Suzuki Hellhole
August 21, 2016 8:03 PM Subscribe
Wound up with a 2008 Suzuki SX4, FWD, 110k miles due to a long story that isn't relevant. Entered a car nightmare, and I need a plan for what to do next. I am confused, stressed out and too drugged up for this.
I posted to Reddit already, and remembered why I always come to MeFi for my panic-induced questions. I hope you guys can help me one more time.
I've named the Suzuki the Hyperdrive because in 6 days it's already got a reputation for "something's always wrong." The minor issues I have either ruled out fixing due to cost/benefit, or have been fixed already.
Issues/Timeline:
Steering wheel vibration as soon as I picked it up, otherwise drives fine, idles normally, RPMs are what I'd expect, not running hot. Took it in for a tire balance on Thursday. Nothing out of the ordinary was brought to my attention.
Took it back Saturday because the vibration continued. I assumed a tire was out of round or a rim was bent. Was told that one tire had "chopping" (I assume scalloping/cupping) and I needed an alignment/suspension check. Rotated and re-balanced, was told that the vibration would persist until the tires"wore evenly." Vibration was 100% gone, can't even tell which tire he said had chopping because they all look normal to me. Planned to get an alignment and suspension check anyway.
Sunday: Driving home from work I noted a warbling whistle around 50-55MPH. Low volume, high pitch. Above 55mph, it's drowned out by wind noise so I can't tell if it persists. Shutting the window just muffles it somewhat. Appears to be coming from the front of the car in general, can't pinpoint it because of the speed and extra noise. Whistle disappears when I remove my foot from the accelerator. Whistle does not appear in neutral running at ~2k RPM. It was the first very windy day, but would a wind whistle be dulled by closing the driver's window?
If it's relevant, the engine light has been on since Day 1. I'm trying to get in for a code check, but I'm still on drugs from the hospital that have jacked my short-term memory.
For reference:
I am broke. Dead broke. Food stamps broke. With bad credit. I have $50-100 in disposable income every month (after bills and food) if nothing comes up. Bonus: I have a 70mi round-trip commute every day, so it's very important this thing be safe even if it's not pleasant.
I can probably scrounge up about $440 in credit within the week if necessary, but ideally I need to keep this stupid thing on the road for another ~3 years/75k miles before I can reasonably move on to something more reliable. (And if I can avoid taking out another credit card, all the better.)
What I need to know:
Suzuki doesn't exist in the USA anymore, but there are "authorized service providers" in my area. Do I need to suck it up go to one of them? Should I let the local company who "inspects suspension" as part of their alignment process look at it first? Have Pep Boys check it over and give me a list of suggested repairs?
I did a lot of searching on axles, bearings, struts, etc and what sounds they make, and nothing came even close.
At what point do I just park this thing in the bad part of the city and hope it gets stolen?
I posted to Reddit already, and remembered why I always come to MeFi for my panic-induced questions. I hope you guys can help me one more time.
I've named the Suzuki the Hyperdrive because in 6 days it's already got a reputation for "something's always wrong." The minor issues I have either ruled out fixing due to cost/benefit, or have been fixed already.
Issues/Timeline:
Steering wheel vibration as soon as I picked it up, otherwise drives fine, idles normally, RPMs are what I'd expect, not running hot. Took it in for a tire balance on Thursday. Nothing out of the ordinary was brought to my attention.
Took it back Saturday because the vibration continued. I assumed a tire was out of round or a rim was bent. Was told that one tire had "chopping" (I assume scalloping/cupping) and I needed an alignment/suspension check. Rotated and re-balanced, was told that the vibration would persist until the tires"wore evenly." Vibration was 100% gone, can't even tell which tire he said had chopping because they all look normal to me. Planned to get an alignment and suspension check anyway.
Sunday: Driving home from work I noted a warbling whistle around 50-55MPH. Low volume, high pitch. Above 55mph, it's drowned out by wind noise so I can't tell if it persists. Shutting the window just muffles it somewhat. Appears to be coming from the front of the car in general, can't pinpoint it because of the speed and extra noise. Whistle disappears when I remove my foot from the accelerator. Whistle does not appear in neutral running at ~2k RPM. It was the first very windy day, but would a wind whistle be dulled by closing the driver's window?
If it's relevant, the engine light has been on since Day 1. I'm trying to get in for a code check, but I'm still on drugs from the hospital that have jacked my short-term memory.
For reference:
I am broke. Dead broke. Food stamps broke. With bad credit. I have $50-100 in disposable income every month (after bills and food) if nothing comes up. Bonus: I have a 70mi round-trip commute every day, so it's very important this thing be safe even if it's not pleasant.
I can probably scrounge up about $440 in credit within the week if necessary, but ideally I need to keep this stupid thing on the road for another ~3 years/75k miles before I can reasonably move on to something more reliable. (And if I can avoid taking out another credit card, all the better.)
What I need to know:
Suzuki doesn't exist in the USA anymore, but there are "authorized service providers" in my area. Do I need to suck it up go to one of them? Should I let the local company who "inspects suspension" as part of their alignment process look at it first? Have Pep Boys check it over and give me a list of suggested repairs?
I did a lot of searching on axles, bearings, struts, etc and what sounds they make, and nothing came even close.
At what point do I just park this thing in the bad part of the city and hope it gets stolen?
and yes, a wind whistle coming from some bit of trim would be dulled by closing the window, since that would be coming from outside the cabin.
posted by wotsac at 8:40 PM on August 21, 2016
posted by wotsac at 8:40 PM on August 21, 2016
Response by poster: It is an automatic. I'll put transmission fluid on my list for tomorrow, along with power steering fluid since it can't hurt to check. I'll also be paying very close attention to it on my commute to see if I can glean any extra information.
There is a bit of loose trim on the front and the back, I can slap something on it to hold it down and see if that's the culprit. My gut reaction has been a major repair, unfortunately, as the thing came to me with zero service record or history.
I'm not unwilling to throw money at it, luckily. It's replacing a car that was in an accident and was going to cost me $5k in repairs out of pocket, so even a full axle would come in at less than that. it's just a matter of how fast I'm able to get the money together, and I'm not even sure where to go to get this checked out.
posted by iarerach at 8:47 PM on August 21, 2016
There is a bit of loose trim on the front and the back, I can slap something on it to hold it down and see if that's the culprit. My gut reaction has been a major repair, unfortunately, as the thing came to me with zero service record or history.
I'm not unwilling to throw money at it, luckily. It's replacing a car that was in an accident and was going to cost me $5k in repairs out of pocket, so even a full axle would come in at less than that. it's just a matter of how fast I'm able to get the money together, and I'm not even sure where to go to get this checked out.
posted by iarerach at 8:47 PM on August 21, 2016
Best answer: So the vibration is gone! You had a wonky or unbalanced tire. Now it's either balanced or on the back, so you can forget about it and move on to the remaining problem:
If the whistle stops when you lift your foot, it's not trim! Check around the whole air filter and intake assembly for loose clamps, loose screws, cracked hoses, stuff generally not put together right. Open up the air cleaner housing and check to see if the rubber parts are in right to make it seal, and in good shape.
A leak somewhere in your intake can certainly cause both the whistle and your check engine light to be on. All of the air the engine sucks in must go through the air filter and past the MAF (mass air flow) sensor. If anything leaks, the car's computer can't measure this air accurately, and this leads to various problems, most of which will cause a code to be stored and the light to come on.
This car isn't a hellhole! It just has a minor problem, and if my guess is right, it's likely you can spot it even without any special car skills.
posted by fritley at 9:15 PM on August 21, 2016 [2 favorites]
If the whistle stops when you lift your foot, it's not trim! Check around the whole air filter and intake assembly for loose clamps, loose screws, cracked hoses, stuff generally not put together right. Open up the air cleaner housing and check to see if the rubber parts are in right to make it seal, and in good shape.
A leak somewhere in your intake can certainly cause both the whistle and your check engine light to be on. All of the air the engine sucks in must go through the air filter and past the MAF (mass air flow) sensor. If anything leaks, the car's computer can't measure this air accurately, and this leads to various problems, most of which will cause a code to be stored and the light to come on.
This car isn't a hellhole! It just has a minor problem, and if my guess is right, it's likely you can spot it even without any special car skills.
posted by fritley at 9:15 PM on August 21, 2016 [2 favorites]
You sound stressed. Your car sounds fine. A little whistle, no big deal. If your disposable income is $50 a month then I don't think you should be throwing it at this situation.
posted by pintapicasso at 9:33 PM on August 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by pintapicasso at 9:33 PM on August 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
Breathe, new used car owner, breathe. Tire rotation is no big deal, whistle is probably either intake or a vacuum line. Not an expensive part. And you may be able to track it down via shade tree stethoscope. Get a plastic tube (like a vacuum cleaner extension. The ones for shop vacs are nice). Have a friend sit in the car, put it in park (auto) or neutral (manual) and bring the engine up to a nice high 4000rpm -- enough that its going to suck a lot of air in. Listen for that whistle. Now put the tube to your ear and point it at the air filter, then work from that to the engine. Wherever the whistle is loudest, there's your air leak. Tighten connectors or replace cracked hoses/lines as needed.
posted by zippy at 1:26 AM on August 22, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by zippy at 1:26 AM on August 22, 2016 [3 favorites]
Best answer: 110k and no service records means you are flying blind. I'd suggest biting the bullet for a complete mechanical inspection of the car, which might be a couple hundred bucks but will give you a sense of what's fine, what is going soon, and where you'd best invest what money you can spend. No sense doing suspension if it turns out to have a cracked frame (something that can cause tire and alignment problems). You gotta get that engine light code pulled. 110k is about right for a bunch of fairly pricey emission work (O2 sensor, catalytic converter) especially if it was poorly maintained.
Change the oil immediately. Have a mechanic do it, not a quick lube place, and inspect the old oil.
You're presenting a classic catch 22 situation: you're poor so you have a poor person's car. It will make you poorer if you just hope it keeps running and react to problems rather than getting ahead of them and knowing what's worth doing to a $3000 car. You're making yourself anxious guessing.
Suzuki Swifts were fairly reliable in their day (unless you got the AWD Option?) but look online and you don't see many for sale with over 100k on them.
Any independent mechanic with decent Yelp ratings who works on major Japanese brands is better than any national chain shop. You don't need authorized service. But you do need an inspection of major components.
In my experience of being poor and driving beaters way worse than this you have two options: drive it into the ground with abandon (and forget hitting 185k miles) or learn to wrench it yourself. Fixing things as they break means you might spend $500 on a major repair only to have another even more major problem turn that into wasted money.
Knowledge is worth money in this situation. Spending $200 on a detailed inspection might save you thousands.
posted by spitbull at 4:57 AM on August 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
Change the oil immediately. Have a mechanic do it, not a quick lube place, and inspect the old oil.
You're presenting a classic catch 22 situation: you're poor so you have a poor person's car. It will make you poorer if you just hope it keeps running and react to problems rather than getting ahead of them and knowing what's worth doing to a $3000 car. You're making yourself anxious guessing.
Suzuki Swifts were fairly reliable in their day (unless you got the AWD Option?) but look online and you don't see many for sale with over 100k on them.
Any independent mechanic with decent Yelp ratings who works on major Japanese brands is better than any national chain shop. You don't need authorized service. But you do need an inspection of major components.
In my experience of being poor and driving beaters way worse than this you have two options: drive it into the ground with abandon (and forget hitting 185k miles) or learn to wrench it yourself. Fixing things as they break means you might spend $500 on a major repair only to have another even more major problem turn that into wasted money.
Knowledge is worth money in this situation. Spending $200 on a detailed inspection might save you thousands.
posted by spitbull at 4:57 AM on August 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thank you all for the advice! I was honestly panicking/stressing a bit much over this last night. A car accident put me into the Suzuki, and so it's been a long week of insurance companies, back pain, and troubleshooting on top of my usual work routine. I appreciate the patience a lot.
I got the engine light code pulled at a local place, and it's indicating something wrong with the catalytic converter (probably needing replacement). The fluids are all at their perfect levels, which is awesome, so next I'll get in touch with the service center about a possible extended warranty coverage of another minor issue (considered a safety issue so a recall was put out last year) and see what replacing the catty/diagnosing further will run. While I'm at it, I'll see if they're willing to do a tip to tail checkup and warn me about what else is coming down the line.
posted by iarerach at 5:08 PM on August 22, 2016
I got the engine light code pulled at a local place, and it's indicating something wrong with the catalytic converter (probably needing replacement). The fluids are all at their perfect levels, which is awesome, so next I'll get in touch with the service center about a possible extended warranty coverage of another minor issue (considered a safety issue so a recall was put out last year) and see what replacing the catty/diagnosing further will run. While I'm at it, I'll see if they're willing to do a tip to tail checkup and warn me about what else is coming down the line.
posted by iarerach at 5:08 PM on August 22, 2016
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posted by wotsac at 8:22 PM on August 21, 2016