[megazoid]

Hey Shibu,

Congratulations on the GT. We had a discussion around the brakes of the TDI a while back. Are they to your expectations?

[shibujp]

Originally Posted by Turbo_asd

Congrats on your purchase . Happy to see that VW is now catering to the enthusiasts as well.
You are lucky to have the pre-face lift GT TDI. THe new 1.5 mill is apparently not as enticing to drive.

In my opinion 15bhp and 20Nm power advantage over stock is not worth a GT badge. I would rather by the current stock Polo and add a tuning chip than pay extra for the current Polo GT.

Originally Posted by megazoid

Hey Shibu,

Congratulations on the GT. We had a discussion around the brakes of the TDI a while back. Are they to your expectations?

They work well. Slowing down is a very stable and sure thing rather than the tuuch and go feeling that the Swift used to have on stock brakes. I would rather have a bit more bite but that said the braking is adequate. The pads also look good for another 15 - 20K having done around 15K now.

Drive on,
Shibu.

[shibujp]

Completed the 15K service just after Xmas. Odo reading was 15073. I requested them not to do the following things :

1. Fuel Filter replace (to be done at 30K intervals as VW does allow a 30K filter change interval)
2. Wheel balancing and alignment - I get it done outside.
3. Cabin filter change - they marked it as CNA (Customer Not Approved) and did some A/C disinfection instead. I let it slide.
4. No door lube or windshield wash.

What was done in the service was :
1. Oil and oil filter change. The oil filter is a MAHLE unit.
2. Brake cleaning.
3. Air filter change.

I did have a free checkup at 7500 kms prior to this.

Total cost for the 15K service came to around 8600/-. Bills below.



The fabric seats are a dust magnet and I asked about seat cover options. Seems they have VW seat covers for 7500 which they said fits well and will follow the contour of the stock seat exactly. Anyone with those seat covers?

Drive on,
Shibu.

[el lobo 6061]

Originally Posted by shibujp

I requested them not to do the following things :

1. Fuel Filter replace (to be done at 30K intervals as VW does allow a 30K filter change interval)

VW recommends fuel filter to be replaced at 15,000 Kms or 7,500 Kms if fuel contains higher sulfur content. As mentioned in my Vento 1.6 TDi manual.

Originally Posted by shibujp

3. Cabin filter change - they marked it as CNA (Customer Not Approved) and did some A/C disinfection instead. I let it slide.

15,073 Kms old pollen filter would be completely filled with dust and other stuff. Using same would put more strain on your cars air conditioner.

I would suggest you to get both of them replaced ASAP.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by shibujp

Completed the 15K service just after Xmas. Odo reading was 15073. I requested them not to do the following things :

1. Fuel Filter replace (to be done at 30K intervals as VW does allow a 30K filter change interval)
2. Wheel balancing and alignment - I get it done outside.
3. Cabin filter change - they marked it as CNA (Customer Not Approved)

Any specific reason which made you decline the change of the fuel filter and cabin air filter? Fuel filter and the cabin air filter change is a must thanks to the environment we are in.

As posted by 'el lobo 6061', go with what the owners manual says. Best!

[shibujp]

Originally Posted by el lobo 6061

VW recommends fuel filter to be replaced at 15,000 Kms or 7,500 Kms if fuel contains higher sulfur content. As mentioned in my Vento 1.6 TDi manual.


15,073 Kms old pollen filter would be completely filled with dust and other stuff. Using same would put more strain on your cars air conditioner.

I would suggest you to get both of them replaced ASAP.

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Any specific reason which made you decline the change of the fuel filter and cabin air filter? Fuel filter and the cabin air filter change is a must thanks to the environment we are in.

As posted by 'el lobo 6061', go with what the owners manual says. Best!

Did check my pollen filter at close to 10K kms and hardly any dust fell out when I tapped it out.

VW has been varying the information it supplied in successive service booklets for God knows why. Check out this post which show the booklet of a Polo 1.2 TDi - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ml#post3564784. Compare it to the pics of my manual that I have put up.

7500 kms are for diesel with more that 2000ppm sulphur. The IOC diesel supplied contains 350ppm sulphur which is way less. In the link above the booklet clearly states dust/pollen filter replacement at 30k if the car does that mileage in 2 years. Ditto the fuel filter. Infact the service manager also told me that VW prescribes a 30K interval but they advise customers a 15K interval due to our conditions.

Anyway I also do understand that I do run some risk of voiding warranty by delaying certain changes but given that VW had at one time published the intervals that I am following, I am hard pressed to believe that they have suddenly found their car to be unreliable so as to require shorter replacements. And deferring them means a 30% reduction in service cost which is considerable since I would do around 30K kms a year. Even these intervals are way shorter than those on European variants but I would be prepared to put that to the dustier conditions.

Drive on,
Shibu.

[shibujp]

The GT has done 20000kms and it's been a riot. The performance is just great. No major issues but a couple of hiccups that I would be detailing below.

At 20000kms did a DIY brakes cleaning on the front brakes. The pads still look good for another 20k kms at least. Here are the pads in their current state.



Also got my S drives flipped on the rims, rotated and balanced. Usually do this every 10k kms to ensure even wear.

The stock air filter was replaced with a stock K&N filter : E-2447. The engine seems to be a bit more responsive after this.



A couple of gremlins did crop up. Living with one, got to fix the other.

The first one was the glow plug warning light starting to blink. If I try to drive with the light blinking the ECU goes into limp home mode not allowing revs above 2500 rpm. However this seems to crop up out of the blue and since I encountered it 2 weeks back it has not come back. I usually fix it by turning off the engine, waiting a few seconds and then cranking the engine again. Based on my research on the internet it looks like the glow plug light also doubles up as a fault indicator.

The second problem is that the central locking module for the fuel filler cap has failed with the result that the fuel filler cover is permanently open. Got to get this looked into.

Drive on,
Shibu.

[Schoudhury]

Originally Posted by shibujp

The first one was the glow plug warning light starting to blink. If I try to drive with the light blinking the ECU goes into limp home mode not allowing revs above 2500



The second problem is that the central locking module for the fuel filler cap has failed with the result that the fuel filler cover is permanently open. Got to get this looked into.



Drive on,

Shibu.

Did this glow plug issue started after the filter replacement ?
I think you better get it checked, it could be some sensor somewhere not working properly.

[shibujp]

Got the central locking issue fixed today. Apparently the actuator for the fuel filler cap had failed. Replaced under warranty with no charge.

The wait after the replacement of the part was quite bad. Apparently VW has to approve the warranty before they can release the car. Took an hour and a half after the completion of the work.

Originally Posted by Schoudhury

Did this glow plug issue started after the filter replacement ?
I think you better get it checked, it could be some sensor somewhere not working properly.

Nope. This was before the filter was replaced. Today they did run a diagnostic and did nt pick up anything. I did not tell them of this specific issue though. Let me see if it comes up again.

Drive on,
Shibu.

[shibujp]

Did a DIY replacement of the GT's engine oil today. Used Mobil 1 0W - 40 available as a 4 litre pack. It meets the VW 505 00 standards. Did not change the filter though - the car is due for the 30k service in another 6000kms. Was the old stock and got it for around 4300 bucks.

Used about 3.75L of the oil till the dipstick level rose upto 75% between the lowest and highest marks.

I bought the oil before checking the manual and as per the manual it recommends VW 505 01. Mobil 1 meets the VW 505 00 standards. I proceeded to do some research on which engine oil meets this standard in India and found that the so called recommended Castrol Magnatec does not either. If fact as per online information Castrol Edge or Castrol GTX seems to be closest as their data sheets explicitly specify that they meet the VW 505 00 standard while the Castrol Magnatec does not specify it.

I am not sure whether the Castrol Magnatec OE conforms to the VW 505 01/API CJ4/ AMEA C3 standards but wouldn't be surprised if this is another crapshoot.


Between got my VCDS cable courtesy AliExpress so started having some fun with that. Will keep you posted.

Drive on,
Shibu.

[Gannu_1]

Shibu, VW recommends 5W 40. Any particular reason you went with the 0W 40? Indian conditions do not really demand that low cold starts so I am not sure how this low W raring helps.

[shibujp]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

Shibu, VW recommends 5W 40. Any particular reason you went with the 0W 40? Indian conditions do not really demand that low cold starts so I am not sure how this low W raring helps.

They did not have that grade with them. And yep as you mentioned since the cold temp rating is not too important in our part of the world esp. Kerala, I did not press for a 5W rating.

Checking online there is Mobil 1 5W 50 grade now offering excellent wear protection. Will try to get this next time.

Drive on,
Shibu.

[Gannu_1]

Good to hear that. How's the car holding up after the oil change? Curious to know if the grade change had any effect on the performance.

And how did you choose to dispose the old oil?

[shibujp]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

Good to hear that. How's the car holding up after the oil change? Curious to know if the grade change had any effect on the performance.

And how did you choose to dispose the old oil?

Just did it today and still under 100kms since. Initial feel was good but that might be the euphoria of working on my car.

I usually store them in a jerry can and when I have around 10 litres or so find a workshop owner who will take them.

Drive on,
Shibu.

[shibujp]

The Polo has completed 30,000 kilometers and is up for second service.

Took a 900km round trip from my hometown to Yercaud. The route was via Kumily and was a good mix of two lane well paved winding roads and the Bangalore - Dindigul highway. The Polo revealed a side to me that I usually do not get to experience on Kerala's two lane roads and that is it's composure at triple digit speeds. At such speeds the Polo feels like the Swift at around 80 kmph. The suspension tuning ensures that the Polo is not upset easily by undulations in the highway unlike the stiff suspension of the Swift.

I wish though that the Polo had a 6th cog since the revs rise up to around 3000 rpm at around 120kph. The abundance of torque means that you rarely need to downshift to overtake another car on the highway.

Here is the route I took.



Got the S drives flipped on the rims and the tyres rotated. The tyres look good for another 10K.





Since I had not replaced the fuel filter at 15K I decided to get that replaced. Due to other commitments the rest of the 30K service would have to wait till this weekend. The fuel filter replacement cost me around 1600 rupees. Here is the service bill.

The car has been okay so far with no issues other than a failed fuel lib lock actuator. Replaced under warranty.



Drive on,
Shibu.