[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Small-scale home detailing -

Interior vaccum cleaning -











Driver side mats show wear and tear from suffering the woodland bite over the years.



Post washing -



Closer look. Lot of muck under the grille elements -





Grille cleaned. Stickering on Multijet logo removed.



Logos at the rear receive the toothbrush treatment.





This alone felt worth the effort.





Toothbrush treatment for alloy wheels as well -





Cleaning the surface thorough before polish & wax -











Post Amway Silicon Glaze polish + Waxpol wax application -

Though not perfect, should hold fort for another 5k kms I guess.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Back in Bangalore this weekend post a 2000kms trip to hometown. Some random pics taken during the drive -

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Mystery of check engine light!

While driving down from Bangalore to Trivandrum, the check engine light came on midway at Madurai. Being an election day in TN (No, I didn't skip voting - did that in my hometown. ) there were no shops or service centers open, and also I couldn't find anything wrong with the measurables or performance of the car - so I called up my trusted FNG and decided to drive down the rest of the distance into Trivandrum.

Car covered the remaining 300kms in about 6 hours with no performance issues, and the check engine light also disappeared after being parked overnight. Being Easter weekend, FCA workshop was closed for an extended weekend, and I got it checked afterward - they could find only two errors (1. Glow plugs which were giving out separate warnings and I had already decided to replace all four during next service and 2. EGR warning. EGR was last cleaned closer to the 120k service, but the car has been used for a lot of city driving since then - and that could be the reason for the error. However, this wasn't showing as active anymore and the SA also advised to get it cleaned during the upcoming service).

Did another 400kms of two-lane highway run afterward, and the warning lamp has not made an appearance since.

400 kms of highway run mentioned in the last sentence was on the two lane highways in Kerala, however the warning lamp showed up again while driving from Kerala to Karnataka post another 400kms of continous running - so it really has to be the EGR at fault I believe.

Will get the EGR checked and cleaned during the upcoming service. There are more issues that need attention as well this time.

- Low beams are dead again, and this time I noticed the headlamp alignment is gone as well. It is however stuck at the lowest level, so the highways are quite literally falling at the level of low beams now.
- Glow plug warning is on. So a replacement of all four is on the cards.
- This hose with the power steering system has started cracking and needs to be replaced.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Service Experience #29 - Regular Service + EGR, Inlet Manifold & Intercooler cleaning + Glow Plugs replacement @ 1,80,000 kms.
Service Center - Krithi Car Care, Bangalore.

Thankfully the car is not drinking oil yet. Amount of oil drained after 10k kms of running -

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Will get the EGR checked and cleaned during the upcoming service. There are more issues that need attention as well this time.

No wonder the check engine light was getting triggered. Condition of the EGR and inlet manifold was really nasty thanks to all the city driving recently. Was in much better condition when I did the first cleaning at 120k!

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Low beams are dead again, and this time I noticed the headlamp alignment is gone as well.

Reverted back to stock wattage with Osram Night Breaker Laser 60/55W.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Glow plug warning is on. So a replacement of all four is on the cards.

Replaced 3 glow plugs which were having issue.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

This hose with the power steering system has started cracking and needs to be replaced.

Was the EGR Flex hose. Replaced as well.

Costs Involved -

[paragsachania]

Nice you see updates where the number keeps increasing!!!

I wanted to ask you this soon after you posted about the tire upgrade and the subsequent drive. While there is no doubt regarding the cushioned ride due to increased sidewall post upgrade, did you also notice the change in the Speedometer (and hence Odometer) readings due to proportional increase in overall circumference of the tire?

At least for me when I upgraded from 185/65 to 195/65, I could easily notice marginal error in the speedometer (and Odometer) reading. I was happy that the needle was nearly matching the GPS speed (100 GPS vs 98 Speedo). However, the Odometer was more interesting because for the same Door to Door journey I undertook for 220 Kms, It was showing me 211 Kms now. That is nearly 5% lesser than the earlier readings. This in a way also altered the DTE as well as AVG fuel efficiency readings on a really long range of 1500-2000 Kms.

Of course, the reason to share this is to merely ask if you also noticed this which will be a sure for certain behaviour in your Punto too.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Nice you see updates where the number keeps increasing!!!

Thank you sir. I now really want to cross 200k before any upgrade plans. Let's see if that happens, though my current daily usage surely has reduced.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Did you also notice the change in the Speedometer (and hence Odometer) readings due to proportional increase in overall circumference of the tire?

Noticed, yes. But I didn't calculate it accurately. There was a noticeable difference during my trip from Bangalore to Trivandrum and back. Home to home distance was not as usual.

But I was rather worried about the check engine light episode, so was not really in the mood to calculate what was the exact difference.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Officially -

[mxh]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Officially -

Attachment 1881922

Congrats brother! I take it the check engine light issue is resolved now right? Seems like it was just a matter of regular maintenance. Did you check with the service centre what the error code was and its meaning?

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by mxh

Congrats brother! I take it the check engine light issue is resolved now right? Seems like it was just a matter of regular maintenance. Did you check with the service centre what the error code was and its meaning?

Check engine light was triggered by the EGR sensor. And not very surprising if you see the above images.

60k kms of mostly city driving seems to have chocked it bad, whereas the first EGR cleaning I had done only post 120k kms (with a lot of highway driving involved).

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Lapse of judgement at a circle, plus failure to notice the protruding rear crashguard of a TATA Ace resulted in this -

First real damage in all these kilometers. .

[McLaren Rulez]

The damage is only on the bumper and grill - I wouldn't worry. It looks like a relatively easy fix.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

The damage is only on the bumper and grill - I wouldn't worry. It looks like a relatively easy fix.

Yes. Only cosmetic.

In typical FIAT style - need to wait a few days for the parts though. Grille is not in stock with any of the local dealers.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

In typical FIAT style - need to wait a few days for the parts though. Grille is not in stock with any of the local dealers.

How about getting parts from 99rpm.com?

Won't they deliver parts faster than waiting for the ASC to source them?

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

99rpm.com

Last resort. In an earlier interaction, realized they have pathetic customer support.

Car is useable and the damage is only cosmetic. So no big worries on the delay front. Will wait for my FNG to source it.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Service Experience #30 - Engine Mount replacement + Minor accident Damage Repair @ 1,81,700 kms.
Service Center - Krithi Car Care, Bangalore.

Got the car back from body work today. Looks fresh once again!

Feels just as fresh as it looks because the engine mount replacement has made a world of difference to the refinement inside the cabin. I never even realized that the NVH had increased so much, as it would have happened over a very long duration - but it became evident recently with a very noticeable vibration on the steering wheel at idle. Was correctly identified as a faulty engine mount at Krithi Car Care and replaced.

Looks smooth and feels smooth now! No reason to even consider an upgrade, except for peer pressure.

PS: The red Compass doing peek-a-boo belongs to a BHPian.

[gopikb]

Appreciate your resilience Crazy driver. Your posts really give me the confidence that I am not "Crazy" at least given that I drive two fiats - My MJD Punto at 93K on odo and Linea Tjet at 78K on the odo. I absolutely don't have any plans if changing it for the next five years. Like your Krithi Car care, the Pride Cars near my home also gives wonderful service. All the very best as you near your 2 lakh milestone.