Suzuki Swift Japanese 2008 - High Fuel Consuption

[Hiran_j]

I have experienced an increase in Fuel Consumption (7-8 Km/L, Before it was 10-11 Km/L) after the recent service done at A*toM*rag. I am not sure whether its there fault; but would really appreciate any of your comments on how to correct this. Current Mileage is 23,000 Km. I have changed oil filter/ user Castrol Magnatrec / Haven't changed Air Filter though.  Transmission - CVT / 1250 CC

Other symptoms:

When I start the engine; I get raw petrol smell. The RPM meter goes above 2 with even a slight touch on accelerator.  

When power windows are shut or open; I find that head lights get dim. The indicator on the battery says ok.

Will following help ?  

1. Doing an engine tuneup.  If so, is it ok to do it at A*W Rajagiriya ?

2. Do I need to change the battery, even if it indicates charged or is there any other remedy?

3. Can it be due to a damage to some sensors while on service?

Thanks for any advice. I hope it would be beneficial for fellows with similar issues.

[kush]

Consumption of 10/11 kmpl is right for this model

Raw petrol smell could be due to a leak or too rich fuel mixture, which will also explain the higher consumption. Check for leaks on fuel lines under the engine. If it is a small leak it might not be visible.

Your battery terminals migh have got loose, check them, and get the battery checked for charge, your local battery shop will most probably do this free.

Get the car checked by the agent, they have the equipment and the charges are reasonable too.

I hope you used 5-30, or 10-30 engine oil.

[Hiran_j]

Thanks Kush for the quick reply...

Quote: '.. I hope you used 5-30, or 10-30 engine oil.."

Actually I have use 5W-40 Magnatrec oil. Have I made a mistake?

[kush]

Your car requires very thin oil, 30 is the important number,even the agents recommend 5-30, 10-30 availablity is much better now, you get Mobil, Toyota even Caltex Magnetic. I used Toyota for my last change as there was a shortage at the time.

[Ruchi]

I keep OD-OFF for Colombo rides and tyre pressure 33 PSI . Most vehicles has AC air filter inside the vehicle u may need to clean it or replace it .

[RajeevRanganath]

Check if you are driving in 'D' or 'S' mode. Driving in 'S' mode will consume more fuel and the engine will rev more than in 'D' mode.

[virensti]

hmm interesting, we have a swift 2010 jap model (manual) and it does only 9 in city, (heard this is the usual amount for this car) also a big no no to the 33 psi tyre pressure, our roads are bad enough, having a higher tyre pressure will just ruin your suspension sooner than usual... My 2 cents is pump up to about 30-32 if your going out of colombo on a long trip where you think/heard the road is good, and keep around 28-30 in colombo if your in a place where the roads are bad..

[RajeevRanganath]

Thanks Kush for the quick reply...

Quote: '.. I hope you used 5-30, or 10-30 engine oil.."

Actually I have use 5W-40 Magnatrec oil. Have I made a mistake?

As far as I know 5W-40 is ok. It is recommended by manufacturer. I also have a Suzuki Swift 2009 with CVT gear box. Currently I'm using Toyota 10W-30 mineral oil. I'm not happy with that oil.I'm planing to use Shell Helix Ultra (this is a 5w-40 oil) in next oil change. I'll post after I the oil change.

[Supra_Natural]

As far as I know 5W-40 is ok. It is recommended by manufacturer. I also have a Suzuki Swift 2009 with CVT gear box. Currently I'm using Toyota 10W-30 mineral oil. I'm not happy with that oil.I'm planing to use Shell Helix Ultra (this is a 5w-40 oil) in next oil change. I'll post after I the oil change.

Why would you use Toyota oil in a Suzuki? And why on earth would you use mineral oil in a newish engine??!

[RajeevRanganath]

Why would you use Toyota oil in a Suzuki? And why on earth would you use mineral oil in a newish engine??!

According to the user manual Toyota 10w-30 oil is ok. I checked with A*W as well and they also recommend that oil. Actually oil brand doesn't matter as far as you are using correct oil grade and viscosity. For Suzuki Swift 2008/2009 models recommended oil viscosities are 0W-30, 5W-40, 10W-30 (there can be more but these are the ones I know). Recommended oil grade is SL (this is API grading). SM or SN grade oils are also ok because they higher grades than SL and they meet the requirements of SL grade oils.

Yes I made a mistake of using mineral oil in newish engine. But no harm had done. I'm going back to synthetic soon.

.

[kush]

Why does one want to use synthetic oil on a basic engine, I've known the benifts of synthetic oils but on a basic engine which is happy run on mineral oil why spend extra.

I've used mineral on my vehicles for the last 20 years some of them clocked over 200k and have never touched an engine.

[CARBON B4]

I keep OD-OFF for Colombo rides and tyre pressure 33 PSI . Most vehicles has AC air filter inside the vehicle u may need to clean it or replace it .

33 psi is a little too much, there is a reason why the manufacturer has taken the troble to print the correct psi on the side of the door. Too much pressure is not very safe especially when going outstation.

Why would you use Toyota oil in a Suzuki? And why on earth would you use mineral oil in a newish engine??!

Well there is no oil called Suzuki oil ? also you don't need to use synthetic oil on this engine , so mineral oil is fine, a semi-synthetic would be better if you could afford it.

But 10 to 11 Km/lt for a 1.3 Auto sounds very good ( City running ) , are you quite sure you were getting this ? The 8 Km/lt seems to the normal rate for this model. My neighbor had it and he was complaining on the fuel efficiency.

The difference in fuel consumption is way too big for it to be due to ( oil, air filter, plugs ) , and such a thing cannot suddenly happen. Since you mention of a raw petrol smell chances are there could be a leak somewhere. Would be good if you give us an update on this ,

[RajeevRanganath]

Why does one want to use synthetic oil on a basic engine, I've known the benifts of synthetic oils but on a basic engine which is happy run on mineral oil why spend extra.

I've used mineral on my vehicles for the last 20 years some of them clocked over 200k and have never touched an engine.

Yes, mineral oils are perfectly ok. But the engine runs much smoother on synthetic oil which I have experience this me myself. Also if you use synthetic oils, oil change interval is increased and can give you better fuel economy also.(I cannot confirm this point because I had never checked this, May be someone else can comment on this point.)

But still, using mineral oil is cost effective. I believe using synthetic, semi-synthetic or mineral oil is your personal preference.

[kush]

Due to air/ dust pollution and substandard fuel in Sri Lanka oil get contaminated, frequent changes would be better. However i do agree with the fact that synthetic gives smoother engine and startup wear is reduced.

[Hiran_j]

While thanking all for the information given...

As far as I know 5W-40 is ok. It is recommended by manufacturer. I also have a Suzuki Swift 2009 with CVT gear box. Currently I'm using Toyota 10W-30 mineral oil. I'm not happy with that oil.I'm planing to use Shell Helix Ultra (this is a 5w-40 oil) in next oil change. I'll post after I the oil change.

It's interesting to know why you are not happy with 10W-30 oil ? Thanks.

-- Regarding petrol smell; I have checked where the car was parked for a long period and there seem to be no visible leaks. Yet, will check it thoroughly during next service.

-- Shell Helix is the recommended oil and they have used in mine when it was in Japan. I have heard that SHELL is expensive. So, is it worth to go back to using SHELL?

Thanks.

[RajeevRanganath]

While thanking all for the information given...

It's interesting to know why you are not happy with 10W-30 oil ? Thanks.

-- Regarding petrol smell; I have checked where the car was parked for a long period and there seem to be no visible leaks. Yet, will check it thoroughly during next service.

-- Shell Helix is the recommended oil and they have used in mine when it was in Japan. I have heard that SHELL is expensive. So, is it worth to go back to using SHELL?

Thanks.

The reason I'm not happy with Toyota 10W-30 oil (note that this is a mineral oil) is that the engine feels much heavier. When I bought the car it had Shell 5W-30 oil (surely synthetic oil). You can feel the difference between two oil types very easily.

By the way I changed to Shell Helix Ultra 5w-40 oil about two weeks ago. I am having no problems like you are having. There is no visible difference in fuel economy. Before and after the oil change I did about 9-12 km per liter in city areas depending on traffic conditions and my driving style (sometimes I don't care about fuel economy and drive bit aggressively which affect fuel economy badly ). Apart from that engine feels much smoother and it's very pleasing to drive.

About the cost of shell synthetic oil, you can buy Shell Helix Ultra 5W-40 4 liter oil can for around Rs7700. I really don't know about cost of other synthetic oils that are available in Sri Lanka. I used Shell Helix because it's the recommended oil for this car as you also mentioned have here.

By the way how much it cost you for the synthetic oil you used?

Another thing I want to mention is that when changing the oil I used genuine Suzuki Oil filter which I bought from A*W. As I remember it costs me around Rs1700 (not sure on this but if you want to know the exact price I can check and update.) Like you, I did my first oil change at A*toM*rag and the oil filter they used is smaller than the genuine filter. As far as I know bigger the oil filter better. This has nothing to do with fuel economy; I just want to share the information.

Edited December 8, 2011 by RajeevRanganath

[CARBON B4]

Not very familiar with Shell Helix Ultra, but I use Castrol Edge Sport, quite happy with the oil.

[RajeevRanganath]

Not very familiar with Shell Helix Ultra, but I use Castrol Edge Sport, quite happy with the oil.

How often you change oil? Thanks

[Alfisti]

I have experienced an increase in Fuel Consumption (7-8 Km/L, Before it was 10-11 Km/L) after the recent service done at A*toM*rag. I am not sure whether its there fault; but would really appreciate any of your comments on how to correct this. Current Mileage is 23,000 Km. I have changed oil filter/ user Castrol Magnatrec / Haven't changed Air Filter though. Transmission - CVT / 1250 CC

Other symptoms:

When I start the engine; I get raw petrol smell. The RPM meter goes above 2 with even a slight touch on accelerator.

When power windows are shut or open; I find that head lights get dim. The indicator on the battery says ok.

Will following help ?

1. Doing an engine tuneup. If so, is it ok to do it at A*W Rajagiriya ?

2. Do I need to change the battery, even if it indicates charged or is there any other remedy?

3. Can it be due to a damage to some sensors while on service?

Thanks for any advice. I hope it would be beneficial for fellows with similar issues.

Try this link out http://www.carbibles.com/gasmileage.html

as per the link, air filter can do a big change to the fuel consumption if not replaced/cleaned properly

as for the petrol smell, could be the lambda (O2) sensor. Happened to me once.

Hope this will help!

[Hiran_j]

Not very familiar with Shell Helix Ultra, but I use Castrol Edge Sport, quite happy with the oil.

When I once asked a Supervisor at Rajagiriya A*W service station, they didn't recommend Castrol's Synthetic range. Said it's not worth and to go for the normal range (Castrol Magnatrec - Nearly Rs. 4000/- per 4L)

Since they are the Castrol agents , I just wondered why he said it

[CARBON B4]

How often you change oil? Thanks

Honestly I dont stick to a fixed interval based on the KMs, but I do check the condition of the oil to see if changes color. This not much of a issue if you got a new motor. But I guess its around 7 to 8k Km intervals.

[CARBON B4]

When I once asked a Supervisor at Rajagiriya A*W service station, they didn't recommend Castrol's Synthetic range. Said it's not worth and to go for the normal range (Castrol Magnatrec - Nearly Rs. 4000/- per 4L)

Since they are the Castrol agents , I just wondered why he said it

He's correct , and this is the same what I mentioned under post # 12 above. This means they have acted as a good agent by suggesting the correct product instead of trying to sell the most expensive oil in the range where they could earn a bigger mark up.

Magnatec is a semi synthetic if I am not mistaken and perfectly ok your engine.