Buy Pinion Gear for Your Suzuki

Suzuki fields three quite different automatics locally — a conventional torque-converter automatic, a CVT, and the AMT automated manual used on the budget cars. The AMT is a manual gearbox with an actuator bolted to it, so its parts have nothing in common with either of the others despite all three being sold as "auto". Getting that wrong is the most expensive mistake on this page. In practice the decision in front of you is whether a repair, a reconditioned unit or a good used gearbox represents the best value on a car of this age.

Whether the car is manual, AMT, CVT or a conventional automatic, plus which engine sits in front of it. With that we can usually confirm the right part quickly, and we'll tell you whether we're quoting new, aftermarket or good used rather than leaving you to guess.

Go by where the noise or the play is. A whine tied to road speed and unchanged by gear selection is the final drive. Play or a notchy feel only when the wheel is turned is the steering. A whirr or a grind that happens only in the second you turn the key is the starter. Describe the symptom in the quote form and we will point you at the right part.

It should not be. The crown wheel and pinion are lapped as a matched pair at the factory and carry the same set number, so they are supplied and fitted together. The job also needs new bearings and proper setup with a dial gauge to get the backlash and pinion depth right, which is specialist work.

Not necessarily. Check the oil level and condition first — a low or contaminated diff can whine loudly and quieten down properly once refilled. What does not recover is a whine accompanied by metal on the magnet or a change in note under load and on the overrun. That one is wearing out.

It does not. The Jimny uses a recirculating-ball steering box driving a drag link, which is the same approach used on trucks and older four-wheel drives because it survives impacts a rack would not. The trade-off is a little more play at the wheel, so do not assume that vagueness on centre in a Jimny automatically means a worn part.

The pinion has to fly forward and mesh with a ring gear that is already stationary in a slightly different position each time. If the pinion teeth are chipped or the solenoid is slow to throw it fully home, you get a clean engagement on some attempts and a graunch on others. Inspect the ring gear teeth too, since a damaged starter usually takes a few of them with it.