As longtime readers of this website might be aware, my main car is a 2021 Suzuki Swift Sport (ZC33S/3rd generation Swift Sport).
I’ve owned the car from new, and it is my daily driver alongside my 2006 Volkswagen Touareg that I use for taking the dog out, doing tip runs, transporting items, or when the weather is bad and the crappy NZ roads develop even more potholes than usual.
However, since purchasing the Swift Sport I have had a recurring, annoying issue that I haven’t been able to solve – and it also seems to be plaguing some other owners.
I’ve just had someone else comment on my Suzuki Swift Sport review article complaining of this exact issue, so figured I’d start a standalone post to discuss it further and see if we can attract any more complainants, for lack of a better term.
The issue is a distinct “buzzing” noise on throttle at lower RPM in the rev range – most prominently around 2000-3000 RPM. The buzzing noise is particularly noticeable when the engine is cold.
It is NOT a direct injection ticking noise (that is common to DI engines). It is more of a mechanical vibration/buzzing sound that rises and falls with the engine RPM.
It tends to disappear when the engine warms, although can almost always be heard if you listen hard enough.
When I purchased the car, the noise was not present on the demonstrator I drove (and in fact I had previously driven an automatic demonstrator that I was considering for my wife’s car, which did not have the noise). I’m a fairly fussy car owner, and there is no way I would have purchased a new Swift Sport had I encountered the same noise on the demonstrator.
It also wasn’t present when I very first collected the car with delivery KMs, but developed after about 1000kms.
I’m not the only one with this problem, as I’ve participated on a couple of Suzuki forums where others have reported the same issue.
The car has been back to the dealer a few times, who has repeatedly said it isn’t an issue and is just a normal, “to-be-expected” sound for this particular engine.
My suspicion is the Suzuki Swift sport buzzing noise is caused by one of the two items:
- The thin metal heat shield that sits at the front of the engine – discussing on forums with other owners, this seems to be the most likely culprit. My theory is that the vibration of the engine effectively resonates through the heat shield and amplifies it. I’m guessing that as everything heats up and expands, there is less “wiggle room” and therefore the noise reduces in prominence. On the forum threads I’ve participated in, some other commenters have indicated their independent mechanics believe the heat shield to be the culprit.
- Some aspect of the throttle body, as the noise is only there when the throttle is applied (not at the same RPM range on deceleration, if that makes sense?)
Part of the problem with the Swift is that it doesn’t really make much in the way of exhaust noise to mask the problem, nor is there much in the way of sound deadening. I’m sure you wouldn’t hear the same on something like a Fiat 595 Competizione which has a nice burbling and crackling exhaust.
With that in mind, I’m really writing this to see if anybody else is having the same buzzing noise issue on their 3rd generation Suzuki Swift sport.
If so, please leave a comment below describing your experience and whether or not you’ve had any luck fixing the issue.
Another possible source of noise is the fuel line rattling against a metal frame of the car. This issue is very common on mk7 golf GTI and it’s iteration (Skoda Octavia RS etc), also happen during colder month but on deceleration. Solution was to fill the offending gap (underneath the driver’s side door) with some foam. Sound deadening the car will not help with the buzzing noise, I’ve deadened my car and the noise still goes through the cabin.
For me personally, not a big deal at all, in my car it goes completely away after 15 minutes of driving. Serves as a reminder not to push the car hard during that time.
Thanks for the suggestions Reza – I’ll look at that as well.
Hey Sam, my Swift Sport is with the dealer today. I’ll let you know if they get further on my (our) issue. You have my email address, shoot me an email if you want.
Thanks Tim, will send you an email for sure. Interested to hear what the verdict is. I am still not convinced the sound is normal!
Sam, the rattle is coming from the turbo wastegate, that’s it. Nothing to do with the heatshield at all. I drove the car with the heat shields removed after the dealer removed the shields (2) + the underbody cover. I’ve heard there’s been complaints from a few owners, and this affects all Suzuki’s with a turbo, the 1.0 turbo, and the Vitara has the same boosterjet 1.4L engine. Annoying, mine like yours, gets worse as more kms are on the car. So it starts out not there, then starting to appear when cold and disappearing when warmed up, and then like now, just there all the time. It’s been deemed a “normal characteristic” for this motor. Google “turbo wastegate buzzing” and you find different makes complaining of similar/same issue. I don’t really accept this is a normal characteristic of the car, it wasn’t there from the beginning. More like a design flaw in my opinion.
https://www.suzuki.co.nz/boosterjet-technology
This special valve controls boost pressure in order to prioritise either fuel efficiency or dynamic performance depending on the driving situation. Round town the waste gate opens (edit: and rattles) for more fuel-efficient (edit: noisy) driving. Then, when you need acceleration, the valve closes to increase boost pressure delivering instant performance and power.
Hi Tim,
Thanks for investigating this (out of interest, are you the poster “uppitt” from another Suzuki forum? I think we might have had some discussion there). Is the turbo wastegate rattle what your mechanic settled on as being the cause of the problem as well? Sounds like a total design flaw as you say.
Are there any other manufacturers offering a similar technology? I had a look at a Hyundai i30n the other day, and that sounded as sweet as a peach on startup and idle … I’d imagine a car like that has similar technology.
Hi, on the other hand I have a problem regarding the turbo pressure, in some situations and for no reason it loses pressure (mainly accelerating at maximum speed from low speeds and in 5th or 6th gear) and then it no longer works normally, i.e. the car seems to go in recovery, no lights on.. accelerating in any condition and in any gear, the pressure does not exceed half (on the display) and the car is very slow. The problem “disappears” ONLY by driving for a few km with the Cruise control on and set to 140.. otherwise it does not go beyond 2/3 notches under any conditions. I say “disappears” because the car starts working again from nowhere, but with strange pressure peaks (the scroll on the display during the race, first reaches 4 notches out of 5, then begins to oscillate between the 4th and 5th notch so fluctuating, to then go down to 2/3 notches at high revs (this only starting from low gears, because if I start running in 6th gear from 100km/h, around 150/160kmh the problem comes back and it goes like shit until the I let it run again with the Cruise engaged and set to the usual 140/150).. I found 2/3 discussions regarding this problem, no one has ever figured it out, but they even claim that in Mexico it is a common problem and can be solved by mapping the ECU, someone claims it’s the turbo pressure sensor, someone else the wastegate or the actuator, who says it’s bad fuel.. I have recently recalled the faulty vacuum valve (which actually activates the turbo pressure sensor) but after a while the problem reappeared, with the difference that at full throttle, the turbo pressure (again looking at the display) rises by 4 notches up to 3000 rpm, after which it immediately drops by 2/3 constant notches, until I re-engage the Cruise with the usual set speed… My car has 30,000km and this problem already started around 5,000km and no warning light ever came on, so everything is ok for Suzuki and they don’t realize that the car is much slower when this defect occurs, so much to look like an aspirated engine of about 90/100 horsepower.. Also I have noticed that when this issue occurs, the exhaust sound gets a bit louder.. Will anyone be able to figure it out? I apologize if my problem has nothing to do with what you have described and I apologize for being so verbose, but I am so disappointed.. It’s been like this for almost 4 years. Although Italian, I preferred a Japanese one to avoid the classic problems of Italian cars and I find myself with a problem that seems unsolvable and which limits its power, what a bad luck!!!
Uppitt, yes that’s me. I sent some emails to your admin@ address.
The turbo wastegate is what the dealers head mechanic said after discussing the issue with the tech lead at Suzuki Australia. As I said, other owners have raised this issue, from not just Swift turbo owners.
I’ll be calling Suzuki customer care to talk to them further on what next.
Sorry just saw your emails – they had gone to my spam folder (unsure why but I’ve white-listed your email, really sorry about that!) I’ll read them now.