[TheARUN]

Yesterday the Safari came back from its general service.

The regularTata authorised service station Prerana Motors Old Madras Road had shut shop, so I was looking for a new place to get the Safari serviced. There were 2 options. One was Emm Emm Motors and then the second one was a old but not very famous or busy called Hindustan Motors. For some reason I had a bad feeling in the gut for Emm Emm motors and settled to have it serviced at Hindustan Motors.

The handing over was business as usual, the service advisor filling out the job card and taking down the complaints, I was promised delivery in the evening.

I listed down the below issues
- Engine Oil change
- Coolant change
- Gear box oil change
- Front and rear differential oil change
- Rear wiper blade
- Rattling from the front co-Driver seat frame
- General tightening of nuts and bolts
- Wheel balancing and alignment
- Timing belt check up


I was given an estimate of 6,500. I was expecting them to call me anytime through the day if they discovered any issue with the Safari, they did not call me, I grew restless and visited the garage at 16:00, the advisor told me that they had almost finished the service and had replaced the front brake pads and were in the process of replacing the timing belt. They also told me that the water pump bearing had broken and had to be replaced. They promised delivery a little late in the eveing, I told them to take it easy and give it to me the next day, also asked for an estimate of the bill and was shocked when they said it would come to 18,000, this after calculating the bill for 30 minutes.

The next day around 15:00 I got a call that the vehicle was ready, checked on the amount and got a reply that the bill was 14,840. Was pleasantly surprised and told them that I was at work and would take delivery the next day at 8:30

Took delivery of the vehicle, it was all polished and shining. Drove it for a kilometer to reach home, the gear shift felt very tight, nevertheless parked it at home, will be checking on details today

Will update more details on the bill and also noticed that everything that I had suggested while handing over the vehicle had been carried out

[TheARUN]

Item-----------------------------------Amount
Fuel filter element --------------------156.33
Timing belt (Gates India--------------742.36
Radiator cap---------------------------120.00
Wheel cylinder rear--------------------496.94
Assembly oil filter---------------------236.68
120gm wheel weight------------------227.07
Diesel engine oil---------------------1537.14
Gasket cap------------------------------13.10
Brake oil-------------------------------267.25
Differential oil--------------------------524.02
Coolant---------------------------------432.30
Gear box oil----------------------------672.06
Poly belt--------------------------------382.53
Fuel filter element---------------------156.33
Wiper blades set-----------------------249.78
Brake pad front-----------------------1009.61

Labour
Consumables overhauling----------------------250
Water pump bearing overhauling--------------900
All oil replacement and check up--------------450
General check-up and timing belt------------1500
Front wheel alignment-------------------------300
Wheel balancing--------------------------------320
Brake overhaul--------------------------------1150
Radiator flushing-------------------------------350
Seat frame-------------------------------------100
Wiper blade replacement------------------------40
Washing and vacuuming----------------------400
Wiper liquid overhauling-----------------------100

[TheARUN]

Just did the math and realised that it was almost 2 years between services for the Safari, went with the 10,000 kilometre rule, now have decided that it will be 10,000 kilometres or 1 year whichever is earlier, so its going to be a quicker dash to 10,000 kilometres this year

Also, the hardness of the gear change has subsided, did a 20 kilometre trip in ride-as-you-please mode and once the engine had heated up, the gears were shifting a lot smoother

Only fly in the ointment is that the left headlight low-beam is not working, did not want to turn up at the service station since they might think its a complaint or something of that sort, so will get that sorted out next Saturday

[TheARUN]

I'm having a new problem with the Safari. After the service last week, the gears have become very tight. Its very difficult to slot gears while the vehicle is being started cold, once it warms up everything goes back to normal and gears engage better than before. Wonder what the problem is, and is it worth worrying about?

[v&v]

Arun

Can u pl reconfirm the front pad cost Rs 1009/- only ?

It used to be 3k range.

[TheARUN]

Originally Posted by v&v

Arun

Can u pl reconfirm the front pad cost Rs 1009/- only ?

It used to be 3k range.

Yes, the bill says 'BRAKE PAD FRT'
4 numbers at 252.40

Don't know the reason why they were so costly earlier. The TASS used genuine pads on the Safari for sure

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by TheARUN

I'm having a new problem with the Safari. After the service last week, the gears have become very tight.

Was the gear oil changed during service? Are its levels ok? Also, check the clutch for adjustment and free play and have the linkages greased.
This should take care of it

[TheARUN]

Took the Safari on a long drive today, travelled 150 kilometres in all. Have a lot of pictures but unable to post them here because they are not getting loaded on the site, must be some issue with my access

For the first time after many years, drove the Safari in a 'ride as you please' mode. My Dad was the first to comment, the bumps in the road he feels in his Reva, he does not feel in the Safari, after the service, the vehicle is in brilliant condition

The air-conditioning was working brilliantly for most of the way, on the way back to Bangalore while we were nearing home, it stopped working, this has been an issue I have been facing since I own this vehicle, there is nothing major that goes wrong, almost all the times its been a blown fuse or some electrical issue that can be fixed in with a few hundred rupees, but this is slowly getting to me now. Many a times I had to struggle driving in the rain when the windshield misted up because the air-conditioning stopped working

Another issue I have been having is with the right fog light. This bulb keeps blowing its fuse, it hardly works for an hour and then stops working. Due to my job I am unable to find time except on weekends to fix even small issues with the vehicle, waiting for next Saturday when I will fix the air-conditioning, the right fog light and the high beam filament issue on the left head light. I have heard people mentioning in forums about electrical gremlins in Tata vehicles, this unfortunately is true even in my case. Mechanically the vehicle is fine, the 4x4 even when not used for years, when switched on, immediately works

The drive was excellent, got to know so much about how the Safari engine performs. The second gear is a bit tall, so I kept revving till 2,500rpm before I shifted to third, all other gears, I could shift up at 2,000rpm without an issue. Also noticed, that the vehicle pulls well when you follow a rule i.e, in an incline, shift up at 2,500rpm, on a slope or level road, shift up at 2,000rpm. 2,000rpm is where my vehicle has been driven at 90% of the time because that gives the best mileage, so crazy that sometimes I have put my life at risk keeping the vehicle at 2,000rpm!

In fifth, 2,000rpm maintains a speed of 80, 2,500 takes it to 90 and from 2,500 onwards, the surge starts and you hit 3 digit speeds effortlessly, I touched 110 for a brief moment during this trip, but for most of the time it was the 80s and 90s for me at 2,500rpm. The mileage was pretty bad, doing a back of the envelop calculation, I got roughly 10kmpl, when my personal record is 17kmpl on long drives

Also, on the expressway, the Safari is brilliant, you can point and overtake hatches and other cars, anything less than 15lakhs is dispatched off, did not get competition from more powerful vehicles. Also was looking at body roll in speed, nowhere the vehicle went out of control it was manageable most of the time, but I have never driven a new generation car, so not able to compare

[TheARUN]

Took the Safari out and was able to get 2 of 3 issues sorted out

The Air-conditioning had blown a fuse and that was easily replaced by the roadside AC technician, it cost me only 20 rupees

The left headlight bulb that had fused a filament got a new bulb and the lower fog lamp which also had the bulb fused was replaced with a new bulb

The one thing I could not fix was the broken tail-gate handle, that was because the TASS had forgotten to order the part and told me that they will have it ordered and ready next week. I was tempted to go to J C Road and get it fixed myself, but thought of giving the TASS another opportunity. Not being able to open the tail gate from outside is embarrassing, you cannot take the vehicle to Office because at the entrance, you have to get down, get into the rear seat, lean over and open the door from inside!

[TheARUN]

Finally got the time to fix the broken door handle of the tailgate. The TASS took a fortnight to tell me that the part was not available, and what was available was a complete lock set that cost 4,600, that included all five doors with ignition key, I wanted to try out the street mechanics and see if I got lucky. I engaged a kid who got a mechanic for me, he did some research and then came back with a quote. 850 for the lock - he claimed it was original, and 100 for his labour in fitting it, I tried to negotiate, but he would not budge an inch. I was desperate to get it fixed because without the ability of being able to open the tailgate from outside, I could not take the Safari to work. It would be embarrassing to get down at the security gate every time, pop into the rear seat and open the tailgate from inside for security to check the boot!

Finally, the job got done, the mechanic was able to get the lock for 800 and asked for 150 as labour charges, I agreed and also gave the kid 50 bucks which the kid was not expecting. In the end, I'm back on the road with 1,000 bucks spent, that was my budget and it's mission accomplished :-)

I'm not going to be using the keys because I don't want to be carrying more than one key everywhere

[condor]

Originally Posted by TheARUN

you cannot take the vehicle to Office because at the entrance, you have to get down, get into the rear seat, lean over and open the door from inside!

Did you ask the security guys to get into the rear seat & check the cargo area from inside ?

[TheARUN]

I just left the Safari at the mechanic's, its blown the head gasket and the quote I received was 15,000. Paid an advance of 5,000 as asked and now the wait begins, expected to be a week before I get to drive it again

Bit of history now

Last month I closed a Velankanni trip, 1,000 kilometres overall. Everything was fine, I chose to be different and drove the Safari in a 'RAYP' (ride as you please) mode without worrying about sticking to 2,000rpm for mileage and vehicle longevity sake. The vehicle drove brilliantly on the expressway and I was averaging 120-130 kmph, distances were being chewed up without sweat, in Salem when we stopped for late lunch I noticed that the heater gauge was showing in the red. I had not planned for this and did not carry coolant, I opened the radiator and poured in bisleri, the gauge was down and everything was fine. Kept driving on, the heater gauge again started showing red near Namakkal, about 50 kilometres away, I then knew something was wrong and came back to my 2,000 rpm driving. We reached Trichy, checked into the hotel and I went down to check the Safari, it was again down on coolant, I topped it up to the brim again with bisleri thinking I'll make up for the lack of topping it up with coolant/distilled once I am back in Bangalore.

The whole night I spent researching the net on my phone and everybody was confirming it was the head gasket that had blown. I had to make a very difficult decision, either I pull into a garage and get the vehicle repaired or continue with my trip till I got stranded somewhere. I chose the later!

I continued to drive at 2,000 rpm, everything was fine and running normal. I for one kept registering garages in mind, because if I got stranded on the highway I needed to find my way back to a garage. I made a note of the TASS in Trichy, then the TASS in Thanjavur and the TASS at Thiruvarur, luckily for me the Safari was running brilliantly. I rode my luck, and went ahead with the trip and finally reached home all the time staying within 2,000 rpm.

Once back home, spent a lot of time researching on the net but was not able to come to a conclusion

The radiator was not holding coolant, exhaust gases were coming out of the radiator cap while open, when closed, the coolant in the radiator reservoir was boiling, if sealed, the vehicle refused to start, like as if someone had blocked the exhaust with an apple like in the movies

Finally I decided to bite the bullet and turned the Safari over for repair. The mechanic took a look and confirmed its the head gasket. He is going to have the head gasket replaced and send the head over for checking, now keeping my fingers crossed, if the head is cracked then I'm looking a huge repair bills if not I will escape

Wish me luck

[mercedised]

Originally Posted by TheARUN

Finally I decided to bite the bullet and turned the Safari over for repair. The mechanic took a look and confirmed its the head gasket. He is going to have the head gasket replaced and send the head over for checking, now keeping my fingers crossed, if the head is cracked then I'm looking a huge repair bills if not I will escape
Wish me luck

If you did the whole trip with a blown gasket then you are looking for more problems. With a blown gasket the water and oil would have mixed, change the engine oil it is of no use now. And hope that the vehicle does'nt consumes oil after the gasket change, becuz you have already driven with a blown head gasket, the pistons, piston rings, block might have suffered damage. The head should be fine no cracks.

[(Alok)]

Arun
Thanks for very nice and informative update of thread. A 4x4 version of 1st model of safari is a collective version. There are many higher ranges SUVs available in market but safari still carries the ELEPHANT iamge.

Originally Posted by TheARUN

- Engine Oil change

Originally Posted by TheARUN

Diesel engine oil---------------------1537.14

What SAE & API ratings were recommended in 2.0L TCIC model for engine oil?
What SAE & API rating oil you are using now?

[TheARUN]

Trust me, I'm an illiterate when it comes to oil. I used to get the Safari serviced at the TASS all the times, so left the decision to them, after reading posts on TBhp on how we can be easily cheated on oil I'm wondering how many times people had a big laugh at my expense. I usually buy vehicles second hand when they are 10 years old and sell them off when they reach 15, but I'm retaining the Safari, it's not got one bit of rust on it after 14 years. The TCIC was over-engineered and it lasts well