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I brought a 96′ suzuki sidekick JX Sport 1.8L 5-speed Manual Transmission this 2012 spring.
Mileage and overall condition are ok.
the ex-owner of this car only drove it between country and town in winter and have settled it for a year before sale.The symptom:
1. When I get into Reverse Gear, it always has noise like gears scratching each other (grinding), even if I push the clutch pedal correctly and the car is NOT moving. (I know usually there is no synchronizer on Reverse Gear. So the car should be completely stopped when shifting to Reverse Gear)As getting familiar with this car, I tried shifting 3rd Gear first and then quickly shifting to Reverse Gear, I have 50% time without significant grinding noise.
2. When I push the clutch pedal all the way down (completely) and totally release brake, the car would NOT move on a flat surface. When I release clutch pedal a little bit (15% of the total range) like a semi-linkage of hill-start, the car could move.
I think that means semi-linkage point of my clutch is very low.
3. (car is NOT moving) When I push the clutch pedal completely for more than 10 seconds and stay depressing it, and shift into a forward gear, and then shift back to Neutal, I could hear sound like gears are running when in Neutal and no gear-running sound when in other gears.
I think that shifting to a forward gear could force all the gear stop running when car is not moving, because the output shaft is not running at that time. According to my trail above, it seems the gears are still running. I guess the clutch might be not disengaged completely.
4. Before I start the car, it is easy to get into any gear; after I start the car, it’s much heavier and harder to get into gear, especially 1st and 2nd gear.
Other Inspections:
1. clutch hydraulic reservoir is full.
2. Based on my driving this car, the clutch plate is probably ok. I half engage the clutch in order to start on a hill, I fell the out power is not weak.Other opinions:
a guy in suzuki-forum.com told me it seems no external leaking based on full hydraulic reservoir, but it could be internal leaking between master and slave cylinder.Note that: the 1.8 Sidekick Sport is a different vehicle to the 1.6 Sidekick. lots of different design.
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How many miles are on the vehicle and current clutch setup?
Did you try bleeding the clutch hydraulics or checking the clutch pedal freeplay?
Here is a video that may help –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-m5F0zEvyo&feature=plcp (covers bleeding the hydraulics)
Those video are awesome. I have already watched them for at least three times.
I didn’t see any leaking fluid near the clutch pedal. The clutch plate seems ok, not slipping. The clutch pedal could be depressed easily (I mean just normal feeling of resistance) and return back the the normal position. The car’s mileage is 107xxx miles.
I don’t understand the meaning of “bleeding the clutch hydraulics”.
Given that it seems to only effect a couple of the gears I would say it’s probably a problem inside the transmission, I would think if it was a clutch problem you’d have an issue in ALL of the gears. That said make sure you have the correct fluid in the transmission and that it’s at the proper level. If all that is good and you still have the problem it’s likely you’re going to have to remove the transmission and repair it or replace it.
Thanks a lot.
I am a new driver and just have learned how to drive stick shift. I might haven’t too much experience and not always be aware of speed matching gears. I think I am probably on average of new stick-shift driver. I have watched lots of video of the structure of transmission. I am pretty interested in that stuff.
I think this issue affects all of the gears, but especially significant on 1st, 2nd and reverse. I could hear the clicking sound(I guess it ‘s the sound of lock synchronizer to the gear) when I am engaging every gear( all of them have this sound, some might be a little better). Engaging gear should be very smooth, but sometimes I feel and hear clicking-clinking to lock a gear. Also, when the car is at least than 5mph and close to stop, the 1st gear is really smooth to engage. When the car stops completely, it is much harder to engage any gears (1st and 2nd are the worst). When the car is at 20 mph, I depress the clutch completely, and then I cannot shift to 1st gear(very large grinding sound). I know it is not matching the speed of 1st gear and it’s not good to do that, but I guess I should be able to do that as long as the clutch is disengaged and no engine power is applied on transmission.
I had transmission fluid changed when I brought it.
You may have had the fluid changed when you bought it but was it the CORRECT fluid. Nothing screws up a manual transmission more that putting in the wrong type of fluid. Check your owners manual to see what should be in there and then see if you have the same thing in the transmission perhaps by pulling the fill plug and dipping your finger in the fluid. If you’re in doubt change it with the correct fluid, it can’t hurt anything really.
[quote=”EricTheCarGuy” post=35837]You may have had the fluid changed when you bought it but was it the CORRECT fluid. Nothing screws up a manual transmission more that putting in the wrong type of fluid. Check your owners manual to see what should be in there and then see if you have the same thing in the transmission perhaps by pulling the fill plug and dipping your finger in the fluid. If you’re in doubt change it with the correct fluid, it can’t hurt anything really.[/quote]
My friend changed fluid of transmission, transfer case and front, rear differential. I have 85% confidence to say he used the correct fluid GL-4(as mentioned on owner’s manual) for transmission and transfer case. In terms of front and rear differential, it should be GL-5(Hypoid gear oil), I remember he added GL-5 to one of differentials fully, and the other one is a little bit short of GL-5 and he added about 20% GL-4 instead (mix 80% GL-5 and 20% GL-4). Please tell me how bad it would be to differentials.
The transmission issue had already existed before i brought it. The ex-owner used to “knock” and push hardly and rudely on the stick to shift into 1st gear. I don’t know how long it had already lasted.
I don’t know whether the semi-linkage point (partially engage, like stick-shift driver starts car on a hill) of the clutch is too low or not. When I release the clutch pedal about 15% of the total free range, the car could move on a flat surface. This leads me think about it might be clutch is not fully disengaged. I guess the semi-linkage point of clutch is probably adjustable. If so, probably try that to see if it could improve.
Thanks a lot.
Hello! I have a similar problem in my 1997 Suzuki Vitara (European Sidekick)! Just for curiosity sake, it’s a 2.0 intercooled turbodiesel!
First, I would like to tell you that if you engage 1st and then 2nd and then reverse, your reverse will engage just fine. Mine also grinded a lot, but since I started doing this it never grinded anymore!:)
Now, speaking of the problem itself, it started out by 2nd being a little hesitant to engage. It progressed so that 2nd gear was REALLY hard to engage when cold. By this time, 1st was also dificult to engage when hot and when I shifted from 4th to 3rd cold, 3rd was very relunctant to engage. Since it’s my parents car, I had to convince them to repair the problem, or else the sincronizers could go in an instant and the expense would be much bigger. I sent the car to my local mechanic and he replaced the clutch master cilinder (the fluid on the old one was black… change it regularly folks!). For a month or two 2nd and 3rd gear were fine and smooth to engange, but 1st continued to be reluctant to engage when hot, unless like you say, the car is moving really slowly!
Now, funny thing. This all this started when I asked my dealer (Suzuki dealer btw) to change the transmission oil amongst other things. He changed it for a 75w-90 GL-4 like the manual says, but of a brand I’m not really a fan of (portuguese oil company – GALP). For a few weeks it shifted like a hot knife through butter, but then came the notchyness… tired of all of this and not wanting to damage my transmission any further I’m going to order Redline MT-90 to see if the problem really was the transmission oil or I have something wrong with the clutch.
My car has 208500km (130.000 miles) and unless it was not specified in the recipts, the transmission oil and clutch fluid were not changed in 200.000km….:sick:
[quote=”Splashonda” post=35952]Hello! I have a similar problem in my 1997 Suzuki Vitara (European Sidekick)! Just for curiosity sake, it’s a 2.0 intercooled turbodiesel!
First, I would like to tell you that if you engage 1st and then 2nd and then reverse, your reverse will engage just fine. Mine also grinded a lot, but since I started doing this it never grinded anymore!:)
Now, speaking of the problem itself, it started out by 2nd being a little hesitant to engage. It progressed so that 2nd gear was REALLY hard to engage when cold. By this time, 1st was also dificult to engage when hot and when I shifted from 4th to 3rd cold, 3rd was very relunctant to engage. Since it’s my parents car, I had to convince them to repair the problem, or else the sincronizers could go in an instant and the expense would be much bigger. I sent the car to my local mechanic and he replaced the clutch master cilinder (the fluid on the old one was black… change it regularly folks!). For a month or two 2nd and 3rd gear were fine and smooth to engange, but 1st continued to be reluctant to engage when hot, unless like you say, the car is moving really slowly!
Now, funny thing. This all this started when I asked my dealer (Suzuki dealer btw) to change the transmission oil amongst other things. He changed it for a 75w-90 GL-4 like the manual says, but of a brand I’m not really a fan of (portuguese oil company – GALP). For a few weeks it shifted like a hot knife through butter, but then came the notchyness… tired of all of this and not wanting to damage my transmission any further I’m going to order Redline MT-90 to see if the problem really was the transmission oil or I have something wrong with the clutch.
My car has 208500km (130.000 miles) and unless it was not specified in the recipts, the transmission oil and clutch fluid were not changed in 200.000km….:sick:[/quote]
really nice to share experience. please keep updating your progress on transmission fluid. You experience really helps. I might get Master and Slave cylinder changed. How many hours will it take to change them? so I can estimate the labour cost.
I sure will! 🙂 The cost of the master cilinder was about the same of the labour. It all added up to 300€ (390US$). My mechanic is expensive and since I discovered he used crappy coolant, or just straight water in my other Suzuki colling system (it’s rusty), I’m going down the DYI route from now on! 😉
I don’t have any workshop manual for the Vitara/Sidekick that will help you (I have one for mine but it only covers the specifics of my version), but search ebay or your Suzuki dealer may have some that will sell! They’re really helpful if you want to start doing things yourself. The Haynes Manual for the Geo Tracker only covers the cable clutch, so not very helpful in this case! :dry:
$390, that is expensive. I don’t think changing the master and slave cylinder would be longer than an hour. Actually, I think it should be done within 30 minutes; otherwise, they are cheating your money. About the labour cost, I saw the video of changing timing belt of Volvo S60. The video lasts 24 minutes and almost includes every procedure. So the estimate time should be no longer than 40 minutes to change the timing belt for S60. But, other car may require more time due to different structure. I will check some youtube video out to see how long it should take before going to the garage. BTW, the average labour cost in car repair garage in the middle of US is around $90 per hour.
I have the pdf owner’s manual for 95 Suzuki Sidekick JX Sport. It mentions GL-4 fluid for transmission.
Yeah, use GL-4 in the gearbox and transfer box! GL-5 is for the diffs! 😉
As I said, my ex-mechanic is steep on prices. He once charged me 300$ for an oil change… yeah, I know… don’t say anything! :sick: I do all my maintenance now and it’s bloody fun! 😆
[quote=”jenaflex” post=35975]$390, that is expensive. I don’t think changing the master and slave cylinder would be longer than an hour. Actually, I think it should be done within 30 minutes; otherwise, they are cheating your money. About the labour cost, I saw the video of changing timing belt of Volvo S60. The video lasts 24 minutes and almost includes every procedure. So the estimate time should be no longer than 40 minutes to change the timing belt for S60. But, other car may require more time due to different structure. I will check some youtube video out to see how long it should take before going to the garage. BTW, the average labour cost in car repair garage in the middle of US is around $90 per hour.
I have the pdf owner’s manual for 95 Suzuki Sidekick JX Sport. It mentions GL-4 fluid for transmission.[/quote]
Labor times SHOULD be based on book time. The book time is not dictated by the person working on the car. Beating book time is the name of the game if you’re an automotive technician. I’m not saying it’s right but that’s the system they work in.
How can I know the book time of what kinds of repair work?
Based on “Splashonda’s” experience above. Should I try starting with changing the hydraulic fluid of the clutch first? If so, what type of fluid I need. I don’t think it is mentioned on the owner’s manual. I got a third party manual – Haynes manual for 1986 ~ 1996 Sidekick and Samurai. It seems that it doesn’t cover the hydraulic clutch. Someone said that hydraulic fluid of clutch is the same as the brake fluid. But I am not sure about it.
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