Question 1

Cracking sound and smoke puffing from my 2016 Suzuki Swift

Accepted Answer

You could be looking at any number of causes for this, and some of them herald the demise of your engine. Get a mechanic to check the car out. They will probably do a compression test, a leak-down test and have a close listen to the engine both at idle and under load. If the cracking sound is a backfire or misfire, you may have an ignition problem. But the smoke is a bit more involved as it depends on the colour of the smoke. Black smoke suggests poor fuelling, but blue or grey smoke often means internal engine wear.

Question 2

The engine in our 2014 Suzuki Swift cuts out

Accepted Answer

It is indeed a dangerous situation, especially if you’re trying to pull into fast-moving traffic when the engine suddenly cuts out. Frankly, there are literally hundreds of causes for this, so the best advice is to go back to basics and try to find anything wrong with the fuel or ignition system. An electronic scan of the car (if it hasn‘t already been done) is a good idea, too, as it might pin-point the problem area. You could be looking at something as simple as a poor earth connection or a blocked fuel filter. That the car runs properly in the meantime, suggests that it’s an intermittent fuel or electrical problem rather than an inherent mechanical failure.

Question 3

2007 Suzuki Swift engine not turning over

Accepted Answer

There are a few things to check here. The first is that even though the battery has been recharged, has it been load tested? This time of year is very hard on batteries and even though it may seem to be holding a charge, when you actually put a load on it via the starter motor, it can go weak at the knees and will not spin the engine over. The clicking you can hear is probably the starter motor’s relay which controls the power to the starter. But what about the starter motor itself? Has this been tested for correct operation. Sometimes the problem can also be what’s called the throw-out mechanism which is a solenoid that forces the starter motor’s teeth to mesh with the engine’s flywheel teeth and, therefore, turn things over. Perhaps an auto electrician is the best place to start. Their first job will be to test a range of things and rule out possible causes one by one.

Question 4

2008 Suzuki Swift is losing power

Accepted Answer

Spark plugs can foul with oil or with fuel if the mixture is incorrect or the fuel is old and stale. If it’s fuel that’s the problem you need to either fix the problem that is throwing the air-fuel ratio out of whack or replace the fuel if its old (and modern ULP doesn’t have a huge shelf life). Experience has also shown that once a spark plug has fouled because of old ULP, no amount of cleaning will bring that plug back to life. If it’s oil that’s fouling the plug, it’s probably because of blow-by from worn piston rings or valve-stem seals. If that’s the case, the oil level n the dipstick will be falling over time and you may even see evidence of blue-grey smoke from the tailpipe. Without knowing how many kilometres this engine has covered and how it’s been serviced, it’s very difficult to suggest what the cause might be.

Question 5

How can I get a copy of the 2007 Suzuki Swift owners and repair manual?

Accepted Answer

You can google this request and come up with a few websites that say they offer a free workshop manual, as well as a few less sites that actually do offer a downloadable (usually as a PDF) workshop and service manual. The content may or may not be factory content, however, so keep that in mind. Many of these websites are sneakily constructed to make you click on a link that is nothing to do with the manual allegedly being offered, and you can wind up going down some long advertising rabbit-holes that will ultimately take you nowhere. Possibly a better bet is to find a reputable online book retailer which offers the workshop manual you're looking for. In many cases, this will still be a PDF meaning you need a computer to access it. Experience suggests that a hard-copy workshop manual is a much better idea as it can be taken with you to the driveway or workshop and referred to quickly and easily part-way through a particular job. And given the modest price of such books, it's a small percentage of the cost of a repair you can now do yourself instead of paying somebody else to tackle.

Question 6

Are the indicators in a Suzuki Swift on the left or right hand side?

Accepted Answer

Being a Japanese car (Japan drives on the left as we do) the indicator stalk is on the right of the steering column. Most drivers find this is a more natural place to have them, and this is probably down to muscle memory as generations of Australian cars had the indicators to the right of the column as well. That said, many European cars place the indicators to the left of the column, but it's surprising how quickly you'll adapt to that. Many Australians had their first taste of indicators-on-the-left in early air-cooled Volkswagens. This was more of an issue when cars had manual transmissions and you needed your left hand to change gears while hitting the indicators with your right hand.

Question 7

We purchased a Suzuki Swift that was advertised with nine kilometres, but once we picked it up it had 800km. What can we do?

Accepted Answer

The first thing to know is that if the car is not presented for delivery in the condition in which bit was described in the contract of sale, you don’t have to accept it. Without knowing the exact circumstances, it sounds as though the car may have ben used as the dealership’s demonstrator model. If that’s the case, it should be sold as such and at a discount to your fiancée. Check the date of first registration. That might give you a clue as to how long it’s actually been driven on the road. You would expect a handful of kilometres to be added as the car is sent for pre-delivery and detailing, but 800km seems a bit sharp. If you go ahead, make sure you ask whether the warranty will start from the day you take delivery or will be back-dated to the date of first registration.

Question 8

On average, how often do engines, gearboxes and diffs, among other things, fail?

Accepted Answer

In a very broad sense, these components should last the life of the vehicle. Certainly, by the time you need to replace any of these major components, the cost of doing so is likely to be more than the value of the whole vehicle. That's often when cars get scrapped. I'll take a stab in the dark and suggest that the warranty you're being offered is from a car dealer attempting to sell you the vehicle and the warranty as an up-sell. So here's the bottom line: With very, very few exceptions, these aftermarket warranties are not worth the paper they're printed on. The fine-print will exclude just about any fault or problem that is likely to occur, meaning that real world problems won't be covered. In any case, a 2021 Suzuki Swift will still be covered by Suzuki's factory warranty which will cover problems with these components. Why would you need two warranties to cover the same components? Or is the dealer suggesting that Suzuki's factory warranty is not sufficient? Suzuki might be interested to hear that.

Question 9

My Bluetooth button is not working either on the head unit or on the steering wheel in my 2020 Suzuki Swift...

Accepted Answer

Since the Bluetooth is refusing to respond to either the head unit or steering wheel controls, it’s likely to be a problem with the unit itself, rather than a simple switch failure. In any case, your car is still under factory warranty, so take it back to the dealership and make it Suzuki’s problem. Sometimes these units can be reset by disconnecting the power to them for a period of time, but unless you know the factory procedure, you’re flying blind. Back to the dealer.

Question 10

Why does my 2012 Suzuki Swift struggle going up hills?

Accepted Answer

This model Swift was recalled to check and tighten, if necessary, the bolts that connect the torque converter to the car’s engine. However, if these were to fail or fall out (as happened in some cases) it would be a one-off event and the car then wouldn’t work at all. Your problem sounds more like a worn transmission which is not accepting the load you put on it when you try to accelerate. This could be worn bands or some other component inside the transmission. CVTs are pretty complex things and rely on physical parts like bands and pulleys as well as hydraulic bits and pieces to take drive to the wheels. It would also be worth checking the torque converter, as a damaged or worn unit can also produce the symptoms you’re seeing. I’d start with checking that the recall was carried out and work backwards from there.

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