|
Search this Thread | 126,162 views |
29th July 2017, 12:46 | #61 | |
BHPian Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 79
Thanked: 274 Times
| Re: 18 years and 177,000 kilometers with my Maruti Zen Quote:
Last edited by swamyzen : 29th July 2017 at 12:48. | |
(3) Thanks |
The following 3 BHPians Thank swamyzen for this useful post: | baby_antu, Leoshashi, sumitsinha0280 |
|
21st September 2017, 00:24 | #62 |
BHPian Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 79
Thanked: 274 Times
| Re: 18 years and 177,000 kilometers with my Maruti Zen This box of happiness arrived today . What did it contain? Parts which I had lost all hopes on finding. How did it happen? All thanks to Bhpian Leoshashi. Here are the parts which I got today. 1. Seat rails - I searched all over Bangalore and Mysore but was just not able to procure them. Leoshashi also tried his best to get the parts to Bangalore but the seat rails were no more manufactured by Maruti and hence were not available. However, his MASS/MGP store did have them in stock and he shipped them across to Bangalore. The seat rails are after all a part which rarely fails. So naturally, demand too is very low for them and Maruti discontinued it. 2. Zen-VX and Maruti Suzuki stickers - I was 100% sure after the boot door repair that there was no way I could get these stickers and the originality was gone forever. I was in fact sure that Maruti wouldn't even have made these available as spares . After all most would prefer the flashier chrome badges. But, Leoshashi gave me a pleasant surprise! He had found these and bought them exclusively for my Zen. Thanks a lot buddy! Will try and get multiple copies of these made before I use them on Zen. My elder kid has not stopped grinning ever since he saw them! A big shoutout to Bhpian Leoshashi for all the help. Thanks a lot buddy! The bonnet had become a mess and the colour had completely changed. Soap water had no effect. So, went ahead and applied 3M Finish Compound and here are the results. Before After Marks left over by the previous Exide battery are permanent Also applied 3M Premium Liquid Wax to the entire body. An oil change is due in the next 800 kilometres. Will most probably continue with Shell Helix HX-7 10W40 as I am happy with the performance of the engine with this oil and I have around 2L of this oil in my garage. Current odometer reading. Last edited by swamyzen : 21st September 2017 at 00:25. |
(18) Thanks |
The following 18 BHPians Thank swamyzen for this useful post: | --gKrish--, baby_antu, chiranjitp, dailydriver, Gannu_1, irs_2s, karuvally, Leoshashi, MAKMADDY17, paragsachania, R2D2, Researcher, saket77, sumeethaldankar, sumitsinha0280, tacho9000, vaish9925, Viju |
22nd September 2017, 00:54 | #63 | |
Distinguished - BHPian | Re: 18 years and 177,000 kilometers with my Maruti Zen It was my pleasure to source these for your car. Quote:
Regards, Shashi Last edited by Leoshashi : 22nd September 2017 at 00:56. | |
(8) Thanks |
The following 8 BHPians Thank Leoshashi for this useful post: | baby_antu, dailydriver, karuvally, Klub Class, MAKMADDY17, sidindica, sumitsinha0280, swamyzen |
23rd September 2017, 23:57 | #64 |
BHPian Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 79
Thanked: 274 Times
| Re: 18 years and 177,000 kilometers with my Maruti Zen On this day of 23rd September in 1998, among the many Zens' produced on this day, one particular milky white Zen rolled off Maruti's assembly line and this Zen happened to be mine. Today, Zen turned 19 years old! How time flies! Happy birthday Zen . This year Zen gets a break for 2 days i.e. today and tomorrow. Gave Zen a thorough wash yesterday but couldn't do much other than that as I was just back from a highway drive and had to hit the highway again today morning. Was only able to wish her and park her in the garage today morning. A pic of the 19 year old in the garage Last edited by swamyzen : 23rd September 2017 at 23:59. |
(14) Thanks |
The following 14 BHPians Thank swamyzen for this useful post: | Durango Dude, Gannu_1, karuvally, Klub Class, Leoshashi, padmrajravi, paragsachania, Researcher, Shanksta, sukiwa, sumitsinha0280, The Rationalist, vaish9925, VWAllstar |
14th October 2017, 16:32 | #65 | |
Newbie Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Chennai
Posts: 16
Thanked: 57 Times
| Re: 18 years and 177,000 kilometers with my Maruti Zen Quote:
I too have recently acquired a milky White Zen from a relative, since I could not bear letting it go out of the family. It is a December 1999 Model, just over an year younger than yours! I would really appreciate your assistance in maintaining it. Which engine oil has suited the car best? The HX-7 seems to be hard to source in Chennai. My car has done 99700Km, and I wanted something that would keep the engine in good shape. Any recommendations? Also, what should be done to the distributor, leads and sparkplugs? Ever needed to get them overhauled? Thanks. Here is a picture of my car: | |
(7) Thanks |
The following 7 BHPians Thank AdityaRai for this useful post: | --gKrish--, chiranjitp, Leoshashi, Mr.Boss, paragsachania, Researcher, swamyzen |
14th October 2017, 20:51 | #66 | |||
BHPian Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 79
Thanked: 274 Times
| Re: 18 years and 177,000 kilometers with my Maruti Zen Quote:
Wow! That's a very nicely maintained Zen . Congrats! Nice to see a well maintained cousin of my Zen! Would love to help you in maintaining your Zen. Quote:
For my Zen I have used Castrol Magnatec and Shell Helix HX-7 for oil changes. Majority of the kilometres have been clocked using Castrol Magnatec whereas I have used HX-7 for the last 4 oil changes. Between the two there is very little difference. Nearing the 5K kilometres mark, the engine sounded a little smoother when Magnatec was used compared to HX-7 where you will clearly get to know the engine needs an oil change. Other than that at very high revs the engine is slightly smoother with Magnatec. Otherwise, for day to day driving both oils are equally good. Also, for the first two oil changes with HX-7 I was not completely satisfied with the performance but things are much better after the 3rd change. Shell HX-7 should be easily available at a Shell petrol bunk. So for oil changes, I would recommend either Shell Helix HX-7 or Castrol Magnatec in 10W40 grade. For keeping your Zen's engine in the best shape please get the oil changed religiously at 5K km's or lesser because Zen's G10B engine is notorious for having sludging issues if oil changes are not regular. Coming to fuel, please DO NOT fill in any of the premium fuels. I have ended up replacing my Zen's fuel pump because I used Bharat Petroleum's Speed fuel exactly once and that too only 6-7 litres of it. When I used Indian oils xtra premium, I noticed a lot of engine knocking. So, please use only good quality normal unleaded fuel. Quote:
Also, please make sure there's absolutely no rusting near the aprons. Zen's are again notorious for having rusting issues here. Small update on my Zen. A couple of weeks ago, I had a 200 km's highway trip with Zen to Gubbi. For this trip I used the A/C for 100% of the time and got an efficiency of 15 kmpl. A/C and my driving style contributed in a slightly low efficiency but to the A/C's credit, it did work very good. A problem I noted was when the A/C was switched on the engines idling decreased instead of increasing and needed accelerator input to idle smoothly. I think its something to do with carb settings but I don't want to touch the carb for now as pick up and efficiency is good. Got an oil change done yesterday at Shell. Changes were instant this time . Engine sounds very smooth after the oil change and at idling it is Zero Engine Noise for sure! 3l of HX-7 10W40 costed around ₹1400 and a MGP oil filter was used which costed ₹77. I also had a can of HX-7 (used for top up when oil had leaked) which contained about 1l of oil which was used. Regards, swamyzen Last edited by swamyzen : 14th October 2017 at 20:54. | |||
(5) Thanks |
The following 5 BHPians Thank swamyzen for this useful post: | AdityaRai, Leoshashi, paragsachania, R2D2, sumitsinha0280 |
30th October 2017, 02:33 | #67 | |
Distinguished - BHPian | Re: 18 years and 177,000 kilometers with my Maruti Zen Quote:
| |
(16) Thanks |
The following 16 BHPians Thank Leoshashi for this useful post: | baby_antu, chiranjitp, Gannu_1, karuvally, Keynote, Klub Class, MAKMADDY17, paragsachania, R2D2, Researcher, sidindica, sumitsinha0280, swamyzen, tacho9000, vaish9925, WhiteFang |
28th January 2018, 21:56 | #68 |
BHPian Join Date: Dec 2017 Location: Guwahati
Posts: 524
Thanked: 3,943 Times
| Re: 18 years and 177,000 kilometers with my Maruti Zen Congrats on the brilliant review & you seem to remember every small detail right from the showroom visit. May your ZEN continue to serve you for many more years. I might also add that she doesn't look like a 19 year old car, many rare things like the greenwheels sticker, original grill are still in place. In 2015, I was on the lookout for a cheap car for my college runs. The car I finally ended up with is a 01 ZEN Vxi & I have posted few things about her in different threads. But this 01 ZEN Vxi was not the first used car I bought, initially a 98 MH410 (the pre facelift-one) M White ZEN came home in December 2015. She was bought for Rs. 50000, initially both the seller & myself though she was a 98 ZEN lx (had chrome emblems at the back from the mpfi models). Later I came to the conclusion that she was not a lx variant but the pre facelift zen (which had MH410 sticker on the back) due to the fact that she had the non molded roof liner & there was no A-pillar plastic trim. Anyways I sold the 98 ZEN within 1 month, she had severe rusting on the under body, the clutch was very hard, non functional AC, suspension was weak & the brakes were like the non booster assisted M800 ones. But on the positive side the engine & gearbox were in perfect condition. As you said the Carb model had a very weak low end (the mpfi one has noticeably better low end torque) but higher up the revs she used to fly, in the mid range & high end performance I couldn't make out the missing horses in the Carb model w.r.t the mpfi engine. The other thing which I noticed was that the Carb engine would be very sluggish in a cold morning start, the engine would start in one crank but the car would be reluctant to move in low RPMs till the engine is warmed. Not that I am new to Carburetor engine, we have a 99 Omni at home & the Omni too hesitates in a cold morning start but not like the Zen carb. I guess there was some problem with this particular ZEN. Here are some photos I have of her After selling her in January 2016, I bought the 01 ZEN VXi in February 2016. She is nearing the 110k km mark on the odometer. Any particular things I should look out for during the next service? Just after I bought her I replaced all the fluids, filters, spark plugs & then in the 100k km servicing I changed the timing belt, AC belt & alternator belt. What AC gas are you running on your ZEN? Yours is a 98 model, so most likely it came with R12 gas (which is banned & not available) from factory. My 01 Zen too has R12 gas, I would have preferred to get the AC serviced but how to go about filling the R134 gas has left me a bit confused. Last edited by chiranjitp : 28th January 2018 at 22:12. |
(4) Thanks |
The following 4 BHPians Thank chiranjitp for this useful post: | Leoshashi, Researcher, swamyzen, Tanveer02 |
29th January 2018, 09:13 | #69 |
Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Delhi-NCR
Posts: 4,042
Thanked: 63,675 Times
| Re: 18 years and 177,000 kilometers with my Maruti Zen Even though I no longer own a Zen I cant help chiming in. First thank you for sharing your long and successful association with this car. Many comment on Maruti's weak built, thin skin, basic interiors and other alleged shortfalls. But their cars just go on and on and on with very little trouble really even on our broken roads. I have often wondered (I am not an engineer) as to what is it that Maruti does in its design and manufacturing that bigger and ostensibly higher marquees like MB or BMW can't emulate. We had a Zen in the family from 2002 to 2014. I had bought it for my father who passed away a decade back. In 2015 I gave it to our old trusted driver who commutes from 35 kms away. He does this 70 kms round trip in this 15-16 year old car where at least half the distance is full of badly broken village roads. And the car just keeps rolling on. A few years from now when I replace our Honda Jazz I would seriously consider a plug-in hybrid if and when Maruti brings out one. |
(3) Thanks |
The following 3 BHPians Thank V.Narayan for this useful post: | chiranjitp, Leoshashi, swamyzen |
29th January 2018, 09:27 | #70 |
BHPian | Re: 18 years and 177,000 kilometers with my Maruti Zen Suzuki's are all about cheap and fun to drive,you will also find it to be hot favorite to be modded in many international forums,the amount of stuff they have done including matching bottom end of one to top end of another etc etc is just mesmerizing. I too am a big fan of Suzuki's and more so cause they are very very reliable and last a long time with just time to time oil replacement and some basic tuneup.One of my zen has crossed over 2lakhs kms and still going strong.All i do is replace fluids time to time and alignment every 5k kilometers. |
(3) Thanks |
The following 3 BHPians Thank scorpian for this useful post: | chiranjitp, Leoshashi, swamyzen |
12th February 2018, 16:07 | #71 | ||
Distinguished - BHPian | Re: 18 years and 177,000 kilometers with my Maruti Zen Quote:
Quote:
I guess you shouldn't worry about hatch stickers anymore. | ||
(7) Thanks |
The following 7 BHPians Thank Leoshashi for this useful post: | baby_antu, karuvally, Klub Class, MAKMADDY17, Researcher, sumitsinha0280, swamyzen |
|
12th February 2018, 23:15 | #72 | |||||||
BHPian Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 79
Thanked: 274 Times
| Re: 18 years and 177,000 kilometers with my Maruti Zen Quote: Quote: Quote:
Quote:
From what I have seen in the past 19 years with my Zen, this engine heavily depends on how the engine is warmed up on a cold start and the subsequent driving pattern. When the engine is idled for 5 minutes on a cold start, driven for a couple of kilometres, is switched off for 10 minutes and then restarted, the engine will be butter smooth. But, if you only idle it for 5 minutes, drive around for say half an hour without switching the engine off, the engine runs slightly rough. This however, is not the case with the modern engines ( again only from what I have driven). Zen's carburetted engine is really sluggish when it is not fully warmed and at times can irritate the driver as the engine revs high in first gear and when you slot to second gear there will be a lack of pick up. I have failed to notice the same in the carburettor versions of Maruti Omni and Maruti 800. The low end torque of the MPFi Zen is very good compared to the carburetted Zen, as I got to experience on driving Bhpian Saishivaj's Zen. Also the clutch was very light and smooth compared to the clutch in my Zen. Quote:
My Zen currently runs on the stock AC system. No changes made to it whatsoever means it still runs the R12 gas. A couple of years ago I got the entire AC system overhauled at a FNG and R12 gas was used. From my understanding, R134 gas cannot be used in our cars AC system running on R12 gas. The entire AC system can be changed to run on R134 gas but is expensive and from what I have heard costs more than 10,000 rupees for the conversion. Quote:
From what I have seen, with regular maintenance they just soldier on and on. A plug-in hybrid from Maruti would definitely be great and I wouldn't mind buying it for city commutes! Quote:
Nice to meet another long term Zen owner on the forum! Yes, Suzuki's are indeed about cheap and fun to drive cars. In 2012, when I had been to Europe I was surprised to find Zen's there (called as the Alto there) still running and a couple of them even modified! I am pretty sure if all the fluids are changed on time and the engine is taken care of, a Zen's engine can run close to 3 lakh kilometres before requiring major maintenance. Updates on Zen: 1. Accident: On 26th October, my wife had taken the car to run an errand. While waiting at a signal a guy on a Royal Enfield decided to squeeze in between my Zen and the auto next to my Zen to run the red signal, while maintaining a good speed. He ended up loosing balance while negotiating the gap and ended up falling on the front left fender of my Zen. Within a second, he immediately got back onto the bike and sped away after gifting a big dent on the left fender. The next day I visited Trend Automobiles and got the dent fixed by their PDR process. The job was very well done and I was out with the dent fixed within 2 hours. The damage: After PDR: Overall I would highly recommend Trend Automobiles for their PDR process! I also got the seat rails fixed which I had received from D-Bhpian Leoshashi. Once again, thanks a lot to Leoshashi! They have been working great with no problems whatsoever! 2. Service: Got the bi-annual service done at Mandovi. No parts were changed, the spark plugs were cleaned and the clutch cable was adjusted. 3. Tyre puncture and wheel alignment: A screw punctured the front right tyre. Wheel alignment and balancing was also due. So, got both the jobs done at Tyre Professionals. I was not in town when the puncture happened. So,my elder son spotted the puncture, parked Zen on a level surface and replaced the punctured tyre with the spare. This was the image I got as a "Good Morning" message. 5. The air intake pipe had cracked and was cut due to age. There was absolutely no difference in the engine due to the pipe but went ahead and replaced it. The new replacement part is not MGP, as I was unable to source it. Took 5 minutes to replace and the replacement part cost was 70 rupees. Old pipe New non-MGP pipe 4. The odometer finally crossed the 1,80,000 mark on 4th February. Last week, Zen saw a running of about 50 kilometres a day for 3 days in heavy traffic between BTM Layout and Manyata Tech Park. Got a fuel efficiency of about 11 kmpl for the 150 odd kilometres travelled in 3 days. Current odometer reading 5. Got rid of the TV on the rear view mirror today as the mirror tilted downwards due to the heavy weight of the TV after a few minutes of adjusting the mirror. The key to happiness and wonderful memories from the last 19 years Ciao, till the next update! Regards, Swamyzen Last edited by swamyzen : 12th February 2018 at 23:17. | |||||||
(11) Thanks |
The following 11 BHPians Thank swamyzen for this useful post: | baby_antu, BeemerBug_06, chiranjitp, dailydriver, karuvally, Klub Class, Leoshashi, MAKMADDY17, Researcher, V.Narayan, vaasu |
9th September 2020, 19:35 | #73 | |
BHPian Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: KA03/JH05
Posts: 114
Thanked: 149 Times
| Re: 18 years and 177,000 kilometers with my Maruti Zen Quote:
Regards, Rahul | |
() Thanks |
10th September 2020, 14:52 | #74 | |
BHPian Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 79
Thanked: 274 Times
| Re: 18 years and 177,000 kilometers with my Maruti Zen Quote:
I did check about the possibilities of restoration with my seat upholstery/accessory shop in Jayanagar, Bangalore. He was of the opinion that the original door pads cannot be fixed. The cloth/Rexine material is moulded onto the pads and hence, he wouldn't be able to redo the same at his shop. I did briefly consider the option of buying new ones but the dark grey ones present in my Zen are not available for sale anymore. However, light grey door pads of the later model Zen are available on Boodmo.com (the rear left door pad is unavailable). Links - 1. Front door RH 2. Front door LH 3. Rear door RH Odometer update - 1,91,348 kilometres completed! Latest pic! Regards, Swamyzen | |
(3) Thanks |
The following 3 BHPians Thank swamyzen for this useful post: | Leoshashi, Researcher, verma_rahul |
10th September 2020, 15:30 | #75 | |
BHPian Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: KA03/JH05
Posts: 114
Thanked: 149 Times
| Re: 18 years and 177,000 kilometers with my Maruti Zen Quote:
While, I have been sourcing most of the spare parts from the local MGP Dealer as well as Boodmo, door trims are the ones which are making me sweat! Boodmo does have FR with power window option but the FL are with manual window controller option. Hence, no match between the two. I've been able to source the front door trims though (manual controller option) from the used spare part market, and have placed the order about a week back for RR with Boodmo, but sourcing RL is difficult. Meanwhile, got in touch with Birla Corp (Head-Trims Division), as they were the suppliers of door trims (cardboard ones with leatherite lamination) to Maruti, to check if they have any stock lying in their warehouses at Gurgaon or Kolkata (even if it was dirty but in usable condition) but no luck at all. They got back and confirmed that they have none in "physical stock". Now in touch with the manufacturers of fiber ones (again direct suppliers to Maruti, Skoda etc.), hoping to get a confirmation by Monday. Not sure how does Boodmo sync up with its suppliers for parts availability. I mean how can the suppliers/manufacturers supply parts for just one door and ignore the rest of the doors. Rahul | |
(2) Thanks |
The following 2 BHPians Thank verma_rahul for this useful post: | Researcher, swamyzen |