2008 Suzuki Forenza: harsh or hard shifting

Filed May 27, 2014 · Acceleration, Engine · 65,040 miles · KS

I was driving down a busy street in stop and go traffic. While stopped at a stop light, my vehicle made a very loud "clunk" noise, lurched forward and the check engine light came on. When I attempted to accelerate after the light turned green, I had to push the gas pedal almost to the floor to get the vehicle to move forward. I pulled over and parked, turned the vehicle off, waited about a minute, turned the vehicle back on, and the problem had gone away although the check engine light was still on. A day or so later, while I was driving on the highway going approximately 65 miles per hour, the vehicle made the "clunk" noise, lurched forward and the check engine light came on again. This time, because I was already in motion, the rpms jumped up above 3000, which is very high for a 4 cylinder engine only going 65 miles per hour. Again, I pulled over, turned the vehicle off, waited about a minute, turned the car on and was able to drive the vehicle normally again although the check engine light remained illuminated. This issue has been happening randomly about 20 times a year over the course of the last 2 1/2 - 3 years.

Filed May 26, 2014 · Transmission · 38,457 miles · NM

I started the car. Let it idle for a minute to bring the RPM down. I tried to shift it to reverse but it would not go. It had an engine warning light on. I shifted back to park and turned the car off. I let it set for a minute then restarted it. When I shifted again, it clunked and would barely move. I shifted to drive and it clunked and would barely move. I am a single 55 year old woman. I work 2 jobs and live 8 miles out of town. I can't afford to have this car down. I bought it because of the low mileage. It only has 39,000 miles.

Filed Oct 21, 2013 · Transmission · 53,000 miles · UT

I turned on the car, when I put into reverse it clunked and the screen that usually says r just had scrambled letters going then when I put it into drive it clunked again and when I drive it like that it starts in 2nd so I have to put a lot of gas onto it then it won't switch into 3rd gear, and every time I take it to a mechanic the check engine light goes off and it works fine.

Filed Jun 27, 2013 · Engine, Transmission · 79,000 miles · WA

For a few weeks the car had been running a bit off--not really changing gears right-but nothing to raise serious alarm-clunked one time a week ago when slowing down. Yesterday the engine light came on the car made a loud clunk and would not switch into gear. After turning the car off and on the engine light went of and the car was able to be drive. Took it into the local auto parts store--they ran a trouble code which came back po700 and po705. We looked this up and it referred to the transmission range sensor---the auto part fellow said get it in now to be fixed. $200 later the car is now running acceptable again. The car mechanic was able to get the part in a couple hours because the warehouse said this part has an extremely high demand for it so they stock it. We had a long distance trip planned next week and this could have been disastrous to have completely lost the ability to drive or something else.

Filed Apr 10, 2013 · Engine, Transmission · 4,000 miles · IL

I bought my car 3-29-09. At 4,000 mi. I began having problems. At 57,059 mi. 4-9-13 was the 18th time my car has been in for svc. I'm on my 3rd dealer (orig. Out of svc.) I am having my 3rd trans installed.can someone say "lemon law ?" 1st they could not find the problem as no codes were shown by the computer. My car at one point was at the dealer for 34 days straight! At times it would not even go into gear or would just die. I have had the TCM,ECM,& trans range switch replaced multiple times.since oct 2012 have getting an intermittent ck eng light, I was finally able to bring it in on 3-29-13 & the ECM was replaced. On 4-8-13 I was barely able to make it in to the shop as my car was stuck in 3rd gear and I was on the hwy the ck eng, light was on. It was the trans range switch again! It was just replaced oct 2012. Mon. Eve. The car would stall in neutral when in drive, slam into gear, the ck eng light remained lit, it was stuck in 3rd gear and the newest development was that as I was driving on the hwy, the lit d (drive) by the odometer was flashing normal & then with a line through it. I got to the dealer, pulled the code & the trans needs to be replaced again! I have absolutely had it with this car and am attempting to re-instate my arbi- tration with them (I dropped it when the supposedly fixed the prob.last yr). 14 of visits were major. Suzuki's tech explained to me that there is an engineering design flaw. My car is dangerous and I no longer want my life in suzuki's hands. I cannot continue to drive a care that can become faulty at any time, especially when I am driving 55-65 MPH on the hwy and the car gets stuck in third gear! My husband has also had the engine die on him while driving.(I took a short video with my phone that shows the ck eng light on and the d flashing with a line through it.every time that the ck eng light comes on lately, it's a new code.

Filed Feb 18, 2013 · Transmission · 42,500 miles · MN

About once a week my car has an issue when shifting. When I shift into reverse I get a clunk. Then when I drive the car seems to be stuck in a high gear. The check engine light will go on. If I turn the car off and leave it off for 5 to 10 minutes it will be fine when I start it again. The engine light codes are p0700 and p0705. Upon doing research on this subject I found that this is the transmission range sensor that is failing. Suzuki will not fix this under the power train warranty which seems very wrong since this is part of the transmission. I have found a large number of people with the same problem. This is obviously a defective part that suzuki is doing nothing about.

Filed Feb 5, 2013 · Acceleration · 55,000 miles · GA

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.

Filed Feb 2, 2013 · Engine, Transmission · 70,000 miles · VA

Started car put it into reverse to back out, aloud "clunk" noise was maid and the car had trouble accelerating. Not it often slips into neutral while driving or will only accelerate in third.

Filed Dec 23, 2012 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 60,000 miles · FL

One day, when I put my car in reverse, it "clunked" into gear, the gear display was scrambled, and the check engine light came on. I shut my car off and started it again, thinking it was a fluke. The check engine light remained on and it also "clunked" into drive. When I went to accelerate, the RPM's were 5-10 higher than normal and it took a little longer to "get up and go." sometimes, my car will initially run fine until a few minutes into the drive, when it falls into neutral while driving, then goes back to drive, the check engine light comes on again, and the problems resurface. I took it to advanced auto parts and the machine said transmission control system but they said that could mean anything and would be fine to drive. After taken off the machine, the check engine light went off, only to come on again the next time I drove it. My brother (who has mechanical experience) cleaned the transmission sensor and filter, hoping it would help, but it didn't. As I go to a small town college three hours away from home and make a 3 minute drive to and from classes everyday, I let it be for the semester, insisting that it would eventually go away. Well, it's christmas and it never went away; each day I drive my car it presents me with the same problems. My brother took my car back to advanced auto parts and the machine read the same issues as before, plus a possible wire short. They didn't suggest any fixes so he checked for shorts in the wires and found none. It appears it must be the transmission range sensor. After reading up on the trs, it seems that this is an ongoing problem that many owners are experiencing as early as 30k miles on cars some bought new. I feel as though this issue has also caused other problems with my car (reduced gas mileage/battery failure) and is cause for a factory recall, as its appearance is widespread and the effects are numerous.

Filed Aug 4, 2012 · Engine, Transmission · 73,000 miles · MO

I am thinking our transmission range sensor went out on our 2008 suzuki forenza with over 70,000 miles. Car check engine light was on for a few days, then turned off about 3 days ago, stopped at drug store, when I turned on the car, the check engine light was back on, put car in reverse and clunk, while the display where the r for reverse would have been was scrambled, car still reversed. Clunked into drive, and wouldn't switch out of 1st gear.

Filed Sep 16, 2011 · Electrical, Transmission · 44,000 miles · MO

Transmission range switch, fails to shift down during acceleration, may work for a while and then makes a clunk and fails again, causes check engine light to glow and may show a box with a diagonal line through it where the d for drive would be.