The new wife has a 2000 Grand Vitara that she purchased new.  She always had the oil changed every 3000 miles.

On a short 4 mile trip Sunday the oil pressure light came on.  I checked the oil and it was between the high and low marks.  Started the engine again, and the light was still on.  Limbed the car home and added oil until I reached the full mark.  Started car and the light went out.

Monday the wife leaves for work, but only gets 3 miles down the road before the engine looses all power.  Yes, the light came on again but she kept driving.  I went to pickup the car last night, and despite a fully charged battery, the starter couldn't even turn over the engine.  So I had to roll the car up onto my trailer.

I wonder what went wrong?  Bad oil pump?  Pickup tube loose?  What?

Guess it's time to look for another V6 to drop in there...

How hard is it to swap engines on these cars?  I don't have any experience working on these, but have done other engine swaps in the past and I do have a 2 post lift in my garage as well as a cherry-picker.

Shouldn't be tooooo bad.  Should be a plug and play type of thing.  Just mark everthing so you know what to plug back into what.
Good luck
George

It's easier to swap the engine, than it is to replace the timing chain tensioners.  I bet it's quicker, too.

That's good to hear.  I'll start looking for an engine then.

Guy on Ebay is offering a '02 2.7L XL7/Vitara engine.  I wonder if that one will drop into the my '00?

If it fits physically, will I need a matching computer and what about the harness?  Or will I be better off getting a 2.5?

2.5 and 2.7 are close enough in size that the 2.5
EFI and computer can compensate, but I think you
will have to use all of the old 2.5 intake and exhaust,
unless there are all of the same connectors, then it
might be a true drop in.  I would think the manifolds
are the same, but I dunno.

I'd like to have a crack at that V6 if you are just going
to toss it out, I may be able to do some work on it and
make it live again, + I could tell you what went wrong
if you really want to know

Wild

I'd like to have a crack at that V6 if you are just going to toss it out, I may be able to do some work on it and make it live again, + I could tell you what went wrong if you really want to know

You know the V6 doesn't have a distributor, right?

They are the same its just Bore x Stroke 3.46 in. x 2.95 in. (88 mm x 75mm) on the 2.7l vs Bore x Stroke 3.31 in. x 2.95 in. (84 mm x 75 mm) of the 2.5l
now the ECU might be differnt but who knows???
George

They are the same its just Bore x Stroke 3.46 in. x 2.95 in. (88 mm x 75mm) on the 2.7l vs Bore x Stroke 3.31 in. x 2.95 in. (84 mm x 75 mm) of the 2.5l
now the ECU might be differnt but who knows???
George

Ok, so the cylinders are 4mm larger, but the external dimensions are the same, including port locations and sizes?

If I can pick up the 2002 2.7 w/ 10k on it for $1k, I take it that's a pretty good deal?

The other engine I'm looking at so far is a 2001 2.5 w/ 50k on it for $1k as well.

If the 2.7 will drop right in, it seems like a better deal, especially if the ECU is included.

I would have to say go for the 2.7

I'd like to have a crack at that V6 if you are just going
to toss it out, I may be able to do some work on it and
make it live again, + I could tell you what went wrong
if you really want to know

You're welcome to it wild once I get the new engine installed.  I live in Virginia.

No hundred mile warranty. The thing only five years old,,,,,,Id be PISSED!!!!!! Don't tell me it was 100k or 5 years and you just passed the 5 mark.

No hundred mile warranty. The thing only five years old,,,,,,Id be PISSED!!!!!! Don't tell me it was 100k or 5 years and you just passed the 5 mark.

Believe me, we're pissed.  Just made the last payment 2 months ago.  I didn't check, but just assumed the standard warranty is 3 years/36k?

I like adding go fast bolt-ons.  Since its looking like I'll be going for the 2.7, are there any relatively cheap go fast parts that I can bolt on while I'm at it.  If it improves mileage as well, that would be even better.

The 2.5 was rated at 155 and then upped to 165 later I believe.  I think the 2.7 is rated at 185.  Don't know if there is any "low-hanging" fruit so to speak as far as increasing the power on these engines.

Well that sucks. But look at it this way,,,,If you'd been paying extra all this time for an extended warranty you could probably buy a brand new 2.7 with the money. I didn't realize they were up to 185 now So who's going to be the first to put a T3 on that? Probably talkin upwards 300HP with less than 10lbs boost and a big intercooler.

185 hp out of 2.7 liters is about 68.5 hp/liter.  My modded C5 puts down 418 rwhp, which works out to 492 hp at the crank out of a 5.7L engine.  So that's about 86 hp/liter vs the factory 61 hp/liter.

So I got a 40% increase in power by doing a heads and cam swap along with long tube headers, cat-back, intake and computer reprogramming.

I wonder how much Suzuki leaves on the table with the 2.5/2.7 motors?  I haven't looked into it, but I would imagine that an intake and perhaps even long tube headers are available for these engines through the aftermarket?  Perhaps it is even possible to program the ECU?

Guess I'm getting a little carried away, but it sure would be nice the crank up the hp a little since I'll be doing all this work anyway.  But I don't want to go as far as putting a turbo on it, as the car isn't all that, but a little extra gitty up (besides the move from a 2.5 to a 2.7) would be nice.

Guess I'm getting a little carried away, but it sure would be nice the crank up the hp a little since I'll be doing all this work anyway.

I don't think your getting carried away at all. Just think Suzuki upped the power of the 2.5 from 155 to 165 by swapping in components of the XL-7's exhaust system. Just think what could be done with other mods.