[Anupam]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

got the car back from service like a week ago. the clutch was changed. they seem to have sorted out most of the problems.

Hi Akshay

how much has the car done that it needed clutch replacement and what were the other issues that were sorted out during the service and how much did it amount to

also has any ratteling noise started by now?

Thanks
Anupam

[Akshay1234]

all the issues mentioned in the last post on the previous page were sorted out. dont know how much it amounted to. the company takes care of that. the car has done more than 55k kms. the clutch also deals with 25%+ extra power so that might have been one of the reasons for replacement.

there is a slight rattle from the rear part of the roof that comes and goes. no other rattles

[drkumarmp]

I had actually posted this in "Pictorial Guide: How to change a flat tyre!" but just thought of reposting it here since its more concern with Innova Than Tires in general.

I was searching the forum for 'stuck wheels' but couldnt find any here, so I did an extensive search all over the net, finally got a few very useful site. I would like to share my experiance with all the other car DYI people & Innova owners out there.

I have had a M800 for 19 years and have done plenty of tyre changes, With all that confidence I never bothered to think twice about my Innova which was purchased in 2007 august, since I was planning on a long trip recently & it was over 5000km run already thought of rotating my tyres. So loosened the nuts a bit, jacked the car up & removed the nuts completely only to find the wheel wouldnt budge no matter what I did. That was the case with all the wheels, so I fixed them back thinking I will take it to a tyre changing place & they will do it, never the less I did a search on the net & found out in one of the other forums the similar problem was delt by the service guys by hammering the wheel from inside to loosen it.

That didnt sound good, couple of sites said to just loosen all the nuts by 5 threads & drive the car 4 to 5 feet & break hard, while few said to use antirust spray after removing the nuts, wait a while & try jerking the wheel, actually they work in combination (didnt work individually in my case). What I did was loosen the nuts all the way use the spray nozzel to spray between the wheel thread & hub, refix the nuts all the way but 1 tread before tight & drive the car few feet break hard, this finally wheels came off with few jerks, punches & kicks. There was lot of rust holding the hub to the drum, since the innova comes with tubeless tyre & they dont get punctured easily many of us never remove them, but in case of emergency on an highway that would be tragic.

Finally I sprayed WD-40 & cleaned the rust off & finished the 5 tyre rotation, all new car owners should try to remove all the wheels atleast once to be sure this is not the case. I am sure all innovas will have the same problem as they have a central cylinder that projects through the hole in the hub adding to the rust jam, Zorrik 88 works better than WD 40 with rust & spray plenty before refixing to avoid future jams.

Never put grease or any lubricant to the wheel nuts as they will compromise the tightness over a period of time.

[Akshay1234]

ACCIDENT -

a week ago i was at kemps corner. we stopped at the signal opp st. stephens church going up to kemps corner. a few seconds later we are pushed in front and hear a bang. look back and see the front of a bus almost inside my car. for a few seconds i thought the tailagate, bumper and rear lights would have been gone.

i got out and looked at the damage while my driver was abusing the bus driver. the steel things that stick out of the front of the bus had gone straight through the bumper and my guess is it was hitting the stepney. most off the bumper was bent it.

after moving the car in front we got out to see. the bumper was back to its normal shape with a hole in it caused from that steel thing. and only a few other scratches.

im pretty impressed, i thought the damage would be much more considering it was a bus even though it was moving pretty slowly.

[sps]

Sad to hear about the accident. But good that nothing serious happened. From the pic, it seems only minor crack. Doesn't look like a bus hit there.

Originally Posted by akshay1234

ACCIDENT -

im pretty impressed, i thought the damage would be much more considering it was a bus even though it was moving pretty slowly.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by sps

Sad to hear about the accident. But good that nothing serious happened. From the pic, it seems only minor crack. Doesn't look like a bus hit there.

well about 1.5 feet on the side of the crack had bent it. luckily it returned to the normal shape when i car moved in front

[Akshay1234]

60,000km update

got the car back from the 60000km service a week ago. when i got it back most of the rattles/noises were gone but some have come back now. the headlamps were changed because the hids had blackened the earlier reflectors, what a difference new lights make. engine oil was also changed apart from the regular service. the rear bumper was also changed after the incident of the bus rear ending the car. the injectors were cleaned too. cleaned the air filter and the car was feeling pretty fast. managed to get upto 155 on the sealink before i had to slow down for traffic ahead.

well this toyota just dosent fail to impress me. it still feels the same as when it had done 10k kms.

[Akshay1234]

another thanks to petes. just got back from a spirited drive with a crv and an ohc. went from colaba to bandra and back. the innova kept up with the crv and the ohc and even overtook them a few times. im not talking about some crazy cutting moves but in a straight line. it also kept up till about 150 on the sealink with both cars. now i just hope petes gets some better pads for the innova. honestly the way the car is behaving after the 60k kms service is unbelievable. all the controls are light and the engine almost revs like a petrol (no, not like a honda).

[Akshay1234]

well 2 more changes to the car. one of the hid bulbs i have has conked out. so might just have to get a new kit tomorrow. or if i can ill just change both the bulbs so that the colour of both remains the same.

another little but satisfying change is the horn. i went to opera house and got a bosch horn. the one which sounds like a merc. pressing the horn seems so much better and now people actually move thinking its a merc or something.

[raj_5004]

@ akshay: buddy, just saw the pic of your innova's accident. even i own an innova & this vehicle has one of the weakest bumpers in the country, thats a fact. a motorcyclist (a splendour) hit my stationary innova from behind & the impact left a huge hole in the bumper much bigger than yours, while the bike suffered no damage. i am sure, he was giggling within himself. a cyclist fell on my front left fender & it left a small dent! an corolla brushed again on the left side & it pulled out the bumper from its place! i feel really sad that this MUV is a weakling which is not acceptable in mumbai traffic.

you were lucky that the stepny saved your bumper, i was not so lucky when my driver was reversing the car at a slow speed (maybe 5 kmph) totally dependent on the reverse sensors. i was the passenger. the sensors showed a safe distance behind & suddenly i hear a thud. i was shocked to see a huge dent in the boot door (below the number plate) & some scratches on the bumper. my car was barely 1 week old. then we realized that the sensors were fitted wrongly by the showroom guys. anyways, had to shell out 10,000 bucks for the repair.

[Akshay1234]

the hids were changed and got the high security number plates. will put up pics soon.

[Akshay1234]

the hids are philips 6000k hids and i thought these would last longer than my earlier chinese hids but seems one ballast has already conked off. the left headlight kept going on and off as and when it felt like so i took it to the guys who fitted it and it was diagnosed as the ballast. now the ballast has been sent to philips and will hopefully be replaced under warranty on monday.

the car has now done 65000kms and is due for its next service. this also means 45000 kms with petes. now for all those of you who said its unreliable what do you think of this? no problems whatsoever besides maybe a slightly premature clutch replacement.

[imp!]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

the car has now done 65000kms and is due for its next service. this also means 45000 kms with petes. now for all those of you who said its unreliable what do you think of this? no problems whatsoever besides maybe a slightly premature clutch replacement.

I dunno I'd love that kinda power, but that seems to be quite a large failure doesn't it? I have an Innova with ~ 76000 Km in a little under three years. You think the box is worth it ? or just stick with what I have?


Cheers

Originally Posted by imp!

I dunno I'd love that kinda power, but that seems to be quite a large failure doesn't it? I have an Innova with ~ 76000 Km in a little under three years. You think the box is worth it ? or just stick with what I have?


Cheers

clutch wear will be more in tuned diesels. will be even more if driven hard. which is why most of us mod our cars. we mod for more power/torque.
the VAG group diesels have clutch upgrades. jap/korean/fiat diesels have no clutch upgrades(yet)
which is why this happens.
It is entirely expected.Driving style makes a big difference in clutch life.
Jack rabbit style launches, power shifting and full boost acceleration all the time will wear out the best stock clutch in no time. more so, if rev matching is not done properly(dont ask me how to- I'm useless at it myself)

My remapped swift will burn through its clutch effortlessly. i know that, but I really dont mind. I think its a small price to pay for such addictive performance.

That said- the innova's clutch is rather heavy duty. if Our dear akshay has fried it in 35k- he's obviously having a looooooot of fun
True dieselheads will cheer when they smell the burning clutch

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by rippergeo

That said- the innova's clutch is rather heavy duty. if Our dear akshay has fried it in 35k- he's obviously having a looooooot of fun
True dieselheads will cheer when they smell the burning clutch

you got that right.


the funny thing is that i didnt even know the clutch needed to be replaced. all i noticed was less wheelspin when shifting into 2nd. when i sent it for a service i was informed i needed to be replaced. im pretty sure it couldve run more.

imp! - go for it man. youll realise what youve been missing all this while. itll bring the fun back into driving a 3 year old car which you must be bored of now.