Woodie wrote:toebridge wrote:Apparently, the 2010 SE I had had 2 recalls - one for a glove box issue and the other was for a serpentine belt tension adjuster. I never received anything from Suzuki about the recalls in the mail.
NOT recalls, service bulletins. Recall is when a safety issue leads the government to step in and force them to issue a recall and contact all owners for a free fix. Reliability issues are handled by service bulletins, if you bring it in for a problem, they then do this update. That's the way all manufacturers do it.
Any automatic transmission is a shaky proposition, CVTs more so. Meanwhile, RRM has a transmission cooler:
http://roadracemotorsports.com/store/in ... cts_id=697
My understanding is that the console box was actually a recall. It's because the center console box (not the glove box from what I've read) can open in a crash and possibly injure occupants with its contents. Therefore, it was a safety-related matter and recalled. Not bad considering the death-related recalls from Toyota, GM, etc.
The belt tensioner issue appeared to be a Technical Service Bulletin matter and not actually a recall. The fact that our cars have electronic power steering versus hydraulic power steering (which is powered by the serpentine belt) was probably the difference between a TSB and a recall in this matter. Regardless, you don't want a faulty belt tensioner while you are driving.
Coincidentally, I had a similar issue happen last night in my VW bus. I was joyriding it late last night on a rural road and when I got to a stop sign, the engine started to cut out and I could see smoke in the rear view mirror from the engine.
I turned off the engine and went to take a look back there. After some poking around and trying to start the car unsuccessfully, I noticed that the belt was slightly melted and the smoke appeared to come from the belt at the alternator pulley. The belt on a car this ancient only drives the alternator. That's it.
I then was able to determine that the belt was damaged and a deformed tooth of the belt was keeping it from rotating around the crank pulley and alternator. This was preventing the car from starting. I then got my knife and cut the belt off.
This meant that the alternator was no longer driven by the crank pulley, but as long as I drove it the short distance home, I could make it on just the battery power.
After I cut the belt off, I got in the car and it started right up. I then drove it straight home on just the battery.
I'll be putting on a spare belt that I have soon. The damaged one was old anyway. The belt tension on this car is set by rocking the alternator to adjust the tension and then tightening the alternator in place.
Note to self: Never drive an air-cooled VW late at night alone in a rural area with a dying phone battery and without a jump-starter.
Still, I think I'd rather have the unreliability of an old VW over a faulty CVT.
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