited power produced by our small engines would be significant.   Lower gears would come in handy.  I know I can now feel the elevation affects on my body at 3,000+ feet elevation now far more than when I was a bit younger.  My heart rate increase is more significant because of the reduced oxygen exchange capacity.

My heart rate increase is more significant because of the reduced oxygen exchange capacity.

I like your terminology - would that be the same as reduced lung capacity?

I was diagnosed with that just about 10 years back, I'd been aware of the symptoms for close on 25 years, but to me that was just what was normal for my body, I was also told that some loss of capacity will occur with aging, so I guess in another 20 years I'll have none left 

Ain't old age a b!tch?