anyone got pinging noises in their grand vitara

jaidensmommy032007 · 07-02-2009, 10:35 PM

OK SO ME AND MY HUSBAND OWN A 2006 GRAND VITARA LUX. EDITION AND SINCE WE HAD IT, WE'VE HAD A PINGING NOISE PROBLEM WITH IT.

WHEN WE BOUGHT IT WE TOOK IT IN ALITTLE LATER AND TOLD THEM WE GOT A PINGING NOISE COMING FROM IT SOUNDS LIKE THE SHIFTER UNDERNEATH IT. WHEN YOU PUT IT INTO DRIVE, REVERSE OR PARK IT MAKES A PING NOISE AND IT'S GETTING LOUDER AND LOUDER!!!

WHEN WE TOOK IT IN THE FIRST TIME, THEY SAID THEY COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING PINGING NOISE ANYWHERE AND THAT THEY COULDN'T DUPLICATE THE NOISE AT ALL. WHEN WE TOOK IT FOR ANOTHER DEALERSHIP WHEN WE MOVED, THEY SAID TOO THEY COULDN'T DUPLICATE THE SOUND. SO WE ARE IN 2 STATES NOW AND 2 DIFFERENT SERVICE PLACES. WE ARE PISSED OFF!
SO WHEN WE COME TO HAWAII, WE TAKE THE VEHICLE IN AGAIN BECAUSE THE NOISE IS NOT GOING AWAY AT ALL AND WE DON'T KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THIS VEHICLE. WE TAKE IT TO SERVCO AUTO AND THEY COULDN'T DUPLICATE THE NOISE. THEN WE TOOK IT IN FOR SOME WARRANTY WORK ON OUR SEATS AND THEY SAY THEY CAN'T REUPHOLSTER THE LEATHER SEATS JUST STRETCHED THEM OUT BUT IT DIDN'T EVEN FIX THE PROBLEM. THE PROBLEM WAS THE SIDE AIR BAGS WERE SHOWING! WHICH IS NOT A GOOD THING. BUT THEY SAID NO, IT'S FIXED.

WHEN WE PICKED UP OUR VEHICLE I CALLED THE CUSTOMER SERVICE NUMBER OUT HERE IN HAWAII AND THEY SAID THEY WERE GOING TO DRIVE ANOTHER SUZUKI OUT HERE THE SAME BRAND AND STUFF TO SEE IF THEY CAN DUPLICATE THE SOUND WITH ANOTHER VEHICLE IF NOT THEN THEY SAID THE NOISE IS FROM US HAVING CUSTOM WHEELS. THE NOISE HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR AWHILE EVEN BEFORE WE HAD THESE WHEELS.

YEAH, CUSTOM WHEELS! IF THAT WAS THE CASE, WOULDN'T EVERYONE BE HAVING THIS PINGING NOISE PROBLEM?!

THE MANAGER AT THE CUSTOMER SERVICE PLACE SAID HE WILL GET BACK TO US NEXT WEEK ABOUT THE NOISE. BUT I HONESTLY THINK IT'S A PROBLEM FROM THE VEHICLE NOT FROM US HAVING CUSTOM WHEELS. THEY ARE TRYING TO FIND A WAY NOT TO FIX ANYTHING. WHEN WE MENTION WE ARE GOING TO DO A LEMON ON IT, THEY GET ALL NERVOUS
DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE THIS PINGING NOISE IN THEIR GRAND VITARA?

mindless · 07-02-2009, 11:12 PM

Hi mommy,
all those cap's hurt's my eye's.

Does this sound happen when you move the gear selector? I can hear the range selector work on mine, it's a little louder than most auto's maybe, but it's not like a ping so it might not be the same thing.

? Another sound i hear from under the car that might be similar comes from the rear differiential, but i think it's more of a clank

and like in your case, the mechanic never can hear it,

but i don't worry about it much because of the warranty

.
as far as the seat cover's you could just always replace them? It's an '06, so i guess your out of the 20,000 mile warranty, and would have to pay, but that would fix the problem.

then again... you could maybe light it on fire and roll it off a cliff??

HAPPY 4TH of JULY!!!
Just how custom are those wheel's?

geevee · 07-03-2009, 01:26 AM

Can YOU make it do the pinging noise when you visit the service people? Does it actually operate properly despite the noise? The GV, like most complex modern vehicles, makes a variety of clicking, thunking, humming, whining, etc. noises. Did you buy the GV new?

As for the seats, I've just been through a long saga with ours. Ours stretched within 2 weeks of buying the '06 new. It took three years to get Suzuki to do anything about it. Three years is when the warranty covering that sort of thing expires. They refused to install new seat covers, and sent the front seats to an upholsery shop to have the stretched panels, um, stretched. And resewn into place, I presume. They also added some padding under those panels. Although the panel on the drivers seat stretched a little bit again, I expected them to get much worse. In fact, they haven't. The passengers seat looks fine, and the drivers seat looks good enough. Everything seems to fit ok.

So I have to say I'm satisfied they're fixed well enough. All this didn't make them any more comfortable on long drives.

MichelB · 07-03-2009, 07:35 AM

Mindless, , it may be something else, but is your "clank" noise happens when you just started the engine and drove for about 200 feet ? If it's the case, there is pump that is used to check leakage from the fuel system, that pump/canister assembly is right below the left rear door of the vehicle. When the pump shuts off you ear a clunk, after that it is fine. As mentionned I ear that only when I just started it and drove 100 or 200 feet.

mindless · 07-03-2009, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichelB

Mindless, , it may be something else, but is your "clank" noise happens when you just started the engine and drove for about 200 feet ? If it's the case, there is pump that is used to check leakage from the fuel system, that pump/canister assembly is right below the left rear door of the vehicle. When the pump shuts off you ear a clunk, after that it is fine. As mentionned I ear that only when I just started it and drove 100 or 200 feet.

Hmmm.... i do know the noise you are talking about, it's the one that when it happens i always wonder. " what the hell just fell off of my car"

No, the noise i was referring to happens mostly when shifting from forward to reverse, and seems to come from the rear Diff. housing.

Thanks for the reply though

jaidensmommy032007 · 07-03-2009, 01:22 PM

Well see that's the whole thing with this pinging noise. It does drive okay but I got 2 young kids and with this noise, I am not going to risk having them in it. The pinging noise is coming from underneath the drive shaft and when we take it into the dealership, they can't duplicate the noise but yes, it happens when we take the vehicle into them. One person says it's the axle and another is saying it's from us having 20 inch wheels on them that I don't think can make a pinging noise at all! Don't you think they would've caught something wrong with the wheels being on there when they rotate the tires?

I just think they don't wanna do any of the work because the warranty is about to be up. And you know what, that is just wrong in my eyes. We are not paying for a car for them to not do what they are suppose to do to it when it is broken or has something wrong with it.

As far as our seats go, they had the car for 9 days and all they did was drive it down the road and have them stretch the leather on the seats to try and cover up the airbags that are showing on both seats. You can sit in the seat and they will show. Now I have never owned a vehicle where the airbags are suppose to show on a vehicle. Our service guy and the manager at their customer service office said they is completely normal... Hmm... Ask anyone who owns a car if that's normal and i'm sure they'll tell you NO!

It's just like them saying that if the airbags in the steering wheel were to start showing or coming apart that it's completely fine.
I am just getting so fustrated that I am going to call a lemon law attorney and get some legal advice because they haven't fixed the problem and we have taken the vehicle in before it hit 24,000 miles.
What I think they should do with the pinging noise in our vehicle is, test drive it for more than 2 miles and then find out where it's coming from. I know it's not coming from our tires we have on there now because it happened before we got them and I've never heard of a car make a pinging noise from having custom 20 inch wheels on them.. Wouldn't every single vehicle with custom wheels do it then and they woudn't sell right?

geevee · 07-04-2009, 01:02 AM

If your overall tire size is the same with the 20" rims as it was with the oem tires, and the offset is the same, the different rim size should be irrelevant. However, if your tires are larger overall than the oem's, and/or the rim offset is different, then you may be causing issues with the drivetrain.

Also, watch for rapid tire wear. That's a sign of misalignment that can also stress the drivetrain.

As for the seats, try sending a registered letter to Suzuki America.

logmgr · 07-04-2009, 07:52 AM

Sounds to me like you are hearing the U-joints....my 07 does the same thing.
Of course the dealer is going to tell you nothing is wrong.
You might ask if they could grease the universal joints....see if that helps.

jaidensmommy032007 · 07-04-2009, 12:55 PM

Thanks geevee.. I am in the process of talking to the customer service people right now about getting our seats redone and done the proper way. The wheels are 20 inches and the rims are the same too. The tires has it's normal wear in them.. Nothing different and see we drive our car from Washington state all the way to Pennsylvania state on the stock tires and it still made this pinging noise. So right there that tells you that it's not the tires.
And thanks logmgr.. The universal joint is what they told my husband and we have a on file with them is that they changed the universal joint. Does yours make the noise when you let it sit for alittle when you start it up and then put it into drive and hear a ping noise sounds like it's right under your shifter? Or when you put it into any gear except for Neutral? The noise is so loud that you can hear it over a radio that's turned up. What did they tell you your pinging noise is? And are they or did they do anything to help fix the problem? And you said you had a 2007 gv? I asked them if they found any vehicle with the same problem anywhere and they had told me no they can't find anyone anywhere with the same problem we are having with our gv.
When you take it in, can they hear the pinging noise when you do it or can they duplicate the sound?

achief2@yahoo.com · 07-04-2009, 02:12 PM

I think I have the same problem, don't think it's a ping, as in engine knock, sounds more like a rattle. Can only hear it when traveling between 45 & 55 MPH while lightly accelerating, and as the vehicle acquires more mileage, it gets a little louder.
One service writer said it might be the shield on the catalytic converter, but the mechanic's never found it, I just think they don't want to spend the time really looking for it.