The car will not shift correctly. Displays a scrambled message on the dash information console. Dangerous almost caused me to be struck and killed by a 18 wheeler. Something must be done by this. Is a serious problem.
2008 Suzuki Forenza acceleration complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 18 of 18, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Owner states that the check engine light comes on and loses power..car will go from drive to a different gear. This happened on numerous occasions (when at red lights..going uphill ( which is dangerous if there is a vehicle behind you) and regular driving. Took vehicle to transmission shop 6 times and after spending over 750.00 on range sensor and computer board problems...still having the same issues with check engine light..loss of power and gear slips.
My transmission range sensor has been replaced twice, both within a 12 months time frame. Both times my car jerks at low and high speeds and my engine light is invoked. The second time the dealership replaced my transmission range sensor...the very same week my vehicle is still experiencing the same exact issues, inclusive of my engine light coming on and staying on for 3 days. Upon return, the dealership says my jerking, hard gear shifting and on board engine light is being caused due to an engine skipping issue, which is "possibly" due to the electronic control module not communicating with the transmission control module. I'll have to pay the dealership $210 to see if the connector between the ECM and the TCM is bad, and if its not bad, I still pay the $210, but then they'll tell me what the next possible step would be?? I feel I'm in a no win situation, it sounds like, just keep writing checks. My issue sounds the same as the countless others that have been documented, my issue should be covered since suzuki is more than aware that these are known issues.
I noticed after purchasing the car with 40,000 miles on it after owing the car for 5 months I put the car it reverse and it made a loud clunk when it was shifting in gear and repeated the same noise when putting the car in drive. After putting the car in drive the car would not accelerate like it was not shifting into gear. The issue has persisted and I had my brother, a licensed mechanic look at the car and he determined that it is a sensor in the transmission causing the problem. The car will not shift into gear until it reaches 45mph until it shifts into gear the rpms will jump like the car is straining to get into gear. After researching the problem I have learned that a lot of suzuki owners have this same problem.
In less than 2 months, I've had to replace several parts of my car that I don't believe is part of regular service maintenance. Thermostat, coolant hose, spark plugs (twice in a year), brake lights and headlight bulbs (replaced twice in a year), transmission control module and motor mounts because of the TCM that made my car jerk all the time whenever I accelerate. Either at a traffic light or on the freeway, my car hesitates to accelerate and jerks every time I shift gears. Now, possibly the transmission range sensor needs to be replaced (I am currently in the process with this one). I'm afraid in the next few months, I'll be spending more on car repairs than the car is worth and it's only a 2008!
While driving, car suddenly lost power, unable to accelerate or change gears on it's own, and when I shift from drive to park, it felt like my car got hit, a very hard "bang" and same when shifting from park to reverse or back to drive. Ck engine light appeared. After stopping and turning car off for aprx. 10 minutes then turning back on, light was still on, but now car was accelerating and changing gears. Got the car to the suzuki 112 dealership in medford, ny and they said codes po700 & po705 were present. They diagnosed a failed automatic transmission range sensor / switch assy. The service advisor told me this is a very common problem, and he replaces 4-6 of these per month between the forenza and reno model suzuki vehicles. Service advisor stated this is not covered under the power train warranty since this is just a component that is mounted to the transmission, not actually inside the transmission. $216.63 later, the dealership mechanic removed and replaced the part. Note: this is the 2nd time I had this problem, but 1st time they couldn't diagnose as check engine light shut itself off before they got to check it out.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 suzuki forenza. The contact stated that while driving approximately 10 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed and the vehicle suddenly accelerated. The vehicle was then shifted into park in order to stop it and the check engine light illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for diagnostics, where the technician stated that there was a failure with the transmission. The contact was unaware of the repairs that were performed. After the repairs, the failure occurred a second time. While driving approximately 5 MPH and attempting to park, the engine revved up and the vehicle suddenly accelerated while the brake pedal was depressed. As a result, the vehicle crashed into a glass window. The vehicle came to a stop when the contact placed the gear shifter into park. There were no injuries. The police reported to the scene and a report was filed. The vehicle sustained damage to the front end and under carriage. The vehicle was taken to an auto body shop for an estimate of the repairs. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 30,000. Updated 10/04/11
Tl*the contact owns a 2008 suzuki forenza. While driving approximately 40 MPH the vehicle began to decelerate. The vehicle was pulled over and shut off. Upon restart the vehicle operated as normal. The failure recurs approximately every 20 minutes in which the vehicle needs to be shut off and restart. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where she was informed the throttle body needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileages were 51,094.
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