Team-BHP - Buying a used Tata Safari 2004 TCIC

Hey always good to see the twin headlight Safari.

Seeing the pics of the Safari with the auxillary lights positioned and fixed at a lower level of the guard [ie rather than one step up on the bumper level] - Since we do a quite a bit of night drives and thinking of putting up auxillary lights on the carryboy guard, one question -

How is the light throw on the highway when fixed at the most down position, rather than being on the bumper level?

One possibly good advantage could be that since they are at lowest level one does not need to switch off when another vehicle comes up the opposite side, since light direct does not go straight into the other fellow's eyes. Is this assumption correct?

Quote:

Originally Posted by adc (Post 1524988)

Hi Adc,
Mounted the aux. lights on the lower bar cas the throw of the headlight lower beam is pretty short and does not light up the killer bumps bangalore is renowned for :) . Dont want to use the the high beam in the city like the rest of the PITAs.

The mount is pivotable , can be focused as need . One issue is that since its mounted on the bull guard, the guard vibrates and the light throw also has a shake to it. Thats pretty annoying. :(

regarding your overheating problem ask your mechanic to check the valve in the elbow sometimes in older vehicles it clogs due to corrosion affecting the water circulation i got mine removed the beast is running much cooler now non ac the temp needle is at below quarter mark with ac at half .use mobil delvac the beast runs much smoother and at least once a month clean the ac condenser with compressed air .let me know the result

Quote:

Originally Posted by sierrakamat (Post 1531712)

Hi sierrakamat,
currently without the ac, the temp guage is at the 1/4 mark , running the ac puts the temp shy of the 1/2 mark . Will do both and revert.

Was not happy with the Quartz oil, the mech put a month back during the regular servicing, i got the oil changed to PETRONAS SYNTIUM 800 last weekend after a flush . Engine feels much smoother and revs. more easily. The oil pressure also does not drop to the 1/4 mark like earlier after a hard running .

Guys,

In my Safari the oil pressure gauge at cold start is way above the half sign and slowly starts coming down and over an extended drive 40-50+ kms with AC it comes down significantly to the level that when the temp gauge is at just below half the pressure gauge literally goes to the L point. Am not sure if thats a problem? BEen happening for a long time and there's been no tangible change in performance so far.

Cheers,
AVR

the electric fan to cool the radiator comes on once the ac is switched on and maintains the temp at half way mark only way to keep the temp at 1/4 mark is to rewire the fan to start as soon as engine is started (direct bypassing the thermostat) will put load on fan better to have extra switch to keep the fan running in case of thermostat failure to prevent over heating even without ac in hot climate .the oil pressure will drop down once the oil is hot and the viscosity goes down should be of no concern

Quote:

Originally Posted by sierrakamat (Post 1532736)

the oil pressure will drop down once the oil is hot and the viscosity goes down should be of no concern

sierrakamat,
got a question. When we use a higer rated oil say xW50, its able to hold its viscosity a little better than say W40-45 . The pressure dropping to less than 1/4 should be a concern right ?(as stated by AVR) , the usual statement -the oil may not be able to lubricate the moving parts adquately as its become very runny blah blah . Is this the normal behaviour for all Safari's (due to the engine heat) ? . Don't know what the low pressure indicator threshold is. As is the oil viscosity is being altered by the heavy ash/soot content in TCIC/TATA engines

as with all tata vehicles if i aint broke dont fix it .the rating of oil is based on what temp the engine is operating vis a vis the climatic conditions you are running it in by and large 20 w 40 is good enough in most parts of india but if you are constantly using car in extreme cold conditions then better to switch to 5 w 50 as far as the sooty nature of the safari /siera better to shorten the time interval of the oil change to 5ooo kms best results

Quote:

Originally Posted by condor (Post 1461668)

@CP, congrats.135 with the TCIC engine ? There's a mistake somewhere here. That TCIC engine is rated to go only 125 even when mounted in the lighter-by-300-kg Sumo (at full payload). At 2150kg + 300kg load, you would not be able to touch 135.

Get an engine flush done next time you change oil.

Just back from a 1K+ km trip - Blr - Madurai-Theni-Bangalore - Visiting friends . NH 7 is a dream come true to drive.

Was able to touch 140 and easily hold that in my old TCIC which has 90k+ on the odo.

4 adults , 1 Kid and tons of luggage . Briefly touched 145 , cold not take a photo of that because of fear of wrong lane traffic.

Please watch out for traffic coming at you from the wrong side at high speeds during the day . U turns are very few , say every 20 -30 kms , small trucks, autos two wheelers risk head on collusion at 150-200 km+ speeds from high speed vehicles at blind corners

Quote:

Originally Posted by sierrakamat (Post 1534520)

20W 40 Excuse me? I have been using 15W40 Delvac MX. Is that going to cause issues? Is that why the pressure gauge is always at a low level?

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyberpatrol (Post 1653946)

Pretty good cyberpatrol! touching the 6-figure mark but not tried touching 140 yet. I usually don't try going faster than 120.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyberpatrol (Post 1461377)

The additional lights were fitted on the lower bar of the bull guard in front of the number plate so as to not effect the airflow to the radiator. Like you said the engine temp gauge stays a little shy of the 1/2 way mark in normal drivings.

Didn't use the a/c while going up the ghats . The bull really struggled (just my wife and me with little luggage ) in the hills and i was on 1-2 gears for most of the 16 km climb.

How do i get a compression test done ?

When the engine temp is at 1/4, as soon as the AC is switched on it goes upto a little shy of the 1/2 way mark in a few mins at max . Is this normal ? does the a/c put such a load on the engine ? The rpm at idle goes from .8 to 1.2-1.3 (*1000) when the ac is switched on

I had the exact same problem when I drove in this road in 2005. The coolant was boiling. I think the trick is to keep it in the power band while driving. If it falls, it is really difficult to climb. Probably the clutch takes a beating if you do that while changing gears.

Earlier when AC was switched on the temperature used to go up. But due to a recent accident, the service station retrofitted the new model radiator and also changed both the condensers. The cabin gets cool soon enough and also the temperature is close to zero even when the AC is on in 1-2-3.

However, my vehicle developed a problem with fuel pump in just 77k+ kms / 9 years. I think the wiring is gone inside the fuel pump.

Also, I changed all the belts, oils and did a four wheel hub greasing (they changed wheel bearings as well during four wheel hub greasing).

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyberpatrol (Post 1653946)

....Was able to touch 140 and easily hold that in my old TCIC ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyberpatrol (Post 1654025)

4 adults , 1 Kid and tons of luggage . Briefly touched 145 ...

Thanks for confirming that, cyberpatrol ! Taking into account some speedo error, this still confirms what i knew...that the rated top speed of the TCIC Safari is 130 + kmph.