swift-vdi Gear box fails

theMAG · 12th June 2008, 19:26

Moderator's note: Any more OT posts about Honda/NHC/dirt/Baleno posted here will be deleted and this thread closed.

Kool_Kid · 12th June 2008, 20:06

Hi Vijaya kumar,

You have got me worried , i am also facing problems in gear shift and have tried to get it resolved during third service . My problem is inadequate power and and lack of smoothness while shifting 1-2.. there are also times when i am forced to press accelerator ( while the car is in neutral in order to engage the next gear )

Both times maruti dealer's gave me very vague answers like ' you have put in a cushion on the seat so that the reason gear is not smooth' i.e increased height of seat is the cause of this ...

i went again on weekend

to get it rectified. They just tweaked clutch and told me that they will not open the gear box till the time they feel it's culprit.

When i told them to check synchronizer , i was told if it was not working i will not be able to drive at all .

Dealer in question : DD motors Peraghari and Bright motors ... both west delhi dealers.
Car : Swift VDI 15000 Km 1.2 years

I dont know what to do now ??

rider60 · 12th June 2008, 20:41

kool_kid, why not change transmission oil and see if there is any difference? its hardly 300 bucks and it worked wonders for me it could do the same for you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by anupmathur

LOL, I wouldn't go so far as to call them 'metal pieces', but yes, I agree fully about this as being GOOD PRACTICE.
Despite any claims from manufacturers regarding 'enhanced' period for FIRST service, all oils in any machinery ought to be changed within the first few hours of 'commissioning'! Mechanical parts 'bed in' and any metal dust thus produced should not be left in the system to cause grinding and premature failures.

i on purpose called them metal pieces (sarcasm) because i could really feel the metal dust in the drained oil tray from the Gear box, it for a second felt like some one on purpose put in that dust to ruin the metal parts inside,

thats the very reason i wanted people to practice what i did with my swift diesel, this way you hardly spend 300 bucks on the oil and save a lot more hundreds rather thousands of cash on the clutch and parts later on and save yourself from the service center blues.

i know when you ask the a s s to change the gear box oil in the first he would refuse, hesitate but then i recommend you insist and get this done for your car's health, i think one should do so atleast after hearing so many complaints from this forum.

vijayakumar · 12th June 2008, 23:30

I went to maruthi service station and shown it to the manager.He drove the car and he intiuted that it is a syncronising problem .I have to sit with the service engineers when they start to work my car , If there any severe damage like inner ring or cone pulley worn out then i will fight for the replacement of gear box assembly .

Jaggu · 13th June 2008, 00:33

Unless there is damage to the gearbox casing/cast, matter can be sorted with parts replacement. Do check the parts tolerance in order to rule out further issues.

CrAzY dRiVeR · 13th June 2008, 22:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kool_Kid

They just tweaked clutch and told me that they will not open the gear box till the time they feel it's culprit.

When i told them to check synchronizer , i was told if it was not working i will not be able to drive at all .

Opening up the gear-box is not as simple as it sounds, and is best left alone unless found defective.

As rider60 pointed out, did you change the oil?

rider60 · 14th June 2008, 10:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by vijayakumar

I went to maruthi service station and shown it to the manager.He drove the car and he intiuted that it is a syncronising problem .I have to sit with the service engineers when they start to work my car , If there any severe damage like inner ring or cone pulley worn out then i will fight for the replacement of gear box assembly .

okay that is fine, but i still insist you stay there when the gearbox oil is changed and see for yourself, as the service personnel to collect the oil in a fresh dish and feel for metal parts in it.

the best way that will give you a good insight is when they remove the screw to drain the oil take a closer look at that screw, on most of the cars its magnetic in nature so that it attracts any metal particles,i am sure you will definitely find a few and this will let you know how important changing the Gear Box oil is.

Kool_Kid · 14th June 2008, 15:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Opening up the gear-box is not as simple as it sounds, and is best left alone unless found defective.

As rider60 pointed out, did you change the oil?

Thanks for your comments Crazy Driver
I will be changing it on sunday , will keep you guys posted ...

drpullockaran · 16th June 2008, 23:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by rider60

i sincerely hope maruthi practices the same as standard service routine in the first service so that in the initial 1000kms the metal pieces that are run in even from the gear box are thrown out and fresh oil is put in for better service of the gear box for longer time. any opinions in this?

This is the exact same advice that I give all my colleagues. Change the engine and gear box oil at the first service or 1000/1500km which ever comes first at owners expense. Change all other fluids including brake fluid and radiator fluid every year on the birthday of the car irrespective of how many km it has done.

khaadu75 · 17th June 2008, 19:54

Guys , seems the diesel variant is jinxed :-( !! I too have had 2 issues which were nothing but irritating -- . I to have a diesel swift which has barely clocked 13000 kms and was bought in Jan '08 . All services done on time -- oils changed , etc etc and the car is not driven the way a petrol car is driven as I have the petrol swift to clip when I want to .

Swift is driven very conservatively but one night I had reached the gates of the colony and as it was 1 am it was locked so I had to wait for the guard to wake up and take his own sweet time to open it . BY habit I always shift the car into neutral when I know Im gonna be parked for 20 secs or more and as I was in 3rd gear when I reched the gates I shifted into neutral and waited . When the gate opened and it was time for me to drive in .. I shifted into 1st and left the clutch -- car stalled ! i did it a second time and again it stalled and I thought it was due to me having shifted into 3rd instead of 1st so I reshifted into neutral and back into 1st but then again same problem and car stalled .

I realised that there was something wrong as I would have to rev real high in rder to get the car to move .. also when I put her in reverse , the car still went forward --- anyways shifted into neutral and as there is a slight decline I rolled it to my house . Called up the service station in the morning and they sent 2 guys over who cudnt figure out what it was so insisted that they take it to the service station , the problem was that the car was stuck in 3rd -- and to get to the station you have a 1 km + stretch of uphill with narrow roads + sharp bends and there was no way it was gonna go up during the day in 3rd as a lil momemtum loss and one wud have to take it up on half clutch which I wasn't allowing . They thought they were experts and I some dumb *** and insisted on taking it -- also they gave me talk about me having hit a stone on the underbody and bending some rod which caused this situiation .

I didnt send it then but drove it to the station at night as then there is lil or no traffic on the uphill stretch ... so managed taking it in 3rd easily though a bit of rally style driving was needed ;-) !! next day it was diagnsed with a snapped clutch cable .. in short , they agreed to do it under warranty after I got into an arguement when they made me wait for 30 mins in the frigging sun . Fixed by the eve and all good ....

4 weeks later ... suddenly the reverse gear packed up !! The 4 forward gears were working fine but it just wudn't go into reverse gear .. again went back and the cause for that was some plastic piece under the gear lever that gets dis lodged leading to this problem -- took 20 mins and they fixed it again with no charge .

Dunno about what really happened but the same thing happened to a friend of mine whose Swift diesel has only driven about 3k kms but was bought 1 day after me -- could most cars of that batch have a weak clutch cable ???

Just wondering if anyone else has encountered a similar problem ???

diabloo · 17th June 2008, 20:03

On this forum, Swift is branded as VFM - ValueForMoney. I wonder if this is the value for money.

ece2k2 · 17th June 2008, 22:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by rider60

okay that is fine, but i still insist you stay there when the gearbox oil is changed and see for yourself, as the service personnel to collect the oil in a fresh dish and feel for metal parts in it.

the best way that will give you a good insight is when they remove the screw to drain the oil take a closer look at that screw, on most of the cars its magnetic in nature so that it attracts any metal particles,i am sure you will definitely find a few and this will let you know how important changing the Gear Box oil is.

My Feb 08 Swift D has clocked 2300 km till now. I got the first service done during April 08 when the car had done 400+ km. After seeing your suggestion, I went to the service station and got the gear/transmission oil changed the very next day. The service advisor was very reluctant to do this change and even said that I am the first person who has ever changed the gearbox oil at 2300 km, when Maruti's suggested change is at 20000 km

. The screw infact was magnetic in nature with some metal particles stuck to it, but the service engineer said that the screw being magnetic will attract all the metal particles which will leave the pure oil in the gearbox.

As a bonus, I changed the engine oil also (second change, first change being the one during the first service)

Jaggu · 17th June 2008, 22:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by khaadu75

next day it was diagnsed with a snapped clutch cable ..

Clutch cable? my understanding is it doesnt have any cables, and is actuated via hydrolic linkage?

rider60 · 17th June 2008, 22:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by ece2k2

My Feb 08 Swift D has clocked 2300 km till now. I got the first service done during April 08 when the car had done 400+ km. After seeing your suggestion, I went to the service station and got the gear/transmission oil changed the very next day. The service advisor was very reluctant to do this change and even said that I am the first person who has ever changed the gearbox oil at 2300 km, when Maruti's suggested change is at 20000 km

. The screw infact was magnetic in nature with some metal particles stuck to it, but the service engineer said that the screw being magnetic will attract all the metal particles which will leave the pure oil in the gearbox.

As a bonus, I changed the engine oil also (second change, first change being the one during the first service)

so after the oil change does the gear box feel any better or is it just the same? well i put my 2cents on it being a better gearbox now!

please do give the feed back.

drpullockaran · 17th June 2008, 23:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by diabloo

What is it about cars with Fiat engines? Before Palio, now Swift - so many issues??

14,500 in 6 months? Thats something. Could you tell more about the usage?

If they accept poor quality Maruti components for the gear box(manufatured by Maruti) they are bound to fail with any engine let alone an award winning FIAT engine. Yo cannot blame an engine because the gear box failed for want of good quality parts. Last year there was major issues with a clutch assembly that was approved for the swift batch that landed up in Kerala. Very many clutch assemblies were changed in the Malapuram area of Kerala.

12th June 2008, 19:26	#16
theMAG Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: May 2006 Location: Avon, CT Posts: 7,196 Thanked: 1,821 Times View My Garage	Moderator's note: Any more OT posts about Honda/NHC/dirt/Baleno posted here will be deleted and this thread closed.
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12th June 2008, 20:06	#17
Kool_Kid BHPian Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Delhi Posts: 165 Thanked: 16 Times	Maurti Quality going downhill ... Hi Vijaya kumar, You have got me worried , i am also facing problems in gear shift and have tried to get it resolved during third service . My problem is inadequate power and and lack of smoothness while shifting 1-2.. there are also times when i am forced to press accelerator ( while the car is in neutral in order to engage the next gear ) Both times maruti dealer's gave me very vague answers like ' you have put in a cushion on the seat so that the reason gear is not smooth' i.e increased height of seat is the cause of this ... i went again on weekend to get it rectified. They just tweaked clutch and told me that they will not open the gear box till the time they feel it's culprit. When i told them to check synchronizer , i was told if it was not working i will not be able to drive at all . Dealer in question : DD motors Peraghari and Bright motors ... both west delhi dealers. Car : Swift VDI 15000 Km 1.2 years I dont know what to do now ?? Last edited by theMAG : 12th June 2008 at 20:31. Reason: Over-usage of bold characters
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12th June 2008, 23:30	#19
vijayakumar Newbie Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: coimbatore Posts: 4 Thanked: 0 Times	hi anupmathur I went to maruthi service station and shown it to the manager.He drove the car and he intiuted that it is a syncronising problem .I have to sit with the service engineers when they start to work my car , If there any severe damage like inner ring or cone pulley worn out then i will fight for the replacement of gear box assembly .
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13th June 2008, 00:33	#20
Jaggu Team-BHP Support Join Date: May 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 20,370 Thanked: 17,302 Times	Unless there is damage to the gearbox casing/cast, matter can be sorted with parts replacement. Do check the parts tolerance in order to rule out further issues. Last edited by Jaggu : 13th June 2008 at 00:34.
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17th June 2008, 19:54	#25
khaadu75 BANNED Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: same as the proposed venue for F1 ;-) Posts: 1,146 Thanked: 20 Times View My Garage	Guys , seems the diesel variant is jinxed :-( !! I too have had 2 issues which were nothing but irritating -- . I to have a diesel swift which has barely clocked 13000 kms and was bought in Jan '08 . All services done on time -- oils changed , etc etc and the car is not driven the way a petrol car is driven as I have the petrol swift to clip when I want to . Swift is driven very conservatively but one night I had reached the gates of the colony and as it was 1 am it was locked so I had to wait for the guard to wake up and take his own sweet time to open it . BY habit I always shift the car into neutral when I know Im gonna be parked for 20 secs or more and as I was in 3rd gear when I reched the gates I shifted into neutral and waited . When the gate opened and it was time for me to drive in .. I shifted into 1st and left the clutch -- car stalled ! i did it a second time and again it stalled and I thought it was due to me having shifted into 3rd instead of 1st so I reshifted into neutral and back into 1st but then again same problem and car stalled . I realised that there was something wrong as I would have to rev real high in rder to get the car to move .. also when I put her in reverse , the car still went forward --- anyways shifted into neutral and as there is a slight decline I rolled it to my house . Called up the service station in the morning and they sent 2 guys over who cudnt figure out what it was so insisted that they take it to the service station , the problem was that the car was stuck in 3rd -- and to get to the station you have a 1 km + stretch of uphill with narrow roads + sharp bends and there was no way it was gonna go up during the day in 3rd as a lil momemtum loss and one wud have to take it up on half clutch which I wasn't allowing . They thought they were experts and I some dumb *** and insisted on taking it -- also they gave me talk about me having hit a stone on the underbody and bending some rod which caused this situiation . I didnt send it then but drove it to the station at night as then there is lil or no traffic on the uphill stretch ... so managed taking it in 3rd easily though a bit of rally style driving was needed ;-) !! next day it was diagnsed with a snapped clutch cable .. in short , they agreed to do it under warranty after I got into an arguement when they made me wait for 30 mins in the frigging sun . Fixed by the eve and all good .... 4 weeks later ... suddenly the reverse gear packed up !! The 4 forward gears were working fine but it just wudn't go into reverse gear .. again went back and the cause for that was some plastic piece under the gear lever that gets dis lodged leading to this problem -- took 20 mins and they fixed it again with no charge . Dunno about what really happened but the same thing happened to a friend of mine whose Swift diesel has only driven about 3k kms but was bought 1 day after me -- could most cars of that batch have a weak clutch cable ??? Just wondering if anyone else has encountered a similar problem ??? Last edited by khaadu75 : 17th June 2008 at 20:09.
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17th June 2008, 20:03	#26
diabloo BANNED Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Bengalooru Posts: 1,480 Thanked: 17 Times	On this forum, Swift is branded as VFM - ValueForMoney. I wonder if this is the value for money.
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