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Low mileage could indeed be because of a missing thermostatic valve or a faulty one which is stuck in the open position - this prevents the engine from achieving optimum running temp. It isn't really harmful to engine life if you go on a long drive, nor is anything going to break down, but since attending to the valve is not time-consuming work and would probably improve your FE, why don't you get it done before going?

Sure sir, point taken. The car is with TASS now. Will update this thread after I get it back hopefully by today.

@sumannandy:

There is absolutely no problem with the car. Why did you went to TASS. Even in my car the temperature needle never comes above "C" and on AC it is between 1/2 and 'C'.

P.S: And this is indeed a good sign of a healthy engine.

Could it be a problem with the temp gauge? If the thermostat is faulty, would the fan be 'on' all the time?

as mentioned earlier in this thread, driving with this behavior is not a problem. I had a similar issue with my Indica. The temp gauge was just always halfway between 0 and mid mark - Continued like this for about 3-4K.

Thanks for the information. TASS checked the car and did not find anything wrong at all. By the way, if I may ask, let me know how much mileage you are getting in city and if you always drive with 100% AC without switching off engine at traffic.

Everything is fine. TASS checked the car and did not find any problems.

Mileage in city is 9-10kmpl not more than that without AC and without switching off the car anywhere before the destination. With AC I think it would be 8-9kmpl.

Did they physically check for the thermostatic valve, whether it is stuck in the open position or that it exists at all? Also could you give an idea of how long the car takes to reach optimum running temp after a cold start on a winter morning?

The temperature needle in the car never reaches the half mark, no matter what you do. May be spirited uphill driving will do, but I never checked for that.

You noted a very good point. According to TASS, they checked everything physically, and they are also taking a "long trial". But it is hard to believe them, and it does not harm to double check anyway.

I will be going to the TASS now to check everything.

There was a problem with the car. The coolant temperature sensor was not working.

According to TASS, this did not result in any other problems as only the gauge was not displaying the correct value.

After they replaced the sensor/switch, the needle is between 45% and 30% with AC at bumper to bumper traffic.

And the engine gets warmed up within a couple of minutes (probably it used to earlier as well, just that the display was not updated).

Also, the AC efficiency has increased 5-6 times after the replacement of the sensor/switch. Earlier the AC used to get cut-off pretty soon, resulting in ineffective cooling, Now the cooling is really effective even when the outside temperature is high. Looks like the AC sensor gets data from the coolant sensor.

Thank you all for your valuable input. I would not have known that there was a problem . It is anyway always better to get the correct temperature displayed, specially when I am going to do lot of uphill driving. Also, really happy that the AC is working great.

@sumannandy:

It is nice to know that TASC recognized and diagonised the actual cause. But, I must tell you that my car meter also never pops up untill I switch on the AC and with AC it is between 'C' and 1\2 mark. And this has been the characteristics of car since day 1. I don't know if there is any fault in my car too, but there are no signs of any BAD.:)

In my car the temperature gauge used to be almost at C even with ac at 2.

The ac is more effective after the replacement

Stranded. Waiting for the help for last 2 hours or so. There os some metallic sound.

Cryptic post... could you please elaborate on what left you stranded, and where?

So a metallic sound was coming from behind the engine whenever the engine was on.

We could not figure out what it was. So stopped the car and called the helpline.

The helpline guys finally found a loose gearbox guard which came out. I am assuming it was not fitted properly during one of the repair works in the recent past.

After loosing 3 hours I am on my way. Don't understand why can't the service center guys pay attention to details.

@sumannandy:

Is that engine guard same as the gearbox guard that runs down the chassis in the front? And what would have happened if you had driven the vehicle with broken gear guard?