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.

I can see where the mechanic is coming from. My two Jimnys have both had the fix and one is showing signs of it returning albeit much quieter but will monitor if it gets worse. My third Jimny is also going in to be fixed. I can see what he means about people modifying them and then complaining about how it affects the car but that’s for the owners to accept and should realise they can’t claim against Suzuki for that. I don’t believe what he says about the lift kit making the noise worse as the noise has been there on my cars lifted & standard so there’s no difference.

I seem to be missing something here! If a part is manufactured and subsequently shows itself to be defective then an honourable manufacturer will modify the parts and supply a kit to modify/rectify cars that show symptoms of the fault and will then fit the modified parts to subsequently manufactured vehicles.
Why then are cars, built long after this fault became known, showing the same symptoms?

Roger

This is what you're missing ...

 

Suzuki made a decision to tell owners "it's normal", does that make them "not honourable", you decide.

If Suzuki are claiming that the noise is normal, why is there a bulletin on the subject plus a kit of parts to rectify - hopefully - the problem. When I bought my Gen.4 I was not informed of a noise that may or may not originate from the T-box so maybe that will answer your comment as to why I used the word "honourable" and yes I did note that the comments that have been referred to originate from South Africa.

Roger

Suzuki treats different markets differently, as an example, you'll see recalls in one market and not in another, TSBs (Technical Service Bulletins) in one market, but not in another, the dealership is not going to notify you of a noise that is the subject of a TSB, unless it becomes a recall.

The purpose of the TSB is to inform the dealership that Suzuki is aware of a problem affecting a given model, along with the correct procedure to rectify the problem IF a customer comes in complaining about it. Not all vehicles will have the problem, and there is nothing to be achieved by alerting a new owner to a problem that his car may not have, it doesn't inspire confidence in the brand, you wait until he complains.

The TSB concerning this chain issue has a 2019 date, my 2021 has the problem, I've driven other JB74s that don't, I suspect the problem is more likely to be present on manual transmission models as I suspect it is caused by the sudden application of torque which the torque converter on the automatic will cushion.

Indeed... only very few automatic transmission Jimnies make the noise, but it is just because how the torque is transferred, as it was mentioned. The noise is muffled in my unit, and if you are aware of the quirk, you can easily drive avoiding it, as I usually do. You will definitely hear it if you are in a very steep slope and you need to pull hard in first gear, but not in a normal situation. It could be that it already has a "fixed" transfer case, since it is from March 2023. My impression is that they just kept the previous generation transfer box, or something very similar, while increasing engine power and torque, and now the chain is audible in certain situations.

My family has Jimnies (well, and old Samurais ) that were always used as rural vehicles in the north of Spain. The government also used them extensively as mountain goats. Our model three had the noise, that you could easily hear while climbing a mountain. I don´t remember if the Samurais too, but those were already so noisy and terrible that God knows. Of course, nobody ever bothered because, truth be told, Jimnies were always treated as cheap workhorses that rarely left the mountains and my family only paid attention to them if they were literally not running.

I wonder if they still have the guys... I know that one rolled down the hill because they put a big wild board on top