Re:That super short grinding noise in first gear...

Hello!

My Jimny, same as quite a few others, emits this very short grinding noise that lasts probably for half a second when I start pulling on a slope on first gear, and also when I start it. I was reading this forum and others about the problem and I still don´t know if it comes from the ABS pump of the chain in the transfer case. I would swear that it is the transfer case, but I am not 100% sure.

Has Suzuki done something about this? I read that bulletin from South Africa where they told it is normal and due to chain slack. Then, I found a few others where they issued replacement parts... Should I report the noise now that the car is new, so if something fails at least it is written that I told them? Finally, do you think I should worry about this? the sound does not bother me, but if something is grinding and can eventually fail I will push to have it replaced. My car is a unit made in 2023 and has around 4000 Km.

Thanks!
 

Either drive with your hand on the transfer case shift knob or have your passenger do it, if the noise is from the transfer case you'll feel it on the shift lever.

Good luck trying to get it sorted, I reported it verbally to my dealership at the first service, in writing at the second & third and escalated it to the General Manager and then the Managing Director - this is on a 2021 vehicle that is half way through a five year warranty.

In the UK this short grinding noise is diagnosed as a chain issue and there are a couple of dealer bulletins that describe this and a replacement chain (new part number) to solve it

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Thanks!

It seems to be something treated differently in each country. I have the bulletin from South Africa saying that it is all normal, and then the ones from UK describing the kits. Then, there are people saying that the kit is just a temporary measure and the noise comes back after a while. I will go to the local dealer here and show them the bulletins from UK, just to see if I have the stuff replaced for free. Good news are that this seems to be more a quirk than anything else, as far as I read...

Not sure if this relates as I have a Gen3 and aftermarket gears, but I got this noise and is certain that it comes from the chain.

There is no doubt with me as I have some experience with these things thru my work as an engineer dealing with high torque applications and sometimes whirling.
The noise in my car only comes when the strain on the chain is at its peak and there where no noise before my gears where changed and the strain was increased.

I would not be suprised if the Gen4 has more (of the) torque applied in the transfer case than the Gen3 as this rarely occur in the Gen3.
i am guessing that the gear ratio difference would show more torque applied in the transfer case and less in other parts of the drive line compared to the Gen3.
(However there are diffferences between Gen3's as well in the gearing as the gen3's with lower transfer case gearing will transfere more of the torque in the transfer case.)
There is also more torque from the engine in the Gen4 wich could explain the differnce.

From the top of my head this so do not take it too seriously

Thank you all, very useful info!

At the end I went to the Suzuki dealer to tell them about it so at least my observation gets written. The chief mechanic there is quite special but not a liar. He basically said that yep, it was the chain in the transfer case and that there is a kit to reduce the noise. This will work for a time and then it will come back, but noise usually gets permanently muffled around 20%. He added that I could mention it in the next inspection and leave the car there for a day. They will open the transfer case, check if everything is within the tolerances and if the Jimny already has the kit parts installed or not. He also mentioned that most of them had the noise and that in 99% of the cases the cases were within the tolerance range and that the noise did not mean that it was going to get damaged.

From here, everything went downhill. He started rambling about people wanting the cars too silent these days, and buying Jimnies because they are cute without getting that they are supposed to be unsophisticated rural vehicles. Suddenly he asked if I wanted to lift the car, because it would make the noise worse. I replied that maybe and he said that in that case it was probably not even worth installing the kit components if the case was fine. He said that a friend of his made a big foot out of a Jimny and he was complaining about the noise for days afterwards. He also mentioned that they stopped installing suspension kits because the car becomes even more quirky and noisy, and people were making the life of Suzuki mechanics impossible.

At this point I quietly left the place, I will tell them to have a look in the next inspection.