[Priyan]

IKON runs for about 80 to 100 jms even after going to red. One thing good about the car is its constant mileage, never let me down, never ran dry, touch wood!

Realized that owning a 5 yr old / young car has its own disadvantage...depreciation on parts in insurance claim is huge, literally left with nothing! Added to insurance woes, MPL Ford Chennai took enormous time in procuring parts like condensor, fog lamps, etc. My boy has done 95kms in 5 yrs and I was quite upbeat keeping him for long, recent experience with insurance co Iffco Tokia and Ford's delay in procuring parts, has left a distaste in me. My love for IKON is making me go the extra mile in trying to keep him in pristine condition, still feel he is worth the effort. I feel that as long term owners, we need to be cognizant of the additional strain and cost to keep the product intact.

[mykal shoemaker]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

I dont think ol models had warning lights, from red mark ie reserve i have done 80 kms once (highway)

Agree.Old models doesn't have any warning light.
I think in reserve there is around 5+ Litre available.
I did drive 50+ KM with fuel gauge below redline. Never tested beyond that.

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by condor

Benny, LED gone bust ?

How much did the tank take in ? Norm for the level indicated by the needle, I hope.

Hope it's just the indicator having a problem.

Parwath, going by the responses from the others below, looks like there is no warning indicator. :(
Tank took in fuel as per the norm, about 33 litres.

Originally Posted by Jaggu

I dont think ol models had warning lights, from red mark ie reserve i have done 80 kms once (highway)

Originally Posted by dhanushs

Hi Benny,

There is no such warning light for my IKON too, and I guess our versions are more or less, the same. Also, you need not worry, even if the needle is at that mark, there would be enough fuel to run about 50-70kms safely.

Originally Posted by Fordmanchau

Mine is the September 2008 model and it also doesn't come with any LED indicator for low fuel warning. Mine still has the old analogue odometer.
Might be the new models of Ikon which were introduced in Nov 2008 have it.

Originally Posted by Priyan

IKON runs for about 80 to 100 jms even after going to red. One thing good about the car is its constant mileage, never let me down, never ran dry, touch wood!

Originally Posted by mykal shoemaker

Agree.Old models doesn't have any warning light.
I think in reserve there is around 5+ Litre available.
I did drive 50+ KM with fuel gauge below redline. Never tested beyond that.

Thanks for the responses, guys. You learn something new everyday, they say. Looks like i'm not the only one who's had such an experience.

Originally Posted by Priyan

Realized that owning a 5 yr old / young car has its own disadvantage...depreciation on parts in insurance claim is huge, literally left with nothing! Added to insurance woes, MPL Ford Chennai took enormous time in procuring parts like condensor, fog lamps, etc. My boy has done 95kms in 5 yrs and I was quite upbeat keeping him for long, recent experience with insurance co Iffco Tokia and Ford's delay in procuring parts, has left a distaste in me. My love for IKON is making me go the extra mile in trying to keep him in pristine condition, still feel he is worth the effort. I feel that as long term owners, we need to be cognizant of the additional strain and cost to keep the product intact.

Good point there, Priyan. What puzzles me is why it took them so long to procure the parts, considering the vehicle is manufactured near Chennai! Also, the parts aint too different across the years, so wonder why it takes so long.

[Fordmanchau]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Parwath, going by the responses from the others below, looks like there is no warning indicator. :(
Tank took in fuel as per the norm, about 33 litres.Thanks for the responses, guys. You learn something new everyday, they say. Looks like i'm not the only one who's had such an experience.

It was surprising that you were not aware for it all through this 4 long years with your car..
Parwath's TDCI Ikon has a new instrument cluster , does it have the low fuel warning light ?

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by Fordmanchau

It was surprising that you were not aware for it all through this 4 long years with your car..

As i mentioned, this is the first time its touched the red mark on the fuel guage. I have always religiously filled before it does all these years.

[benbsb29]

The car completed 50k kms over the weekend with an impromptu run to Kerala and back. Abolutely no preparation beforehand, all i did was <fill it-shut it-forget it>.

Car was quite composed all the way till 150kmph but i didnt want to push it any further.

FE was 14.xx kmpl and 16.xx kmpl respectively for the to and fro journeys, thanks to the high speeds.

[sammyboy]

Hey Ben, congratulations on the 50K mark .

Need some advice, my Ikon seems to be leaking coolant. I think the pipe has gone kaput as I can see the coolant leaking from under the car. Would the workshop you got the car repaired from (Sejal Motors) be able to take care of it or should I take it to the Metro guys?

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by sammyboy

Need some advice, my Ikon seems to be leaking coolant. I think the pipe has gone kaput as I can see the coolant leaking from under the car. Would the workshop you got the car repaired from (Sejal Motors) be able to take care of it or should I take it to the Metro guys?

Samarth, this shouldnt be a difficult job. Do take your car to them, and ask them to check. If you arent satisfied, you can always fall back on the dealer.

[Damu]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Okie, the reason i had asked is because i had seen on 2 occassions a car which looked like yours in the vicinity of Sarjapur junction. It had slight damage on the driver's side. Thought it could be yours.

Just checked the car on Sunday, yes, it does now bear some damage on the driver's side bumper. My son said a bike guy tried the usual irritating stunt of squeezing in between two cars and hit the Ikon. Bike guys are worse than auto drivers!

Originally Posted by benbsb29

The parts from the place which i mentioned does not carry the Ford Genuine Spares logo or anything, and is more of replacement spares from the same or other vendors...Hope you got what i meant.

Yes I got your meaning. My son has spoken to the Sejal owner and is taking the Ikon there today or tomorrow, will keep you posted.

Originally Posted by benbsb29

I am not sure of how much more the car could run, ..Anyone else had a chance to check if there is a warning lamp displayed in such a situation?

My Ikon (2004 1.6Nxt ZXI) doesn't have a warning light either.

I frequently used to fill at the red mark and there was always around 10 litres (full tank at that point would take about 35 litres), so I guess 70kms or more is possible at red mark, as other owners have mentioned here.

Originally Posted by benbsb29

The car completed 50k kms over the weekend with an impromptu run to Kerala and back. Abolutely no preparation beforehand, all i did was <fill it-shut it-forget it>.

I can vouch for that too, the Ikon has really been reliable for me over last nearly 7 years. Surprises me when some people bash the Ikon. Makes me think that the Ikon needs to be treated well (read timely maintenance) and it will serve you well.

Congrats on the milestone 50k kms!

[sammyboy]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Samarth, this shouldnt be a difficult job. Do take your car to them, and ask them to check. If you arent satisfied, you can always fall back on the dealer.

Thanks Man, will do. Will post my experience.

[condor]

Originally Posted by Fordmanchau

Parwath's TDCI Ikon has a new instrument cluster , does it have the low fuel warning light ?

Yes, it does. Thought I'd check the manual but here's something better :

[Fordmanchau]

Originally Posted by condor

Yes, it does. Thought I'd check the manual but here's something better :

hehe!! Parwath, thanks for putting up the pic.
Checked the ford site yesterday, which talks only about new digital instrument console. Nothing about DTE features, and look at the price ex-showroom chandigarh is 4.97 lakh for the petrol version. In comparison look at the features of FIGO ZXI, and then see the price for the petrol version , it is 4.08 lakhs ex-showroom.
If I had a choice between Figo and Ikon now, it would definitely be a Figo.
Figo Petrol even has 1ps more than the Ikon.!!
Pasting the link for Figo ZXI features.
http://www.ford.co.id/servlet/Conten...Page&site=FIPL

[benbsb29]

A sudden decision was made over the weekend to drive down to Kannur, in Kerala since it was a long weekend. The plan was to catch up with some long lost relatives, as well as some sightseeing.

As usual, it was a fill-it-shut-it drive down, which was over a whole lot of bad roads. Some of the access roads which we had done while in Kerala were trecherous, and the underbody even scraped a rock at some point over a steep climb. Despite the load as well as the tyres which have covered over 52000 kms, the car climbed without any loss of grip.



On Day 2, we visited Muzhappilangad beach which is a drive-in beach. Had a whole lot of fun wave-bashing with the car, and it was interesting to see that i was the only one who ventured into such activities, despite there being other cars on the beach.







After the wave-bashing, we drove back to town to get the car pressure-washed. Found a decent looking place, and the guy was diligent in his task, since we had informed him what the car had just been upto.



On Day 3, i had my first major scare with the car. It was raining cats and dogs in Kerala, and the temperatures were dipping low as well. The car was left parked in the open overnight in the rains, since there was no provision of covered parking. I started the car and was driving it upto our relatives home which was about 200 metres away. On starting the car, it didnt feel normal, as there was some sort of vibration which i had never observed earlier. My mind was overflowing with thoughts about the previous day's water activities and their possible after-effects. Right from where i got onto the road, it was one big steep climb. The car just refused to pull! It was losing power and there was no way it was going up! Both our relative and me were shocked, since the car had to be driven down to Bangalore, and we also had a 18 month kid with us and could take no chances.

I relied on gravity and brought the car down to level ground in reverse. While some others went about questioning Fords, and their complexity, i decided to wait with the engine idling since i had seen the temperature gauge below the C mark. Meanwhile, we walked up and brought down the luggage. After idling the car for about 10 minutes, i noticed the temperature gauge had climbed to above the C mark. The vibration too had gone away.

I once again tried to drive the car up the hill, this time it went up with no issues whatsoever. I then realized it was the cold engine which hadnt reached its optimum
temperature which was the reason.

The drive back to Bangalore was uneventful, save for the roads in Kerala, which made for some very slow progress. Back on Mysore road, it was the usual catch-me-if-you-can mayhem.

The kind of treacherous terrain we traversed along this trip, the extremely steep climbs, no road situations, wave-bashing, high speeds all made me realize how much this car has exceeded whatever expectations we've ever had from it.



Its built tough, and despite the pounding the roads and speedbreakers have given it, there is not a single rattle over these 52,000+ kms. I love the Ikon! Even wifey has refused to allow to sell it when we upgrade. This one is going to be with us for quite some time.

[dhanushs]

I'm glad that you pressure washed MIKE, after that run on the beach. Salt water does some serious damage to the metal on the long run.

Also, which route did you take to Kannur?. I heard that the mananthavady - kutta road is now OK?. or did you go through Sulthan Bathery?.

[condor]

Benny - Lovely pics. Who's at the wheel, when riding those waves ?

benbsb29 : The kind of treacherous terrain we traversed along this trip, the extremely steep climbs, no road situations, wave-bashing, high speeds ...

.. are all still better than Mysore Road.

Btw, you're munching the miles much better than what I am doing with truck. Way to go !