[ambujlal]

Hi Dan,

Originally Posted by Danindica

1. The drop in power and speed on putting the AC on - did it really go away or is at least better than before?

It can be felt when I am in 2nd gear but it has improved from earlier. In 4th and 5th gear, I guess it has gone away.

Originally Posted by Danindica

2. Did they (the ***), prescribe any engine oil additive or flushing?

They did not prescribe any engine oil additive or flushing. As you suggested earlier, I asked them about SystemG, but they did not have it. They had for diesel vehicles.

After servicing I got the car fuel topped up. In past few days I have been observing that fuel is running out fast. Would wait till the next refuel to get the exact mileage after servicing. I am suspecting something. Would wait for the exact result.

I have been using Shell super and get it filled from the same bunk with Auto off of the fuel dispenser. So am pretty confident about the mileage calculations I have till now.

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by ambujlal

The problem he told me was, sometimes the ECU has a data overflow and it is not able to log anymore data. After taking of the power supply, it sort of resets the process. He asked me to take a test drive with him. Took a 7-8 km test drive and everything looked normal.

A plausible explaination, but i dont buy it . sounds like some minor glitch happened, the ECU caught it , and went into limp home mode. Reseting the power just resets the ECU. the guy has just cured the symptoms. If the same thing happens again, make sure TASC gets to the root of the problem

[hrag]

Originally Posted by ambujlal

After servicing I got the car fuel topped up. In past few days I have been observing that fuel is running out fast. Would wait till the next refuel to get the exact mileage after servicing. I am suspecting something. Would wait for the exact result.

Don't worry too much about this. The fuel gauge is non-linear - you'll find that it drops pretty rapidly from FULL to HALF and then takes its own sweet time from HALF to EMPTY. QUARTER to EMPTY (start of RED zone) is super slow.

[Danindica]

Dear Ambuj,

The viscosity of the engine oil is high right now and it will slowly go down to normal. You engine must also be feeling a little "tight' at the moment. Your perception of the mileage drop is absolutely correct and connected to the new oil. It will return to normal in like a 200kms. It happens after every servicing that includess an oil change.

To get the best fuel efficiency, you could buy fuel in amounts that you intend to use immediately. Some time in the parking lot is fine but if you buy fuel for any more than two days at a time, you end up losing a lot of fuel to evaporation and largely during the sun hours. Also, try buying fuel in the night or early morning. You get it thicker per ml.

Marsh's law about the evaporation of gases tell us that the surface area available to evaporation plays a huge part. Though the indica has a lowering plate, the shape of the final funnel that takes the fuel away from the tank must be conical. This is why I get ~19 when I buy fuel for 200 bucks and ~16 when I fill up for 500 (distance covered per day being the same).

[ambujlal]

Originally Posted by hrag

Don't worry too much about this. The fuel gauge is non-linear - you'll find that it drops pretty rapidly from FULL to HALF and then takes its own sweet time from HALF to EMPTY. QUARTER to EMPTY (start of RED zone) is super slow.

Thanks hrag. You are right that the fuel gauge is non-linear. But in my car it is exactly the opposite. It takes ages to come to half mark from full and once it reaches the half mark, it makes a 100 meter dash to the red zone

Originally Posted by Danindica

The viscosity of the engine oil is high right now and it will slowly go down to normal. You engine must also be feeling a little "tight' at the moment. Your perception of the mileage drop is absolutely correct and connected to the new oil. It will return to normal in like a 200kms. It happens after every servicing that includess an oil change.

Thanks as always Dan for enlightening me with all the useful information

[indivic]

Originally Posted by Danindica

Marsh's law about the evaporation of gases tell us that the surface area available to evaporation plays a huge part. Though the indica has a lowering plate, the shape of the final funnel that takes the fuel away from the tank must be conical. This is why I get ~19 when I buy fuel for 200 bucks and ~16 when I fill up for 500 (distance covered per day being the same).

Dan, I am curious on how you calculate the fuel efficiency when you buy fuel for either 200 or 500 bucks, because the fuel gauge is analog. Can you please share your method of calculation ?

[arun.m]

Originally Posted by ambujlal

What all I fitted later?
Not much, A kenwood system with JBL 4 speaker system. PU leather seat covers, beige in color. That makes my car look really spacious.

I completely agree.

Just see this.

[Danindica]

Dear Indivic,

The answer is "Trip Meter". The Indica XETA has two of them so I can also compare between petrol pumps etc. The needle's position is largely irrelevant if you know the exact number of kms done on the last top-up.

I set the trip meter to zero every time I fill petrol up. Speed is 48 something rupees a litre and you get 4.16litres for 200 rupees. The car returns atleast 77 and at the most 84 kms for it. So FE comes to average 80/4.16=19kmpl.

When i fill up for 500rupees, I get a 10.4 litres. Going by the FE above it should return a 198-200kms but it rarely gives more than 170kms. So FE drops to 16.30kmpl. I may be wrong but I believe this has got something to do with the 4*6 = 24 hours of the car baking in the sun as it stands parked in between trips.

Please forward another explanation for it if one flashes.

Thanks a lot Ambuj. Great pictures everytime. We love our cars, observe their every move and what's more - love to talk about them too.

[ambujlal]

Originally Posted by Danindica

Thanks a lot Ambuj. Great pictures everytime. We love our cars, observe their every move and what's more - love to talk about them too.

Well thanks Dan, but the last set of pictures were from Arun! I guess thanks to him for sharing.

[indivic]

Originally Posted by Danindica

I set the trip meter to zero every time I fill petrol up. Speed is 48 something rupees a litre and you get 4.16litres for 200 rupees. The car returns atleast 77 and at the most 84 kms for it. So FE comes to average 80/4.16=19kmpl.

When i fill up for 500rupees, I get a 10.4 litres. Going by the FE above it should return a 198-200kms but it rarely gives more than 170kms. So FE drops to 16.30kmpl. I may be wrong but I believe this has got something to do with the 4*6 = 24 hours of the car baking in the sun as it stands parked in between trips.

Please forward another explanation for it if one flashes.

Dear Dan,

No doubt there will always be some loss if you park in the sun, that is something unavoidable, but personally I found that calculating mileage using the tankful method as the most reliable .I dont know about the Xeta but on diesel Indica evaporation is not a very big factor, even on the Civic I dont see a big difference. One point that you must remember is not to run the car with low fuel always, it is bad for the fuel pump. It is always best to have atleast a quarter tank of fuel and not run the car with the low fuel indicator on.

I dont know if you do it, but if you do , please avoid doing so.

[Danindica]

Dear Indivic,

The 'fuel-low' indicator is on 90% of the time in my car. Apart from all that you just wrote, someone once told me that the rest of the petrol tank could corrode and then the MPFI points could get clogged etc.

I am scared. I love my car's fuel efficiency. No one gets the kind of FE I get but if it is gonna harm the car's tank, fuel pump and the engine in the long run then I am topping up tomorrow. In a collision too, an empty tank(all full of vapour) they say, is a sure killer.

So, is it, "Bye Bye FE, Welcome Safety and Car Care" or you could think of something.


Best regards,
Daniel

[indivic]

Originally Posted by Danindica

Dear Indivic,

The 'fuel-low' indicator is on 90% of the time in my car. Apart from all that you just wrote, someone once told me that the rest of the petrol tank could corrode and then the MPFI points could get clogged etc.

Hi Daniel,

I am sure if you do the math of having lets say around 2-3kmpl less vis-a-vis the cost of replacing these parts,the lower FE would work out much cheaper. I have no idea how much an injector would cost for the Xeta or the fuel pump, but on my Indica diesel, I had the FIP (Fuel Injection Pump) replaced under warranty 3 years ago, at that time it costed around 50k (remember mine was just the mechanical pump in the BS2 model, no ECU and no electronic controlled pump), thankfully I had the extended warranty so I only paid the labour costs of removing+installing and calibrating the pump.

If you dont have extended warranty, its time you get one, that will give you the best possible peace of mind with the first gen Tata cars.

On a brighter side, why dont you do a couple of tankful-tankful and check out the mileage, look even I let the low fuel indicator come on before I fill her up again, by experience I know that when the light comes on you have around 7l left in the tank and you may never go below 5l, that means on my Indica I can do around 30km before I need to pit mandatorily.

Indicas need a bit of pampering in terms of preventive maintenance like sticking to scheduled service, regular oil/coolant checks, do that and you would never look at the lower mileage. Hell, it took me 20k km to realize that and the next 15k period has been really peaceful.

bye,
ramna

P.S Sorry about the long post
P.P.S Ambuj, I hope you dont mind our little digression from your thread.

[ambujlal]

Originally Posted by indivic

P.P.S Ambuj, I hope you dont mind our little digression from your thread.

No Ramna, I absolutely don't mind digressions. In fact I love discussions. In the end it is only increasing mine and others knowledge by sharing everyone's experiences!

[indivic]

Thanks ! Your thread is only making my shortlist for a new car next year rather small, so far I had the Vista Safire, the Indigo CS GLS, GP, i20, Jazz and a possible Vista CS petrol.

I think now I can safely say that i20 and Jazz are out of the list having seen them first hand, plus looking at the price. Please do keep updating this thread and I have to day that 13+ in city traffic is really excellent.

[ambujlal]

Ahh I am also waiting to see Indigo Vista. The only turn off for me would be a central console. That's what kept me away from Vista. Otherwise it was an awesome buy!