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

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