Push Start Button - Engine Cranks for at least 10 seconds?

naviguy · Tue Aug 16, 2011 5:21 pm

So this has happened to me twice, and I am interested to know if it happens to anyone else here.

Both times, my car was parked for a few hours, then when I returned to the car, unlocked the doors, pressed brake, and pushed the start button... the engine cranked for about 10 seconds before turning over and starting.

All 1000 other times, the car started after two or three cranks.

The fuel was half full the first time, and completely full the second time, so I am at a loss for what could be causing that...

Any thoughts?

~tc~ · Wed Aug 17, 2011 1:47 am

It's still under warranty, ask the dealer!

Seriously - there's very little chance that it will be cheap or even fixable by you. At the very minimum, you have the complaint lodged and filed for if it leaves you stranded somewhere.

naviguy · Wed Aug 17, 2011 4:10 pm

I already have an appointment at the dealer this Saturday... I was hoping to hear if anyone else experienced this, so I can take the guess work out of the dealer's investigation.

The problem is, it's not easily reproducible...

It happens randomly... that means it will probably prove difficult to diagnose.

hocaspocas · Thu Aug 18, 2011 3:19 am

I had the same issue one day. It happened twice in a interval of an hour. Called the dealer the same day, they asked me to stop by for a service check. They are an hour from my location so I told them if that happens again i will definitely stop by. But since then, two weeks ago, it hasn't happen again.

One of the service managers told me Suzuki is aware of this problem and they will be releasing a software update. But not sure when.

Even in the owners manuals adress this. In one section it mentions that after pushing the start button it might take 3 to 10 seconds to start the engine. But for me it sounds too much.

naviguy · Fri Aug 19, 2011 12:53 am

Great! Thanks for the info!

PlatinumGTS · Fri Aug 19, 2011 2:07 am

I've had it happen twice in the 5,000 miles I have owned it. The one time for sure it was in the rain. Don't know if that means anything though.

naviguy · Wed Aug 24, 2011 10:23 pm

I took mine to the dealer, and they checked the service bulletins, to no avail.

They are calling Suzuki HQ for me, and will update me.

jimmerz · Sat Aug 27, 2011 5:09 am

I had it happen once. Not sure why, but it sat for about 3 days over a long weekend (we used my wife's car) and that's when it happened.

JDReichert · Thu Sep 01, 2011 11:03 pm

Well, I had our 2010 SLS pull this trick today for the first time. After about 6 to 7 seconds it started and ran fine. I stopped at the dealer to ask if they were aware of any other Suzuki's with this malfunction. They were not. They had not seen this at all. They checked with Suzuki USA, and there is no bulletins out. I guess we as owners will need to tract this and notify Suzuki USA of the problem.

Jerry 2010 SLS, 1983 BMW633CSi, 1977 Mercedes-Benz 280SL

themeat424 · Fri Sep 02, 2011 2:23 am

I'm now in on this too. I have only 300 miles on my new 2011 S, and it cranked today for a good ten seconds before starting up. I'm optimistically guessing that maybe there is condensation in the gas tank, as I've had a similar problem in the past with my 07 Grand Vitara, and some dry gas treatments cured that. The car was probably sitting on the dealer lot for several months without a full tank of gas, so maybe water started to build up in there. I'm gonna go throw in a bottle of dry gas (iso-heat) and see if it happens again. Otherwise we'll have to wait until the problem is more well known and Suzuki figures it out. Going now to the dealer would probably be a waste of time.