Zen and the art of maintenance

[Crank]

Originally Posted by Zen2001

PS: All work done (except A/C & LPG kit) @ MASS, all replaced parts OEM; price includes 12.5% VAT

Thanks Zen2001.

Originally Posted by devrajman

I spend the whole day at the service station working/watching with the technicians.

I suppose I should also do this.

Originally Posted by devrajman

All this costed me ard 5K. Car now runs very smooth with very less noise, more like humming...

Gr8 man! It looks really good for the price. As I had personally spent 5.2K on my 2002 model mpfi, yet not happy.

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Glad that you are happy with the car, idle can be reduced but that can sometimes cause unwanted vibration, especially when the radiator fan kicks in. As long as the car is not jerking and pulling clean, let it be.

I have a list of problems, even after the issues reported in my first post were attended by the SC. Listing the same below for your reference.

1. Noise from front shocks - Even after changing the whole shock absorber assembly, I am still getting this "goda goda" noise. This is not there all the time. But after driving the car for 30-40 minutes of which around 10 minutes could be on a bad road. I am not sure whether the shocks are the culprit here. The SC guys were not able to fix this as the problem is not re-produceable all the time.
2. Noise from silencer - This is fixed
3. Left side rear door rattling - They charged me Rs.600 for arresting door rattling for all doors. Yet the left side rear door rattles at times. Is it something that we cannot do anything as this is a Maruti?
4. Sometimes I hear a jig-jig kind of sound from the engine during idling. If I switch off the engine and start again, the noise goes off. Any thoughts on this?
5. Feeling jerks/vibrates slightly while the engine is idling. Will adjusting the idling setting help, here?
6. Wheel wobbling - it is not there now
7. Engine struggling beyond 80 kmph. - This also does not happen now.

[devrajman]

@Crank
Thing to note in my service is that nothing in particular was changed wrt mechanical. No Clutch, no suspension. Service advisor said all fine. No need to worry just keep driving and get service done regularly. I was lucky. Its my first car (2nd Hand '99 Carb Zen) and its first service !!

Steering has a little play at speeds beyond 50/60. He mentioned its rack/pinion problem till i remember. would cost around 2K. He said get it done next time. Not sure why he delayed it. Also, would it be so costly to get the play fixed?

[Jaggu]

[*]Noise from front shocks - Even after changing the whole shock absorber assembly, I am still getting this "goda goda" noise. This is not there all the time. But after driving the car for 30-40 minutes of which around 10 minutes could be on a bad road. I am not sure whether the shocks are the culprit here. The SC guys were not able to fix this as the problem is not re-produceable all the time.

Check lower arm, balance rod bush and tie ends
[*]Left side rear door rattling - They charged me Rs.600 for arresting door rattling for all doors. Yet the left side rear door rattles at times. Is it something that we cannot do anything as this is a Maruti?

since you paid 600 bucks for the rattle fix, you have the right to demand a fix also
[*]Sometimes I hear a jig-jig kind of sound from the engine during idling. If I switch off the engine and start again, the noise goes off. Any thoughts on this?

Hope its not mis-firing cylinder, if so get it checked
[*]Feeling jerks/vibrates slightly while the engine is idling. Will adjusting the idling setting help, here?

A minor tune-up is a good idea, just to fine tune

[Trust_In_Thrust]

In our zen 2003 i have few issues hope someone will help .
1.) When going over a road undulation i hear a thump sound from left front tyre side .
2.) When i engage the car in reverse gear and i reverse it .I press the acc and leave the clutch.Now when the car is still in motion if i press the clutch i hear a krr - krr sound from gearbox .This issue is not in any other gears the front 5 forward gears .Only the reverse gear is having this issue and that also when i am in reverse gear and car is still moving and i press the clutch .

[jigbarai]

^^
Some nut / bolt loose there I guess (assuming the front shock is not gone).

[Jaggu]

@Trust_In_Thrust: Check your struts and suspension rubber parts for the thump sound.

[recshenoy]

Originally Posted by Trust_In_Thrust

In our zen 2003 i have few issues hope someone will help .
1.) When going over a road undulation i hear a thump sound from left front tyre side .
2.) When i engage the car in reverse gear and i reverse it .I press the acc and leave the clutch.Now when the car is still in motion if i press the clutch i hear a krr - krr sound from gearbox .This issue is not in any other gears the front 5 forward gears .Only the reverse gear is having this issue and that also when i am in reverse gear and car is still moving and i press the clutch .

it happens to me some times (only while reversing). This is because gear not engaging properly i guess.

I re-engage the gear firmly and the krr-krrr noise disappares.

[Trust_In_Thrust]

I will check out the suspension arms , the tie rods and bushes this weekend.
I have already changed the shocker assembly bushes .
But regarding the reverse gear what i do not understand is if the gear is not engaged properly the :
1.) The noise should be present when the clutch is released not when pressed .

[Crank]

@Jaggu, thanks a lot for ur suggestions. These are very much informative.

Originally Posted by Jaggu;1564916[*

Sometimes I hear a jig-jig kind of sound from the engine during idling. If I switch off the engine and start again, the noise goes off. Any thoughts on this?

Hope its not mis-firing cylinder, if so get it checked

Before even this was noticed, the SC guys said it was mis-firing and charged me Rs.1700 to change a chord. But after that this jig-jig noise is more.

[Jaggu]

Those are the high tension ignition wires. Ask them to inspect the rest, the distributor cap (old zen) and the coils.

[ElantraGT]

Guys today I found that the wipers blades in my Zen were not working. When I switch on my wipers the motor is engaging but its not able to take the load and the wipers dont budge to move. Its raining heavily in chennai now and I was forced to drive my car in this rain to ABT @ Guindy without wipers.

The SA inspected and told me that the Mill gears are weak and I need to replace the Link assembly and thats all i needed. I was not convinced and asked him to check the motor. He did and we found that motor is not functionining properly. So I got the complete set replaced at a cost of Rs.2008 (including motor, link assembly, labour charges). I already have brand new bosch blades so didnt change the blade.

[black12rr]

A long service was done yesterday .
I took a day off on monday and straight away head to suraksha on hosur road , lokesh was not there . A person Rajesh service advisor atteneded me .Wanted all the fluid change and few other things to be checked . Told him I will be here and watch everything .He said ok .
Car went in for a nice wash and they vaccumed all the carpet .

Now the car come to service bay and it jacked up . I stand next to mech Angala and babu and they start working on the car . Som idiot other SA comes and says sarr go to waiting room , customers are not allowed here !.I said I have taken permission from Rajesh ,but he still insists, I said speak to rajesh ,he leaves . Rajesh after some time comes and says the same thing , I told him clearly I am not going any where ,I have come to watch ,other wise I would have gone to some other work station .He understood he cannt shake me off ,he left . For the next 6-7 hours I was with the car . Yahoo .

Now the things that were carried out .

I wanted to check the tappets , they removed the head and it was chocolate stuff , it dint look good .yuck , it was like thick paste . .Mech cleaned the top plate ,but coudnt do much on the inside .

Adjusted the tappets and put and new head gasket also .

Now I also wanted to a compression check ,with all the spart plugs removed , with compression guage ,200-210 PSI was the compression each of the four cylinders, all seems to be fine .Phew ...

Next all the spark plugs are cleaned and put back .

Now the Radiator flush with TecTaloy and new coolant from Tectaloy .The procedure is
1.remove all the present coolant .
2.Fill for every 2 liters ,100 ml of flush . Zen takes 4 liters(plain water) into radiator ,so 200 ml of flush and close the radiator cap .
3.Run the engine for 20 minutes on the jack with occasional revs .
4.Drain the flush .
5.Refill the raditor with plain water again and run for 10 minutes .
6.Now drain the water which would remove all the flush .

Now the engine is warm and heated up.
I wanted to do Engine flush with OWS 210 -

Before this, filled distilled water into raditor and 200 ml of Tectaloy coolant .

1.Add the flush to heated up engine and run for 10 minutes .
2.Every 2 minutes , rev to ~ 2k rpm for 30 seconds .

After this drained the engine oil .

Added Castrol magnatec 3.5 liters and also replaced a new oil filter.

Also replaced the right side tie rod ,since it had play . Also replaced Radiator hose , since it had bulge and minor leak .

Did the wheel alignment , general brake shoe and pads clean up .Calliper greasing . AC dusting .
Took back the car at 5 pm and it started raining will going home ....grrrrr.

[black12rr]

Rajesh the Service advisor was co operative later on and I was advising him on how to do things . Seems to be good. Suraksha overall is good ,I recommend them ,Rajesh can be contacted at 9880295909 . Tell him a guy came with ZEN did flushing and all he will understand .I would give a break up of the charges and others later .Total cost came upto 3k , the fluids I bought separately ( the flushes and engine oil ) costed another 4 k .

Also the Gear box oil , MGO oil , was also changed ,it was changed 10 K kms back, I insisted to be change now .

[devrajman]

Good update black12rr!

Same thing happened to me. Some other service adviser came to me and said You cant stay here. I told him I have taken permission and he quietly went off.

Engine flush! When i told RNS to do it. He said, carb cars cant do engine flush, if high kms. Also, he said, if no problem then not required.

So how is Zen now. Did u get stress test it? Let us know on your feel of the car after its serviced.

[devrajman]

Originally Posted by devrajman

Finally I took my car for service yesterday to RNS motors yeshwantpur. I spend the whole day at the service station working/watching with the technicians. I took permission from service advisor able to watch my car getting serviced.
Did quite a few things...Below is the list:
1)Engine oil Changed to Magnetec (i took this with me) + 3M Engine Oil Additive as engine had sludge/carbon
2)Gear Box oil Changed
3)Brake Oil Changed
4)Coolant Changed
4)All Filters
5)All Spark Plugs
6)Tappet Adjustment
7)Front all disc pads changed
8)Carb Top disassembly and cleaning with Carb & Choke can and nice setting
9)Wheel Alignment and balancing with tyre rotation

All this costed me ard 5K. Car now runs very smooth with very less noise, more like humming...

Pickup has increase a lot and every low rpm torque. Lot of things were totally worn-out. Improvement was expected after spending 5K! Below is updated list of things :

Few Snaps taken at RNS, it also has pics after removed head cover and bills/Charges.