[vnabhi]

Ol' Faithful completes 13 years today, with a little over 71700 clicks on the odo. Unfortunately I did not get time to take her for a spin today, though my daughter did. I vividly remember the day I took delivery of the car and drove to the Steel Township in Vizag. And boy o boy, I was riddled with so many questions over the following days.

The most recent spin was to Charminar area on the eve of Ramzan. Even among thick crowds, it was easy to drive the car. No issues so far that would propel me to think of changing the car. The only issues I've had in the recent past were a malfunctioning boot lock and a few rattles from the rear bumper.

The boot lock was fixed at an FNG for Rs 200, as it did not make sense to change the entire set. Moreover, I was not too sure if that part would be readily available, as it is the oldest model's lock.

I'm living with the rattles from the rear, and might change the rear bumper in the next round of maintenance.

The car still draws a smile to my face for its practicality in the city.

[vnabhi]

Ol' Faithful keeps chugging on, with more than 75500 clicks on the odo. Only minor issue I've had is that one of the Autocops remotes stopped working. Despite changing the battery, it would not work. The other remote was working fine, but it had two issues:

1. The key attached to it had a slight crack, and I was afraid it would grow and break one day.
2. The antenna attached to it kept falling off. As it was a spare set, it was safely tucked away for emergencies like now.

As Autocops was charging 320 INR for a house visit, plus replacement charges of around 1 K approx, I thought of visiting my local accessories shop. Despite him calling the Autocops guy several times over the past month, he did not turn up.

During the interim, I had left the spare key in the car. But alas, my wife loaned the car for half a day to a friend, and he lost the antenna! How careless can one be? Instead of using the key that was given (with remote not working), that guy helped himself to the spare that was in the car and lost the antenna. As a result, we were manually locking the car for two weeks.

Only yesterday, the car accessories guy took both remotes and replaced the antenna from the non-working one to the one that was working. And lo behold, I have a working remote now! The other one is now back in safe custody for emergencies. So what if it does not have an antenna and has a cracked key?

Overall everything is great, including the AC, which was never serviced in the past 14 years! The car is due for its annual service this month, before it completes 14 years. Only issue is some squeaking sound from the rear brakes on mild brakes.

[vnabhi]

The Waggie went for its annual ritual last month to Saboo Motors nearby, and the bill came to Rs 6978.

Items changed and work carried out comprised synthetic engine oil, oil filter, coolant, brake oil, brake drum and caliper greasing, front brake pads change, new wipers and new RA7YC spark plugs.

Ol' Faithful keeps chugging on with its bullet-proof reliability over the past 14 years. The odo reading today stands at 76019 kms.

[vnabhi]

Despite the greasing of rear brake drums and caliper greasing, the squeaky sounds when the car starts moving for the first time in the day continue. The sound vanishes after the car picks up some speed, only to return during early morning, when moving from standstill. I think it needs another visit to the service center.

This apart, the clutch plates seem to be at the end of their life, as the biting point is only at the last 20% of the clutch travel. With 76.5 K on the odo, I guess this is normal clutch wear. Does anyone know how much a clutch overhaul will cost? I think it might be wise to change the fly wheel and the clutch release bearing too, what say?

[bluevolt]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Despite the greasing of rear brake drums and caliper greasing, the squeaky sounds when the car starts moving for the first time in the day continue. The sound vanishes after the car picks up some speed, only to return during early morning, when moving from standstill. I think it needs another visit to the service center.

This apart, the clutch plates seem to be at the end of their life, as the biting point is only at the last 20% of the clutch travel. With 76.5 K on the odo, I guess this is normal clutch wear. Does anyone know how much a clutch overhaul will cost? I think it might be wise to change the fly wheel and the clutch release bearing too, what say?

I got my WagonR's clutch overhaul at 44,000 KMs from Maruti SVC.

Here's the expenditure, I paid this amount in November 2013 -

Clutch flywheel = Rs. 1015
clutch set = Rs. 1770
bearing clutch release = Rs. 515
Clutch overhaul = Rs. 2550

Also you may like to refer to this post of mine - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...ml#post3303105

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by bluevolt

I got my WagonR's clutch overhaul at 44,000 KMs from Maruti SVC.

Here's the expenditure, I paid this amount in November 2013 -

Clutch flywheel = Rs. 1015
clutch set = Rs. 1770
bearing clutch release = Rs. 515
Clutch overhaul = Rs. 2550

Also you may like to refer to this post of mine - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...ml#post3303105

Many thanks for the information. I wanted to ask you on what signs you had to identify clutch wear? I tried the method suggested on the dedicated thread, and the car did stall when releasing the clutch from standstill in 3rd gear.

[bluevolt]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Many thanks for the information. I wanted to ask you on what signs you had to identify clutch wear? I tried the method suggested on the dedicated thread, and the car did stall when releasing the clutch from standstill in 3rd gear.

In my case, there was strong burning smell and loud shrilling noise that lead me to take the car to SVC and got to know that the clutch is fried.

Apart from that, I didn't notice any steep lose in pickup( it was getting low gradually though).

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by bluevolt

In my case, there was strong burning smell and loud shrilling noise that lead me to take the car to SVC and got to know that the clutch is fried.

Apart from that, I didn't notice any steep lose in pickup( it was getting low gradually though).

In order to home in on the suspected problem with the clutch, I plan to drive to work tomorrow and also drop my wife. Total to and fro will be around 50 kms, which should be good enough to test the clutch.

Anyways, I think it's been subjected to enough abuse with both my kids learning to drive a car over the past 5 years.

Will keep you posted.

[bluevolt]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

In order to home in on the suspected problem with the clutch, I plan to drive to work tomorrow and also drop my wife. Total to and fro will be around 50 kms, which should be good enough to test the clutch.

Anyways, I think it's been subjected to enough abuse with both my kids learning to drive a car over the past 5 years.

Will keep you posted.

Around 75k KMs on ODO is understandable time for a clutch replacement. Infact I was surprised to have clutch on my car fried so early(44k KMs) despite only being by myself and my dad.

[pgupta]

@vnabhi - I suddenly stumbled upon your thread just to find out your great review of wagon R Lx. I have a similar one which has completed 14 years and still going strong. Completed about 55k so far without a complaint. In fact I fully agree to your comment of "bullet proof reliability". This is my first car and when I bought it from Varun Motors Begumpet, I had to ask a showroom driver to drive it home. :-). Then I learnt driving on this car and have taken this car to Kerala, Bangalore - many times, Aurangabad, Kodaikanal, Tirupati without any issues. I still find this car so easy to drive except for the absence of power steering. The only reason that makes me feel that I might need to think for another small car eventually is that it lacks a power steering. How is your experience on the handling of steering ? Can something be done to make it a little lighter ?

[pgupta]

^ Correction - not 14 years old but 11 years , sorry for the typo.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by pgupta

@vnabhi - I suddenly stumbled upon your thread just to find out your great review of wagon R Lx. I have a similar one which has completed 14 years and still going strong. Completed about 55k so far without a complaint. In fact I fully agree to your comment of "bullet proof reliability". This is my first car and when I bought it from Varun Motors Begumpet, I had to ask a showroom driver to drive it home. :-). Then I learnt driving on this car and have taken this car to Kerala, Bangalore - many times, Aurangabad, Kodaikanal, Tirupati without any issues. I still find this car so easy to drive except for the absence of power steering. The only reason that makes me feel that I might need to think for another small car eventually is that it lacks a power steering. How is your experience on the handling of steering ? Can something be done to make it a little lighter ?

Thanks for posting. Actually mine is an 'LXi', but when I changed the title of this thread a few years back, it looks like the 'i' was inadvertently dropped! So mine does have a power steering that makes city driving very easy, though that does not weigh up enough on highway runs.

My brother in Calcutta has an 'LX' model without a power steering, and he has the same woes as you, as he's finding it difficult to manoevure the car in city-drives, now that he is on the verge of retirement. I drove his 12 year-old car for the first time last month, and did find the steering hard at zero speeds. The trick lies in making it crawl and then turning the steering.

But I found the pick-up much better than mine, and perhaps that is due to none of the enigne's power being diverted to the EPS unit.

As to your query, alas, I don't think anything can be done to retrofit a power steering.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

As to your query, alas, I don't think anything can be done to retrofit a power steering.

In fact it can be retrofitted successfully with all parts in place. All the variants of the F10D then shared the same ECU/ECM and plonking the power steering would not be that a difficult task.

Check if the existing rack would be compatible to include Power Steering motor in it and then do the wiring for powering the PS Motor and routing it via ECU which will be responsible for sending the right voltage to PS Motor based on Torque input on the steering wheel & the vehicle's speed.

Checking with some competent ASC or an FNG for more help on this.

In fact, a Tata ASC in Hassan (AutoMatrix) has successfully installed a PS Unit for a first Gen Indica of my friend 8 years before.

Last but not the least, this is certainly going to be a costly affair that might make your pocket lighter by at least 40-50k including labor .

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

In fact it can be retrofitted successfully with all parts in place. All the variants of the F10D then shared the same ECU/ECM and plonking the power steering would not be that a difficult task.

Check if the existing rack would be compatible to include Power Steering motor in it and then do the wiring for powering the PS Motor and routing it via ECU which will be responsible for sending the right voltage to PS Motor based on Torque input on the steering wheel & the vehicle's speed.

Checking with some competent ASC or an FNG for more help on this.

In fact, a Tata ASC in Hassan (AutoMatrix) has successfully installed a PS Unit for a first Gen Indica of my friend 8 years before.

Last but not the least, this is certainly going to be a costly affair that might make your pocket lighter by at least 40-50k including labor .

That's good news to me! My brother would be delighted and perhaps would not mind spending that amount for an EPS unit.

Coming back to Ol' Faithful, I drove the car around 40 kms yesterday, and the only issues I've noticed were the clutch biting point being at the last 20% of the clutch travel, and also the change to 3rd from second was sometimes slotting it into neutral, causing the engine to over-revvv. It needed a harder shove to 3rd. Even my wife noticed the same when she drove for a part.

Are those symptoms of the clutch plates acting up? But for that, the car was a charm to drive, with very good low end grunt. We had the comfort of chugging around over speed-breakers in 3rd gear and accelerating smoothly after crossing them. The F.E. continues to hover between 11 and 12.5.

[vnabhi]

I drove Ol' Faithful for a few kms last week and was surprised to find new symptoms of clutch wear: in almost all gears, on releasing the clutch pedal, it felt as if the pedal was still depressed. To cut a long story short, the engine RPMs were rising, with no corresponding increase in speed. This was a telltale signal that the clutch was due for repair. The odo had crossed 77300 and the car was 14.5 years old.

I got the clutch assembly inspected and replaced today at MASS, and the total damage came to Rs 7000, including the flywheel. Now the clutch pedal feels so soft that I feel it depresses with hardly any effort at all!

I'll post a feedback after using the car for a few days. I'm not sure which of the following refer to friction plate or pressure plate or clutch plate, but below is the breakup of charges:

• Flywheel Rs 1117.90
• Bearing Input Shaft Rs 193.06
• Cover Clutch (WagonR Minor) Rs 812.23
• Bearing Clutch Release Rs 506.55
• Disc Clutch (WagonR ) Rs 1004.37
• Clutch Assy, Clutch RH Rs 204.37
• Super Lubricant Rs 210.46
• Labor Rs 2250
• VAT Rs 571.32

In addition to the clutch, i got the driver's door handle lever replaced, as it was not opening smoothly. The handle cost around 100 and the labor charges were around 150.

I was checking the Clutch overhaul thread in the Technical Section and found that a Jetta owner had to spend Rs 81000 for a clutch overhaul. After that, I'm feeling kinda happy!