Worried Man

[Mark A]

Hello all

Have just bought a 93 surf 2.4 and it's beautiful, love it to bits. It drives like a dream, it's comfy, it's fun and I can't stop looking at it.

But...

There are a couple of things that are really worrying me and I would like some advice from the people who know what they're talking about.

1) The coolant temperature gauge doesn't work
2) After driving it home (60 miles) the reservoir was empty. I didn't check it before I set off so don't know how worried I should be. It had a new Cylinder Head last year but I don't know if it's the modified one or just a replacement and with the overheating problems with the 2.4 I would like to be sure that it's not going to blow again.
3) This morning when I set off to work the 4WD light on the dash came on. I moved the 4wd stick and another light A/T p came on. The gears wouldn't engage, the wheels were locked and there was a slight grinding noise when I put it into Park. Eventually got moving but had to drive in 4WD. At some point the 4WD light went out but it got me to work no problem. Am I being an idiot or do I need to be concerned?

I'm going to drain and refill the coolant, hopefully later today, change the oil and filters. I bought this car because it's bombproof and reliable but appreciate that it will need looking after. Any advice would be very welcome.

Thank you

[The Hornet]

Fill the coolant through the rad cap, then top up the bottle.

You want the 4wd shift pushed forward, do it when i park. If the light remains on the dash, push the button on the stick.

Use the search for burping the coolant system, this will tell you all you need to know.

Simon

[hiroler]

I thought the leaver should be back (on mine anyway) and in 2wd for driving on the road. do not drive in 4wd on the road you will destroy the transmision in no time!!

[nero279]

both of mine have been back for 2wd, AT/P light should come on with the transfer lever (4wd stick) in Neutal and gear selector in P, and you shouldn't get any drive when it's in neutral either. Graunchy grinding noises are normal if you try and move the transfer lever in anything other than N. Or if the transfer lever is between Hi and N or Lo and N. and you shift the gear lever.

It can take a while for 4wd to engage / disengage if it hasn't been used much - sometimes reversing a few feet can help.

So everything sounds pretty normal to me

- as has already been mentioned it's not wise to drive a 2nd gen surf in 4wd unless it's on a loose or slippy surface.

[Mark A]

Grateful

Thanks fellas, you've put my mind at rest. Managed to fix the rear defogger today and think I've found the cause of the temp gauge fault. Just need to keep an eye on things and cross fingers!