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i have a tata indica v2 dls 2002,its run almost 90,000kms.it runs just like a new car and has a perfectly healthy engine but the only problem is whenever i take her to the hills,she starts smoking badly and starts smoking and becomes very jerky though fuel effieciency is fine,the car behaves very badly but as soon as it hits the plains it becomes normal with no hints of smoke or jerky ,what do you think problem is i think its normal with most idi egines as none of myother petrol cars have such problems on hitting the altitude.

you guessed right- higher altitudes do pose a problem for naturally aspirated diesels; since diesels require more air, areas with thin air affect it's combustion. the effect on petrols are less, but it shows. nevertheless, the smoking and decrease in performance shouldn't be high.

if your car's fuel pump has been adjusted for max. F.E, then the emissions will increase while hitting the altitudes- check your fuel pump and the nozzles. also, tell an authorised dealer to adjust the pump, and things should get better....

Hmm, Nice point you bought up there.. Before you hit the hills, clean your air-filter.. Ensure your batteries are charged.. And as Veyron mentioned check your fuel pump and nozzles.. Better fit a Turbo-Intercooler in your vehicle as it will ensure sufficient air for engine combustion..

Veyron, the Indica is an IDI engine not a NA Diesel.. NA Diesels are even worse in hilly conditions and they frequently catch cold..

actually, man23ish, the indica has an indirectly injected, naturally aspirated engine. any engine or powerplant that doesn't have forced induction, a la tubo/supercharger, is quoted as a naturally aspirated engine....

indica diesel has a naturally aspirated indirect injection engine

ill prefer not to touch my car's fuel pump settings as tata's mechanics are known to spoil fuel pump settings(ive had bad experiences),so i got my fuel pump tuned from a tvs-delphi engineer,so ill leave my desire for efficiency and take my thirsty accent to the hills this time i paln a holiday.

You are getting excessive fuelling or richening of air fuel ratio.

Most electronic fuel injection engines have a sensor to measure atmospheric pressure and hence density of the air. When you go to the
hills, it will reduce fuel flow appropriately. Since Indica is a mechanical system there is no way to compensate for this.
If you are going to be hanging out in the hills, then the fuel pump has to be tuned up there, but it will run out of breath at sea level.

You are absolutly right. I have a indica DLS 2004 and it has run 25000kms. Same thing happens with me also whenever i take my car to hills. It starts missing n gives out black smoke and when you come back to plains, it becomes perfectly fine. I knew it has to do something with the air intake. Tell me somthing have you done something about this problem yet. If you did, then plz do let me know also.

I somehow seem to have been lucky on this front as both my Indica's and the Indigo never showed any signs of vertigo at height.

Lucky you. Did you went for a uphill drive?

Check out the model year of your cars - its quite possible that one of the "continuous improvement" mods have been done on later models, which is probably why his car doesnt smoke at that level.

BTW, I thought the ECU was supposed to take care of these things?

Only the Euro III Indicas have the ECU.