Is my wagon a wagon?

We have a Freestyle. It's Jennifer's daily driver. I consider it a wagon. I can pull up next to a chevy equinox and be sitting closer to the ground. It's not trying to be an SUV like many of the CUV/crossovers. It's based on a car and it knows it. To me that's the lynchpin. At the end of the day it can be an ambiguous designation based on personal experience and preference.
Conversely, it annoys me when people refer to their tahoe or expedition as a truck. But they aren't technically wrong. They're still based off of truck chassis. Just my personal bugaboo. It's not a hill I'm going to die on, so if you disagree, that's just fine.

 

I finally got around to dealing with that engine knocking. After pulling the belt and valvetrain, I was able to summon vertical play. The lobe closest to the camshaft gear bore the brunt of the punishment. This wear pattern looks quite weird:



At the very left, that same pattern was worn into the affected cam lobe:



So, I went out and tore off a head to borrow. I'll just bolt it on, without renewing the gasket, just to confirm that the noise was originating at the head and to rule out any other noise drowned out by the damage done. The donor engine was an oil-burner, as seen by the heavy exhaust valve deposits. I'll restore these hemi chambers, before giving it back. Before I mount it onto it's rightfull block, I'll pull the pistons for de-varnishing

 

If any of you had to buy SKF parts, this is what you'll likely get. I photoed tensioner bearings from both cars. Neither one has had that much milage put on them. Although, they've been renewed a few years ago. Still, they shouldn't pit, while in service.
The bottom one had its pits full of rubber dust. I initially thought, the belt was deteriorating and the departing material was clumping onto the bearing's surface

 

That must be a recent part, because all the SKF bearing parts I've used do not do that. That is very poor quality metallurgy, for it to pit and flake like that.

 

The first set shown will be 5 years old, at the end of next month.
Here's the kit this bearing was included in:

 

I've used a few SKF kits over the years--I instantly recognized the grey plastic tray.

 

Here, a member of a Renault forum posted about unprecise SKF axle joint manufacture:

https://450542.forumromanum.com/mem...mainid=1137561454&threadid=4&USER=user_450542

A few weeks ago, I was performing some cosmetic improvements, including bumping out the kind of dents an elderly person would induce through demented garage entry and exit.
The highlight was when I matched the universally black-painted door handles with the vehicle's body color:





I experimented with silver wheel spray, attempting to color the wiper end below the rear window. It mismatched the body color, by a longshot. Therefore, repainting is rescheduled:

 

If the bed on this one only had a top set down onto it, would it be getting closer to being a wagon?

 

I think of it as a subcompact minivan.

And the rear view, I see definite styling cues from the 90-96 Trans Sport. Whether intentional or not.

 

I went out and bought this, on Saturday. It's a 1997, like the one I have, Suzuki Wagon R+. It's more Jeep-like than the one I've been driving, somewhat similar to a Suzuki Jimmy, given that the seating position is considerably higher and it has a long shift lever.
It's powered by a 1000 cc 4-banger. As soon as I get the title, I'll go register it and bring it hoam



This is what the market here as a "Jimmy":

 

So as to not drift off into the off-topic realm, details can be read, here:

My newly-acquired Suzuki Wagon R+ - Projects builds and rides / Your Non-Daihatsu ride or project - Live To Dai

 

Well, since both 8-pillars are featured, might as well enter my recent snap-up.
The following irregularity could possibly help out any Suzuki Samurai owner of that production generation. The rear foglamps on these are foolproof. Their switches, however, shouldn't be as fallable as they are, given that this is a critical safety item. Mine quit working. So, I went and took it appart. It appears to have a sort of miniature holding relay of which I've never encountered the like, except maybe for when I repaired our washmachine, if one was even included on its circuit board.
The above-located button activates the switch. The bottom one cancels it out. The circled contact slides over where the lines are shown. One of them arrowed in the direction of function.
The turquoise-colored arrow points to a combination resistor/diode.
That blue rectangular part is, of course, the relay or relay substitute:



The on-button is lit up by a diode soldered onto the circuit board, seen just above that arrowed yellow line.
I began tracing the printed circuit, in order to draw a diagram. Once I can condemn the substitue relay, if it's at fault, I'll either solder-in a set of traditional relays, remotely outside of this unit, or will go for a mechanical on/off switch.
Why Suzuki went out of their way doing things this complicated is beyond me




Before tearing into the switch, I tore off this trailer hitch which was quite heavy for this small of a vehicle. I'm keeping it aside, if absolute necessity calls for its continued use

 

I finally got around to ripping off the head.
The combustion chamber directly beneath the camshaft’s problem area, pictured far left, is darker than the remaining chambers. Whether purely coincidental or not will need to be determined, through a leakage test, using gasoline to fill this chamber.
Circled is where one of the head bolts was exposed to exhaust gas, to the point where it was partly burned down. I had set my torque wrench at increments each increasing 10 nm, until the bolt started to break loose. It did so at 90 nm. Tightening torque is suggested at around 56 nm. If the bolt would have broken, that would have set me back somewhat. Interesting to note that this bolt is located smack in the middle of both siamesed exhaust ports. Later designs no longer siamese these ports



Given that the sun is now at a lower angle, approaching Winter, I needed to turn the head accordingly, so as to get a better snapshot. In the following, the exhaust valve appears to be pitted. Whether or not the carbon accumulation is pitted or the valve itself is will be determined, later on this morning

 

You either have exhaust erosion or coolant corrosion (the shape of the coolant passage at the errant bolt hole makes me think that). I can't really tell if the exhaust valve heads are sunken or not, but if not, then unless you have valve face burning, a valve job should put them right. The only other concern is what thickness is allowed in milling of the deck surface.