[Manoj Biswas]

Originally Posted by cooldip

As far as I recall Safari has a snorkel.

Please check with the ARB importer in Bangalore. I'm sure he can import one on full payment

Thanks so much, could you please advise the ARB importers contact details, if you have them? Many thanks again!

[RJM]

would you be kind enough to share your contact no.

[HTC]

GV STAYS IN THE FAMILY

@Samurai and all the GV owners,
Thanks for such a wonderful thread and pouring out your experience, sentiments and strong belief in Grand Vitara. This thread and few others are a gold mine for GV owners.
Being said that, I happed to pick up fellow Team BHPian R_R's white GV 2.0 Manual couple of days back even before it was listed in any classifieds. Its first owner was also Team BHPian. I will save the details of this acquisition for a detailed post later.

I brought the GV to Bangalore by road. Covered Delhi to Bangalore in 3 days with a co-driver. We could have done it in 2 days, but thought of quick visit to Taj Mahal and Charminar (Biryani) on the way. Enjoyed the ride. Car interiors defy its age. Well kept by R_R and everything works (including music system). Still needs checks on age related components ( clutch - 50k old, gear lever play, suspension and shoes 5 yrs old). But engine runs like a charm. Pure symphony when you rev. My first tryst with large petrol engine. That linear pull in any gear is such a fun. I didn't even open the bonnet and everything was in perfect condition. wiper fluid tank was full, Fastag account topped up and all. Perks of buying from fellow BHPians I guess. I am not complaining.

Since this is out of state, I need to pay KA Tax and register it to my name. All the documents are in place except for original invoice copy (or a copy for KA tax calculation). This GV is July 2008 registered.
If anyone has copy of July 2008 Grand Vitara 2.0 MT invoice, request to share with me. I will make sure the invoice is used only for the tax calculation purpose and nothing else. Please let me know.

With all due respect to government staff, I know how RTOs work. Any work they feel will not fetch them anything additional will be treated with less priority and if they find a way to drag the process, they will do it happily, which I don't want to happen.

Hoping to hear back from fellow GV owners. Thanks in advance.

Drive safe and have fun,
HTC

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by HTC

[I know how RTOs work. Any work they feel will not fetch them anything additional will be treated with less priority and if they find a way to drag the process, they will do it happily, which I don't want to happen.

Try checking with your local dealer. Else take the contact details Maruti regional office and drop them a nice email asking for confirmation of the MRP in your state at that time. You can mention the intended purpose. Can mark to their centralised customer care ID too.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by HTC

Still needs checks on age related components ( clutch - 50k old

How is that old? My clutch has 162K on it...

Originally Posted by HTC

suspension and shoes 5 yrs old).

I replaced the suspension with Old Man Emu setup 5 years ago.

Originally Posted by HTC

All the documents are in place except for original invoice copy (or a copy for KA tax calculation). This GV is July 2008 registered.
If anyone has copy of July 2008 Grand Vitara 2.0 MT invoice, request to share with me. I will make sure the invoice is used only for the tax calculation purpose and nothing else. Please let me know.

Mine is Nov 2007, does that help?

[HTC]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Try checking with your local dealer. Else take the contact details Maruti regional office and drop them a nice email asking for confirmation of the MRP in your state at that time. You can mention the intended purpose. Can mark to their centralised customer care ID too.

Thanks @Turbanator !
Sounds good. I will send them an email or drop in to their regional office if possible. Thanks for the suggestion.

Originally Posted by Samurai

How is that old? My clutch has 162K on it...

I replaced the suspension with Old Man Emu setup 5 years ago.

Mine is Nov 2007, does that help?

Clutch was overhauled during 80k service. It has run close to 50k post that. I will get it checked to know the condition.
Same with suspension. After getting it checked, will decide on what all needs to be replaced. Car feels unsettled when going over rumble stripcs or small speed breakers with clunky sound.
Between, what was the damage done going for 'the OLD MAN EMU' setup?

You can DM me your invoice. I will check with RTO agent if that helps. Thanks a lot.

Drive Safe and have fun
HTC

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by HTC

Clutch was overhauled during 80k service. It has run close to 50k post that. I will get it checked to know the condition.

Clutch was never touched in my GV. Running fine so far.

Originally Posted by HTC

Between, what was the damage done going for 'the OLD MAN EMU' setup?

Got it imported by Australia, cost me 64K at Swastik Fabs.

Originally Posted by HTC

You can DM me your invoice. I will check with RTO agent if that helps. Thanks a lot.

Our PM doesn't allow attachments. PM your email address.

[Explorer!]

Originally Posted by sridhar-v

I am travelling and will be back in town after a week or so.
It is Manas Auto near Rajaram Bridge. Currently they are in a bit of a mess as all sheds along the river were demolished. They are moving to a proper place nearby.
The supervisor there is Mr. Salim. Mobile: 8308343007. Contact him giving my reference. Show the vehicle to him and get a initial diagnosis.

It was an amazing connect and met Mr.Sridhar over the weekend gone. He was very polite and treated me well, and the connect went for about half of the day.
Very patiently he explained about the GV's nature and issues he had faced and how he handled them with his car. He drove my car to assess the issue i was facing and i drove his car to get a feel and cross reference on the drive experience on the highway. Am summarizing the learning & observation:

1.Regarding the weird noise in my car (coming from front side): After the drive he confirmed that it is due to AT tyre and has nothing to do with the wheel bearing or any other issue and it is quite normal.
2.ATF Oil (Auto transmission): Change the oil with Mobil ATF 3309 or Suzuki AT-OIL 3317 as the running getting close to 80K Kms.
3.I drove his car and found the car was excellent condition and typically the low end torque was really amazing. And he suggested the following to the done.
i.Change of Air filter to KN make. ii.Change of spark plug to Iridium ones iii.Change Engine Oil to Castrol 5W40 Shell fully Synthetic (The first two KN Air filter and Iridium spark plug gives major ~90% difference).
Few other points he advised are (as the vehicle has crossed 15 years) & i plan to cover them in the next service cycle:
1.Change of fluids:
i. Power Steering and Brake.
ii. Transfer Case
iii. Differential - front and rear.
2.Fan belt.
3.Idler Pulley bearing.
4.Tensioner pulley (Check and change if required).
5.Lower arm bushes (if the ball joint is ok), else need to change the entire lower arm.
6.Rear engine support.

Once again Sridhar Sir, Thanks for your time..!
Will keep the forum updated on the progress.

[R_R]

Originally Posted by HTC

GV STAYS IN THE FAMILY

Congratulations, HTC!!

I am very glad that my GV stayed in the TeamBHP family! To be honest, I was a bit worried that HTC decided to do the 2K drive back home in the GV. Though it has been regularly serviced, with the last full service in August, and though I regularly drove it to the hills, the car afterall was almost 15 years old! And my usual hill drives were about 500 kms each way. Says a lot about how good and reliable the GV is that it did the trip without too much bother apparently. I'll miss my GV dearly. As I have repeatedly stated in this forum, if it weren't for the silly 15 year rule in NCR, I would have kept the GV for another five years happily. But satisfied at least that my GV found a great, loving new owner. Happy miles!!

[HTC]

Originally Posted by R_R

Congratulations, HTC!!

I am very glad that my GV stayed in the TeamBHP family!. But satisfied at least that my GV found a great, loving new owner. Happy miles!!

Thanks R_R!

Your GV (till re-registration is done) has already covered close to 3k kms in my hands. Just waiting for RTO formalities to be done. I'm already planning for cruise control installation. Everyone in my circle loved the car.

Got 12+ kmpl FE from Delhi to Bengaluru. Again back to 9kmpl in city and Mysore-Bengaluru stretch. Switched off the FE display for peace of mind .

It wont be fair just replying without pics. So here goes few pics of your GV in last 2 weeks.

[R_R]

Wow, terrific ! Thanks for the photos too! Looking forward to following my/your GV here, and hearing about your adventures and experiences.

[cooldip]

This post was due for a while.

I can't thank Vigsom enough for patiently listening and offering advice.

My GV has done about 105k kms.

Some context on the powertrain

1. XP 95
2. Mobil1 ESP full synth
3. Denso Irridium (installed at 80K kms)
4. Clutch kit + flywheel installed at 80K kms
5. Input shaft bearing installed at 90K kms
6. Release bearing and slave cylinder 90K kms
7. Engine mount installed at 80K kms
8. GB mount installed at 80K kms
9. Clutch bleed at every service + runs Toyota Dot3 brake fluid (I have a Toyota and standardizing fluids makes my life easy)
10. All transmission fluid changed at 95K kms to Toyota GL4 and GL5 oils
11. Throttle body last cleaned at 95K kms using Liqui Moly spray to avoid touching the throttle body
12. New ignition coils installed at 100K kms

The last oil change was at 100K kms with SGP oil filter and air filter (I've been using only SGP parts since I got it at 80K kms). I'll get to this oil change and the anxiety that it caused me.

Problems

1. Jerky start from first gear. I had to rev high and then slip the clutch for a smooth start.
2. When shifting from 1st to 2nd gear the car lost some its grunt and I had to keep the revs high
3. When revving at idle I felt there was a misfire (or I felt so; there was definitely a delay)
4. When revving at idle I could hear a faint sound from the throttle body - sounds similar to revving an old carburetor engine without a air filter

I was expecting the engine to run a lot smoother after I replaced the ignition coils.

However, I was completely baffled at the engine behaviour since there was nothing I could point the root cause to.

My wife drives this car every day. When I asked her she said everything was fine. She mostly things that imagine problems in cars.

The list of suspects were the vacuum plumbing or throttle body plumbing. But I couldn't get to anything. I knew there is a problem but couldn't find anyone who thought as much or at least proved me wrong. I would hate to admit to myself that I was paranoid

That is when I thought that it may not be a bad idea to reach out to Vigsom for help.

It was so nice of him to call and discuss the background on a Friday night. And in true Vigsom fashion we went point by point to understand the problem better. At the end of the call we agreed that he would meet me when in BLR.

The next day I had some time and decided to look at the engine one more time.

After digging and probing around I thought of removing the engine cover and clean it. And there it was - a small oil patch at the filler cap. I touched the cap and I immediately knew the problem.

The filler cap was a little loose: Not at its tightest fit. It was clear the loose cap was the root cause behind the sound of suction and possibly the cause of the engine misbehaviour as well.

Did my best to tighten it without breaking it. The next day I reset the ECM calibration. Drove down to meet Vigsom the next weekend. The drive still wasn't smooth although Vigsom was on the opinion that there was a very low probability of any issue.

It was only last weekend, after the GV had been driven for about 100kms after the ECM reset, that the drive felt amazing. I guess the work on the powertrain is finally beginning to pay off.

Vigsom and I are discussing using a K&N and/or a remap to get over the notorious low end torque. The other engines I drive is a heavily pampered 1KD and a rev-happy G13B - so the low end torque of the J24B does seem like an issue at times.

Thanks so much Vigsom. It is amazing to have another pair of eyes look at a problem.


This is during the last Tabebuia blooming season earlier this year.

[Tanmay K]

Had some water ingress into the GV's cabin from the Bengaluru floods in September, unfortunately was out of town and couldn't get it fixed up until now. Nothing major -while the water level outside was at the silencer level but the carpets were only a bit damp. There was some water in the exhaust pipes which was removed and cleaned and the rest was fine mechanically.

Had the car towed to a Maruti ASS and the cleaning and drying took almost two weeks.

Apparently only the major dealerships are allowed by Maruti to work on water affected cars so its prudent to check with the dealership in advance to avoid unnecessary waste of time and towing costs.

Here is a cost breakdown:

[joshiviv]

Sharing an update done to the GV a few months ago (was itching for some sort of refresh). Got a Pioneer 5450 heat unit put in which supports both Wireless Android Auto and CarPlay. Its been working quite well. Got Metra MET95-7953T from the US so that the stereo doesn't clash too much with the beige interior. I could only get the black plates in India. The HU is integrated into the steering controls and changes its mode to dark mode when I turn on the lights.

[sridhar-v]

Originally Posted by Tanmay K

Here is a cost breakdown:

Attachment 2388533

They seem to have used 0W20 engine oil. That is too thin for an old engine like the GV's. Check and get it changed to at-least a 5w30 rating.