What Did You Do With Your Kizashi Today?

[honsonwong]

Thank you KuroNekko, I will keep my eyes on it.

[Woodie]

Had some creaking and clunking coming from the rear suspension and was concerned that my shocks were shot again. I got under there and grabbed the sway bar to be welcomed with the same sort of clunk. Took off the sway bar mounting bushings (RRM aftermarket rear sway bar with the polyurethane bushings) and found them dry with a little bit of rust starting. Cleaned them out with an alcohol soaked rag, slathered silicon grease all over, and re-assembled. Seems completely smooth and quiet now, but I just drove it around the block. Time will tell.

I also replaced the steering lock module. Holy Mackerel what a job that is, for no reason. If someone has the time and ambition to tear the steering column out of the car to gain access to this stupid part then they aren't going to be stymied by the headless security bolts. And why do they just supply one break off bolt with the new unit? I cut the bracket in half releasing the tension on the bolts reather than try to cut the entire head off. Then I cut a nice slot into one of them so it could be tighened with a flat head screwdriver and just tightened them up to snug on re-assembly so that the new bolt didn't break off.

[delusional29]

Did some work on my Kiz this weekend. Swapped out a pulley on my tensioner instead of buying the whole thing and saved a chunk of cash. (Pulley was $14.99 vs the $200 entire part). Had to reinstall the new belt (grumble) after paying $170 to have it swapped 2 days earlier. Now I know better, lesson learned. But mechanic wanted additional $700 to fix tensioner so I saved there.

Also swapped out my rear shocks. They were toast! I rotated my tires while I was at it.

I still need to replace my sway bar stabilizers x 2 on the rear along with the bushings. I have the parts just didn’t get to it yet. But the suspension back there is A LOT quieter. I’m happy I swapped the shocks. I’ll have pics soon in a separate topic.

DeL

[LPSISRL]

So the last couple of weeks I've been twiddling with my HID light color temperature. I initially installed 6000K but they were too blue for my liking, so to make a long, boring story short, they are now 5000K. I also wanted to try putting in HIDs in my fog light position. However, I wanted them to be true fog lights so I ordered some 3000K off eBay. They were used but a bit less than a new kit and I was having trouble finding a 3000K from Kensun. The picture showed everything was there in this Kensun kit which is also what I have in the head lights. The fog lights are H11s and the first time I mis-ordered and got an H1 that I had to send back to Amazon. So there was just one challenge I came across and that was the "H11" bulbs in the kit did not match the socket. They were close. The fogs on the Kizashi has a socket with 2 narrow tabs and 1 wide. The kit bulbs were the opposite. 2 wide and 1 narrow. I modded the bulb by shaving down one of the wide tabs and they fit fine. I used 3M double-sided foam tape to secure the ballast to the inside of the bumper cover and the rest was easy... Until I fired them up. Expecting to see some nice yellow fogs, I saw blue. Almost as blue as John Law has on his cars. I checked the kit box and guess what? They were not 3000K but 30000K. They were advertised incorrectly on eBay. Now instead of having 5000K headlights and 3000K fogs, I have 5000K headlights and 30000K fogs! I contacted the eBay seller so we'll see what happens.

BTW - This was a very easy mod so if someone is looking to put HIDs or LEDs in their fog light position, it's not hard.

[Speed_Racer]

My Kizashi has been sidelined for the past two weeks. I went on vacation for six days and came home to a cordoned off driveway and a pile of gravel. The city required some sidewalk work at my apt complex while I was gone.

No problem...it should be gone in a day or two right? Wrong...the city took down the tape but left the gravel. My property manager didn't know about it either. So while they all point fingers at who should clean it up, I'm stuck riding the motorcycles everywhere.

[DiggerDerrik]

Passed the 130,000 mile mark about 30 minutes ago on my way to work. Still the best vehicle I’ve ever owned.

[BLyons]

I know this isn't technically the right thread for this, but it didn't seem worthy of its own thread. Mine recently started making a type of chime noise every time the bluetooth connects. At first it was freaking me out, because it seemed like it was happening every time the car first started rolling and I thought it was something worse, but I've finally been able to isolate it to the bluetooth. Has anyone else had this? I'm not sure why it just started doing it. I didn't get a new phone or anything that might seemingly trigger it.

[Ronzuki]

Actually, yes! Just last week I took off to leave for work and a single, distinctive chime from the car caught me off guard. One ping is all. I look down figuring a door wasn't closed or something...nothing on the dash or HUD was amiss. Never had it happen before. What was out of the norm was that I had left the RF on the night before shutting the car off. Normally I shut everything down (radio, climate control, lights, etc.) before killing the ignition. Chalked it up to my morning oh-dark-thirty stupor and didn't think anything more about until now. Bluetooth aye? Mine's not active in the car, AFAIK. Never used it, and, my phone's is definitely disabled. Interesting.

[LPSISRL]

Oil change time. Never had it go 7500 but it did this time. I use synthetic so it's no biggie. Probably when I should be changing it anyway. Bosch filter. Noted that the mesh heat shield on the exhaust pipe right under the engine was damaged and had slid back on the pipe. Must have hit something but I don't recall anything and the wife rarely drives it. I was able to slide it back into place but I'm not sure it will stay.

Decided to install my new rear shocks that I've had for several months now. There was no oil leakage int he old ones and they may not even have needed replacing. I have not noticed any ride or handling issues although I do get a groan from the back from time to time. The KBYs look exactly the same as the OEMs except for the sticker. Replaced the bump stops with the new design as well. I think the bump stops should always be replaced with the shocks as mine were deteriorating. One thing that was strange. The new shocks seem to collapse a bit easier than the OEMs. I figured they would be stiffer. Quick note on shock replacing... It's a pretty easy replacement. One 19mm bolt on the bottom and two bolts at the top both easily accessible simply by removing the wheel. I jacked it up pretty high from the front hard point and put a jack stand under the rear hard point and then let her down. Here's a hint: After loosening the lower 19mm bolt a few turns, disconnect the shock from the top, pull it down and collapse it. While it's slowly returning, the bolt can be loosened with your fingers since there's no stress on it. At least I could mine. Same thing when putting the new one in. The bolt is long so you'll have a lot of wrench work with only about 1/4 turn available unless you have a 19mm ratcheting box wrench. I wouldn't buy one just for the occasion though. You may also be successful using a 3/8 inch drive socket with a long extension through the coil spring. I did not have a 19mm in a 3/8 drive or adapter and the 1/2 inch extensions are too big. There's a YouTube video on replacing the shocks so no sense going into any more details here.

Also blew out my cabin filter. It's easy to get out by simply opening the glove box, remove the owner's manual and slide the manual holder to the right. (at least I think it was to the right) It drops right off and you can then access the filter door and remove the cabin filter for cleaning or replacing. I didn't have a new on so I blew and vacuumed it out.

Time for brake pad replacement and coolant flush. I crossed the 100k mile milestone about a month ago. No more warranty. In 100k miles, I only had one warranty item. The CVT at 76K. No hassles or issues from the dealer or Suzuki. If I recall, it took about 3-4 days from start to finish and they gave me a free loaner. Day one diagnosed put in warranty claim. Day 2 ordered tranny. Day 3 receive tranny and install. Day 4 I drive the car on a long trip through the mountains of Pittsburg with no issues. Not too sure how smart that was but I did it nonetheless.

[KuroNekko]

Noted that the mesh heat shield on the exhaust pipe right under the engine was damaged and had slid back on the pipe. Must have hit something but I don't recall anything and the wife rarely drives it. I was able to slide it back into place but I'm not sure it will stay.

Mine was like that after I ran over a parking block covered by snow. I pulled the mesh up at an oil change, but later saw that it was pulled down like you describe. I then got a large stainless steel hose clamp and secured the mesh to cover the flex pipe. It hasn't moved since and it's been years.

One thing that was strange. The new shocks seem to collapse a bit easier than the OEMs. I figured they would be stiffer.

It's possible that the Kizashi Sport OE shocks are stiffer than the Kizashi's and the KYB aftermarket replacement. OE part numbers are different between the Kizashi Sport and Kizashi's shocks and struts. It could be that the dampers themselves have different valving to make them stiffer to go along with the lower springs as the Kizashi Sports are 10mms lower than the Kizashi.