[StrangeWizard]

Here's an update :

Called up the Chevy A.S.S and they said the part is not in stock and will come by thursday. It will cost 1800 + Labour. Also, I'll have to tow my car from my place to the service centre (~15-17 kms), so I guess that would cost another 500-600 bucks.

Called up an independent spare parts store. The guy said he'll get me the Chevy oem part by tomorrow morning. It will cost 2400 and Rs 200 labour.

I'm going with the second option and I've already ordered the part. Will get it fixed at 10am. The store is 1.5kms from my place.

I hope my car starts and no other issues crop up.

[StrangeWizard]

Here's a sad update :
Got the crankshaft sensor changed for 2300. The battery was a bit low so we jump-started the car.

Now the issue is, the battery isn't getting charged by the alternator. The car dies down as soon as I leave the accelerator pedal. Also, the check engine light is constantly staying.

So what my mechanic did was, I started the car and he adjusted the accelerator cable in such a way that a very slight bit of the accelerator is always pressed so that the car doesn't die down.

Then I somehow drove the car about 1kms very slowly till my home with the hazard lights on. Have parked it down just now. She had refused to start on saturday evening and from that time it was parked near my relative's place.

Now tomorrow I'll call up the Chevy A.S.S and tell them to come to my place or tow the car to the service centre and see what's wrong.
I hope its nothing major or expensive.

The battery light indicator was not showing in the instrument panel.

I'm feeling bad now. For the past 16 months she was so reliable and never let me down. And now all of a sudden this happens.
I have always loved driving my car but today was the only drive that I didn't enjoy one bit !

I hope everything gets sorted out at the service centre properly. I'll go for a nice relaxing drive after everything is sorted. I love my car wayyy too much!

Good night.

[rohannr]

Hello again. Sorry to hear about your woes.

I somehow think the car's needs a complete tuneup cum reset of the ecu to let the new sensor synchronize. My advice is call the Exide guys to your place & ask them to check the voltage of the alternator again. If it shows below 13volts, they are pretty good at overhauling the alternator & salvaging it by changing small components like the coil etc. The Chevy A.S.S will quote a bomb for that & recommend complete replacement.

Please try & do this before sending your car to the A.S.S. Btw also please let me know where you're located in Mumbai because the Chevy A.S.S's on the western side have lot of integrity related complaints such as part's theft.

Originally Posted by StrangeWizard

Here's a sad update :
Got the crankshaft sensor changed for 2300. The battery was a bit low so we jump-started the car.

Now the issue is, the battery isn't getting charged by the alternator. The car dies down as soon as I leave the accelerator pedal. Also, the check engine light is constantly staying.

So what my mechanic did was, I started the car and he adjusted the accelerator cable in such a way that a very slight bit of the accelerator is always pressed so that the car doesn't die down.

Then I somehow drove the car about 1kms very slowly till my home with the hazard lights on. Have parked it down just now. She had refused to start on saturday evening and from that time it was parked near my relative's place.

Now tomorrow I'll call up the Chevy A.S.S and tell them to come to my place or tow the car to the service centre and see what's wrong.
I hope its nothing major or expensive.

The battery light indicator was not showing in the instrument panel.

I'm feeling bad now. For the past 16 months she was so reliable and never let me down. And now all of a sudden this happens.
I have always loved driving my car but today was the only drive that I didn't enjoy one bit !

I hope everything gets sorted out at the service centre properly. I'll go for a nice relaxing drive after everything is sorted. I love my car wayyy too much!

Good night.

[StrangeWizard]

Originally Posted by rohannr

Hello again. Sorry to hear about your woes.

I somehow think the car's needs a complete tuneup cum reset of the ecu to let the new sensor synchronize. My advice is call the Exide guys to your place & ask them to check the voltage of the alternator again. If it shows below 13volts, they are pretty good at overhauling the alternator & salvaging it by changing small components like the coil etc. The Chevy A.S.S will quote a bomb for that & recommend complete replacement.

Please try & do this before sending your car to the A.S.S. Btw also please let me know where you're located in Mumbai because the Chevy A.S.S's on the western side have lot of integrity related complaints such as part's theft.

Hey thanks for the suggestions.
Even I feel the car needs an ECU reset. That's why I'm giving it to the chevy a.s.s. The car anyways needs to go for service there as I had bought an AMC from Ashtavinayak last year and 2 services are still left.

If the chevy people quote a really high price then obviously I'll get the work done from outside.
The lights, power windows, horn, ice etc are all working fine.

Its just that the car dies down as soon as I leave the accelerator pedal. It doesn't idle.

Btw I'm not really sure whether the battery light was coming up in the instrument panel before all this happened. I can't remember properly. Can some other Spark owner please confirm whether your battery light comes up or not when the key is at the "ON" position.

I stay at Kandivli so I'll be giving my car to Ashtavinayak Goregaon, they had a service centre at kandivli but now it services Skoda cars.

Cheers.

[rohannr]

If the alternator is totally dead. the battery light will surely come on when the car is running. In some cars it may also be accompanied by the brake light & the ecm light as well.

I feel the problem here is with the idle speed sensor needing re-calibration due to the new sensor being fitted for the crankshaft. This can be sorted out at a competent garage who has a tuning facility.

Originally Posted by StrangeWizard

Hey thanks for the suggestions.
Even I feel the car needs an ECU reset. That's why I'm giving it to the chevy a.s.s. The car anyways needs to go for service there as I had bought an AMC from Ashtavinayak last year and 2 services are still left.

If the chevy people quote a really high price then obviously I'll get the work done from outside.
The lights, power windows, horn, ice etc are all working fine.

Its just that the car dies down as soon as I leave the accelerator pedal. It doesn't idle.

Btw I'm not really sure whether the battery light was coming up in the instrument panel before all this happened. I can't remember properly. Can some other Spark owner please confirm whether your battery light comes up or not when the key is at the "ON" position.

I stay at Kandivli so I'll be giving my car to Ashtavinayak Goregaon, they had a service centre at kandivli but now it services Skoda cars.

Cheers.

[StrangeWizard]

Originally Posted by rohannr

If the alternator is totally dead. the battery light will surely come on when the car is running. In some cars it may also be accompanied by the brake light & the ecm light as well.

I feel the problem here is with the idle speed sensor needing re-calibration due to the new sensor being fitted for the crankshaft. This can be sorted out at a competent garage who has a tuning facility.

Okay I went down just now to check the car.
It started in the first crank itself.
Then it idled properly, but at low revs it started jerking a lot. This thing happens when you're driving at a really low speed in a high gear.
After revving a bit the car feels normal but again starts jerking after I leave the accelerator pedal.

The check engine light is still coming though. And the battery light is not coming.

I googled up a bit just now. I think I'll go down again and drive around for a while near my building and see how it behaves after the engine is a bit heated.
I'll also try to reset the ECU on my own. Has anyone over here tried this?
I googled and found that its quite easy to reset it.

[rohannr]

That's a good sign. Another suggestion: check the battery & see if the eye is green or white before starting. Then drive it for about 10kms & check it again. If it goes red, that means the alternator is not charging at all...if it stays white it could be that the battery just needs replacement due to end of life & if it shows green then all is brilliant & your car just needs a tuneup

All the best & more power to green!!!

Originally Posted by StrangeWizard

Okay I went down just now to check the car.
It started in the first crank itself.
Then it idled properly, but at low revs it started jerking a lot. This thing happens when you're driving at a really low speed in a high gear.
After revving a bit the car feels normal but again starts jerking after I leave the accelerator pedal.

The check engine light is still coming though. And the battery light is not coming.

I googled up a bit just now. I think I'll go down again and drive around for a while near my building and see how it behaves after the engine is a bit heated.
I'll also try to reset the ECU on my own. Has anyone over here tried this?
I googled and found that its quite easy to reset it.

[Latheesh]

Ask them to check the ECU cables too

[Trapezio]

Congrats on your purchase. I cannot help you with the problems but enjoy your car!

[VikrantD]

I read your entire thread. Firstly, congratulations on the Spark. It is indeed a nice little car.

Now for the facts......1. Once the "3 year maintenance free" period is over, start getting used to problems now and then. What you should do is (which I never did)...get the car thoroughly checked and serviced. (Mine is due)

2. Never give your car to those cheap Service Centers at the Western Side. They are highly incompetent.

3. IF YOU CAN...do get your car serviced at Nikhil Motors at Koparkairne. I know .. I know... thats logistically painful, but trust me, get it serviced once and they will rid the car off all problems. Talk to Mr. Girish. He is a good service associate at Nikhil Motors. You can get their number off the internet.

My car is in its 4th year with 47000 on the odo and I need to give it for a big job. Just can't find time.

Good Luck !!!

Originally Posted by StrangeWizard

Okay I went down just now to check the car.
It started in the first crank itself.
Then it idled properly, but at low revs it started jerking a lot. This thing happens when you're driving at a really low speed in a high gear.
After revving a bit the car feels normal but again starts jerking after I leave the accelerator pedal.

The check engine light is still coming though. And the battery light is not coming.

I googled up a bit just now. I think I'll go down again and drive around for a while near my building and see how it behaves after the engine is a bit heated.
I'll also try to reset the ECU on my own. Has anyone over here tried this?
I googled and found that its quite easy to reset it.

[StrangeWizard]

Originally Posted by VikrantD

I read your entire thread. Firstly, congratulations on the Spark. It is indeed a nice little car.

Now for the facts......1. Once the "3 year maintenance free" period is over, start getting used to problems now and then. What you should do is (which I never did)...get the car thoroughly checked and serviced. (Mine is due)

2. Never give your car to those cheap Service Centers at the Western Side. They are highly incompetent.

3. IF YOU CAN...do get your car serviced at Nikhil Motors at Koparkairne. I know .. I know... thats logistically painful, but trust me, get it serviced once and they will rid the car off all problems. Talk to Mr. Girish. He is a good service associate at Nikhil Motors. You can get their number off the internet.

My car is in its 4th year with 47000 on the odo and I need to give it for a big job. Just can't find time.

Good Luck !!!

Hey thanks a lot !

Yes I know these mechanics can't diagnose problems properly but I called this particular guy because I know him since a long time (more than 2 yrs).

My car has always been serviced on time, its just that I couldn't service it on time this time. The service was due in July actually.

I'm taking it to Ashtavinayak tomorrow morning. Its an authorized service centre. Before I bought it, it was always serviced at National Garage. After buying it I serviced it for the first time at Ashtavinayak because National has now shut shop.
I'll try out Nikhil Automobiles the next time. I think I can surely spare that much time to take my car there once or maybe even twice a year.

Let's see what the a.s.s guys have to say tomorrow.
My car is almost 5 years old now and done 37000 kms.

Btw how much does your each service cost approx?
My last service costed 13800 because the as had conked off.
I also need to do something about the mileage.

Btw, I tried resetting the car's ECU but I just couldn't remove the 10A ecu fuse. It was too tight.
Cheers.

Edit : what big job do you need to get done in your car?

[VikrantD]

Btw how much does your each service cost approx?
Depends. But not more than 2 grand. Its a different story when parts need to be changed.

My last service costed 13800 because the as had conked off.
I also need to do something about the mileage.
Don't try any stunts with these Chevy cars. Let the service center guys handle it. Visit Nikhil....its good.

Btw, I tried resetting the car's ECU but I just couldn't remove the 10A ecu fuse. It was too tight. Again, let those guys handle it. Even your local mechanic won't be of any help here.


Edit : what big job do you need to get done in your car?
Need to change my silencer, through out the CNG and get back to petrol, change the axle and get a few dents removed.

[StrangeWizard]

Couldn't take the car to the A.S.S because they were full. Got an appointment for tomorrow 10am.

Btw I drove around 2-3kms yesterday. The car stalls during idle if the engine is cold, but after getting warm it idles kinda properly.
Also when I switched on the ac, again the car died down.
And the battery eye was green after driving.

[StrangeWizard]

UPDATE :
Went to the A.S.S to collect the car.
Got a bill of Rs. 4247.
They did a regular service, engine decarbonization, engine tune up, changed the oil in the injectors, engine Tech-2 calibration, wheel alignment and balancing, cleaned the air filter and spark plugs and a regular wash.

Now the story starts:
After driving for a while I felt the AC wasn't cooling properly. So set the blower to speed 2.
Drove 2 kms and the temperature guage started rising and went all the way till the red mark Hot. So I pulled up at the side and called up the SA.
They were discussing who test drove the car etc.

After 20 mins two people arrived at the spot where I had parked my car. They said some relay wasn't working but they didn't have their tools to diagnose the problem because they were on their way home through the same route and the SA had told them to check my car. Then they called up the breakdown incharge who is now on his way here. I'm waiting here at Malad near Hypercity, 5 kms from my place.

Since 1 week I'm facing problems with this car. Really irritated.

[StrangeWizard]

Aaah finally !
The breakdown incharge arrived and diagnosed the problem. The blower relay had busted and that causes the over-heating.
He had got a full box of relays and fuses with him and replaced the blown relay for free.
After that the ac started cooling perfectly and the temperature was at the normal level.

I was really irritated, but some redlining at the Mindspace back road calmed down my mind. ;-).

Cheers.