[ashis89]

Originally Posted by svsantosh

Give that R-ORVM an Oscar!

The last ORVM hanging needs a standing ovation...

[ashis89]

When Mrs.A asked where should we go for the birthday dinner, I said Mysore and started looking for restaurants. Cutting the cake was secondary, I had been wanting to experience the new expressway and here was an opportunity.


So off we went to Gardenia restaurant in Mysore, just for a dinner.

The expressway was very busy on a Saturday evening and even at night on the return leg. The toll plaza still has a lot of glitches leading to long wait times. Right now the road lacks signage and street lights. Hope they add those soon.

Here's a short clip of the sunset

https://youtu.be/oXhDafiWPcY

The tank was almost empty when we returned home but since it was late, I didn't stop to refuel. Yesterday, I filled him up to the brim and the tank took in 58.6L of diesel.

And another Hyderabad run today meant the odo crossed 58k. Started at 4:30am and reached by 11:45am





A couple of clicks from today. Spotted a few Seltos facelift being tested near the Kia factory

[ashis89]

We needed some chairs and hence, I made an unplanned trip to Dmart. 3 Nilkamal mid back chairs, a 20L plastic bucket and a broom fit perfectly into the boot after I removed the parcel tray. The next day, I bought 6 ceiling fans, 3 exhaust fans and bunch of tubelights, again fit into the boot. A big boot has always been helpful. When I anticipate that I have to carry bulk luggage, I go prepared by removing the rear parcel tray beforehand. Else I remove and place it on the rear seat. Now, I also need to be careful about not damaging the rear cam when I load the boot.

Spent 3 days/150+ kms going around dusty roads and construction sites. What went as a spic and span hunk, came back as a dusty mud splattered tramp.



Parked in the sun for hours, the interiors and those leatherette seats do get hot but not as much as I expected them to. Probably the non-dark color helps too. AC cools down the cabin soon enough and makes it pleasant.

Mrs.A also gets to drive it regularly during long drives in sections with less traffic. But the overall drive time increases by an hour and half.





My friend has got this dude, a 4*4 D MT. After spending some time with this, I must say this is ages ahead of the old Thar (which I have driven extensively in the past) and is as refined as a car. Super light clutch, not too heavy steering, above average brakes and that ultra refined engine makes it a joy to drive. Speeds of 80-90kmph is where it appears relaxed. Bone tickling ride of the old jeep is gone and this one silently absorbs the bumps (whatever it came). That said, the ride is unsettled with horizontal movements and body roll. IMO, this is a good addition to the garage if someone has another car for long drives. The new Thar won't be comfortable beyond 200 kms or for a family of 4+ members.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by ashis89

So off we went to Gardenia restaurant in Mysore, just for a dinner.

Good job!

You plan a Mangalore drive to have ice cream dinner at Ideal/Pabbas. The former is better, but you can't take your car there.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Good job!

You plan a Mangalore drive to have ice cream dinner at Ideal/Pabbas. The former is better, but you can't take your car there.

That's an interesting coincidence! Since we had other errands and less time, I had chosen Mysore to give my birthday treat. Mangalore has been earmarked for wife's birthday lunch treat.

The last time we were at Mangalore, we went to Pabbas. It was okay, I have had better falooda/gadbad. I try to make it to Ideal next time.

[ashis89]

Odo went past 60k yesterday!



April has been a super busy month for us. Apart from work, we have driven 3200 kms already in this month. Odo crossed 60k yesterday while returning from Hyderabad.


Just yesterday I was wondering how trouble free today's cars are. No planning/check ups needed before any trip. All I do is refuel the Coyote and leave on a 1400 km trip just like that. I continue to wash/clean him myself at home and the Tusa tyre inflator takes care of the tyre pressure once a month.

Yesterday, after a hard day running errands for 2 hours in hot sun, I had lunch and left Hyderabad by 2:30pm. A brief tea break, dinner break at Cube Stop Anantapur and I was home by 11:45pm. And after driving the whole 600 kms, I was fresh enough to unload the car (boot and rear seat were running full), catch up on some TV and roam around before sleeping. Can't ask more from a car.


Hope to get some maintenance work done on the Coyote over the next couple of weeks where I can afford downtime.

Now some pics of the trip

Breakfast break at Cube Stop while going to Hyderabad. It takes about 2.5 hours from Bangalore to reach this place. Food was very good and the washrooms were super clean in the morning 7:30am



Caught up with Vande Bharat in person during one of my 2 trips to Secunderabad railway station. My parents enjoyed the ride on this new futuristic train. Hope such coaches make it to other trains too and the public helps maintain them instead of throwing stones.



The old lady picks up her skirts and gives a tight run for Coyote to catch up only barely
















Since we were hungry by the time we crossed Anantapur and given our past experience, we stopped at Cube Stop again, this time for dinner. Loved all the items we ordered and the washrooms were still very clean at 9PM







Final odo stands at 60319 kms.

[ashis89]

Clutch and Brakes Overhaul

I had been experiencing clutch chattering at times. During the last two services, service advisor had confirmed that the clutch would need replacement but I should use it some more. During the last trip, I felt the clutch slipping at times and decided to replace it.

During long, high speed runs, I noticed that the brakes vibrated under hard braking because of disc warping. While the braking was still very good, the vibration was irritating. So I decided to replace the front discs as well. The pads had a lot of life left but had to replace them as well.

All that ended up costing a neat sum of Rs 56,876 - the highest I have spent on the Coyote so far. That's almost Re.1/km on brakes and clutch.

That's 50k worth of parts and 7k worth of labor costs


I called up my SA Prashanth at Epitome KIA and asked him for an inventory check of the parts. He confirmed the next day that they have stock but suggested I give the car on May 2 so it doesn't get held due to the holidays. Booked an appointment for May 2 including a pick up and drop. The logistics were smooth and they sent the drivers only when I was available at home. I got regular updates and photos from Prashanth. He also got the evaporator coil cleaned to address the recurring musty smell that I get. The car was ready by 3rd evening but I asked them to send it on 4th.

At the time of pick-up


The old parts packed in the boxes, placed in the boot and returned to me


Clutch plate





Pressure plate









Release bearing





Flywheel







Front disc








Brake pads had a lot of life left











Looking at the condition of the discs, pads and flywheel, I could have opted to skim the former and not replace the latter. But they would need attention at a later point. With this replacement, the brakes and clutch shouldn't need any attention for another 50-60k kms.


I had been driving regularly and gotten used to the heavy pedal, the stiff gear lever and jerky shifts. I have driven only few kms post the replacement but the difference is stark - the pedal is super light now, shifts are seamless and the reverse gear falls into place smooth.

Kia spares are expensive - 15.5k for flywheel, 8k for release bearing and 9.5k for clutch kit. Add labor and one ends up spending ~45k on the overhaul. If one replaces the clutch set 3 times in the car's lifetime, they could pay equal money upfront ~1.4L to upgrade to the TC AT variant.

PS: I was wondering that I would spend less than 7k (labor cost in the above KIA bill) on the full clutch overhaul of my WagonR. It is running on OE clutch till date.

[SS80]

Thanks for the detailed update about the clutch change. Yes, disc skimming works well especially when the disc still has usable thickness. However, the brake pedal may not feel confident like when the car was new, due to changes in pedal travel.

My friends Verna had a clutch and brake overhaul, at the Hyundai service centre and the bill came to 61K.
Post that car felt like almost new. If possible please share a few more pictures of the releaser bearing. This looks like the slave cylinder and releaser bearing are one unit hence expensive.

[ashis89]

The brake discs and the flywheel weigh 28+ kgs. Got to know while selling them off at the nearby scrap dealer.

Also got the car washed after a long time. Hopefully the next few weeks remain dry.

Originally Posted by SS80

My friends Verna had a clutch and brake overhaul, at the Hyundai service centre and the bill came to 61K.
Post that car felt like almost new.

I have done a couple of hundred kms so far only within the city, but the brakes and clutch do feel like new.

If possible please share a few more pictures of the releaser bearing. This looks like the slave cylinder and releaser bearing are one unit hence expensive.

Here's a bunch of pictures. Yes it is a single unit

[jithin23]

Woah, that’s a fat bill for a clutch and brake overhaul. Looking by the pics, the flywheel still looks good. Only the clutch plate, pressure plate and release bearing could have been replaced IMO. Discs, yes skimming it would have extended its life further.

[shikh_oberoi]

There's no need to change the flywheel. I don't know why Hyundai service center always ask us to change it. I had santro, i10 and fluidic verna and I never did a flywheel change in a total of 4 lakh kms plus of driving in all cars. And in all these cars, Hyundai asked me to change discs and flywheel.

Anyways why did they charge you for brake disc skimming? Is it the labor for changing the discs?
Also in my 14 years of experience dealing with Hyundai, you can get OEM parts very easily from your nearby car market which costs 60%-80% less than the parts with Hyundai packaging.

[Nalin1]

That is a FAT expense. This just emphasizes the fact that wear and tear start big time after 50,000 or around 7-8 years. If we are going to continue with this car beyond this period, around 1 lakh must be kept aside and be mentally prepared to blow this amount any time.

Also ashis89, did you not consider getting the job done outside KIA SC?.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by jithin23

Woah, that’s a fat bill for a clutch and brake overhaul. Looking by the pics, the flywheel still looks good. Only the clutch plate, pressure plate and release bearing could have been replaced IMO. Discs, yes skimming it would have extended its life further.

I had doubts regarding the flywheel but one can't know until the GB is opened. Also I took the SA's word simply because this maintenance will go on for another ~60k kms.

Originally Posted by shikh_oberoi

There's no need to change the flywheel. I don't know why Hyundai service center always ask us to change it. I had santro, i10 and fluidic verna and I never did a flywheel change in a total of 4 lakh kms plus of driving in all cars. And in all these cars, Hyundai asked me to change discs and flywheel.

Anyways why did they charge you for brake disc skimming? Is it the labor for changing the discs?
Also in my 14 years of experience dealing with Hyundai, you can get OEM parts very easily from your nearby car market which costs 60%-80% less than the parts with Hyundai packaging.

Front brake disc change was my instruction.

They seem to have charged labor separately for the disc and the pad replacement. Parts can be procured from outside if one is getting the work done outside the ASS.

Originally Posted by Nalin1

That is a FAT expense. This just emphasizes the fact that wear and tear start big time after 50,000 or around 7-8 years. If we are going to continue with this car beyond this period, around 1 lakh must be kept aside and be mentally prepared to blow this amount any time.

Also ashis89, did you not consider getting the job done outside KIA SC?.

Agreed. As the car price increases, some of the parts' replacement/maintenance can go disproportionately high. 1 lakh is fair amount one should be mentally prepared to shell out. This is all the more relevant when one is buying a used car (where the purchase cost is low but the service/maintenance will be proportional to the original sale price).

My car has extended warranty until late 2024. I will stick to the ASS until then (and beyond if I don't find a trusted FNG).

[Varun7774]

This kind of information is expected in this forum. Thanks a lot sir. As there are many new players entering Indian market we should be very cautious in choosing the product. Companies sell cars by giving fancy and unwanted features but never disclose after market/ service dark side. Koreans,Germans are dam costly not sure about Japanese.

[ashis89]

Last 1.5 months saw little activity except for a clutch change and 650 kms of city usage. Yesterday, I drove down to Chennakeshava Swami temple, Somnathapura and spent the evening in Mysore before returning. It was a leisure drive and I mostly kept between 80-110 for most the trip.

Started around 11AM from Bellandur and reached Maddur by 1 for a lunch break. Encountered very little traffic except for blocked NICE road exit (somebody was organizing a feast/event and had decided to block half the exit road!). From there, we went straight to the Somnathapura temple at 3PM. By the time we stepped out, it was 5:15PM and clouds decided to give short burst of rain to provide respite from the uneasily high humidity.

Next we reached Mysore Palace by 6, parked at the east gate parking and walked up to the palace to witness the lights. By 7:45PM, we were all very hungry. Left Mysore and stopped at Pujari Fish Land for dinner. Left around 9:30 and reached home at midnight.

Traffic on the Mysore expressway is still a chaos at most times. Most of them are in too much of a hurry and make dangerous moves. There were few examples of two wheelers and cars coming down the wrong way, probably to save some distance. One guy on activa gave a nasty scare to a white XUV700 which seemed to be in tearing hurry. Imagine their surprise when the driver sees the activa coming head on, with their headlight on and that too in the fast lane! Sign boards and street lights are available in some of the stretches and missing in others. And all this at night time only can worsen the situation. I felt like going at 80 most of the time on the return leg.

The Bidadi toll is still glitchy at times, leading to long wait. On the return leg, I thought I missed the exit for Pujari Fish Land as the maps suddenly show me a u-turn 17 kms away to come back to the restaurant. I was thinking of looking for the next alternate restaurant when I see another exit 1 km ahead. My brother who was behind me, calls up explaining about missing the exit and need for another restaurant. Then he finds me waiting a KM ahead at the next exit. There were 4 other cars who took the same exit and went back on the service road to the restaurant. I wonder if there was ever an exit earlier which everyone seemed to miss.


The ODO crossed 61k near HSR


Some pictures from Chennakeshava Swami Temple. A must visit place to witness the Hoyasala architecture































Another beautiful evening at the Mysore Palace, along with the perfect weather. The last time we went was in Dec 2019 and rain had spoilt that evening partially.























Only 1 capture of the car, near Maddur


And of the wheel/new disc while I was waiting for others outside the temple


Final ODO at the end of the night