I have my eye on a 96 1.8 4dr Sport 5speed 4X4 and wanted to see if any members have any experience with the 1.8.  I have talked to a local Sidekick collector who said that the 1.8 was only made for 2 years & all the owners that he has talked to have had problems with it, & he said to stay with the 1.6 16V.
Any info on this from members?

It is a good engine if you don't go over a 30 wt. motor oil in it because of the timing chain, a friend of mine has one that I work on and he has over heated it eight times with in a one year span and had it towed in three times so far, only one time being the rigs fault with a bad harmonic balancer the rubber went south and let the belts slip not letting the water pump work, re did the head gasket had .007 warp on the head, shaved it and good to go again with way over 100 k on it, I can not believe the abuse that thing takes, you have to be careful when the tow truck driver gets a hold of these the rear ends are thin and will bend if he tries to stretch it on the flat bed truck, other than that tough rig.

The 1.8s were made for three years - 96~98 - and your biggest problem is going to be the "relative" unavailability of spares.  I say relative because it's not that the parts aren't available, but that you won't find used parts as plentiful in the junk yards as the 1.6s.

It's a tough vehicle with a tough engine, it just needs proper maintenance, like any other vehicle - because of the timing chain, regular oil changes are a MUST - the oil should be selected based on the climate you're operating the vehicle in, I run 10w40 all year round.

Bobzuki, after replacing the chain on his wife's trucklet said the factory
recommendation was 5w-30 and should be followed strictly to prevent
timing chain stretch. This is what I have heard from others, not from
personal experience. 

Thanks for all your info as a newbie to this I am relying on the information from owners like you, I have heard of the parts shortage.. wrecking yards that is... I try to make a trip every weekend to the yard's, even if I am not looking for anything, just to see what is there, though I have never seen a Sport or a 1.8 in all my trips.  Just thought with larger tires the extra HP would be a nice thing, so far it sounds like a good engine.......still thinking between a manual or auto.
Thanks again

I think there neat little cars & hope to be posting

Bobzuki, after replacing the chain on his wife's trucklet said the factory
recommendation was 5w-30 and should be followed strictly to prevent
timing chain stretch. This is what I have heard from others, not from
personal experience. 

The factory recommendation for the 1.8 SideKick Sport is exactly the same as it is for the 1.6 SideKicks (and pretty much every other Suzuki I've seen), and it varies with temperature - going from memory 10w30 is what is recommended, but that doesn't cover the temperatures I need, so I run one grade up (as recommended in the owner's manual), which is 10w40.

The problem with the timing chain is not stretch per se - the system is designed to automatically accomodate the increase in length of the timing chain due to wear by means of a hydraulic tensioner, and the problem is that when the oil is not changed regularly, sludge forms and clogs the passages in the tensioner so that it does not work - there is an upgraded tensioner with larger oil ways and a "finer tooth" rachet to reduce the impact of poor maintenance, but, if the oil is changed regularly, and the appropriate grade used, you should have no problems.

That's good to know, the oil recommended in my manual was 5w-30
thru 100* and 10w-30 I think over that, I always changed the viscosity
according to the seasons, 5-30 winter 10-30 or 40 spring and 20-50 in
the summer.

The main reason the auto makers want you to use  5-30 is to improve
fuel economy with less drag on the oil pump and bearing surfaces

Wild

the thinner oil pulls more heat out of the bearings, if you have oil like honey sitting there it will have more heat on the bearings, if your engine bearing are wore out then 50 wt is good and if real bad there is always airplane oil or gear oil.

I'm not sure I would want to run 20w50 in a Suzuki engine - even though the manual does permit it - I don't see the advantage.  It probably won't do any harm in the G series engines, but on the J series with the hydraulic lifters it can cause lifter patter on a cold start.

Please bear in mind here that the temperatures I see year round vary a low in the mid 70's (quite rare) to high 90's - so if your summer temps run higher than that ...

Summer here is 100 to 110, but this year it's been nice with most
days under 100

What part of the US is that Wild?  I thought most of the US was having it quite hot this summer - I'm in Florida right now (Tampa - brought my last daughter back to college), and it's hotter than normal here but, not into the 100s.

Great Summer in So Cal   very mild not too hot   back east has been bad and thats most of the country!
    I tend to vary which oil I use by season.  But I  now belive the first few minutes is the hardest and If your oil too thick  it will take longer to circulate .    Also once a motor is warmed up and your driving for long periods of time I dont think a little heavier is going to hurt but those short drives a few miles are harder and thinner oil gets to work faster. For instance If I were to be driving cross country I would not hesitate to use 20 50 driviing many hours at a time .   But If I never drove more than 20 minitues at a time I would feel better using a thin oil even in heat.   I used to use  straight 30 or 40 weight in my chevy .  Over the last 15 years with jap 4 cylinder motors I pretty much use 10-40 now unless I am going to encounter extreeme temps 

A guy over at zukikrawlers.com  he has 1.8 and 2.0 motor, he disassembled both of them and measured them carefully then came to a conclusion that both of them are exactly the same.  He is using 2.0 block with 1.8 internals along with honda h beam rods and etc.  Thought you'd like to know. 

There are a couple of different part numbers used over the different years, but if you look at the part catalogues you can find the same number block & head used on both the 1.8 & 2.0 engines - I think the 1.8 Esteem and the 2.0 Vitara, so yes, they are the same

Just want to say thanks for all the info that I find on this form.  I am new to this & still learning about the Suzuki engine's, but If the part numbers are the same for both the 1.8 & 2.0 head & block then the difference must be in the crank, with the 2.0 having a longer stroke then the 1.8.  If that is true then you can make the 1.8 into a 2.0 with very little work.  I have been in the VW air cooled off road & drag racing for 15 years & we do a lot of stroker motors that way.
  If you want to check the size you can do it by using this

Bore X Bore X Stroke X .0031416 = Engine C.C.