[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

First vehicle level tests, then strip-down and inspection that is what they do. Test bench setup is undertaken by EATON at their facilities.

Spike

EDIT- Speed and Torque both are controlled.

[Sutripta]

^^^
That's the traditional OEM - vendor setup. I was thinking along different lines!

Did you also check out the e-locker and the gerotor designs?

I think we are seriously cluttering 1100D's thread!

Regards
Sutripta

[1100D]

Never mind! Continue, adds to the insights. Have been hearing a lot about FMEA and all on other threads, how well that is applied onto some critical parts has always been a matter of debate.

The test bench setup being at EATON end, is our typical, Indian manufacturer handwash. Probably why Toyota's or for that matter internationally reputed brands cost more, as they usually have stress testing being performed in their presence.

However, this vendor being EATON and knowing that the same unit has been setup in american pickup trucks, bumps up the confidence level.

However, my next project would be a winch mount and an enclosing bumper (but then, whether or not I really need a winch can always be questioned!!)

[1100D]

Some updates on the look/functionality front.

Though its debatable if the final result looks good enough.

[1100D]

Marengo having some fun with its new found rear axle. Lot of things it can do in 2wd itself, like climbing a ridge at an oblique to it.

But for this, it still needed the 4WD, however as a difference from last time, this time it easily rolled up in 4H.





2012 is already here, so can't leave anything to chance.

[1100D]

Well, a few milestones have passed since the last time this thread was updated. Namely, the 35k service as well as the car had a hill trip after that, post this some repair was needed, mostly due to road conditions.

Firstly the 35K service. The service manual does not indicate to changing anything, just inspection of most of the items was necessary. So the cost involved was only the labour charges and the associated taxes.

Amount Rs 1573

Total expenses till 35k = 19762 + 1573 = 21335

At the time of depositing for service, had pointed out a hissing sound from the AC mostly during slow running conditions. It was diagnosed to be coming from the cooling coil inside the dashboard. Cooling coil replaced under warranty.

After this service had a 2000 km trip to the hills of West Sikkim. Those who know the area, know that

1> The drive to Siliguri involves punishing the suspension
2> In West Sikkim many roads are still being made or are under Pradhan Mantri Yojana, meaning no surface, rocks, some involving 4L hill climb.

Marengo had developed some sounds from the suspension and a more pronounced lateral movement on hitting potholes.

Came back, deposited the vehicle back to the workshop. Asked the workshop folks to open up the rear suspension.

Upon hoisting the vehicle, we found traces of oil leak around the gearbox. So that too was added to the worklist. So the vehicle would be grounded for a few days.

In the end these were the items that got replaced

I/P Shaft oil seal - Rs 120
Seat spring - Rs 186
Stabiliser Bar bush - Rs 132
Stabiliser Bar bush rear - Rs 76
gearbox mounting - Rs 602

Total Rs 1880

Odometer reading now is



Total Expenses at this milage (from the start of ownership) is Rs 23215


The clutch slave cylinder, master cylinder was also said to be replaced under warranty. So Marengo is also covered on that front

I also took the opportunity to get the underbody painted along with cavity protection. Damages was Rs 3700. But since this wasn't exactly necessary, will not include it in the operating expenses.

So now Marengo goes goes and goes!!

till it finds/develops something else.

[1100D]

Just Got Marengo back from its 40,000km service. This was a major checkpoint which involved changing of most fluids

Oil
Oil filter
Fuel filter
Air filter
Powersteering oil
TC Oil
coolant
brake oil

Total charges for these were 6306
Labout + wash another 1573

Total shellout Rs 7879

Total maintenance expense from start of ownership at the 40k mark is Rs 31094

At this point the front left power window motor was replaced (second occurence) under warranty.

The door lock goes into hunting mode for a few seconds upon unlocking (second occurence again), problem remains even after they said its been done.

Front left shock Absorber requires replacement, Marengo being a 4wd, they did not have one in stock. Not sure if these shockers are so fragile. They will call me once they get it from Mahindra.

Will look at options like Bilstein once out of warranty.

[Off Roadie]

Just stumbled on this thread today, you've really used the car to it's full potential.
Wishing you miles of pleasant motoring.
I'll be driving all over the far eastern states and Bhutan early next year, so might drop a few pm's when I an down (on land) in December. I think you'll be full of valuable insight
Cheers

[1100D]

Originally Posted by Off Roadie

Just stumbled on this thread today, you've really used the car to it's full potential.
Wishing you miles of pleasant motoring.
I'll be driving all over the far eastern states and Bhutan early next year, so might drop a few pm's when I an down (on land) in December. I think you'll be full of valuable insight
Cheers

Thanks for the kind words. However, have not yet been able to use Marengo anywhere near its full potential. It was put to some comparative tests though, but nothing major. Besides, something like Leh Ladakh is not only a literally distant dream but actually one.

Having said that, please feel free to pm once you are here. Meeting up with a 4WD mHawk scorpio is extremely rare in this part of the world. Though Marengo met another famous 4x4 mHawk a few days ago.

For insights into roads/routes in this part of the world, bhpian's adc and sheel would be your best bet.

[1100D]

Time for some updates, although a few instances of needing to update this has passed, was a little lethargic to post. Marengo too had to endure the mHawk Scorpio Achiles heel of a failed clutch.

At 41389kms there was a refusal from the left power door mirror to work, was replaced under warranty. Having said that, most of the electronic VLX gizmos that Marengo had come with had failed atleast once, here is the list

• Steering mounted audio controls (volume (-) switch - almost off the showroom)
• Cruise control (culprit being a clutch sensor)
• TPMS - the stepney one, and another was yanked off during a tyre replacement
• Power door locks
• Power window (front left)
• Music system (fused) - but I was told that this needs to be dropped off for service, which I chose to ignore.

Looking at the positive side of it, although I dont exactly remember the prices of the replacements, they are not particularly costly and are readily available. Nothing required anything more than 2 hours of work. Marengo's brothers continue to be made in similar specifications and probably Marengo is benefitting from it. Not sure how the scenario will be post the warranty period, as it is we like to keep our cars long.

45K service was just a formality that still required a shell out of Rs 1100, which is Rs300 for washing and the rest being labour for just inspecting the fluids and the overall running of the vehicle, which was just fine this time.

The total expense of this vehicle till date stands at Rs 32194, and am not displeased at the moment, but the bigger worry is the warranty work that has taken place on it, will start digging into the pocket once the warranty is over.

Last Tuesday night, (23rd Oct 2012) as Marengo was driven back home with a full house onboard, the clutch refused to come back up after being pressed for a downshift from 4th to 3rd. Thankfully, we were close to home (within 3 kms) and Marengo was also rolling. Though with the initial shock of the clutch not having sprung back, I had wasted a bit of time and lost a little bit of momentum to continue on 3rd gear, but was able to rev-match and shift to 2nd and continue. Was also able to reverse park it.

The vehicle now had 46454kms on it. Next day being Dussera (Bijoya dasami- in the area), and that I was able to park it safely, I did not hurry the Mahindra folks at all. On 25th, with the help of the Mahindra customer service person, Marengo was towed to the workshop and was also delivered backto me the next day. Culprit was the slave cylinder and the intake pipe leading to it.

However slave cylinder was proactively replaced by the dealer earlier. But this time I was told that the inlet pipe was the culprit which caused the slave cylinder to fail. Would have loved to see it while the job was done but that seemed like a luxury I could not afford to.

Meanwhile Marengo had also been part of some real fun in this time frame, so all that's said above cant really convey the fun that I have had with him.

Proof that the front axles work!! (photo courtesy Samik "Jonak" Ghosh)




The relative sizes as seen in the main photograph will give an indication of how far Marengo had climbed up and was still to go. Inset photograph shows a size comparison between the same vehicles.



And Marengo also had a legendary legend play around with him (though softly)

[tacho9000]

Aahhhh!!!! so nice to see UBS sir behind the wheels of marengo. A revelation indeed. What is the FE marengo has been delivering you throughout the ownership. Would like to see how much can be extracted from such a beast.

[1100D]

Originally Posted by tacho9000

Aahhhh!!!! so nice to see UBS sir behind the wheels of marengo. A revelation indeed. What is the FE marengo has been delivering you throughout the ownership. Would like to see how much can be extracted from such a beast.

My take on the FE part is that there is no fixed FE, and we have never measured or monitored it, mainly because, its dependent on various parameters, besides my driving type might not be an indicator (either ways) of what others will get.

Yes, I have survived two days this summer in Kolkata with Marengo extracting max kilometers from each liter of fuel, with the AC on and have seen it go 10.5 kms for every liter of diesel. But does it say anything (apart from the depression it resulted in)? Nothing. My office commute involves a substantial portion of 1st gear/2nd gear crawl, but towards the end of it there's expressway type cruising (on Rajarhat). In contrast a person who has to do Howrah-Manicktala on his car, will get an entirely different result driving the same car the same way.

Moreover the usage pattern (or the areas the car visits) from one tank to another isn't quite the same. So the results have (for all our cars) been different.

So far the FE figures that I have seen vary from 7kmpl to 13kmpl depending upon conditions.

[1100D]

Taking this Story Forward.

Had the 50k service milestone come-up at the end of December. The usual service only costed Rs 1236 in terms of labour and Rs 124 by way of the Sock Absorber Bushing. Total damage Rs 1360.

So total maintenance expenses from start till 50k is Rs 33554. Translates to around 67 paise per Km.

However what these figures do not convey is the immense fun this vehicle is capable of imparting.

Marengo alongwith few of its stable mates (namely 2 4wd Bolero's) frolicked around Audi's showcase Q-drive track. At the end of it, the spectators,who were initially smitten by the Quattro prowess the day earlier, were heard saying that these cars are able to do these things easily and much more. In the end we were offroading in the pits left by the JCB's to create the obstacles for the Q drive event!

Marengo now has the ability to come out of this situation in 2WD mode itself





Zorro was here and made a M-Life out of Q-Life!





Then there was OTR's under the watchful eye of UBS sir.








This one is my 5+ seat office commuter, long distance cruiser and a family hauler. It also goes to the shopping mall.

[akshay4587]

How Did i miss this one
Awesome would be an understatement.
My 4X2 Mhawk SLE suddenly seems such a waste

[1100D]

Originally Posted by akshay4587

How Did i miss this one
Awesome would be an understatement.
My 4X2 Mhawk SLE suddenly seems such a waste

Thanks Akshay!

I would probably say that VLX over SLE is also a waste, given the unnecessary gadget loading.

Anyway, one of the need to have made this thread current is that, am at a point when the tyres would need replacing, three of them now are over 50k old. One of them hardly used (the spare) and another one is around the 25k mark (because I had two sidewall cuts on the same wheel).

Am running on Yokohama Geolandars. The tyres are fabulous in every aspect, apart from the strength of the sidewall. Two of them gave away, in what I would not like to call, extreme situations. The very fact, that I have made it this far with them, is because I have actually used them very carefully over hard objects.

Especially, if you frequent the hills, rocky roads, such as this, is not uncommon. But these are a threat to the Geolandar, unless used very very carefully not to expose the sidewall to pointed rocks.





Now looking at replacements.

First thing, would not like to consider going back to OEM Bridgestone Dueller H/T. Did not like them a single bit in the first week of usage. Infact loved it the moment I switched to Geolandars and realised what I have been missing. I mention this, because the forum is full of material where, its said that Scorpio/Thar chassis has been setup for BS Dueller H/T only and nothing else works.

Given my usage, All-terrain is required, because although my offroad usage is low, but when it does get used, it needs to perform.

Would have loved to switch to BS Dueller A/T, but that is no longer available in India.

So is the Michelin LTX. I called up a Michelin dealer, was happy to hear that he has the LTX, but when I turned up, I was shown Latitude Cross which according to him is LTX (LT= Lattitude and X = Cross). Thankfully showed him the difference and walked off.

Continental Contitrac is not available in Kolkata. Besides, I saw some posts where the wet grip is found to be low.

Would not like to try my luck on Indian tyres unless they come significantly cheaper than Yoko Geo.

I was asked by our friendly tyre dealer to try out Bighorn M/T. But that would be a no-no on the expressway.

I am now being given the choice of going for Maxxis Bravo AT 771. However will have to upsize from 235 width to 255.



Anyone has any first hand experience on these tyres?
Researching online, did not find much negatives.