[timussharma]

I too had a Chevrolet Beat Petrol which I drove for 75000 kms and was a proud owner for 6 years.
Car required only one major part replacement which were clutch plates apart from that had been no issue with any part.
I just stuck to the basics for regular services and occasionally took it on highways and pushed it to 120 km/h speed. Apart from that myself and my wife had been a very gentle drivers on that little machine.

The day when I was selling it to the broker, cabin was soundless and there was no noise at all. It was same as I had taken it out from the showroom on day one.

Still miss that tiny machine from Chevrolet.

[svsantosh]

Changed the rear brake wheel tandem cylinder and brake shoes. The lasted a good 1.14Lac Kms.

Could not find the OE parts in time, even the TVS brake cylinder was a issue, so settled for a Delhi make. Also the tandem looks different because it is from a Aveo platform, works fine for the last 2K kms, no issues.

[svsantosh]

Car crossed 1.24ish lac Kms mark.

1) Tyres fully worn out

2) Front suspension almost all ball joint components worn out (TRE, Lower arm ball joint, horizontal stabilizer bar link rod)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf8K...ature=youtu.be

3) Steering Inner Link tie rod



4) Front brake Rotors (& pads)


5) Clutch Cover/Pressure plate and Friction plate (old Cover plate didnt need a replacement but had no choice, had to buy the full set.Also did not change the release bearing, took a calculated risk)







Got MRF ZLX 175/65/R14 tyres, alignment and balancing done.



Replaced seat covers to black (a change from seeing all beige interior for 5+ years)

Got AC vents cleaned with 3M Foam Spray, really helps!







***************************

Car has done 2000Kms after the last repair and it feels as good as new. Interior smells fresh (got new vinyl carpet also to get rid of any 5 year old smell). Tyres are good, suspension noise is gone, AC smells fresh. All in all, car is ready for the next few years of service!!

***************************

Costs Involved

Clutch (Cover & Plate) - 6500Rs (OEM)
Suspension parts - 8500Rs (AFM)
Labour - 3000Rs (FNG)
Seat Cover & Flooring & AC Cleanup - 8500Rs
Tyres - 18,500Rs

A Expensive Dusherra after 5 years of ownership!

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by svsantosh

A Expensive Dusherra after 5 years of ownership!

Lot cheaper than buying a new car!

[svsantosh]

200% agree!

With the job market remaining stagnant and economic situation going around, 40-50K for up'ing a existing car for next 2-3 years (at least) makes perfect sense!

[svsantosh]

A Rare update without pics.

Starter motor was displaying erratic signs over last month, my bad I wasnt serious about it. After a full key turn, the starter used to engage after a noticeable half-a-second lag. It wasnt alarming, until, it gave up last sunday morning. No turning, whirring sound.

After a troublesome half day the starter unit was removed from engine bay. Armature, Bearing, Bush nearly the whole unit was kaput. 2500Rs of repairs and 1000Rs for labor later she starts with a much-much smoother action and the showroom condition half-a-crank is back to start the car.

Car completed 1.32Lacs Kms today.

[svsantosh]

22-Feb-2020

Car is nearing 6 years (by June-20), and I experienced its first scare, real one! Stranded on the highway NH47, 35Kms away from Bangalore, at 1:00AM...! Nearly completing a 400Km official trip from TN, I was cruising along at 90-100Kmph, alone in the car, when suddenly I lurched forward gently and the car stalled. This happened when I was in the fast lane, and with some quick thinking I was able to manoeuvre the car quickly using its momentum (in neutral) and hazard lights and a dead hydraulic steering. Cranked it a few times, nothing! ToqruePRO/OBD Scanner didnt yield any results. With nothing left to do, I locked the car up, swung the travel bags and a held the suitcase with dear life and hitched hiked on a 2-wheeler to the nearest auto-rickshaw stand. It was some insane night to remember.

The following morning I googled for a flatbed/hoist service and prayed to the Gods the car is intact in one piece and no truck or biker had rammed it. I tried my level best to kiss the barricade and park and clear the highway as much as possible.



After a few days the local mechanic was able to recommend a local electrician/specialist and he send me these pics. I am surprised how the ECM board got fried and melted the solders after so many years.





With no option I had to accept the sad fact and gave the approval to source a similar board from scrap/gujiri market. Mighty expensive bill at 15K for the board/reprogramming, but I had no choice.



Meanwhile the suspension also was demanding attention and I had already ordered some parts from Boodmo, if only I had been forewarned about this expensive ECM I would have postponed the lower arms and rear springs.



Engine oil, all filters changed and catcon pressure washed and refit.



I was seriously considering selling the car off, but some good talk from petrol head friends and my family made me drop the idea. I intend to complete 2Lac kms for a full-paisa-vasool experience.

Car is back home, a hour with the Bosch pressure washer and some elbow grease, the car is running fine now.

*******Expense Tracker********
Tow - 2,000Rs
ECM+Programmer - 15,000Rs
Boodmo Springs/Arms - 8,500Rs
Mechanic - 3000Rs
Oil from Amazon - 1,700Rs
Flush from Amazon - 350Rs
3 Filters from Boodmo - 750Rs
***************************

Car has completed 1,42,000 Kms.

[sagarpadaki]

Why are you changing the rear springs? Springs do not usually go bad right?

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Why are you changing the rear springs? Springs do not usually go bad right?

Mine did and the car was sitting low. With 4 Pax it will look like a low-rider and scrape nearly all speed-bumps!

[Stribog]

Originally Posted by svsantosh

Mine...

How did you get an ECM for 15k? My Verna ECM went kaput and Hyundai charged me a whopping 80k!

[Tgo]

Originally Posted by Stribog

How did you get an ECM for 15k? My Verna ECM went kaput and Hyundai charged me a whopping 80k!

The one in my Duster cost 53K.

It depends on the integration of other vehicle components in it. Some have the body control and media control functions integrated. He sourced it from a scrap dealer so that's why 15K.

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by Stribog

How did you get an ECM for 15k? My Verna ECM went kaput and Hyundai charged me a whopping 80k!

Originally Posted by Tgo

It depends on the integration of other vehicle components in it. Some have the body control and media control functions integrated. He sourced it from a scrap dealer so that's why 15K.

My car doesnt have anything apart from fuel delivery + Air flow management (throw in the EGR and some other minor sensors). ABS and Airbags increase the cost of ECM by a big margin.

New one itself is 22K (+5K for coding a blank ECM) and time was of essence. So I went in for a 15K all in readily available solution.

[svsantosh]

Was visiting a friends farm land near town and had to pass through roads/paths like below pic.



On return it was dark and ended up missing a pretty large boulder sticking out... I did notice the dent but didnt notice any leak then, so drove on.



By morning, there was a puddle below the car, thankfully oil did not drain out completely, (later calculated around 0.5 ltr had oozed out of the joint packing line). Dad happened to spot this during his morning walk the next day, else I would driven to work and ended up buggering the engine.





The take away of the this post is - "one of the reasons why chevy was kicked out of India..."

****RIDICULOUS SPARES PRICING****





I did my research, got the MGP sump from a local shop, new oil and filter, car is doing fine now!

So much for the unethical pricing of few companies for the same spare part.

[svsantosh]

During this lockdown I was so idle that I took up few car DIY projects, few were stupid, few juggad, few useful.

This post is one of the DIY + Useful ones, can be applied to all petrol and diesel cars that have aged gracefully!

While killing time online I came across a bunch of videos to reduce black smoke and increase pickup and improve FE. While most of them may be a tall order to achieve, it was indeed fun to find something truly dirty and clean them out.

DIY-1
Clean out the Camshaft Position Sensor

Dirty Cam Position Sensor...





Location on the 1.3DDiS Engine head (TCDI, Quadrajet, Punto, etc)



Clean with CRC 2.26 electronic equipment spray cleaner per the youtuber





Mentally, now i know what a 1.5Lac Kms Cam Position Sensor looks like and gives a sense of hope that black smoke is reduced.

DIY-2
Clean out the Manifold Air Pressure Sensor (MAP)


This was a fun DIY because I had to make a custom tool to reach the narrow place near the firewall.

Cut a cheap wrench/rachet/screwdriver


Identify the torx head screw


Blind approach to the screw head


See how close the brake lines are


This was truly dirty!


And voila...


After these two I also did the MAF Mass Airflow sensor inside the air filter box. Since that sensor cleaning topic is discussed to death in this forum, I am avoiding it.

Hope this little DIY helps.

[svsantosh]

Car has completed 6 years in my family and there was a long pending complaint about the slouch ingress and the stress on my lady's back while exiting the car. Well I cannot buy a Nexon for Ecosport for this complaint, but I surely tried my best at a pure juggad (call it ugly, stupid, silly, unsafe etc) that actually turned out to be one of the best useful thing I did on my car (according to my wife at least).

DIY-3
1" Nylon Bushes as a spacer for seat. Picked up some scrap pieces of nylon (bar, plate, what are those called?), took a cutting wheel and drilling machine and made 8 blocks.





Now seats are noticeably taller and under thigh support is pretty adequate, I dont feel like sitting in a low car anymore and long drives have become very welcome.

DIY-4
One thing leads to the other, and now my knee was fouling with the little lever used for tilting down the steering column. Not once in 6 years have I used that feature, so off it goes under a cutting wheel!