1994 Suzuki Swift Pricing and Specs

In modern cars with bonded windscreen, the glass is actually a structural part of the car. Therefore, if the car cops a big enough impact (say, hitting a pothole at speed) it’s conceivable that the stress passing through the whole car could cause a crack in the glass. Stress cracks in windscreens are usually fairly straight and will emanate from the edge of the glass.

The other way to crack a windscreen is to subject it to extremes of temperature. Pouring boiling water over an icy windscreen on a cold morning is a great way to crack the glass, but high interior temperatures in hot weather can also cause cracking in extreme cases.

Suzuki, like just about every other car-maker has a list of things that aren’t covered by warranty, including batteries, tyre, brakes pads and, as you’ve discovered, glass.

You could be looking at any number of causes for this, and some of them herald the demise of your engine. Get a mechanic to check the car out. They will probably do a compression test, a leak-down test and have a close listen to the engine both at idle and under load.

If the cracking sound is a backfire or misfire, you may have an ignition problem. But the smoke is a bit more involved as it depends on the colour of the smoke. Black smoke suggests poor fuelling, but blue or grey smoke often means internal engine wear.

It is indeed a dangerous situation, especially if you’re trying to pull into fast-moving traffic when the engine suddenly cuts out. Frankly, there are literally hundreds of causes for this, so the best advice is to go back to basics and try to find anything wrong with the fuel or ignition system. An electronic scan of the car (if it hasn‘t already been done) is a good idea, too, as it might pin-point the problem area.

You could be looking at something as simple as a poor earth connection or a blocked fuel filter. That the car runs properly in the meantime, suggests that it’s an intermittent fuel or electrical problem rather than an inherent mechanical failure.