[guinness]

HI all,

so I have a problem with my car and wonder if any of you mechanically minded folk can shed some light on what's going on, and what needs to be done?

My vitara's done 35,000 easy km (i've had it since new and it is stock standard).

6 months ago on the way to work the gearbox started feeling really notchy, difficult to get in and out of each gear - but didn't make any grinding noises, it just needed brute force to select a gear. SO I took it to a dealer, and on the way to the dealer it came good - and the dealer couldnt find anything wrong with it.

it's had a couple of repeat episodes (mostly while cold - but not always), but always come good after a few kms.

Then this morning ...


reversed out of driveway (cold), felt notchy and difficult to get reverse.
drove onto road -- then couldn't get any gear at all no matter how much force i used-- i got it into neutral and pushed it back into the driveway.
once in driveway - i couldn't select any gear. turned ignition off, easy to move gear lever. restarted. cant change gear. turned ignition off. easy to select gears again. turned ignition on - same problem - cant select a gear and MUCH grinding when I try. ignition off again, easy to select gear again, start car again - and this time everything is COMPLETELY FINE - WTF???

So I drove it back to the dealer, but of course it behaved perfectly when i dropped it off.
i've left it there for them to look at on Monday.

advice? thoughts? thanks in advance.

[Scrawny]

Sounds like a hydraulic issue. Either a simple bleed will fix it or more likely a new master cylinder. Probably a change of oil in the box will help but I doubt that's the issue

[stockman]

Sounds like the clutch requires adjusting. It's weird that it comes and goes, unless it was a hydraulic clutch that had air in the system.
If it is a hydraulic clutch try pumping the pedal fast and see if that works.

[guinness]

thanks guys - tried pumping the clutch (out of frustration!) - no effect

[fordem]

Let's narrow it down some - does it happen with the engine off?

Yes - it's in the transmission
No - it's the clutch

[Jester]

yeah sounds like clutch hydraulic failure to me also

[alexxx]

x2 ^^^^^

[guinness]

how much do you guys think it'll be to fix?
35,000 km and less than 4 years old ... not really very happy
my POS hyundai did 90,000 km over 8 years with out missing a beat.

[atari4x4]

check the clutch master cylinder, have you been loosing fluid?

the ones in SV420/Sv620's are known to fail & leak inside the cab, lift the carpet & check for fluid.

[Jester]

guinness wrote:

how much do you guys think it'll be to fix?
35,000 km and less than 4 years old ... not really very happy
my POS hyundai did 90,000 km over 8 years with out missing a beat.

shouldnt be too bad if you diy, never actually done one on that specific model, but slave is piss easy as is flex hose. master cyl is a bit more work, bleed it up on the bench plug the port again, fit it up and bleed again from the slave and away you go

[guinness]

wont be a diy job - i have the tifecta of

1. no tools
2. no time
3. no mechanical knowledge

[fordem]

Uhhh - bleeding is not that difficult, a master cylinder replacement, not that difficult - but a slave cylinder is another matter. If I'm not mistaken the clutch slave on a GV3 is concentric with the transmission input shaft - you either pull the engine or drop the transmission.

[Jester]

fordem wrote:

Uhhh - bleeding is not that difficult, a master cylinder replacement, not that difficult - but a slave cylinder is another matter. If I'm not mistaken the clutch slave on a GV3 is concentric with the transmission input shaft - you either pull the engine or drop the transmission.

oh the the newest GVs are them are they? I didnt know that

[guinness]

got the car back from it's service.
they did the 45,000 km service -- cost me $620

they couldnt replicate the problem, and suggested removing the gearbox to inspect ($260) but said they had no idea if it would help.
I said no thanks.


what now????

starting to think it's time to trade the car.

[stockman]

Is there any warranty left?

[guinness]

nope, 3.5 years old - 35000 km

will probably try another mechanic ... any recommendations in Adelaide ?

[atari4x4]

what dealer did you take it to?

[guinness]

suzuki in the city