Hariya enters his youth: Completes 100,000kms with aplomb

raj_5004 · 18th October 2010, 10:59

LOL, i think they quoted this price so that you dont order them!

n.devdath · 8th November 2010, 20:57

Carelessness is bad. Lethargy is worse.

I was careless about changing Hariya's dying battery. This was in the beginning of October. The reason for me being careless was the fact that my Kerala Trip was anyway planned for the end of October and I would anyway "have" to change the battery then. Also, work at office had become very hectic(it still is) resulting in even lesser spare time.

Since Hariya wouldn't start, I became lethargic in going to his garage every 2-3 days and giving him a one over.

Hariya's garage is a "shared" garage which he shares with an Alto and some free space. There was a carpenter who was called to work and hence the Alto was moved out of the garage making it a makeshift workshop for him. Since Hariya was parked in the other corner, he put a lot of scrap wood, sun mica, and plywood chunks beside Hariya. They had formed a sort of a mound.

Finally, when I went to take Hariya out of his hibernation on the 29th proviso, and tagged a friend along I was in for a big shock.

The carpenter was gone but his waste chunks were there. There was a strong, unmistakable smell of rodents around Hariya. I carefully removed the cover. Nothing came out.
I then gingerly opened the door. The cabin had no smell and was as pleasant as ever. Thank God.

I pulled the bonnet release lever and....keech keech keech is what I heard.

I gulped and mentally braced myself for the worse.

I slowly went near the bonnet and opened it. It was stinking rodents. The soundproofing under the hood had multiple "canals" chewed into it. There was rat **** and urine everywhere. As soon as we pushed Hariya out into the open, a rat sprang out and ran away. I could see another one on the exhaust manifold.
Boy it was frightening.

I did a quick visual inspection and did not find any wires cut, especially near the fuse box and the main harness going to the ECU. Thank God.

The jump starter fellow plugged in his cables and I turned the key on standing outside. All lights came on in the dash. I depressed the clutch a couple of times and holding my breath, cranked.

Hariya's mighty heart came to life instantly and settled into a steady gruff idle.
Phew...

The next step was battery shopping. We inquired the jump starter and he said that normal maintenance free Exide and Amaron 80AH batteries wouldn't fit in the given space so the only option we had was a 65AH battery. I was adamant about fitting an 80AH battery. There is an AC-Delco godown near my place and I know the folks there so we went there.

They offered me semi sealed 75AH batteries for really tempting prices but I wanted a fully sealed one.

So off we went to JC Road and parked Hariya at the only multistoreyed parking lot.

We enquired Amaron. Too expensive is what I felt. Then we scouted around till we found the TATA Green distributor. I was about to close the deal when a thought struck my mind and I dialled the Cummins battery number and spoke to the distributor. He said that he would get the battery fitted at my friend's office in the evening.

That settled, the next step was to replace the underbonnet insulation since it was stinking like hell and I was sure I didn't want to use it. I called the spares manager at SKS who, inspite of being on leave confirmed the availability of the part at their Hosur Road outlet.

Hariya, luckily started on his own this time since the battery had charged itself a fair bit during our drive from his garage to JC Road. We reached Hosur Road and had the old insulation removed and the new one fitted FoC for labor.

Then, we drove back to my friend's office at Bellandur, and while my friend went inside, I dozed off inside Hariya. The battery wallah arrived with the all new Cummins Shakti VRLA 32AH, yes you read it right, 32AH battery which is equal to a flooded 80AH battery and fitted it. The new battery occupies a little more than 40% of the space the old battery occupied. It actually looks so small.

Battery fitted, 36 month warranty checked, payment made. It was time to go home and hit the sack since I had to be back at the railway station at 0630HRS the next morning to pick her up.

When we began driving home, I switched the parking lights on. All lights came on inside the dash but I could not see the front lights coming on. I got down to inspect, Yes, they were off. The rear lights were working fine though. Now I was nervous so once we reached home, I parked Hariya under a bright street light and looked for signs of damage.

The rat had cut both the parking light wires very close to the holders. It had begun to chew other parts of the wiring harness as well but there was no visible damage. It had cut the brake oil low indicator wire too. I was scared again.

It was too late to get the holders changed/repaired so I joined the brake oil wiring and continued my trip to Kerala with my fingers crossed. I had the parking light holders repaired at TVS, Kannur.

Luckily, in spite of driving for 6 days and 1700kms in pouring rain, day and night, through monsoon ravaged Kerala roads nothing else broke down and Hariya conquered Mysore, Waynad, Kannur, Kappad, Guruvayoor, Fort Kochi, Allapuzha, Ambalapuzha, Palakkad, Coimbatore and Salem.

In fact, the return trip was a non stop drive from Ambalapuzha to Bangalore at night.

Hariya I love you...

HappyWheels · 8th November 2010, 21:07

With regard to the battery, I just can't believe it that you did all this!

Man! What were you thinking!

n.devdath · 8th November 2010, 21:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

With regard to the battery, I just can't believe it that you did all this!

Man! What were you thinking!

Well, the Exide goof up and the mindset that I did not need to go anywhere before the trip sort of hibernated the issue.
But NEVER AGAIN...

starter · 8th November 2010, 22:29

Hey Dev,
Now's the time to be extra careful with protecting Hariya from another rodent infestation.
Once they infest, they leave this scent in the car which makes it prone to further attacks. So, try and keep using him for some days (weeks).
Cheers,
Deepak

raj_5004 · 8th November 2010, 22:36

I am surprised to hear all this! You managed a good road trip even after all these ugly incidents.

Good going Hariya!

HappyWheels · 8th November 2010, 22:49

Since you now know that there is a rat colony nearby (the ones that moved out of your vehicle), make sure to keep them away.

Suggestions vary from dettol dipped cloth in engine bay to tobacco liquid sprayed! Chose your pick, but just do it.

With all these dependence on electronics, the smallest of a wire cut might just give the biggest of issues!

Quote:

Originally Posted by raj_5004

I am surprised to hear all this! You managed a good road trip even after all these ugly incidents...

It was pure luck that he didn't face any issues, since he did not do a through check. I would say a risk totally not worth it; but then, glad that he came back safe.

Dev - next time, please don't!

n.devdath · 9th November 2010, 11:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by starter

Hey Dev,
Now's the time to be extra careful with protecting Hariya from another rodent infestation.
Once they infest, they leave this scent in the car which makes it prone to further attacks. So, try and keep using him for some days (weeks).
Cheers,
Deepak

Yes Deepak, which is why I changed the underbonnet insulation even though it was not damaged more than 20%. I have, in addition, soaked all the wirings with concentrated phenyl and have placed ample tobacco in the engine bay. As a last step, I have parked Hariya "nose out" this time to ensure that there is as much light, water spray from the rain and a changing environment as much as possible.
Please suggest anything else that I can do.

Quote:

Originally Posted by raj_5004

I am surprised to hear all this! You managed a good road trip even after all these ugly incidents.
Good going Hariya!

I know Raj, my faith in him gets stronger every day. He is indeed a life time partner.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

Suggestions vary from dettol dipped cloth in engine bay to tobacco liquid sprayed! Chose your pick, but just do it.

Dettol dipped cloth, I will do that today in addition to phenyl, but what is tobacco liquid? I would like to take as many measures as possible to avoid further attacks.

shishir_bn · 9th November 2010, 12:38

Dev, In order to stop the rats invading your car engine bay, just tie some Tobacco leave which you get in the kirana shops. Since I also park my car outside from day one I have tied this and it has worked wonders. Phenyl may dirty your engine bay.

n.devdath · 10th November 2010, 16:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by shishir_bn

Dev, In order to stop the rats invading your car engine bay, just tie some Tobacco leave which you get in the kirana shops. Since I also park my car outside from day one I have tied this and it has worked wonders. Phenyl may dirty your engine bay.

Here is a bad update. I had to travel to Bombay and Delhi and since I would not be able to inspect Hariya for more than a week, I thought it would be prudent to park him at my office which doesn't have rats since it is a brand new multilevel parking.
I went there early in the morning today and opened the hood. Since it was dark, I used a torch but could not see any more cut wires and the phenyl smell was pretty strong so I was a bit relieved. When I started him up and took him out I had to take a right turn, hence flashed the right side indicator but the light on the dashboard was flashing too fast indicating a malfunctioning indicator.

I reached office and opened the hood to find the RH indicator wires cut, both of them.

So the phenyl and tobacco didn't have any effect on the rodent. I m glad I chose to park him at office.

But the question is, WHAT TO DO??

shishir_bn · 10th November 2010, 17:03

Strange that tobacco didn't work for you. Almost 98% of the times it works. Even I used to see so many rats on the road near my car. But none of them came inside as I had this tobacco. Probably they like your car too much I guess. Sorry Dev, I don't have other solutions for this.

starter · 10th November 2010, 17:19

Like i said Dev, tobacco/brush/viz. would work but not always.
From my experience, i have some suggestions:
Make yourself 100% sure that the rats are not inside the car. If you are sure, then find a completely closed car parking area and park it there till you come back. If finding such a parking place is not possible, give your car to one of your friends who can use it everyday and ask him to park it in different places till that scent fades away.
Good luck!
Deepak

n.devdath · 10th November 2010, 17:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by shishir_bn

Strange that tobacco didn't work for you. Almost 98% of the times it works. Even I used to see so many rats on the road near my car. But none of them came inside as I had this tobacco. Probably they like your car too much I guess. Sorry Dev, I don't have other solutions for this.

Pl let me know the exact tobacco that you use. It might work.

Deepak: Giving the car to a friend is not possible since most of my close friends do not drive daily.

I m pretty sure that there are no rats inside Hariya, since he has just come back from a 1600km trip and has had a pressure wash inside out as well. Though I could be wrong, but today morning there was no rat urine/****/smell. It was only those 2 wires that were cut.

Finding a fully covered closed parking is my next attempt and I m trying for that really hard. No leads yet though. :(

HappyWheels · 10th November 2010, 19:36

Even with all those liquids you got hit, strange. Looks like the rats on that side of town have evolved!

I think there are rats even in your office parking, but, not an entire colony, just a few.

If all liquids are failing, then last thing is to try putting a cat into the engine bay during long term parking!

n.devdath · 18th November 2010, 13:53

I m still repenting the day I parked Hariya in that Godforsaken parking.

Last week since I had to go to Bombay and Delhi for an official trip, I parked him at my office parking which is brand new and then left Bangalore. I came back yesterday and upon opening the bonnet, I found the same wire that was cut at the wiring end, now cut at the holder end this time.
Luckily, no other wires were cut.

There was also rat poo, not a lot of it but yes, a significant amount. No smell though, which probably indicates a lone rat somewhere inside. Also, I had placed Mortein Rat kill which was chewed up so I presume that if it is an effective poison, the rat should be dead by now.

How do I confirm? There were no other wires cut and the cabin too had no smell, I turned the ac on too, in recirculating mode to double check things. No bad smell there as well.

What should be my next steps? Someone pl guide me.

18th October 2010, 10:59	#241
raj_5004 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Dubai/Mumbai Posts: 5,238 Thanked: 3,139 Times	LOL, i think they quoted this price so that you dont order them!
	() Thanks

8th November 2010, 20:57	#242
n.devdath BANNED Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 4,287 Thanked: 2,811 Times	Attacked, cured, and Conquers all he tours in style Carelessness is bad. Lethargy is worse. I was careless about changing Hariya's dying battery. This was in the beginning of October. The reason for me being careless was the fact that my Kerala Trip was anyway planned for the end of October and I would anyway "have" to change the battery then. Also, work at office had become very hectic(it still is) resulting in even lesser spare time. Since Hariya wouldn't start, I became lethargic in going to his garage every 2-3 days and giving him a one over. Hariya's garage is a "shared" garage which he shares with an Alto and some free space. There was a carpenter who was called to work and hence the Alto was moved out of the garage making it a makeshift workshop for him. Since Hariya was parked in the other corner, he put a lot of scrap wood, sun mica, and plywood chunks beside Hariya. They had formed a sort of a mound. Finally, when I went to take Hariya out of his hibernation on the 29th proviso, and tagged a friend along I was in for a big shock. The carpenter was gone but his waste chunks were there. There was a strong, unmistakable smell of rodents around Hariya. I carefully removed the cover. Nothing came out. I then gingerly opened the door. The cabin had no smell and was as pleasant as ever. Thank God. I pulled the bonnet release lever and....keech keech keech is what I heard. I gulped and mentally braced myself for the worse. I slowly went near the bonnet and opened it. It was stinking rodents. The soundproofing under the hood had multiple "canals" chewed into it. There was rat **** and urine everywhere. As soon as we pushed Hariya out into the open, a rat sprang out and ran away. I could see another one on the exhaust manifold. Boy it was frightening. I did a quick visual inspection and did not find any wires cut, especially near the fuse box and the main harness going to the ECU. Thank God. The jump starter fellow plugged in his cables and I turned the key on standing outside. All lights came on in the dash. I depressed the clutch a couple of times and holding my breath, cranked. Hariya's mighty heart came to life instantly and settled into a steady gruff idle. Phew... The next step was battery shopping. We inquired the jump starter and he said that normal maintenance free Exide and Amaron 80AH batteries wouldn't fit in the given space so the only option we had was a 65AH battery. I was adamant about fitting an 80AH battery. There is an AC-Delco godown near my place and I know the folks there so we went there. They offered me semi sealed 75AH batteries for really tempting prices but I wanted a fully sealed one. So off we went to JC Road and parked Hariya at the only multistoreyed parking lot. We enquired Amaron. Too expensive is what I felt. Then we scouted around till we found the TATA Green distributor. I was about to close the deal when a thought struck my mind and I dialled the Cummins battery number and spoke to the distributor. He said that he would get the battery fitted at my friend's office in the evening. That settled, the next step was to replace the underbonnet insulation since it was stinking like hell and I was sure I didn't want to use it. I called the spares manager at SKS who, inspite of being on leave confirmed the availability of the part at their Hosur Road outlet. Hariya, luckily started on his own this time since the battery had charged itself a fair bit during our drive from his garage to JC Road. We reached Hosur Road and had the old insulation removed and the new one fitted FoC for labor. Then, we drove back to my friend's office at Bellandur, and while my friend went inside, I dozed off inside Hariya. The battery wallah arrived with the all new Cummins Shakti VRLA 32AH, yes you read it right, 32AH battery which is equal to a flooded 80AH battery and fitted it. The new battery occupies a little more than 40% of the space the old battery occupied. It actually looks so small. Battery fitted, 36 month warranty checked, payment made. It was time to go home and hit the sack since I had to be back at the railway station at 0630HRS the next morning to pick her up. When we began driving home, I switched the parking lights on. All lights came on inside the dash but I could not see the front lights coming on. I got down to inspect, Yes, they were off. The rear lights were working fine though. Now I was nervous so once we reached home, I parked Hariya under a bright street light and looked for signs of damage. The rat had cut both the parking light wires very close to the holders. It had begun to chew other parts of the wiring harness as well but there was no visible damage. It had cut the brake oil low indicator wire too. I was scared again. It was too late to get the holders changed/repaired so I joined the brake oil wiring and continued my trip to Kerala with my fingers crossed. I had the parking light holders repaired at TVS, Kannur. Luckily, in spite of driving for 6 days and 1700kms in pouring rain, day and night, through monsoon ravaged Kerala roads nothing else broke down and Hariya conquered Mysore, Waynad, Kannur, Kappad, Guruvayoor, Fort Kochi, Allapuzha, Ambalapuzha, Palakkad, Coimbatore and Salem. In fact, the return trip was a non stop drive from Ambalapuzha to Bangalore at night. Hariya I love you...
	() Thanks

8th November 2010, 21:07	#243
HappyWheels Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 4,106 Thanked: 537 Times	With regard to the battery, I just can't believe it that you did all this! Man! What were you thinking!
	() Thanks

8th November 2010, 22:29	#245
starter Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,127 Thanked: 903 Times	Hey Dev, Now's the time to be extra careful with protecting Hariya from another rodent infestation. Once they infest, they leave this scent in the car which makes it prone to further attacks. So, try and keep using him for some days (weeks). Cheers, Deepak
	() Thanks

8th November 2010, 22:36	#246
raj_5004 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Dubai/Mumbai Posts: 5,238 Thanked: 3,139 Times	I am surprised to hear all this! You managed a good road trip even after all these ugly incidents. Good going Hariya!
	() Thanks

9th November 2010, 12:38	#249
shishir_bn Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,195 Thanked: 120 Times	Dev, In order to stop the rats invading your car engine bay, just tie some Tobacco leave which you get in the kirana shops. Since I also park my car outside from day one I have tied this and it has worked wonders. Phenyl may dirty your engine bay.
	() Thanks

10th November 2010, 17:03	#251
shishir_bn Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,195 Thanked: 120 Times	Strange that tobacco didn't work for you. Almost 98% of the times it works. Even I used to see so many rats on the road near my car. But none of them came inside as I had this tobacco. Probably they like your car too much I guess. Sorry Dev, I don't have other solutions for this. Last edited by shishir_bn : 10th November 2010 at 17:04.
	() Thanks

10th November 2010, 17:19	#252
starter Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,127 Thanked: 903 Times	Like i said Dev, tobacco/brush/viz. would work but not always. From my experience, i have some suggestions: Make yourself 100% sure that the rats are not inside the car. If you are sure, then find a completely closed car parking area and park it there till you come back. If finding such a parking place is not possible, give your car to one of your friends who can use it everyday and ask him to park it in different places till that scent fades away. Good luck! Deepak
	() Thanks

10th November 2010, 19:36	#254
HappyWheels Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 4,106 Thanked: 537 Times	Even with all those liquids you got hit, strange. Looks like the rats on that side of town have evolved! I think there are rats even in your office parking, but, not an entire colony, just a few. If all liquids are failing, then last thing is to try putting a cat into the engine bay during long term parking!
	() Thanks

18th November 2010, 13:53	#255
n.devdath BANNED Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 4,287 Thanked: 2,811 Times	Help Needed: Urgent I m still repenting the day I parked Hariya in that Godforsaken parking. Last week since I had to go to Bombay and Delhi for an official trip, I parked him at my office parking which is brand new and then left Bangalore. I came back yesterday and upon opening the bonnet, I found the same wire that was cut at the wiring end, now cut at the holder end this time. Luckily, no other wires were cut. There was also rat poo, not a lot of it but yes, a significant amount. No smell though, which probably indicates a lone rat somewhere inside. Also, I had placed Mortein Rat kill which was chewed up so I presume that if it is an effective poison, the rat should be dead by now. How do I confirm? There were no other wires cut and the cabin too had no smell, I turned the ac on too, in recirculating mode to double check things. No bad smell there as well. What should be my next steps? Someone pl guide me.
	() Thanks