[Birdman1985]

Hey guys,

I have been reading this site for a few weeks now trying to see if anyone has encountered the same problem as i currently am.

I bought a 99 Jimny from a dealership on the 14th of January and have since that date had it in the shop.

There is a whiring/rattle coming from the front left of the car. It is a totally random occurance (could happen doing 40 or 100km/h or on a 400m to 40km trip). The whiring slowly gets louder and when i bring the car to a complete stop it makes a clunk noise as if something is slotting back into position.

If anyone has any ideas i would greatly appreciate it cause i have always wanted a little 4WD and now i have one i am so disappointed.

Many thanks

Birdman

[Rusho]

Have you tried taking it back to where you bought it from?? Make those guys deal with it I say

[31zook]

what ever it is it sounds bad... does it have any mods? i.e. loose bull bar, or suspension geo has been played with????


welcome to AZ

[ninjadaniel]

could be wheel bearings?

[Mistaria81]

sounds like maybe the auto hubs trying to engage/disengage for some unknown reason, take it bake to the dealer and make them fix it. which dealer was it out of curiosity????

[31zook]

your in qld why do you ask?

[royce]

how do you make it stop the noise?

another vote for something in the hub

[Birdman1985]

Thanks heaps for all the suggestions.

I wont be telling you the place but it was a well known Holden dealer.

I stop the noise by pulling over.

They have had it for over a week and they still haven't fixed it. I took it today, but i got 500m down the road and noticed i had a flat caused by a screw, so i took it back. Got 700m down the road and the noise came back so whatever they did didn't work.

They said they pulled the whole hub apart and to no availe it all looked fine.

I suggested transfer case or what Mistaria suggestested. I thought it was the hubs slipping in and out but they can't figure it out.

I'm paying for the car so i have brought it home so i can atleast drive to work fir a week or 2. Then if the problem persists...heading back, demanding refund...buying something else!!!

Anything else it could be.

[royce]

pull the hub off and cover the hole and go for a drive, that will eliminate it

[Birdman1985]

royce wrote:

pull the hub off and cover the hole and go for a drive, that will eliminate it

Pull of the hub and cover the hole...

Sounds like a backyard sort of a fix?

Do you know the prob?

[Joe]

Im with Royce pull the locking hub off go for a drive and see if the noise is still there

[Joe]

Oh and trying to work out where a noise is coming from can be tricky too the other week my misses vitara was making a scraping noise and it sounded like it was coming from the front left wheel turns out it was the front right wheel bearing
Oh yeah welcome to AZ too

[Birdman1985]

joseph wrote:

Im with Royce pull the locking hub off go for a drive and see if the noise is still there

Sorry im no mechanic u guys are takin the piss right!!!

[Joe]

Birdman1985 wrote:

joseph wrote:

Im with Royce pull the locking hub off go for a drive and see if the noise is still there

Sorry im no mechanic u guys are takin the piss right!!!

Nah man im 99% sure you can take the locking hub off and still drive it.....you can in a sierra i had to do it a couple of years ago to get home

[Rusho]

You should be able to drive...they are not atking the piss, it is more of a diagnostic check if you will. If there is no noise you know what it is, if the noise is still there, you have eliminated a cause

[Joe]

Yeah what Rush said and let us know how it went

[Birdman1985]

Okay well as i said i aint no mechanic so i'll get the old boy (fitter/mech) to have a look and tell me if he sees anything.

Thanks guys...i hope. All these little winks and eye rolls are starting to give me the jitters.

[Joe]

Yeah i spose if some bloke i didnt know winked at me it would give me the jitters too

[Mistaria81]

yeah take the hubs out and go drive it for a bit. shy of that. check your bearing suspension transfer mounts front drive shafts, anything linked in with the front axle. If in doubt gice derek from suzisport.com.au a call. He specialized in suzi's and knows his stuff. helped me a few times. gl

[gman]

I've seen this problem on a couple of jimny's and yes whats happening is the Auto hubs are trying to lock while in 2wd. the dealer is going to strugle to find the problem I would say as its a jimny thing and there not gonna understand. few things which can go wrong. firstly the rubber hoses going from the locking solnoids to the hubs can perrish and if you get a hole in the system things go pear shaped.

I would get them to test the solinoids for leakage, they are under the battery and vent through a stupid foam filter which is shit at stoping the dirt getting in.
dirt and muck gets into the solinoid and allows vaccum to slowly reach one of the hubs. this is why it starts to happen after a bit of driving first, you stop, it locks than all good untill you park the car vaccum than slowly leaks out unlocks when first drive again. than it starts all over.

If you like next time it does it, just slip it into h4 on the go than straight back to 2wd and it will go away.
you could dissconect the hoses leading to the hubs too this will stop it.

having an understanding of how the locking system works will help diagnose this problem.
.
my bet is on the solinoids

and yes you can drive with the hubs off but not sure why you would.
try this first, than go back to your mechanic and ask him if he was a real mechanic he would learn how the system works before playing with something he probably knows nothing about

have fun
Gav

[eldo]

for warranty issues i wouldnt suggest driving with the hubs off or even touching anything yourself, probably print out these pages and show the mechanic. or explain some of the remedies that have been written above, especially gman's input, he seems to know his jimny quite well.

[Mistaria81]

gman = great sage, equal of heaven... well of jimny's anyway

[Birdman1985]

Thanks very much guys. Printed the info and took it to the dealership.

The guy at the desk said they already checked teh solenoids and most everything i mentioned (although i dont think he was the mech. on the job).

I just said if it isn't fixed when i pick it up (friday at the latest). They can keep it and i will have all of my money back, even though i installed a $400 headdeck.

I feel bad having to take it back all the time with things wrong with it...i don't know why, but i do. They should have got it right the first time.

But i will keep you in the loop, thanks gman.

[gman]

thanks mate, will be interested in what they find.... or make up what they find

[Birdman1985]

Okay, so an update.

After i took it there i gave them a copy of your suggestions (gman) and the guy behind the counter rattled off that they checked everything you mentioned.

My partner was on the verge of explosion and she called tehy said they found the fault. It was in the solenoids or something around that general area. They have to import from japan a part as they aren't set up as a suzuki spare parts dealer as yet ??????? So i will be waiting 3 weeks until i can take my little fella off road.

Until then he is bypassing the solenoids so i can still drive in 2WD, but having it and not being able to drive off the track is going to kill me.

Thanks again guys.

[gman]

good to hear

[Ben_Sierra]

Birdman1985 wrote:

Okay, so an update.

After i took it there i gave them a copy of your suggestions (gman) and the guy behind the counter rattled off that they checked everything you mentioned.

My partner was on the verge of explosion and she called tehy said they found the fault. It was in the solenoids or something around that general area. They have to import from japan a part as they aren't set up as a suzuki spare parts dealer as yet ??????? So i will be waiting 3 weeks until i can take my little fella off road.

Until then he is bypassing the solenoids so i can still drive in 2WD, but having it and not being able to drive off the track is going to kill me.

Thanks again guys.

Are they the only Suzuki dealer in NSW???

Pretty sure here in WA if the dealership doesn't have a part they ring round the other dealerships to find one....

That said some parts aren't kept in stock anywhere and have to come ex-Japan anyway...

[Birdman1985]

Nah they aren't the only ones in the area but i guess it isn't a common part. Lets just hope we can get this thing fixed soon before i get too over the zook. I want to start having fun with it already.

[Birdman1985]

Got it back from the dealer today...all this trouble for a part that took about an hour to install.

Replaced the solinoid valve (think thats the part anyway).

Drove it home 50km's and the noise didn't recurr. So seems like it may be fixed.

Stockton Beach, here i come.

Mitch.

P.S. Thanks so much for the help guys

[vermin]

My GV has been off the road for nearly a month. Every single part that I have ever had to order from Suzuki has taken at least a month to get in.

Really pisses me off...

Pisses me off even more when an AutoOne can get it in quicker!

Glad to hear your zook as back on the road.

Props to the AZ fellas and all their help and willingness to give advice!