[frankmehta]

i was on a short trip to gujarat(bharuch, to be precise) 2 weeks ago.
we drove from mumbai in my cousin brother's CNG mpfi esteem which has done about 80k km.
now bharuch is a very small town on the outskirts of gujarat and to get a competent engineer or a mechanic for any serious work on a car is nigh impossible.
that was what I thought!
well, the reason for the visit(which i was told way after we left) was this DOCTOR who just needed to listen to the engine for a minute or two, and diagnosed what exactly was wrong with a car. in our case, the engine sounded like it was missing a beat and idling was very erratic. the car JUST didn't stay alive with the a/c on. in mumbai, vitesse said that the throttle body needed to be replaced. so my genius cousin thought to himself: im as it is going to spend on a new throttle body if it needs replacement(alongwith other 'service' with an expected bill amount of rs. 45600 on the work order), then why not DRIVE to bharuch to this fabled, famour engineer, Jeetubhai of Bhavani Motors, and show him the car.
that's what we were doing and we drove 1000km to and from mumbai on our quest to diagnose the actual problem.
we reached after 8 gruelling hours and i expected a lout(lukkha) garage with 1 or 2 old ambassadors lying in it and a couple of lousy people working on it. also expected a lousy mechanic to peer from the door(pardon my extensive use of this word, as most people in gujarat are referred to as lousy, lukkho, aalsi and aaramkhor, LOL)

as we reached, all my expectations were washed out. it was a highly polished garage with:
1. its own paint booth
2. its own ecu diagnostics module laptop
3. a thingamajig that is used to retune the engine a week after CNG conversion.
4. wheel balancing and alignment equipment: all computerised with cordless weights
and many more sophisticated tools that were way beyond comprehension for a very small town. and out stepped a highly polished gujju in a golf tee and jeans. very calm and composed and looked a man of knowledge.

ok coming back to the experience. people were right. all he did was listen to the engine with the bonnet open. 2 minutes, 3 minutes and then a couple of minutes with the a/c on.
ok, he said. come back in 4 hours. we asked him what the problem was and he said: let me handle it.
i walked away from there thinking it was all hogwash and we would invariably have to go to mumbai and change the throttle body as informed.
1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours and we were surprised by a phone call from Bhavani motor garage saying the car was ready(all in gujju of course )

i walked there half anticipating a dead ecu or more damage and other images crossed my mind.
we reached the garage. the car was lying in the corner and we went to the office. he told us to accompany him to the car and he sat in the drivers seat and started the car.
lo and behold! she started in one crank(which used to be about 4-5 cranks before)
it idled like a brand new car and the a/c coming on made it even more smooth. the exhaust had none of the misfiring note that it played before the service. we were very happy. satisfied that all this travelling was worth it with NO throttle body change required.
i thought to myself, the bill for this must be about 5-6k. we asked for the bill. he gave it to us. rs. 1075.
we were shocked. it consisted of cng servicing, engine timing, change of all spark plugs, engine cleaning, car valetting and washing, and underbody wash. also the windscreen washer was replenished with a nice soapy liquid. also a couple of pipes were changed(dunno which but minor rubber pipes) the doors were greased and the power windows were serviced. i was quite taken aback by the quality of workmanship and am sersiously contemplating a drive to bharuch.




does anyone know anybody in mumbai who can just listen to the engine and say what could be wrong with it? by that i dont literally mean that but someone really really skilled?
my esteem is 8 years old and is in good shape. but there are times when i feel like the engine misses a note while idling sometimes(but never stalls)
also have a 421 header job and an ffe, and the car feels really sprightly but at times there is a very perceivable loss of power and it behaves like a different car. also have heard knocking with the a/c on, irrespective of the gear. so need someone competent.
vitesse is out of the picture even though we have been servicing it regularly there since 8 years because they will point to everything but the main issue so do not want to fix what aint broke.
please help me. this experience has really inspired me to look for someone like this in mumbai itself and not take the pains(and the fuel) to go to bharuch.
cheers,
Frank

[vinit.merchant]

Originally Posted by frankmehta

does anyone know anybody in mumbai who can just listen to the engine and say what could be wrong with it? by that i dont literally mean that but someone really really skilled?
my esteem is 8 years old and is in good shape. but there are times when i feel like the engine misses a note while idling sometimes(but never stalls)
also have a 421 header job and an ffe, and the car feels really sprightly but at times there is a very perceivable loss of power and it behaves like a different car. also have heard knocking with the a/c on, irrespective of the gear. so need someone competent.
vitesse is out of the picture even though we have been servicing it regularly there since 8 years because they will point to everything but the main issue so do not want to fix what aint broke.
please help me. this experience has really inspired me to look for someone like this in mumbai itself and not take the pains(and the fuel) to go to bharuch.
cheers,
Frank

Heard of none in Mumbai but did hear of a person named Abdulbhai or Razakbhai (cant recall exactly, heard a long long time back) in Delhi who used to just keep his hand on the Bonet of the car (with engine running) and diagnosed the problem.
By the way, does this place only cater to Maruti Cars or Fiat's Palio's as well?

[mmmjgm]

At the costs you have specified,

I think the cost of going to Gujarat 5k in Bombay vs 1k in gujarat justifies travelling there.

OT, say you are a practicing dentist in Bombay, with high rents, propensity to spend etc, if you charge less you are branded a cheapskate, if you price high all high profiles come to you.

What would you chose ?

Cheers
2 cents

regards
M M

[arpandiv]

Sounds like something worth having a look at.

Bharuch is around 330km from here.
we can leave from Mumbai early morning. Land up there,give the cars for work check into a hotel and chill out. Next day morning collect the cars and drive back.
the road is good only around 80-90km of it is being repaired so some diversions.
Frank,i am game for this.

[frankmehta]

there are no diversions! but the whole point here is that we should look for something like this in mumbai. 5k of fuel and say 2k max service charge. thats quite a bit to pay, considering it can be done in mumbai for say, 5k totally. we need some really clever fellow, even a small mechanic but someone who knows mpfi cars(i know old timers, they just cant understand mpfi. they were good at carburettors but most of them never got over the change!)
so lets start on a quest! to find the smart mechanic.
ppl come up with your suggestions!

ps: the drive to bharuch is awesome with next to no diversions. can touch 140 easily on that stretch(or did we already mooooooooo haaa haa!)

[frankmehta]

Originally Posted by mmmjgm

At the costs you have specified,

I think the cost of going to Gujarat 5k in Bombay vs 1k in gujarat justifies travelling there.

OT, say you are a practicing dentist in Bombay, with high rents, propensity to spend etc, if you charge less you are branded a cheapskate, if you price high all high profiles come to you.

What would you chose ?

Cheers
2 cents

regards
M M

NOT OFF TOPIC!
was the dentist thing directed at me???? i AM a dentist!

[mmmjgm]

Originally Posted by frankmehta

NOT OFF TOPIC!
was the dentist thing directed at me???? i AM a dentist!

Hey frank no offence meant at all, if taken I apologize

The authorised workshops have manauls and processes in place, so you expecting that golden touch of a mechanic can only come from specialised tuners such as the rally tuners, unfortunately they are in a different price point.

The dentist thingy was just for comparision.

Cheers
M M

[frankmehta]

lol.
no offence taken anyways. i was supposed to sound funny.
my idea about these things is that the quality of service must be on par with the amount of money we spend on it.
bharuch surpassed all expectations and vitesse killed all of them.
so even if there is someone like a tuner or a highly skilled person who may just charge for his 2 cents on the car, im in!
just want to make sure im running the car in good shape. and i dont trust any mechanics anymore
no hard feelings mmmjgm! free treatment milega! haahah

[kalpeshc]

Can you tell us where exactly is this in Bharuch? Any landmark/directions?

[frankmehta]

Old N.H.No.8, Ankleshwar Dist.Bharuch
thats the address i have.
ill ask my cousin for exact landmarks. dunno how to get there!

[arpandiv]

@ frank do post up the landmarks etc. I am seriously contemplating the drive.

Regarding such a mechanic in mumbai, yes we do need to get look around.Service stations largely depend on "trial and error" and they just replace parts.
Disclaimer : The above mentioned opinion is based on Bharti automobiles (GM) Jogeshwari,Spectra Motors(Borivali) and Sai service (Borivali). I do agree there are exceptions for example AutoService(Blr)

[frankmehta]

guys. if to a normal person, (like parents, relatives etc) i said, that im driving 700 odd km to get my car repaired, the most common reaction id elicit would be a giggle or a hand pointing in my direction('paagal hai' kind of a way) but its team-bhpians we are talking about here! the true spirit is alive here. to go to any lengths to get that perfect idling or that perfect pickup!
kudos to teambhpians.
on a more serious note, cant we find someone in mumbai???????
there must be someone ya. since its a saturday night there will be a lot of people reading this. there has to be someone in mumbai who can point us to the right person!
please, ppl. tell us who you think is fit for the job!

heres the google maps link
ankleshwar - Google Maps

[gd1418]

Look here - MapmyIndia - maps, directions, and local search across India - just search, print and go!

Originally Posted by kalpeshc

Can you tell us where exactly is this in Bharuch? Any landmark/directions?

Originally Posted by arpandiv

@ frank do post up the landmarks etc. I am seriously contemplating the drive.

[mmmjgm]

Originally Posted by frankmehta

lol.

no hard feelings mmmjgm! free treatment milega! haahah

Pardon me however I had an overdose of the pain in my mouth during my last treatment.

Lol one thing is for sure, if a dentist offers free treatment, it does make the prospective patient think twice, the pain does come free !

On a serious note I doubt you will get the same competence as the mechanic in Bharuch at the same price point in Mumbai, possibly equivalent to the Vitesse qoute but service would be far better.

Also for the record, Gujarat has a very wide network of CNG filling stations thanks to a far sighted state government. There have been mechanics handling such cars for a far longer time in Gujarat than in Bombay. So the expertise with gas powered cars is higher in Gujarat than in Bombay - FYI - CNG is limited to cities such as Pune/Mumbai and is not wide spread throughout Maharashtra as it is in Gujarat.

cheers

M M

[frankmehta]

but a city as big as mumbai must atleast be having a competent mechanic SOMEWHERE! the price point is not in question. its the quality of worksmanship that we must find. any price is a good price for a sweet sounding, smooth running engine. whatsay guys?
the search is still on