| ...And then comes the clincher
Fast forward to a week back, my car one week day suddenly refused to start in the morning. It would crank but the engine won't fire up. After a persistent try and miss ordeal for 20 minutes (I could feel that its not the battery) it finally did start. The RPM went up a bit and then settled down. I drove over to office. At night while returning back home the same routine followed in the office parking. When the car finally started the RPM again shot up, went down and then finally settled down.
This happened the next day as well. I knew by now it is not the battery as it was charging well, the electrical accessories were all working fine even when the engine was refusing to start. The other suspect of the glow plugs having gone kaput was also out of question by now as I could see that the RPM on each occassion after the start was going up, up and up and then down to almost 600 before settling down. This is not a glowplug issue either. It had to be something else. What could it be? Issue with some kind of a choking? The throttle body needing a clean up? Or was it something else.
So Saturday I took the car to Tejaswi in the morning (after the usual struggle to get the engine going). The usual rush, the missing SA and finally when a johnny turns up he just turns the key and the engine as expected immediately fires up (the issue was showing up after the car remained stationary for 4-5 hours). The SA first starts with weak starter motor which I immediately discard as that would mean a recurring starting problem at any time of the day and not after long breaks. The SA tells me "this needs investigation and that I should leave the car for 3-4 days to be kept under observation". That was it. I knew they have no intentions of putting their investigators hat to look for a problem. So I leave.
The next halt is at Malik Cars in Tolichowki. I tell the guy (probably a senior service manager) about the problem. My possible suspects and what probably is NOT the problem. He tells me with a sermonizing tone that they have a full checklist blah blah blah... Assigns a Service Advisor. The guy takes the car to a shed at the back. Opens the bonnet and shoves in a multimeter. I tell him that the alternator is working fine but he insists that the fluctuating RPM is a sure sign of a near-dead alternator. Never mind the fact that the battery is charging fine, the RPM does not surge in regular running nor does the headlight beam dims or goes bright at night. As expected the different angles of shoving the multimeter again and again still tells him the same story. The alternator is working fine. He drops the hood and tells me with a finality that the Fuel Pump is gone. I look at him quizzically. What gives. He tells me with the finality of a priest standing on the death bed of his subject that this is expected in old cars (74k on the odo). I tell him that if the pump is a problem then how come the car never gives a problem once the engine is started? Even if I shut it down immediately and restart it still purrs to life immediately. The man gives me some cock and bull story about the teeth having worn out and that they are still not fully gone and hence once they get a grip the car keeps getting started easily. A rest of course means the teeth loosen up.
I knew by then that its bye bye Malik. The guy just refuses to look into some of the problems I am asking him to inspect. He has made up his mind that if its not alternator then its the pump. The damage? He says if you are lucky then 15k to get the pump overhauled. If it does not work then a replacement is needed which is another 48k. By now my jaw drops open. What the ****! This guy has not even done any basic inspection and is telling me with the authority of the wizard that he wants to drill a big hole in my pocket.
I leave the place. The next destination. I decide its my old faithful Auto Chenoy in Secunderabad. They have been taken over by Detroit recently. I know that they have a few old Autofin hands there. I reach there. Unfortunately the 2 Autofin guys are nowhere in sight. However another mech takes the car in. I ask him what he thinks. He says that he would like to fully inspect the car before he commits. That's good! Also, for good measure I tell him what the Tejaswi and the Malik guys said. He pooh poohs the Tejaswi logic (of weak starter motor) and says that pump is the last resort but then I should not tell you to fire the bofors gun till I have eliminated the other possible problem areas.
Suddenly I feel reassured. Our man opens the hood and starts the car. He also loosens the plunger and starts pumping manually. Immediately the main fuel line spurts out diesel in a fine spray. Voila! There is a leak. He found it in 5 minutes flat. By now I knew the problem even before he starts telling me. The pressure in the line goes down when the car is standing still for hours. When I try to crank the engine air gushes into the line through the leak and that's the culprit. Remedy? A 300 bucks fuel pipe made of metal with a rubber join in the middle (which sprung a leak). That simple.
I happily get the replacement done and leave, mentally assured that the problem is resolved. Surprise of surprises, the next morning, it's a Sunday, when I try to start the car it is back to square one. However, this time the car starts in just four attempts and after a high rev settles down. Its still the same problem but with a lower intensity. I call up Detroit and they say they are open. I immediately drive back 18 kms to Secunderbad. And as luck would have it they are closed. Its actually their ECIL office which is open on Sunday. Thats another 15 kms. I rue my luck but decide that I want to see the end of it. So drive all the way to ECIL.
My luck strikes as this time I find an old Autofin guy there whom I recognize. He hears me out and opens the hood. Does some pumping again but no fuel jet coming out this time around. His eyes narrow for a while and then he again starts pumping and then touches the pipe at the join with the filter. And there is the culprit. diesel is coming out of the join. So thats where is the new route for air influx. Next 30 mins he tries opening and refitting the pipe multiple times but the fuel keeps oozing out from the join. He declares that the new part is defective. Its not sitting flush and leaving some gap. After some more convincing he decides to replace the pipe with another one. This time no fuel leak. The car starts well. He tells me that its resolved now. I should call him anyhow tomorrow to let him know whether it started at one crank.
Next morning I happily call him back to let know that it started in half crank. Good job buddy. Car is since running for a week and is back to it's normal self. Starts without a problem.
Last edited by Zappo : 21st March 2012 at 03:19.
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21st March 2012, 02:59
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Thanks
