Mahindra Scorpio : Issues & Solutions

[shankar.balan]

HI
Just got a call back from the Service Advisor
He seems to have followed all the required things for 40K service. Also checked the HUbs whether greasing was required but has pronounced them ok and said he would get it done at the 50K Km service.
He has flushed out the coolant, radiator completely and replaced the coolant liquid.
Same done with clutch fluid and brake fluid - flushing cleaning and replacing.
Complete oil change - engine, gearbox and differential etc. I havent gone for Synthetic oils - preferred to stick with the M&M recommended grades of standard mineral oils. My take is that there is no need to spend big bucks on synthetic oils as I dont take this vehicle into extreme conditions and so on.
He has replaced the brake pads in front as they were worn out. He did say that the brakes may seem spongy for another 200 km or so till things settle down to normal but not to worry. Is this "sponginess" a normal occurrence when brake pads get changed? Can anyone elaborate?

Else he seems to have done a thorough job from what he tells me. Im getting the vehicle back at 5 ish so I will cross check everything again.
The bill seems to have hit Rs 13200/- all inclusive - apparently SKS has been kind enough to give me a 10% discount on parts and labour. Good of them to do this for me on voluntary basis.
Am quite looking forward to getting the Scorp back! Didnt realize I d miss it quite so much the 2 days its been away. I ve been using MERU cabs and Auto rickshaws to commute from home-office etc which is really no problem but I guess its always much more fun to drive one's own vehicle up and down!

[condor]

@Spike / any one who can answer this:

The Scorp needs hub greasing. My Sumo does not seem to need it. There is a small sticker on the rear wheel hubs that can be seen only when we take the wheels off, that says hub greasing not required.

Why would this be different for these two vehicles ?

[shankar.balan]

I am re-posting this set of queries here as they apply to my M&M Scorp and hence may be useful to people who do not see the other Diesel Engine Oil thread - request Mods to leave it in if ok. For clarification the person who raised the point first cyberwhizs drives a Diesel Indica from what I gather and his point is that he is apparently seeing a reduction in engine temp after changing the oil to a higher end one.

@cyberwhizs;

This is an interesting point. Request Condor and Spikey and other experts to come up with some inputs on this please.

My Scorpio 2.6 crde engine temp gauge needle has always been lurking around the 11-12 o clock position, ever since I bought the vehicle. Its never gone higher than 1 o clock, despite sometimes driving the vehicle quite hard for long distances on highways during midday in the hotter part of the year (example Bangalore Madras or Bangalore Coimbatore or Bangalore Coorg or Bangalore Ooty).

By the same yardstick it never seems to go lower than 11 o clock either. Once it is started up the needle creeps up and lurks around at that 11-12 position.

Ive been following the maintenance and servicing schedules pretty rigorously and like to look after the vehicle properly.

Is this 11-12 o clock normal? Will it never go lower than 11 o clock? even if say if I change the oils from the standard M&M recommended Mineral oil to some super synthetic one?

Originally Posted by cyberwhizs

One tangible thing i noted was that that the engine temperature indicator is 10%-15% less than where it normally used to be i.e. 12 o clock position, now it is between 11 and 12.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Is this 11-12 o clock normal? Will it never go lower than 11 o clock? even if say if I change the oils from the standard M&M recommended Mineral oil to some super synthetic one?

The temp indicator needle in my mHawk SLE stays at 11 o'clock while driving in the city as well as highways. The longest drive I have done till now is Chickmagalur-Pune, and it didn't hover much above or below 11 o'clock during that entire trip. There's been no change even after I started using Mobil Delvac MX instead of Maximile by M&M.

Cheers,
Vikram

[condor]

@Shankar & Cyberwhizs: How can the position of the needle on the temp guage be a yardstick to compare cooling / engine behaviour of two different vehicles ?

@Cybherwhizs, pls use this thread only for Scorp related queries. We do have other threads where Indica's are being discussed. Posting your query in a relevant thread will help keep related information together, and hence also help other members by keeping related information in the same place. Thanks !

[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

He has replaced the brake pads in front as they were worn out. He did say that the brakes may seem spongy for another 200 km or so till things settle down to normal but not to worry. Is this "sponginess" a normal occurrence when brake pads get changed? Can anyone elaborate?

I presume he is referring to the brakes getting "bed in" which is normal, check if your pedal travel changes during this process.

Spike

[shankar.balan]

Condor!

Cyberwhizs didnt post that on this thread- I did.

The question I am raising is simple. Given his experience, can the same be extrapolated onto the Scorp or not? As per Vikram's answer to my query, it apparently doesnt make a difference whichever type of oil one uses - mineral or synthetic.

Originally Posted by condor

@Shankar & Cyberwhizs: How can the position of the needle on the temp guage be a yardstick to compare cooling / engine behaviour of two different vehicles ?

@Cybherwhizs, pls use this thread only for Scorp related queries. We do have other threads where Indica's are being discussed. Posting your query in a relevant thread will help keep related information together, and hence also help other members by keeping related information in the same place. Thanks !

thank you Spikey
will do.
am awaiting the return of the monster at 5 after which I look forward to doing some serious fiddling with it!

Originally Posted by SPIKE ARRESTOR

I presume he is referring to the brakes getting "bed in" which is normal, check if your pedal travel changes during this process.

Spike

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

As per Vikram's answer to my query, it apparently doesnt make a difference whichever type of oil one uses - mineral or synthetic.

Umm, AFAIK, Mobil Delvax MX (to which I've changed from Maximile Supreme) is a mineral oil, albeit an "extra high performance diesel engine oil" according to the blurb on the Mobil website; so not sure if we can yet say with 100% confidence that use of a synthetic oil doesn't make a difference to the position of the temp gauge needle.

Cheers,
Vikram

[condor]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Condor!

Cyberwhizs didnt post that on this thread- I did.

My bad !
@Cyberwhizs, pls ignore my post. Thanks ..

[CasperRider]

Originally Posted by n.devdath

How old is your brake oil? What is the level?

Sorry for the late reply, buddy. The brake oil I believe is as old as the vehicle that is 20 months now. The A.S.S folks normally top up the fluid level to max during the services and it is at the max level. I’m not suspecting the brake fluid, as the problem only occurs before starting the engine. AFAIK, there should be resident vacuum present for a 4-5 taps of break pedal, when the engine is off, as a safety measure. A.S.S is still clueless about this

[shankar.balan]

vikram!

i meant- "going by your post, it apparently doesnt make a difference one way or another to the temp gauge reading, whichever oil one may use - mineral or synthetic."

Iam sure that synth oil does have many myriad advantages over mineral oil - atleast when viewed from the perspective of high performance vehicles - but then the Scorp is hardly that, is it?

For normal everyday usage I think that it makes better sense for me to stick with the manufacturer's recommended grade and make of oil - atleast for now.

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

Umm, AFAIK, Mobil Delvax MX (to which I've changed from Maximile Supreme) is a mineral oil, albeit an "extra high performance diesel engine oil" according to the blurb on the Mobil website; so not sure if we can yet say with 100% confidence that use of a synthetic oil doesn't make a difference to the position of the temp gauge needle.

Cheers,
Vikram

[shankar.balan]

Ok so the Scorp has returned this evening from its 40000km service job
Jobs Done and Costs of the same appear below

Oil change 15W40 Valvoline Engine Oil 6 litres = Rs 1392
Oil Filter = Rs 151
Gear Oil 80W90 Syncro 2 litres = Rs 431
Differential Oil 80W90 EXL Maximile 1.8 litres = Rs 390
Front Brake Pads changed = Rs 3502
Foam Air Cleaner changed = Rs 482
Fuel Filter Cartridge = Rs 1626
Maximile Coolant - completely drained and changed 8 litres = Rs 1127.96
Brake and Clutch pedal pad rubber covers changed = Rs 52
Brake Fluid drained and changed 1 litre = Rs 268
Labour Value = Rs 3350
Spares and so on = Rs 8265
Taxes and so on = Rs 1500 odd
Total bill value = Rs 13117 less Rs 500 Special Discount for regular customer = Rs 12617/-

All other standard checks have apparently been performed so I dont have any real issues per se. Must cross check the battery though since it is the OEM Amaron one and is now fully 3 years old. So far its been perfect but Im not sure when it is likely to pop off. Must be prepared for that one thing which lies in question.

All in all the vehicle has come back in lovely condition. Feels very nice to drive. Gear shifts are smoother and braking feels tighter than before.

They seem to have gone completely as per my list of jobs with a few un-necessary extras being knocked off like Engine Decarb and Injector cleaning etc which were done quite recently anyway.

Only rough stuff was that I had given the vehicle with 2 complete sets of mats in it - one set of rubber and another set of fabric / carpeting type. the carpeting ones have vanished and they dont seem to know where they ve been misplaced. No matter really as they were quite old anyway.

I havent paid the bill as yet because their machine wasnt working. But I know them very well so the car was delivered anyway to me. I intend going to visit them on the weekend, ironing out any small tiny niggles that may exist if at all and paying them then.

All in all I m quite happy with the way SKS auto handles me as a customer and my Scorp in terms of after sales service. I think I shall remain loyal to them at least until my Extended Warranty lasts!
cheers

[octane78]

Hi all,

I just wanted to post a query. I have a 2010 December Model VLX with Airbags and ABS.

Yesterday when travelling near Hitech city it rained abruptly for a while and I was doing around 60 to 70 KMPH when suddenly an Indicab stops in the middle of the road and to avoid hitting him I jam the brakes. I could feel the ABS kicking in as I could feel the brake lever vibrate a bit and then I had to turn the steering wheel to the right to avoide hitting the Indicab moron. Since the roads were wet I could feel the vehicle skid a little bit and came to a grinding halt.

My query is

1) Did it skid because of the wet road?
2) Did it skid because of the wet road and since I had to turn the steering wheel to avoid the indicab?
3) Did any of the Scorpio owners with ABS face a similar situation?

I am confused advice

[n.devdath]

IMO the ABS while in application is not supposed to let wheel spin happen, under any circumstances. If the vehicle skidded, it probably means that the brakes were not applied at that moment of time or that the ABS did not sense wheelspin.

Over to Spikey for more detail.

[SS-Traveller]

Lateral grip can be lost on wet roads while turning sharply, ABS or no ABS. That kind of skid would be controlled electronically by ESC, such as is available on the Aria (and W201 too IIRC).