Maruti Ritz petrol: Issue in engaging 3rd gear & how I solved it

The issue I am encountering is, the third gear does engage properly on some occasions - its as if there is some kind of a resistance which does not allow me to engage the gear lever fully.

BHPian kartikh recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

This would be my first post on Team Bhp.

I need some advice on intermittent transmission related issues I have been facing with my 2013 Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire Petrol (Zxi model) which has completed 125000 KMs.

Very recently I serviced my car at MASS Pune (Hinjawadi Phase 2) and changed the clutch plate, pressure plate, fly wheel and the release bearing.

While driving home from the service station (which is around 13 KMs distance), I did not face any issues while changing the gears.

I then did a Pune-Kolhapur trip with my car and after about 150 kms (on the highway) started facing issues while changing to third gear (from second gear or sometimes from fourth gear).

The issue I am encountering is, the third gear does engage properly on some occasions - its as if there is some kind of a resistance which does not allow me to engage the gear lever fully to third gear position. I can engage it but this will take some more force - which does not feel natural for this car. At other times, there is no issue while engaing third gear at all.

Also, if the third gear is not fully engaged and I let go off the clutch, there is some kind of a grinding noise from the transmission. This never happened to the car before.

Due to this I skipped engaging the third gear on the highway- I started engaging fourth gear (directly from second gear at around 45-50 kmph) and engaged the second gear (from fourth gear at around 30-35 kmph).

On one ocassion, the same thing happened while changing from third to second (the second gear could not be engaged). However, I am not able to reproduce this issue again.

Also, this issue does not occur when the car is stationary (and turned off).

On returning to Pune, I demonstrated this behavior to the technician who had worked on the transmission overhaul. He did acknowledge that there is some issue while engaging third gear - but since we were in city limits, the issue could not be consistently reproduced.

The technician lubricated the gear shift mechanism from inside the cabin (by opening the gear shift bellow). He also applied some spray (which I presume is WD-40) by opening the hood ( I couldnt see where exactly he applied it since I was not allowed inside the servicing bay).

After a test drive, the issue reduced to some extend. The service advisor and the technician said that the gear shift should be smooth in a couple more KMs of driving - and that the new parts need to "set". They also said that transmission issues usually occur in diesel Swift's/Swift Dzire and not in Petrol Swift/Swift Dzire - and they are mostly related to Synchronizer Ring getting worn out.

I took their word and did a Pune-Lonvala trip and encountered the issue only once in the entire journey (to and fro journey of around 100 kms).

However, today while driving the car in the city, I started facing the issue once again and a bit more consistently.

I would be taking the car back to MASS but I need help in understanding what could be the issue ?

I tried searching Team Bhp archives, and apart from the gear lever bush related issue and Synchronizer Ring related issue (For a particular 2008 Swift Diesel, could not find anything else).

Any help would in identifying the issue would be highly appreciated!

Here's what BHPian Mr.Boss had to say on the matter:

Known issue in diesel powertrain, already discussed here.

I'm facing same issue in my Ritz VDi with 1.5L+ on odo, especially when down shifting from 3rd to 2nd.

Here's what BHPian humyum had to say on the matter:

Maybe the clutch cable is not adjusted properly and there is some amount of clutch which is always engaged while changing gears.

It could also be an adjustment issue with the gear lever linkages when they meet the transmission. There is a boot on top of where the linkages meet the transmission, see if its worn out.

Here's what BHPian dhanushs had to say on the matter:

Since you are facing issues in only one gear the above mentioned could be pretty much be the reason. I would lean more against Gear Linkages, than Synchronizers.

BHPian kartikh had the following update to share on the issue:

Update

On returning to Pune, I took the car to another MASS and they identified it an issue with the gear lever linkages.

The gear lever now slots just fine. I took it on the highway for a test ride and drove it in the city too - did not face any issues.

Thank you all for your inputs!

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