The Premier 118 NE thread

[anjan_c2007]

A Premier 118 NE being flagged off during the Rally D' Endurance (December 1988), as reported in Indian Auto Journal of January 1989. The rally was simultaneously flagged from Bombay and Bangalore

[shineshine]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

A Premier 118 NE being flagged off during the Rally D' Endurance (December 1988), reported in Indian Auto Journal of January 1989

Attachment 1073225

Thats a Maruti suzuki 800. I dont think its an 118NE.

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by shineshine

Thats a Maruti suzuki 800. I dont think its an 118NE.

Nope, it's a 118 NE. Check the badge on the front grill, also the rectangular headlamps are definitely bigger than the M800.

The angle of the photo and the quality of the photo did confuse me too, however the badge is the same old PAL. That's a sure giveaway.

[shineshine]

Originally Posted by honeybee

Nope, it's a 118 NE. Check the badge on the front grill, also the rectangular headlamps are definitely bigger than the M800.

The angle of the photo and the quality of the photo did confuse me too, however the badge is the same old PAL. That's a sure giveaway.

Actually, the pic anjan has initially posted was indeed a maruti suzuki 800. It seems that he edited and changed the pic realizing the mistake.

[ilangop]

My 118NE which started rolling on the streets in October 1995 has completed 100000 kms on the odo. He has been with me since the last 19000 kms and still strong. Just wanted to share the picture of the odo setting back to zero.
The owner's manual mentions maintenance procedures only till 100000kms. What would be the best way to pamper him and retain the sturdiness to extend his life?
Thanks

[saket77]

Originally Posted by ilangop

My 118NE which started rolling on the streets in October 1995 has completed 100000 kms on the odo. He has been with me since the last 19000 kms and still strong. Just wanted to share the picture of the odo setting back to zero.
The owner's manual mentions maintenance procedures only till 100000kms. What would be the best way to pamper him and retain the sturdiness to extend his life?
Thanks

First of all, congrats for achieving this feat! And the question that you have put up is what a true NE lover would only have, after completing a lakh of kilometers. I guess, most of the maintenance procedures would be corrective maintenance now...means, as & when symptoms appear like a failing timing chain. Not to mention to stick to the other periodical checks like engine oil & other consumables. If the engine is fine, should do another 40-45 K without issues, or even more (if you are really lucky) IMO.

Regards,
Saket

[KkVaidya]

Originally Posted by ilangop

My 118NE which started rolling on the streets in October 1995 has completed 100000 kms on the odo. He has been with me since the last 19000 kms and still strong. Just wanted to share the picture of the odo setting back to zero.
Thanks

Good to know the Nissan engine's capability considering the 70's design. For modern engines, 100,000kms is not a big deal as they are engineered to do it 2 times over without any major hiccups.
I would like to know whether you had to do any work on the engine till now or it is still untouched. My experience says they loose compression after 60-70,000 kms.

[ilangop]

Originally Posted by KkVaidya

Good to know the Nissan engine's capability considering the 70's design. For modern engines, 100,000kms is not a big deal as they are engineered to do it 2 times over without any major hiccups.
I would like to know whether you had to do any work on the engine till now or it is still untouched. My experience says they loose compression after 60-70,000 kms.

Yes dude, the Nissan Design rocks. But this one was manufactured by Premier and has "Premier" stamped on the Valve cover.
Under my ownership it was untouched. At the moment there is some oil leak through the valve in 4th cylinder, for which I keep changing the spark plug once in 5000 kms. Thats it. I think I ll have to attend to this very soon.

[Scarlet_Rider]

Ilango: Congratulations to you and your NE for completing 100000 kms!! As long as everything is working fine, just pamper the car with petrol, the specified oil / oil filter changes and periodic maintenance! Just follow the old axiom: If it ain't broke, leave it alone!!

Does the oil leak in the valve of the 4th cylinder require to you to top up the engine oil very frequently? If no then I think you can carry on using the car as usual and then at a later stage do complete engine overhaul.

Regards and Keep Revving,

Rahul Waghmare.

[mycarhasablower]

Originally Posted by ilangop

My 118NE which started rolling on the streets in October 1995 has completed 100000 kms on the odo. He has been with me since the last 19000 kms and still strong. Just wanted to share the picture of the odo setting back to zero.
The owner's manual mentions maintenance procedures only till 100000kms. What would be the best way to pamper him and retain the sturdiness to extend his life?
Thanks

assuming that PAL didnt use substandard materials and didnt skimp on the heat treatment with the block and head etc. i dont see why even 2 lakh kms is a big deal. Continue with your periodic maintainance and it should be fine

I remember back in the nineties while growing up, i used to hear that a maruti 800's engine wont last more than a lakh kms and reduce that to 50000 if it runs an a/c. Well we have a 98 800 in our family that only did 9,000 kms on petrol, was then switched to lpg till it reached 90,000. it was then converted to cng and an a/c was installed.Well now it has done 1,90,000 kms on the original engine and its still going strong. All cylinders have good compression, about 175psi(it should be 190 for a new engine and at 140 it needs an overhaul). And the only thing wrong with it is that the big end bearings are worn, so if the engine exceeds a certain rpm then you can hear a knocking sound from the big end. this rpm translates to about 80kmph in fourth gear. so i dont drive it any faster than 70kmph under any circumstances and usually drive at 60-65. I think the car will safely do another 20000kms after which we wont bother with an overhaul, we will just change the half assembly since its so cheap anyway.

Basically todays engines last longer because of MPFI. earlier engines uses to vibrate a lot when cold and therefore wear faster plus ignorant idiots who refused to read the manuals would start their cars up in the morning and revv them to the redline to warm them up. since with mpfi,cars are now idiot proof therefore they last more. My 800's a carb car though

And for maximum engine life always keep the rpm low. The more you revv the lesser will the engine last, go easy on it during warm up. But i guess you already knew all that.

[KkVaidya]

Originally Posted by ilangop

At the moment there is some oil leak through the valve in 4th cylinder, for which I keep changing the spark plug once in 5000 kms. Thats it. I think I ll have to attend to this very soon.

Yes see that is the problem I am referring to. Even mine used to spit oil on the plug due to worn-out piston rings. Had to change it at around 50,000 kms.
The design may be good but it is poor workmanship. Certainly not for a Japanese engine.

Originally Posted by mycarhasablower

Basically todays engines last longer because of MPFI. earlier engines uses to vibrate a lot when cold and therefore wear faster plus ignorant idiots who refused to read the manuals would start their cars up in the morning and revv them to the redline to warm them up. since with mpfi,cars are now idiot proof therefore they last more. My 800's a carb car though

And for maximum engine life always keep the rpm low. The more you revv the lesser will the engine last, go easy on it during warm up. But i guess you already knew all that.

I doubt this theory. Earlier I too believed in this & used to keep the engine on Idle for minimum 2-3 minutes. But later on read somewhere that the colder the engine runs, the more damage it faces. It is best for the engine to run hot (not above the limit) as it will vaporize the fuel before it enters the combustion chamber. And that is why you will notice that an MPFI engine will run at high-revs upon start-up. The funda here is to make the engine heat-up as soon as possible.

[mycarhasablower]

Originally Posted by KkVaidya

I doubt this theory. Earlier I too believed in this & used to keep the engine on Idle for minimum 2-3 minutes. But later on read somewhere that the colder the engine runs, the more damage it faces. It is best for the engine to run hot (not above the limit) as it will vaporize the fuel before it enters the combustion chamber. And that is why you will notice that an MPFI engine will run at high-revs upon start-up. The funda here is to make the engine heat-up as soon as possible.

Well you are wrong here. when an engine is cold it does wear out faster but thats because of two reasons, primarily,that most of the oil has settled down therefore the upper parts of the engine are running comparatively dry and also because metals are more brittle when cold and dont take abuse too well.
This is the reason why any stress on the engine whether by means of high rpm or load ,will lead to much higher wear

To bring the engine upto temperature quickly the cooling system has a thermostat that stops the flow of coolant till the engine reaches operating temperature. Some ignorant owners remove this thermostat to sort of avoid overheating thereby running away from a bigger problem in their car ie: the actual cause of overheating

Now about mpfi systems, An ecu detects the correctness of the air fuel ratio through readings from the O2 sensor, which doesnt work/provide readings till it becomes really hot(it too has a minimum operating temperature) which actually serves the purpose because till it starts getting readings the ecu runs a rich mixture which is required because a cold stoichimetrically correct charge is harder to ignite. This prevents the engine from dying like it does with most carb cars. Even so , the engine rpm never goes beyond 1.5k rpm and in some rare cases 2000 but only for a moment as the rpm drops to 1000 within a few seconds and to the sub 1000 idle rpm within a minute as soon as the ecu gets the reading from the now hot O2 sensor. this is nothing in comparison to the 4000-6000 people used to revv their cars to back in the day

For a carb car its best to adjust the choke or if it non operational then use the accelerator to idle the engine at the lowest possible rpm at which it will run smoothly for a couple of minutes and then go easy on the engine till it achieves operating temperature.

typically if you can start a carb car in delhi winters without using the choke, it means you are running a rich mixture and you surely arent getting the maximum fuel efficiency. Good power yes, but poor fuel efficiency compared to what you CAN get.

SUMMARY: keeping your rpms and load low while warmup is the way you can minimize cold engine damage and wear. A dry brittle engine will wear out a lot more if revved.MPFI engines run higher than idle rpm only because the engine cant run smoothly at the usual idle rpm when cold, so it maintains the lowest possible rpm at which the engine can run smoothly

[Rudra Sen]

Can anyone here (especially Mumbai members) tell me if it is possible to get a new set of 118NE differential unit in Mumbai?
Not the housing and axle tube assembly. If yes, where to look for and what could be the cost?

Is there in any specific shop/s in Opera House area?

If not possible to get only the differential cluster then what would be cost of complete unit, if available?

Dhabhar, I can surely expect a solution from you on this.

Now, why am I asking for this?

Background

Today, I got into a Padmini cab to get back home. Cab had front bucket seats (I’ve seen more like this before) and a typical old A/C blower.
He told me A/C is in perfect order but he has removed the compressor belt because of added load on the engine running on CNG.
He started the engine and Padmini started with a different tone. I moved forward to see floor shift gear. Upon asking, he confirmed that engine and gearbox from 118NE.
It was butter smooth but with a typical differential hum. I asked him if he had mated Padmini differential with this setup and he said differential is also from NE.
He’s trying to get rid of this hum and his mechanic told him that he needs to open and check. He’s suggesting one whole day trip to Chor bazaar to hunt for a solution.
Driver (owner actually) told me he doesn’t mind buying this new if the cost is not exorbitant.
He had already checked with one or two shops at Opera house area and they don’t have any.

I told him to give me a call after few days. He said he doesn’t carry a mobile but will call me from some public booth.

I do have a responsibility to help him as a TBHPian. What say guys?

[mycarhasablower]

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

Today, I got into a Padmini cab to get back home. Cab had front bucket seats (I’ve seen more like this before) and a typical old A/C blower.
He told me A/C is in perfect order but he has removed the compressor belt because of added load on the engine running on CNG.
He started the engine and Padmini started with a different tone. I moved forward to see floor shift gear. Upon asking, he confirmed that engine and gearbox from 118NE.
It was butter smooth but with a typical differential hum. I asked him if he had mated Padmini differential with this setup and he said differential is also from NE.
He’s trying to get rid of this hum and his mechanic told him that he needs to open and check. He’s suggesting one whole day trip to Chor bazaar to hunt for a solution.
Driver (owner actually) told me he doesn’t mind buying this new if the cost is not exorbitant.
He had already checked with one or two shops at Opera house area and they don’t have any.

I told him to give me a call after few days. He said he doesn’t carry a mobile but will call me from some public booth.

I do have a responsibility to help him as a TBHPian. What say guys?

Diffrential is from NE too? surprising! Since the differential housing on the NE has mounts for trailing arms, coil springs and panhard rod and the padmini has these for leaf springs. Are you sure about this , because getting this conversion right isnt easy for a mechanic. Unless its one of those few Nissan engined padminis that PAL made. I remember Dhabhar sir mentioning them.

There is a good chance that some dealer at Kashmere gate in delhi might have a set lying around. I found some really rare spares for my contessa there. NE's are still relatively common. If you dont find one in mumbai, ill happily give it a try here once my exams are over next week.

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by mycarhasablower

Diffrential is from NE too? surprising! Since the differential housing on the NE has mounts for trailing arms, coil springs and panhard rod and the padmini has these for leaf springs.

Well, he said this to me and for a moment I thought it could well be possible by someone with a positive frame of mind. My Amby differential was changed from the original to Contessa almost 20 years ago. I didn't have any point of reference then.