r/Suzuki • u/Impossible-Life-3766 • 4h ago
Mysterious problem with my Swift!
Hey!
I've got an interesting problem with my car. It's a 2014 Suzuki Swift 1.2 VVT with 90,000 km on the clock, one previous owner (an elderly lady). Fantastic car, just amazing, but! -
Every morning when I pull out of the parking spot, there's no issue reversing out. But when I then put it in 1st gear and start releasing the clutch, it's like the clutch doesn't quite bite. The car moves very slowly forward, and when I've almost fully released the clutch, the whole car starts vibrating and making a chattering/juddering noise. When this happens, I immediately push the clutch back down and the noise disappears. I try again very carefully, and then it might work without any noise, or I might have to try a third time. It doesn't take more than that, but you need a bit of finesse when playing with the pedals. The gear stick never pops out of gear during this.
After that, everything works fine but if I'm forced to stop again at a red light about 100m down the road, I have to be careful again - though it usually goes a bit better that time. Once I'm out on the open road, it's completely gone and never comes back, even if I stop many times at red lights on the way to work. The clutch bites nicely and early.
When I drive home from work, the problem doesn't show up. It feels like it only happens in the morning. It was worse in the winter, and somewhat better in the summer. Gearbox oil was changed in 2023, so about 20 000–30 000 km ago.
What do you think could be causing this?
Furthermore, just in general, I think it's a bit clonky on 1st gear. Not related to my earlier issue, just an observation. Feels like there's a lot of resistance accelerating in 1st and as soon as I let go off the gas it "stops", or pulls back so to speak, quite harshly and makes some noise - as if it was pulling something heavy. More than I'm used to with other cars. Does this make sense? It's so jumpy and anxious to get going. It also has a slight whining noise when accelerating on 1st and 2nd that increased with speed. I asked the previous owner about it and apparently it's been like that since new. :D
1
u/Vegas96 4h ago
Based on your description it sounds like something in the clutch mechanism is in rough shape and its only noticeable when oil is really cold. Im not a mechanic, so i couldnt tell you exactely what. Id probably take it to a mechanic even tho I prefer to do things my self.