Any Motorheads to help a Gal out?

I have been driving my 2007 (or '08) Suzuki SX4 for about two years now and it now has something to the tune of 101800 or so on it (estimation, I'm not outside at the car right now and drive a lot) . I don't know which parts have been replaced or fixed before I got it (it was from a local used car shop) but I know in my time of owning it it has had new tires, oil changes, rear brakes rebuilt etc. I haven't gotten any belts repaired or replaced, hoses, anything like that.

To give as much information as possible, my brother is training to be a mechanic and so I trusted him to change the oil and give me a new filter. Up to about two days following that, the service engine light came on but was steady/not blinking. This problem only persisted about two or three days of driving after the change did. On top of that, now it isn't running as it did before. It is chirping like a bird (but only in cold weather) whenever I just start it up and the engine sounds funny at first. Whenever it is just starting, it sounds like the normal starting revving noise goes longer than normal and almost goes higher and then drops and the engine barely makes much noise at all after that but is running.

While this is happening, my rpms are low. Normally, whenever my car idles I'm at around 1 on that little gauge or a little higher but now it drops below the 1 on the scale of the gauge. The car moves sluggishly for a while but then picks up to normalcy if running but only after probably 30 minutes of driving... The temperature is normal but at first driving, I'll be going maybe 40 and the needle on the rpm gauge is on the big 3 or 4 and that seems awfully overzealous to just be going 40. This only lasts a few seconds before dropping back down to a more reasonable number.

The car (through my fault) has been driven probably a total of 5 hours since these things have started but I have an hour and a half to drive to my internship and then have to go to school, home, work, etc. I'm just curious about what this could be? I don't have a lot of time to get it into the shop (probably only a possible day or two a week, I'm a pretty busy person) but obviously don't want to ruin a part or blow it up either.

Thank you for any input and I do understand that it's harder to work on these Asian cars/know what the hell is going on with them. Something I forgot before, I started it yesterday and it started normally and the light went off but the next time I started it the light remained off but it acted poorly again as it did before.

a reply to: Myomistress

Sounds like a serpentine belt. Maybe oil got spilled on it?

Or it is unrelated to the oil change, I would suggest having your bro look at the belts.

my brother is training to be a mechanic and so I trusted him to change the oil and give me a new filter. Up to about two days following that, the service engine light came on but was steady/not blinking. This problem only persisted about two or three days of driving after the change did.

Being a gear head myself (building engines) I'd say this has nothing to do with the oil change. More or less just bad timing.

Sounds like you have a cylinder misfire. Don't worry, that isn't always as bad as it sounds. My guess if you got it used from a local used lot chance are the car was never really taken that good of care of in the first place. With that I'd replace your spark plugs and wires and that very well may fix your problem. DM me if you have other questions. As far as the rpms running high and being sluggish that could be torque converter related.

If you get lubes of any nature on any belts all it will do is squeal, it will not affect performance.

originally posted by: Myomistress
It is chirping like a bird (but only in cold weather) whenever I just start it up and the engine sounds funny at first.
I haven't gotten any belts repaired or replaced, hoses, anything like that.

If it sounds like it's chirping it's most likely a bad bearing in one of the belt pulleys or a worn out belt tensioner. It could also need a new serpentine belt as well.

a reply to: Myomistress

have someone plug a OBD II scanner into it. it should throw a fault code starting with (P)

a reply to: Myomistress

Sounds like he may have inadvertently disconnected a sensor wire .Does it always run the same or differently when its fully warmed up ?

originally posted by: Nucleardoom

originally posted by: Myomistress
It is chirping like a bird (but only in cold weather) whenever I just start it up and the engine sounds funny at first.

If it sounds like it's chirping it's most likely a bad bearing in one of the belt pulleys or a worn out belt tensioner. It could also need a new serpentine belt as well.

You're probably right on that aspect

The car moves sluggishly for a while but then picks up to normalcy if running but only after probably 30 minutes of driving... The temperature is normal but at first driving, I'll be going maybe 40 and the needle on the rpm gauge is on the big 3 or 4 and that seems awfully overzealous to just be going 40.

This is a whole other story though.

a reply to: the2ofusr1

Probably not, the oil fill cap is in the left center of the valve cover. It be pretty hard to disconnect something ya know what I mean?

Here is a picture of her engine (not literally her's, just the same engine)

The only thing you see, you know it's gonna be... The Ace Of Spades!

Oh, wrong Motorhead.

Once warmed up after this problem started, it runs a bit better but something still doesn't feel like it did before. It is also a royal pain in cold weather lately (even after I let it get warm) and never did that before but whenever it gets nice and warm out, it's like driving a new car (that was also before this problem started happening though) .

I have been looking up stuff about the serpentine belt and may think that that's it too. My brother mentioned taking it on Friday to where he is being trained to hook it up and look for the code but with the light now off, would he still be able to get the most recent codes? I've been reading that some cars have them in a memory in their cpu?

I at first thought "well, you're getting old..." but I've seen some people on forums posting about running their sx4's well into 200,000+ miles so... I'll suggest the belts thing and maybe ask if he can somehow look before he takes it on Friday but I may not be able to offer any further information until he takes it and tries to get a code for it. I'm thankful for all of the suggestions too because some I've researched and thought about but others... Not. Like I said before, I don't know what this car has gotten from the dealership in its time there and now I've put around 30,000 miles on it since then so it's hard to tell what's worn out or what needed to be replaced ages ago, lol. I guess I should start thinking more about those things but it's easy to fall into the routine of doing the bare minimum of just keeping the inspection up and getting oil changes when needed but not looking further until something DOES start to go wrong.

originally posted by: Myomistress

I have been looking up stuff about the serpentine belt and may think that that's it too. My brother mentioned taking it on Friday to where he is being trained to hook it up and look for the code but with the light now off, would he still be able to get the most recent codes? I've been reading that some cars have them in a memory in their cpu?

It stores the codes until their are cleared out manually, so don't worry it will have the code that triggered your CEL stored.

a reply to: Myomistress

Codes are stored internally in the engines computer, with the scanner you can basically pull a live feed of what your engine is doing, this also includes fault codes, even when the check engine light isn't on. The code will still be stored in there.

a reply to: slapjacks

I was thinking maybe a sensor down in around the oil filter as possible . I don't work on cars much anymore and as far as the different models go I am just guessing .They are all kind of basic now with the electronics and sensors so even a bad wire or loose connection can have sporadic effects . the chirping noise can have a host of reasons .belt ,pully bearing ,loose body mount ,and or some other squeaky loose thing .

a reply to: Myomistress

Once warmed up after this problem started, it runs a bit better but something still doesn't feel like it did before. It is also a royal pain in cold weather lately (even after I let it get warm) and never did that before but whenever it gets nice and warm out, it's like driving a new car (that was also before this problem started happening though) .

do a visual check around your air box or inlets for wires .They use air flow sensors and air temp sensors .If not connected or not working the system will use a default setting that might work better some times and not so good at other times .

a reply to: the2ofusr1

Very true I wish it was the old days still where you had spark plugs wires, battery wires and a starter wire... tisk tisk Some technology sucks.

Anywho, i was thinking of the OP's symptoms and I've fixed a rather similar situation and it ended up being the MAF sensor ( mass air flow)

An MAF sensor constantly measures the amount and density of the air entering the engine so the computer knows how much gasoline to inject into each cylinder.(potential misfire if this is the case) Located after the air filter and ahead of the throttle body, the MAF sensor uses a heated wire (hotwire) to measure airflow.

Sounds like you are ready for a transmission. at least a serious flush.
When they start to gunk up and the transmission fluid gets too thick, it can't build up pressure needed and will rev up, but not reach speed until it is piping hot and viscous enough to deliver pressure to the valves in the trans.

I would start with an obd scan tool check, and a free local transmission shop diagnostic.
It may just need a flush, filter and new fluid.

The squeeky belt sounds loose or oily, check the back, ribbed part of the belt for small cracks.

Belts are cheap enough to just throw on new one for piece of mind,

originally posted by: slapjacks
a reply to: the2ofusr1

Very true I wish it was the old days still where you had spark plugs wires, battery wires and a starter wire... tisk tisk Some technology sucks.

Anywho, i was thinking of the OP's symptoms and I've fixed a rather similar situation and it ended up being the MAF sensor ( mass air flow)

An MAF sensor constantly measures the amount and density of the air entering the engine so the computer knows how much gasoline to inject into each cylinder.(potential misfire if this is the case) Located after the air filter and ahead of the throttle body, the MAF sensor uses a heated wire (hotwire) to measure airflow.

My brother mentioned it possibly being something to do with air or something too? Some kind of tube or pipe that probably needs to be replaced? I think it started with a "p" but it's slipping my mind right now because he mentioned it and my response was "...What's that?..." . I'm going to keep this tab open so that I don't forget to report back and will try to give more information on Friday whenever he takes it and gets a code. I unfortunately have to drive it for about 90 minutes tomorrow and hopefully don't mess it up but I have a weekly supervision that I need to make it to. >.<

I am no mechanic but I would almost think that anybody that is going to change the oil would also remove the large black plastic shroud, I know I would. If I did, there are wires beneath, or may be, and that is when something like this 'might' occur.
Like I said, I am no mechanic, but on older cars (and that says a lot) that happened a lot, these newer types I don't know.
Just have your brother remove that shroud and see, the belt chirp is definitely not related though as they said.
Just picture your brother being nosy and wanting to learn what's down there, or here, you know, his curiosity got the best of him.

I know that in my 1989 GMC (That I bought new and still have) the 02 sensor light has come on and it has done that for 20 years or more, I've replaced it and it still will come back on after a while, it never ran any different though.

Hi OP, this same thing happened to me last year. I had Toyota 4Runner and owned it about 8 years. Normally I change the oil but I was travelling out of state and just wanted to get it done so I took it to Jiffy Lube for just an oil change. Drive out and all of sudden I get a check engine light and one other. Instantly pissed I take it back in but after calmly talking to the manager I agree that its just a coincidence.

Anyways, long story short...I took it to a auto parts store where they do free scanning, Came back as needing new plugs and an oxygen sensor. If the plugs haven't been replaced since you have owned it, then it's possible one is out and you could be misfiring. I'd like to hear back as to what it ends up being, keep us posted.

originally posted by: Mandroid7
Sounds like you are ready for a transmission. at least a serious flush.
When they start to gunk up and the transmission fluid gets too thick, it can't build up pressure needed and will rev up, but not reach speed until it is piping hot and viscous enough to deliver pressure to the valves in the trans.

I would start with an obd scan tool check, and a free local transmission shop diagnostic.
It may just need a flush, filter and new fluid.

The squeeky belt sounds loose or oily, check the back, ribbed part of the belt for small cracks.

Belts are cheap enough to just throw on new one for piece of mind,

I've been thinking about that too but like to push it to the back of my mind in case I need a replace versus a good flushing, lol. I am going to collect as much information as I can and if need be put it into the shop and suggest looking at... Well, whatever they think.