Suzuki G-series (G10 / G13 / G16)

Suzuki's small petrol three and four of the 1980s and 1990s — in the Vitara, Baleno, Swift and X-90, and in the Geo and Chevrolet versions of the same cars.

It is the engine behind the first Vitara's reputation, and that reputation is durability rather than power: a simple iron-block sixteen-valve four in a light vehicle, and an enormous number still working.

Its recurring items are the timing belt and the distributor. The belt interval is real and the engine is interference on most versions, so a failure bends valves. The distributor's shaft bearing wears and produces a misfire that comes and goes with heat — and it is regularly diagnosed as an ignition module or a coil, which is the more expensive guess.

Oil leaks from the rocker cover and the front crank seal are the norm at age rather than a fault, and on a vehicle this old the question is usually whether they are worth chasing.

The G16B sixteen-valve is not the G16A eight-valve, and the head, the cam and the timing components differ — a distinction the badge on the car never makes.