[pdma]

Last week I experienced a bumpy ride in my car. This happened on some of the roads I took earlier where it behaved well. The car was kind of dancing at low speeds (< 10kmph) on very bad patches and when I negotiated some speed breakers, this concerned me a lot and a quick check with some fellow owners confirmed that some of the folks experienced this behavior in their cars as well in the past. They advised me to get the left suspension pad and other things around checked.

Surprisingly after 2 days, the car started behaving normal and I have taken it to the same stretches where it acted strange earlier and found no issues this time. It is behaving well now and I don't see any concerns (not sure how it auto corrected though, should I post this in the spooky thread we have ). I did get the air pressure checked it seems to be fine as well. I maintain 34 PSI for front and 33 PSI for rear wheels. I will continue to monitor closely to get the assurance I need.

Traffic this week (starting 14 March) in Hyderabad somehow was very bad in comparison to the previous weeks (not sure on the reason). My work timings are from 930 AM to 630 PM, which is not helping me much either. Iam desperately waiting for the clocks to change back by the end of this month and my work time would switch to something better (830 AM to 530 PM) and I should be able to beat the peak traffic. Even now I make sure that I reach office by 845 AM and I avoid the morning peak hour rush to a good extant, but as I cant leave before 630 PM, Iam forced to crawl for about 80% of the distance to my home on my return.

A quick update on FE.

I got the refill done yesterday as Iam planning a drive on the weekend to Medak. Its more about the drive than the destination as its been too long that the car has got to stretch on open roads .







I spent sometime last week in giving the car a good wax session, the time and effort spent seemed worthy (the below poor quality shot from my phone camera is not showing the actual way it looks), the car looks amazing than what we see in the picture here.



Cheers,
pdma.

[pdma]

Saturday 19 March 2016.

Destination : Medak.
No of KM's driven : 240 KM (two way)
Route information : Miyapur Medchal route. From Medchal we continued on NH7 to Ramayampet Road, took the exit on the left after Ramayampet road onto Jukkal - Kallakal Rd/Medak-Yellareddy Rd to reach Pocharam wild life sanctuary.
Road Condition : Excellent
Toll Paid : Rs 105 (two way) at the Medchal toll gate.

Important Note: Do not take the Chegunta-Medak route as the road is in shambles due to ongoing expansion work.

Route Map below.



As planned we started at 7AM and stopped for breakfast a little after the Medchal toll gate around 8AM.

Railway crossing just before hitting NH7 after Gandimysamma Jn.





@ Breakfast with two other friends who accompanied.



Resumed the journey at 845AM on the blissful roads and continued on NH7.

NH7





We followed the GPS directions and exited the toll road on NH7 after Ramayampet. The road from here on was amazing too with some very good curves, no potholes, very minimal traffic, very occasional speed breakers and a railway crossing.

Signboard as soon as we exited the NH7







Google maps asked us to take a right a little before the housing board colony, however when we took the turn we realized that the road is under construction, so dumped the idea and after chat with the locals we continued on the Medak Yellareddy Rd towards housing board colony. We came across a big Right T junction and as directed we took the right turn and the wild life sanctuary is around 7km from here. Good roads continued till the sanctuary.

Road under construction which Google maps missed.



The sanctuary is more of a Deer breading area. One needs to pay a nominal fee per person and the car to enter the area. A guide would accompany you (no additional charges).

Entry Fee details : Per car - Rs 100/-, Per person Rs 20/-.





A little one kept in safety



The stretch inside is around 4.5km and almost all the cars can easily handle the stretch in dry conditions, however I strongly advice to be decisive based on your car during monsoons.

The drive way for the cars



We spotted some deers, wild boars and peacocks during our drive inside the sanctuary (Most of the pics where clicked by a friend with his DSLR, and I will share the same when he sends me a copy of the same).

Inside the sanctuary



Around 11:15 AM we were at the exit gate and decided to skip the Dam as it was dry anyways.
We decided to skip the fort as well, so that we can cover the fort along with the dam in our next drive hopefully post Monsoon.



We headed straight to the famous Medak Cathedral, this is just about 2 km towards Medak from the T junction we took earlier.
While the architecture was amazing, you will be further amazed with the excellent stain glass paintings and the interior.
The peacefulness when you sit inside the church is something that you are sure to carry along with you for a long time.



Around 1230PM we started our drive back to Hyderabad and we decided to take the Medak-Chegunta road and this turned out to be a very bad decision. The roads were in a very bad state and the entire stretch is undergoing expansion. I would strongly advice you to take the same route that we took during the onward journey.

We stopped for lunch at Hamsa Family dhaba, just after hitting the NH7 after the chegunta exit. This place is located a few hundred meters on the left side of NH7 towards Hyderabad.
The place has an AC restaurant and the food was ok, price was reasonable as we paid Rs 1100/- for 7 people.
I stuck to 70kmph on the return post lunch as I just wanted to cruise and enjoy the lovely roads and the machine. We reached home around 4PM, took a good shower and settled in front of the box for the IND-PAK match for the rest of the evening.

I maintained good speeds during the onward drive and was zipping all along. The car gobbled the lustrous curves at triple digit speeds (as if it was starving) which are in decent numbers after the NH7 exit (Ramayampet) towards Pocharam sanctuary. The earlier mentioned suspension seems to have vanished as I got to chance to observe the behavior very closely when we took the Medak - Chegunta road (bad stretch).
So the first highway drive of 2016 is logged by the car and I will keep looking out for the opportunities to pursue my romance with the machine.



Cheers,
pdma.

[pdma]

The earlier reported unsettled ride in the car was back again in the past 2 weeks and the car was bouncing more than expected at slow speeds when negotiating speed breakers.There was a small thud sound as well very ocassionally from the front suspension. Alteration of PSI in the tyres helped to a certain extant (earlier Front 36, Rear 33, now Front 34, Rear 33) but the ride definetly was not as pleasent as before. I wanted to have this addressed in my next visit to FASC.

FIAT Summer Service Camp

Received a text message on Saturday (09-April) followed by a call regarding the camp from AV Motors. The camp as usual was expected to cover the basic checks, with an addition of AC disinfectant service this time.





I called AV Motors at 9AM today (April 13) and booked a slot for 1030 AM. I reached the place by 1010 AM and the job card was quickly prepared. Apart from the camp, I wanted to get the suspension duly checked due to the unsettled ride I had in some instances. I also also reported the door accunator issue (occasional miss in auto lock at 20kmph). I tagged along with Venkat a senior technician for a through test drive and he did confirm that the car is not absorbing uneven roads as expected. In the next 10 min the car was taken to the service bay and the work on the suspension began.

Job card



At the bay



Both the front and suspensions have been removed completely and stripped down. They have performed some procedure on the springs by applying pressure (I assume this is to reduce any uneven gaps in the coil springs). At the end of the springs they have attached two soft plastic extensions as seen in the pics below. The elastic pads & bushes inside were aligned into position and checked for any issues (none noticed). The suspension was put back in place and secured properly.









All the work was carried in the personal supervision of the Sr technician and I felt good about it. Also the mechanic who was assigned to my car is well known to me and I too was around him which he did not mind (I dont poke my nose in the work being done, and I stand around just out of curiosity and to see how things are done).



The regular checks as part of service camp were performed. Air & AC filters cleaned, consumables checked and replenished as needed. The battery health was also checked and no concerns here. The tyre's were checked for any uneven wear and tear, thankfully nothing noticed and the stock tyre's are confirmed to be in good shape.





Battery showing apt voltage



The AC disinfectant was properly sprayed into the condenser after removing some plastic panels near the pedal well, post the spray session the doors were left open and the AC was run for the next 10 min for complete circulation. While I know that many service centers charge at least Rs 800/- for this treatment, it is a good gesture from FIAT to offer it for free.

Some pictures of work being done





So after close to 2 hours, it was time again to take a test drive to check the behavior of the suspension. We took some bad roads around service center and the moment we deliberately hit the first pot hole I had a smile on my face, the pleasantness returned in the ride and my peace of mind restored. I drove around for another 5 min tossed it in pot holes and on speed breakers and returned with satisfaction. The door accunator behaved fine in both the instances of test drive and FASC said that they would make an entry in the system and check this again during my next visit and replace if needed. I opted out of the body wash as I recently got my car washed, and the SA informed me that I can use this free wash any time when I prefer at a later point of time.

The bill was prepared, and it was Rs 0.00/- . I drove out at 1240 PM. Overall good experience with FASC .

[pdma]

Hyderabad - Shirdi - Pune - Hyderabad.

Start date & Time : 29 April 2016, 3:15 AM.
Return date & Time : 01 May 2016, 08:00 PM.

So I had a day off on Friday (April 29) and we planned a trip to Shirdi & Pune (to meet some cousins). We used Oyo App to make a reservation and got a pleasant deal for a night (including breakfast) for 3 adults & 1 kid. Our planned start time was 3 AM, however we re slightly delayed. From the previous year experience we decided to take the Hyderabad - Nizamabad - Bodhan - Aundah - Jalna - Aurangabad - Shirdi )which was better when we traveled last year) than the regular Sholapur - Ahmednagar - Shirdi route. But when I set the GPS on my phone, it showed me the route via Nirmal and I thought lets give it a try and proceeded.



With the road conditions improved between Zaheerabad and Sholapur (update below), may be this is a better way to take to save time and distance as well. The below route should be avoiding the pathetic road conditions between Temburni and Ahmednagar, however I do not have any first hand information on the road condition between Daund & Ahmednagar.



On the way to Aundah



We reached Shirdi around 3 PM, checked into the hotel, took a good shower and around 4 PM we were in the Darshan queue. After a good meal at Prasadalaya, we retired to bed by 830 PM. Next day we were up by 430 AM another good and peaceful Darshan, came back had some good breakfast and we started our journey to Pune.



Stopped for some good sugarcane juice en-route and bought Anar (pomegranate) which was being sold along the highway at throw away prices.

Ahmednagar bypass





Short break to relish some fresh sugar case juice.





We reached Pune by lunch time, spent the rest of the afternoon and evening with cousins. Retired to bed late night.
The next day we just had some coffee in the morning, and proceeded to have very early lunch at 1030 AM, this is to avoid breaks on our journey. The primary reason being the road expansion work between Zaheerabad and Sholapur and I wanted to reach Sangareddy before 7PM to avoid the mahem of the volvo's and other buses that start in the evening from Hyderabad. Lunch & snacks were packed for the 6 year old on board with us and we started at 11 AM sharp. After negotiating some nagging traffic until Urli Kanchan, the roads opened up and my father did some high speeds to cover some lost time. Just before reaching Sholapur, we stopped for a bio break and a 5 min stretch and knowing what is ahead, I took over the steering wheel to avoid stress and pressure for my father (Its not that he cant drive, but why when not needed).





I received good updates on this route (Sholapur - Hyderabad) from another friend on HVK forum (Joshua), I wanted to try my luck this time (with the bad experience still lingering on my mind from last year). The roads were way better and in some stretches excellent where the speeds can be maintained without stressing the car to cover the distance.

New roads laid



Somewhere between Omerga to Humnbad



Karnataka border



Another successful trip on the beloved Linea was completed and with every trip my respect for the car increases. The suspension, comfort and the noise insulation give you peace no matter what tarmac is under those wheels .
The stock good year tires behaved well yet again, however on two occasions where I had to break real hard to avoid bouncing off unmarked speed breakers the tires squealed which did not happen till date, so I assume with close to half of the life done, some age factor is slowly catching up on them.



End of the trip my lovely car crossed the 20K mark . Time for a wheel rotation, alignment and rotation session. Will head to FASC sometime this week to have that complete as per my schedule.

Cheers,
pdma.

PS : Special thanks to my dear wife, who took pictures & patiently made a note of the details on road conditions, distance and fuel pump status which helped me complete the trackers posted above.

[pdma]

07-May-2016

A visit to FASC (AV Motors) to get the scheduled wheel balancing, wheel alignment & rotation done.

Start Time : 3:30 PM.
End Time : 5:30 PM.

I pre booked the time slot in the morning. The job card was promptly opened and the I requested for a through checkup of under body and suspension as well just to rule out any issues post my recent trip to Maharashtra where some stretches of the road were bad.

Checks in progress.



WA, WB & Rotation in progress.



The car got the much needed wash after the highway trip (complimentary service).



They have lubricated the door glass channels as well (complimentary service), this was a good gesture from FASC.



Total Bill : Rs 940/- for WA & WB inclusive of taxes (which I felt is fine, as this included complete wash, the same would have costed me atleast Rs 400/- had I got it done else where)

Cheers,
Pradeep.

[pdma]

Attaching the recent WA report, which I missed earlier.



Cheers,
pdma.

[pdma]

General Update

The car is doing fine and keeping me happy. Off late there is an intermittent small squeak from the front passenger seat, this happens occasionally when empty or occupied. Iam yet to isolate the noise to a point, post which I need to see how to get this addressed. I have searched the forum and this seems to be a known issue, however there was not proper fix updated by anyone.
Apart from this issue, there is nothing else to report.

FE Update

Its been a while that I shared the updated FE chat and iam attaching the same below. My car continues to impress me on the FE front as well.



Wax Session

Its been a few months that the car received a full wax and swirl removal session. With the rainy season about to start, it was time for the work to be done. I have used Collinite 845 this time and pretty happy with the results.



Just before starting to work on a regular day.



Cheers,
Pradeep.

[pdma]

FE Update

The car is running fine and has crossed 22,000 KM.
I was also able to isolate the source of the squeak and the culprit turned out to be the headrest and not the front passenger seat as suspected in my earlier post. More on this in my next post.





Updated Chart



Cheers,
Pradeep.

[Rahulkool]

You have maintained the car really well, looks fantastic. Looks like the FASS at hyderabad is really generous, all that suspension work for free

[pdma]

Originally Posted by Rahulkool

You have maintained the car really well, looks fantastic. Looks like the FASS at hyderabad is really generous, all that suspension work for free

Thank You Rahul,

Well, it's not the full suspension work just a little part of it, still I agree the job was done free of cost without any fuss 😃.

Cheers,
Pradeep.

[pdma]

June 20 2016 - Monsoon Service camp.

The seasonal free camp was organized by FIAT between June 20 - June 25, with some good discounts on some value added services.
I pre-booked the slot with AV Motors for Monday June 20 and I was at the service center by 9:15 AM. The Job card was prepared, apart from the free 30 point checkup and full wash I had the following issues reported.

1) Arm rest Squeak.
2) Erratic horn (happens only during rains).

As there was a decent 20% discount on some value added services, I have opted for a full interior & upholstery cleaning. Since my car has stock fabric interiors and the climate was cloudy, we have agreed that I will pick the car the next day so that we give the interiors sufficient drying time.

Issue with the horn

The dual horn (after a good rain), changes its tone to mono and gives the feeble "meek meek" sound. The horn resumes to normal working after a few hours of parking, so Iam not very sure what the issue here is. I have reported the same and the SA said that they will tune the horn and check if anything else is wrong. The General Manager for Service from AV was along side the SA when the job card was being prepared and he immediately pitched in to say that in case the tuning and checks do not result in a fix for the issue reported, they will get me a replacement of the horn.
I was fine with the conversation and shook hands with both of them and moved on to the shop floor, to look for my regular mechanic there. Found him, exchanged pleasantries, walked along with him to where the car was parked to ensure that he is assigned the job card, which was done and the car was driven away into the bay by him. I waited for sometime and then left FASC as unlike other days, this time Iam not getting my car in a few hours.

Next day afternoon I got a call from the SA mentioning that the car will be ready by 4 PM. I left a little early from work and was at FASC by 5PM, took a good looks at the interiors and was pretty satisfied with the job done. Went for a test drive with the SA, he mentioned that the hand rest is now tightened and I did not find the squeak. Regarding the horn he mentioned that they have tuned it and it should work fine now.

The bill was Rs 1058/- (for the interior cleaning) after the 20% discount and I was happy with the same.

Horn issue not fixed

Last week we had some good rains in Hyderabad and the issue with horn resurfaced, so I need to get it replaced / fixed in my next visit.

FasTag 'ed

The car received its FasTag a few days back and on a recent trip to Kurnool the tag worked as expected at the toll gate.



Cheers,
pradeep.

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by pdma

2) Erratic horn (happens only during rains).

Horn issue not fixed

No amount of tuning will sort this out. No point fiddling around to get all sorts of tune from the Horn. Replace the faulty one and you should be good. We had the exact issue in my friend's Linea and no amount of tuning helped. However in his case, the horn has served a little over 4 years. Horn is now replaced and working as expected.

[pdma]

Minor mishap.

One of the tyres (which was at rear left) developed a side wall crack and luckily this happened about 3 KM from home, pressed the spare tyre into service and drove the car back.



I have absolutely no idea how this could have happened, I definitely felt bad as I have been maintaining the tyres well with timely WA & WB so that I can keep them as long as I can (approximately 40K was the target). The odo was close to 23,000 KM when this happened. I was lost and sad. After reaching home called FASC to check if they can help with any warranty claim with Good year. They asked me to come over when ever I am free to check what can be done.
The next day I was at FASC and they checked the tyre and said that warranty cannot be claimed the crack doesn't seem to be a manufacturing defect and stock tyres do not come with unconditional warranty.
Some days luck smiles on you and it was one of those days for me, a fellow Linea owner and a very good friend Dr Santosh was at FASC that day and he just got his tyres replaced. He had one tyre which was very sparsely used. He immediately suggested that I can take that in case I prefer. The tyre looked in very good condition and without any apprehension I accepted his offer (the make was Apollo though). FASC was quick enough to swap the tyres and within 15 min car was back on all 4 alloy wheels. The plan now is to use the tyres for another 10-12K and then swap all the 4 to newer ones.

Thank you Dr Santosh for the generous help much appreciated .

Tyre being swapped



Condition of the Tyre shod now

[h14]

Sad to see the tyre issue. I had my bad experiences with the same GoodYear Duraplus, it was back to back punctures with 8k on odo. Decided to let them go and traded them for a okish deal and got Yoko earth1's and that is when I realized that I should have done this on day 1.

Anyways, good luck and keep munching miles

[simplysaj]

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

No amount of tuning will sort this out. No point fiddling around to get all sorts of tune from the Horn. Replace the faulty one and you should be good. We had the exact issue in my friend's Linea and no amount of tuning helped. However in his case, the horn has served a little over 4 years. Horn is now replaced and working as expected.

I have a similar issue sometimes after a rain. It sounds rough like it got a rough throat! Back to normal after some time.