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Before the new generation GV was launched you had GV XL7 which had V6 engine. The sales speed sometimes 2004 iirc

The battery had been changed once.

It is a replacement filter, same size. No different than installing normal air filter. Can't say I have seen huge improvement.

There are many examples in the country, and to be honest, I have personally seen more of XL7 than new gen GVs in and around Mumbai and NCR.

Most recently one of them was featured in an article, which makes for a good read.
http://soulsteer.com/maruti-suzuki-g...a-after-hours/

Regards,
Shashi

I threw in a K&N filter 33-2361 and find it a boon in the AT.

Dust can't be seen but a lot of it gets trapped for sure in the filter.:)

You could also try higher octane petrol in the car.

Thanks for the feed back. Have completed one majot lot of repairs, so my budget is bust!! Will look at air filter upgrades later on. Currently the upgrade to iridium spark plugs seems to have sorted out the issues regarding drivability.


Here is my report:-

Finally got the front brake discs, pads and pistons changed. Also changed the LH steering end ball joint, air filter and spark plugs.

All oils and fluids were changed. Spark plugs are now NGK Iridium (IFR5J11). Engine oil is Shell 5w40 Helix synthetic.

Fluids basic charges came to Rs. 10,738.69. Major replacement parts cost was Rs. 26,928. Labour charges were Rs. 6,115. (Taxes extra for all).
Total bill was Rs. 49,956.




The Caliper pistons were in bad shape. They were badly rusted on outside diameter as well as inside.


The action end of the piston


The seals were also damaged.


Rust was not allowing the seals to seat properly.


No wonder the brakes were sticking thereby causing wobbling at resonant speeds. SA also reported that the brake pads were "duplicate maal", leading to excessive scoring of the discs.

Uneven pad contact


Scoring & pitting of discs


The only possible reason for this happening was that moisture was absorbed in the brake fluid, which possibly had never been changed. I am thinking of changing rear brake cylinders also as a precaution.

I took the vehicle for a high speed run on the highway, taking it upto unmentionable speeds. The steering juddering problem has been solved. Braking is also very smooth now. The vehicle goes round curves, at speed, as if it is guided on rails. Now the tyres will need to be perfectly balanced.

The vehicle is a changed animal now. The engine is super smooth now. Low speed hesitancy in pickup has disappeared. I attribute the smoothness to changed oil. I feel that the better drivability is due to Iridium plugs.
Air filter does not come in picture as old one was leaking, so actually the new one must be more restrictive.
AT gear box shifts are also smooth. The jerkiness of shifting at lower speeds has gone.

So do get the brake fluid changed at regular intervals. AT oil change, even if done ahead of recommended interval, helps in smoothness immensely. And costs only Rs. 2,208+labour!

I will use the vehicle for some time before coming to a definitive conclusion on the Iridium plugs.

Too lazy to read back about history of your GV right now. But what did this vehicle go through to get calliper cylinder like that?

Frankly I do not know detailed history of the car before May 2015, other than what one can glean from the online system of MASS. My premise is that brake fluid was never changed, even if it was claimed to be serviced. The same case seems to be regarding oils. The pads were not of OE specs & were eating the discs.

So all in all it is a 50K hit over & above what I had anticipated. But the vehicle is a dream to drive now. So need to go for a long trip. Lets see.

Did some tests on the Sub-woofer to see which would be the best way to upgrade the front speakers.

The unit with mounting bracket:


Made in China:


Boost control:


Internals:


The front speakers are stock:


I have changed the rear to JBL co-axials:


I ran some test tones on the head unit to get an idea of the frequency ranges.

The sub-woofer starts from as low as 10Hz and peaks out around 60-70Hz.
Its sweet patch seems to be 35-50Hz.

The front speakers start sounding at 35Hz, but come into their own from 50Hz. onwards. Tweeters went up to 10000Hz. Did not have a test tone higher than that.

The front main speakers are paper bass full range. The tweeter is connected in parallel with the main speakers. I get a feeling that the tweeter are not getting sufficiently powered signal due to this arrangement.

I will now hunt around for a suitable component speakers so that I get better sound stage.

My Grand Vitara ownership completes 8 years today. Since I lost my second parking slot in Bangalore, I am unable to get it to Bangalore regularly anymore. So it is in my office in Manipal right now, and I am in Bangalore.

On Oct 20th, the battery died after serving 5 years and 40 days of active duty. The comical episode that followed the battery failure is mentioned here.

Congratulations, Samurai clap: and wishing you many more trouble-free miles in the Grand Vitara :thumbs up.

After changing the battery recently, I have done above procedure, yet the car is switching off when I idle the engine for 2-3 seconds at any speed.

Say the car moving at 50kms and I need to switch gears. When I press the clutch, the rpm starts dropping. If I don't switch gears within 2 seconds, the rpm drops below 500 and engine switches off. This happens even in traffic lights when I just switch to neutral. After switching to neutral I have to either switch gear or press accelerator within 2 seconds to keep the ignition on.

Talked to my friend at the Maruti workshop. He asked me come in for a throttle body calibration. I half suspected it, now it is confirmed.

Throttle body cleaning or there is a idle air control valve that controls the idle rpm. Many times it gets stuck due to accumulation of muck and cannot hold idle. Cleaning that along with throttle body helps.

The problem started right after battery was changed. The 1 lakh kms service happened couple weeks before that and everything was fine. I did ECM reset procedure many times, it helped, but not entirely.

At the workshop, they did the throttle body calibration in 10 minutes. It is perfect now. No job card, no bill.

For the Suzuki J series engines, whenever battery is removed and reconnected, throttle body calibration and ECM reset has to be done. The SA told me it holds good for SX4 too. What a pain!

Finally did one longish drive (200kms) after my major repairs. Happy to report that the vehicle is in tip top shape.

The main takeaway is that the iridium spark plugs help a lot. I am getting better torque & drivability across all types of driving. Engine has become super smooth. Fuel consumption has improved by almost 1 kmpl in all conditions.
The manager of MASS, who is the resident expert on grand Vitaras, has been helping out in trouble shooting and is aware of the condition of the car ever since I got it in May 2015. Last week, after my trip, he drove the car. He also noticed the change in drivability and was impressed with the difference the iridiums have made.

The model of plugs is NGK IFR5J11. It costs Rs. 1001+taxes each, through MASS,

Hi Guys,
This is my first post on this thread. In my opinion this thread should be renamed as an Encyclopedia and Maintenance Manual for Grand Vitara Ownership In India. I've been a lurker on this thread for quite and while and have been reading posts, comments and discussions since years never ever even remotely thinking that one day I might lay my hands on such a vehicle. Reading and Re-reading this thread gave me enough confidence to finally take the plunge last week.
I finally got my hands on a November 2008 Suzuki Grand Vitara and have started my thread on the Test Drive And Initial Ownership Reports Section to document the decision making, buying and initial ownership report.

Here's the link to the thread
The Red Devil Makes Way For the Silver Fox - My 2008 Grand Vitara

Await expert comments and opinions.