Ignis 4Grip Viscous Couplig

[paulbat]

Have just joined forum - trying to find info on Ignis 4Grip . My warranty expires next week -so I tested car off road . Front whhels were on wet grass , rear wheels were on tarmac . Front wheels just spinned - no traction on rear axle , so I was stuck . Had similar experience 5 months ago , when I took car back to main dealers who replaced Viscous Coupling . Surely it can't have packed in again in 4 months ?
Has anyone had experience of problems with Ignis 4Grip and its "4 wheel drive" Has anyone had experience of 4Grip driving in slippery conditions ie mud ? Does anyone have ideas on what else could be causing lack of 4 wheel drive . Any help appreciated

[Sabaselfsit]

I had a 1998 Suzuki Wagon R+ 4WD. And I was not happy with the 4wd system on it which is the same viscos coupling system as on your Ignis. I have had much experience of driving this car up very wild hills in thick snow...and my thoughts are that it is better than 2wd...but not as good as a lockable 4wd system which put just as much force to each wheel. I was for example helpless compared to my mothers 1987 Subaru Justy which has this type of 4wd. And the simple fact is that the Ignis system at maximum can deliver the power 60 to 40, where 40 % of the effect is then transfered to the rear wheels.

I bought the Wagon R+ used and in the beginning the system was "ok"...but after about 2 years I found myself having to turn around and going as fast as I could in reverse to get up the hills to my parents house in winter. Since this was after warranty I bought a new viscos coupling and changed it myself...

Not likely your viscous coupling has broken just after 4 months - and this spinning on the grass might be due to one front wheel spinning and the other standing still maybe? But a way to test the viscous is to jack up the car on axl stands so all 4 wheels are free from the ground...turn the front wheels and see if the rear follows...they should.

Or you can find some tractor hills and try and climb them and compare with a friends 2wd of aprox. same size. Likely you will be better.

[paulbat]

Thanks for your tip re testing 4 wheel drive – which I already did recently , and confirmed it is not working - as main dealer agreed today . I asked receptionist if there were any other units apart from the viscous coupling which affected the 4 wheel drive system . He said NO – everything was done by the viscous coupling . After the mechanic had tested it , he came back to me to say the power transfer unit had failed .
Am now a little confused and suspicious about their ability to diagnose and solve this problem . Would be interested to hear if anyone has had a similar problem .