Suzuki Swift Throttle Sticking On

[tombee]

I am wondering if anyone else has experienced a problem with the Suzuki Swift '05 Onwards (mines a 1.3 GL '08). The fault I am experiencing is where the throttle will stick open at any random point that the car so chooses. I was driving down the dual carriageway earlier and the engine light came on and revs stuck at 3500. Other problems I experience is when turning the ignition, the light will come on and revs will stick at a random point. I have also had the problem where when dipping the clutch, the revs will stick and then you cannot accelerate.

The engine warning light comes on, but will go out after turning off/on 3-4 times.

When this fault developed after 8000 miles, the car was inside the 3 year warranty. I returned the car to the main dealer as per their instructions, they plugged it into the computer and told me to continue driving it. After it happening multiple times again, they decided to change the 'Throttle Position Sensor', which they seem to say is in the pedal unit. Other people have told me that this part is in the throttlebody (more on this later).

2-3 months later down the line, this fault was still happening, each time I am requested to drive the car to the dealership to have the fault recorded. Eventually they decide to once again swap the 'throttle position sensor' 'in the pedal unit'. By this point, this problem has dragged on for so long that it has been pushed outside the 3 year suzuki warranty, but they still replaced the pedal unit.

The fault keeps on re-occurring almost daily now, so the dealership agree to have the car in for a 'long period of time'. I agree to this, simply requesting that I need a courtesy car, as I am in the final stages of my degree and need to be able to attend important lectures. After not hearing from them for some time, I phone up and they said that they are no longer willing to look at the car unless I pay.

When this fault was reported inside the warranty, we had asked about what was to happen if this intermittent fault was to keep re-occurring outside the warranty. His words were 'Don't worry, we will get to the bottom of it. It's ok, it's reported now'.

I have tried to speak to Suzuki GB about this, but they are simply listening to the dealership who are covering their backs with heaps of lies. They have also not recorded anything on Suzuki's system about this problem apart from the first part replacement.

This is quite a long story, as it has been going on for almost 7 months now (and 7,000 miles later). I am simply trying to raise awareness and look for advice on this problem.

Edited by tombee on Tuesday 10th May 19:25

[EDLT]

The link violates name and shame rules on the forum.

There is a throttle position sensor on the throttle pedal and another on the throttle body. Although different manufacturers give them different names.

[Braintax]

Try www.swiftowners.co.uk/

[tombee]

EDLT said:

There is a throttle position sensor on the throttle pedal and another on the throttle body. Although different manufacturers give them different names.

According to the Suzuki Swift Workshop Manual, the 'TPS' as it is referred to is apparently in the throttlebody. The Accelerator Pedal Position (APP) Sensor Assembly is in the pedal unit. Could be wrong though!

Braintax said:

Try www.swiftowners.co.uk/

Thanks, I will try there.

[mph999]

Read yoor full post - call trading standards ...

"He had said that he had been in the motor trade for 33 years and not a single person had won a legal case against him."

Really, I would suggest he will shortly be disappointed ...

" When I mentioned that I really should take advice from a Trading Standards Officer, his reply was that he has a 'very good' relationship with them, and it would be likely that I would be liable for the costs involved in them being involved in the case once they have a chat with the Suzuki dealership"

Rubbish, you are not liable for costs - I would send this exact info to trading standards.

I'cve been through similar with a previous car - ok, not quite as bad as this but still serious. After 8 - 9 months I got them to replace the car via SOGA act.

If, your account is accurate, and I am sure it is, I think a judge woiuld be quite interested ... As the issue happened with waranty you're are correct they have to fix it ...

Try Auto Express - they love stories like this
Your local paper
Watchdog

Park the damm car outside the dealership with a big sign on it if you have to ...

Martin

Edited by mph999 on Tuesday 10th May 14:23

[tombee]

mph999 said:

Read yoor full post - call trading standards ...

"He had said that he had been in the motor trade for 33 years and not a single person had won a legal case against him."

Really, I would suggest he will shortly be disappointed ...

" When I mentioned that I really should take advice from a Trading Standards Officer, his reply was that he has a 'very good' relationship with them, and it would be likely that I would be liable for the costs involved in them being involved in the case once they have a chat with the Suzuki dealership"

Rubbish, you are not liable for costs - I would send this exact info to trading standards.

I'cve been through similar with a previous car - ok, not quite as bad as this but still serious. After 8 - 9 months I got them to replace the car via SOGA act.

If, your account is accurate, and I am sure it is, I think a judge woiuld be quite interested ... As the issue happened with waranty you r are correct they have to fix it ...

Try Auto Express - they love stories like this
Your local Paper
Watchdog

Park the damm car outside the dealership with a big sign on it if you have to ...

Martin

Thank you for your support Martin. I have had witnesses of the situation read through the account, and they had suggested certain changes that had been made to ensure that it is entirely true as per their understanding. Hopefully I should be able to take this through the legal route once I am able to afford the time and effort to put into it. Auto-express is a good call. I have received a reply from WhatCar magazine, and they are considering taking up the case for me and featuring it in their magazine.

Aside from the terrible experience, my main issue is that the car is worrying to drive, but I rely upon it for a 50 mile round trip each day to attend University and I have my final exams this week. I think to take it the SOGA route, I need to get the car repaired first and then to take it to the small claims court to claim back all costs? details

Wondering if anyone has any ideas on this problem, or might have experienced a similar problem and could shed some light on what the fault could be

Edited by tombee on Wednesday 15th June 12:32

[The Wookie]

Presumably a car as recent as a 2008 model will have an electronic throttle, i.e. no throttle cable. The pedal is a potentiometer, moving it creates a signal which the ECU processes and translates into a throttle position

A dodgy throttle body (could be a mechanical fault such as a sticking plate, or an electrical problem with the stepper motor) would be my first port of call, followed by the pedal unit, followed by the wiring, followed by the ECU itself.

If the garage is only replacing the same component again and again they are clearly thick.

[YoungOne]

Sorry to hear about your car, I've got nothing to add except I've had two swifts in the last 5 years and never had anything go wrong with them.
I will agree the dealers are st though, I wouldn't trust my local dealer with an oil change.

Good luck and get as much exposure as possible, they will sort it in the end.

[tombee]

YoungOne said:

Sorry to hear about your car, I've got nothing to add except I've had two swifts in the last 5 years and never had anything go wrong with them.
I will agree the dealers are st though, I wouldn't trust my local dealer with an oil change.

Good luck and get as much exposure as possible, they will sort it in the end.

Really liked my Swift too, especially with it being my first 'brand new' car. With all the problems I had over time it started to wear off though (as you can probably understand), especially when you're having to drive out of your way to go visit the dealership so often to have it plugged into the computer. If the dealership and Suzuki GB were able to cure these problems without me having to wait months every time, then it probably wouldn't have been so bad. It has always been a fight every time to get them to fix it. Like yourself, I don't trust them with my car either. I'm pretty particular about it, keep it in excellent condition. Then for them to take it in and neglect it really hurts.

Looking at the airbox, I can also see that they have snapped one of the fixings on the plastic. So one of the bolts does not hold the airbox in place, it wobbles around on top of the engine a lot now.

My other is a classic mini with a 1330 I had built by Morspeed Engineering It's not allowed out in the rain though, haha. Just for shows and nice sunny days. The Swift is supposed to be my sensible and 'reliable' day to day runner.

[tercelgold]

7 months isn't too long, the fault in a 2008 car would be present at purchase.

[tombee]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

The dealership would never give me any paperwork, apparently they only provide invoices for jobs that you pay for. I have emails to/from Suzuki GB customer services, but they aren't anything other than 'I will contact the dealership tomorrow' and 'I will keep you updated'. It has all been dealt with over the phone.

Suzuki GB apparently only have this fault recorded in October 2010, when the dealership ordered the pedal unit the first time. Subsequent visits to the dealership and when it has been in for repair is not on Suzuki's system. There is all kinds of confusion, the person at Suzuki was telling me the car had done 45,000 miles. It'd only done 13,000 at the time.

The dealership will not give me any information whatsoever, apparently they don't even have the fault codes they have been recording on their system. (So what were they doing recording them?!)

I had taken the car to an alternative dealership to be looked at, the fault had occurred 9-10 times before I took it there. Though apparently there was nothing showing on the computer. The fault re-occurred and I took it straight down. They are still claiming that they didn't find anything, even though the engine light was on...

Where it gets fishy is, I spoke to the original dealership and they had said the alternative dealership had phoned them up and they had both agreed that the fault codes they had retrieved from the system were the same. How did they manage this? One dealership doesn't record the codes, and the other is claiming they didn't find any.

I have been assured that even though I am not given any paperwork that every time the car goes in a 'job card' is created to log what is done, and 'this goes onto Suzuki's system'.

[tombee]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

The fault was reported a little before then. Suzuki GB's customer services told me the only thing they have on their system is around that time when a part was requested. This was a few weeks after the fault was reported, as the dealership turned me away and told me to drive it and see if it happens again the first time.

I have forwarded this information to WhatCar and Auto-Express (as per earlier suggestion) and I have now sent an email to autocar as per your suggestion. Thank you for this.

I shall create another post as you have suggested too.

[L3ROY]

Hi,

Iv just come across your problem while looking into fixing a very similar issue with my car (06 swift) I noticed the cause but was lacking the confidence to do the repair simple as it looks. My throttle sticks at 4k after acceleration up hill. I noticed a small rubber washer on the visible part of the throttle cable that gets caught under part of the housing when the accelerator is pushed quickly. I'm almost certain that the problem will be solved if it's cut off as it looks to serve no real purpose.

Hope this may help. Please let me know your thoughts

Leroy

[tombee]

Thanks L3ROY This issue was featured in Auto-Express magazine in the end. Suzuki GB then had another Suzuki dealership to replace the throttle body. No issues since!

[Neo84942011]

I have the same issue on my suzuki splash 2013 model I'm trying to find out the same thing it's annoying as hell . I've had the car from 19000 miles and it's always happened . I've cleaned the throttle body and it's still happening . The only thing I think it could be as stated was the throttle pedal sensor . I'm not getting any lights on the dash but getting the throttle sticking every so often