Suzuki Aerio Maintenance and Repair
We just purchased an Aerio for my teenage son. We all just love the car. It is the base sedan with 5-spd. There is one problem we did not notice on the test drive. It seems that when the front windshield was made, there is a slight "wavy pattern" that you can see. While it does not inhibit your vision, it is a little irritating. Has any one else had this?
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I recommend taking it to te dealer for replacement - it should be perfect, not wavy.
Rattle/Buzz in the doors - this seems almost universal and is pretty annoying. I have it in mine. Apparently fixable under warranty by having the dealer reglue some insulation in the door.
Brake Clunk at first stop after car has been stationary for a while, or after shifting into reverse. I haven't noticed this one, but it is also fixable under warranty with the replacement of a clip in the brakes
DRL circuit causing noise in stereo - mine was so bad, I disabled the DRLs by bending a little tab back on the handbrake mechanism, (the DRLs turn off when you apply the handbrake, this fix fools the circuit into thinking the handbrake is on all the time). Another one that the dealer should fix by replacing the DRL module.
Flimsy hardware for cargo cover. Apparently the hinges and catches break, but I never use the cover so I can't comment.
Overall my '02 SX has been just fine so far. Got to get the door buzz fixed, though.
Here goes: It seems to happen most noticeably in the mornings after sitting overnight. It did it again this morning most of the way to work. This time it started out a bit differently. I was cruising along in 5th gear doing 55 mph. All of a sudden I felt a slight shudder and noticed the car lost power slightly and it started to loose speed, so I pressed down on the gas a little to keep my speed constant and the car jerked and bucked a little than accelerated fine. It felt almost like the clutch literally disconnected or slipped for a short time and then reengaged. After I came to a full stop and tried to restart in 1st gear, the clutch engaged 1st gear normally but than suddenly grabbed after my foot was already off the pedal as if I popped the clutch without my foot on the gas and subsequently literally throws me forward in a large bucking manuever as if I slammed on the brakes, and the car almost stalls. It will do this no matter how much care I take in engaging the clutch as smoothly and slowly as possible. The bucking/jerking I have been describing in earlier posts occurs after the clutch has already been engaged and I'm simply trying to accelerate to keep up with traffic. That's why I'm beginning to think the clutch is literally slipping and reengaging, thus causing all the herky jerky motions. The car even stalled on me abruptly on a small hill over the weekend even with lots of gas and careful engaging of the clutch. I have driven a stick since I was 15 and have had many cars and realize sticks will buck when you try to alternate between accelerating and decelerating in 1st gear, but this car does it in any gear. The thing that really bugs me is the fact I can't make the problem go away by engaging the clutch in a different manner. And than the really irksome part is the fact the clutch doesn't always act up like this.
Does this sound like a slipping clutch to you, or is it possible air is in the hydraulic lines or maybe the clutch plate is simply weak? Any ideas would be helpful although I may just try to get out of the car completely and save myself the stress. Thanks for any insight.
As for how often my bucking/surging/jerking problem occurs, it is very intermittent. It seems to do it about once a week and only in the morning on the way to work. So it is impossible for me to replicate it for the dealer. I wouldn't be so disappointed if I could just get the problem fixed and move on!
Revka
Host
Hatchbacks & Wagons Boards
Just curious, have you asked whether there's an actual fix, so this doesn't keep happening when the temp drops? Of course, if it's not a common problem..., they may not feel it's necessary to fix or upgrade. My 2 cents. Other here may have more to add....
You may also want to solicit feedback from members in our Check Engine Light discussion. Good luck, and please keep us posted on your situation.
Revka
Host/Hatchbacks & Wagons
My concern is a drive line vibration that comes and goes. It is more pronounced when cold. The vibration can be felt through the seat mostly.
Any thoughts or insights would be helpful.
Also, our CD player does not have the six disc in dash changer. Is this a U.S. spec feature only?
Has anyone ever heard of a Suzuki with this problem? The mechanic and the Suzuki service department both admitted this happens very infrequently.
We only have the one Suzuki dealership near. Does anyone know how to contact someone higher up on the food chain to see if this car can be repaired/replaced? I looked on their website & couldn't find a contact section. Thank you in advance.
Have you check the owner's manual? Many times the national customer service number or contact info is located there.
Their listed 800 number is 800- 854-1594
Many thanks.
I do not have the impression that Suzuki did very much research in the type of oil change interval that should apply to their engines. A 3k mile interval seems to be a standard industry figure applied to many types of car engines, regardless of manufacturer. Nissan, for example, seems to break the mold by recommending an oil change on their current Sentras every ~4k miles ("severe" service).
-d
http://www.hometown.aol.com/kipchiang/myhomepage/profile.html
http://aeriostyle.com/fullsize/63_468.jpg
All you have showed me is a picture of a car with rims and a bodey kit. So this means what you can buy accessories. Well glad to see your credit card works.
Here dave why don't you try something a test.
Hook up a scan tool to your aerio and view the data stream for the a/c, fan speed, rpm, wheel speed, a/c center vent temp, a/c thermoster temp or if this is to complicated for you just record the whole data stream.
Drive the car how ever it is you normaly drive and record the date stream.
One time with factory wheels and one time with your a different diameter wheel and see for your self.
If you can't read the data stream foward me a copey i will teach you then you will have all the facts.
Unless your scared to be proven incorrect Dave.
But I am sure you know exactly what your talking about you belong to a message board and type there every day .I only cash my suzuki pay check every week.
Could you give us a technical explanation as to why wheel speed is such a big deal on the Aerio? Merely saying that you work for Suzuki does not prove your point.
Like David has said, there are TONS of Aerio owners with aftermarket wheels/tires that are much larger than the stock 195/55/15's and there have been no problems reported. Regardless of what the technical specs may suggest, the empirical evidence indicates that there is no problem whatsoever and that's what matters--real world, in situ evidence.
Sure, a larger rolling diameter will slow most everything down for a given vehicle speed, but only by a small percentage and unless the Aerio is designed to operate correctly only in an extremely narrow range of conditions (and that's the exact opposite of modern car design/engineering philosophy), I just don't see where the problem is. It's not as though you can really substantially change the wheel diameter anyway--there's just not THAT huge a difference between a 195/55/15 and, say, a 215/40/18 tire (which is about as big as can be reliably fitted on an Aerio). The difference in circumference between these two tires is less than 6%. If a change that small could really screw up the Aerio, then Suzuki has some serious engineering problems to deal with.
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need I go on? Here are some more pics. Scroll down to the white AERIO. It is sponsored by Suzuki. and it is running 16" wheels.
http://rallyusa.com/ramada03/index.htm
But again,what do I know. Just REAL world driving. I'm sure Suzuki would love to know an employee of theirs is kind of a jerk to the customer. I was just pointing out the FACT that you can run different rims and tires. And you have to attack me like I'm clueless.
That being said, please elaborate on what else is dependent on wheel speed. My Aerio is a 5-speed manual FWD, so I don't know much about the auto's or AWD's, but I'm still curious as to how they could be affected. I'm not flaming you or trying to give you a hard time. I really am just curious, since I get asked a lot of technical questions and I'm always looking for more information to share.
Sure the speedometer is supposed to be off by a mile and half or whatever, but I have not noticed any difference. I've driven by several streetside radar speed signs (mulitple times just to check this) and also with those supposed accurate permanant highway speed zones signs. There is no noticible difference in posted speed and what my speedometer says.
There might be a difference if I check it with a GPS unit, but honestly we're not talkin 10-12 miles per hour. You always get a few miles an hour leway when dealing with speed zones and traffic cops anyway.
My A/C is still cold and works just fine... I even have an Underdrive pully installed
Plus, I hear that there is a speedo flash kit in the works for us anyway, so not to worry if you think this is a life or death situation. (which it's not)
OBTW, my ABS works like a champ still!
That is what I thought these boards were for!