Engine Noise

Had my Jimny nearly a week now (2006 plate 13,000 on the clock) every now and then i hear a noise, the only way i can describe it is like a steam engine a chuffing sound i only hear it now and then,at first i thought it was road surface noise on certain roads but as i revisited the roads i had driven on and i never heard it on these particular roads so i rulled that out,the car has a 28 day warranty so planning to take it back to the dealer,does anyone have any idea what it could be, i have limited mechanical knowledge.
Fuel consumption also seems to be an issue,there was not much fuel in the tank when i bought the jimny so i filled the tank up last thursday when i bought it less than a week ago and have only done 60 miles the fuel guage is sitting at the half full mark,any advice would be much appreciated,thanks in advance.

Don't know about the noise I'm afraid, but a Jimny has a very small tank, and hardly does anything to the gallon (that is why the VED is so high for a 1300)

If I fill mine right up until the pump won't let anymore fuel out (and then do about 20 miles before the fuel expands and leaks out everywhere) after 100 miles it reads 1/2 a tank and takes about £18 to fill again. The gauge drops very quickly

Works out to about 31mpg. Yours is the VVT model, should be good for 33-35MPG if you don't go over 50.

The jimny doesnt have a low warning light neither - ive had mine coughing and spluttering when its in the red, but try to avoid it - when the needle hits the red, its time to fill up. A couple of mates had sj's and mentioned it was the same.

I could be completely wrong here, but when my astra head gasket just started to go ( before it ended up sounding like an impreza ) it made a strange noise like it was chuffing as you put it
Probably completely wrong, but just check the oil / water.
ie oil might start to go creamy and the water will have oil in it.
I hope its not this for your sake tho.
Also just check your plugs.... depending on how you define chuffing you could be down a cylinder ( does it sound beefier but lacking power? ) This could also contribute to bad mpg.
Bert

There have been a number of reports of the Transfer Box Chain making a rushing/chuffing noise at times and this has been described as "normal".

Martin

Mines an 06 VVt and it'll have the fuel warning light on at about 250 miles if not revved much over 4000 and be hard on empty after being filled to the top, I mean right up to the filler next. It might go further but haven't been brave enough to try it ! 60 miles to half a tank does seem a bit poor, but from full to half tank does go down a good bit quicker than the last half. If the air filter is particularly dirty or if it's been run to near dry by the last owner and the fuel filter's full of crud from the bottom of the tank it wouldn't help the MPG either.

It occasionally makes a bit of a chuffing noise, my missus descibed it as the car " farting" most helpfully. Only does it very occasionally and can't get it to do it again, doesn't appear to be a major problem