[rahultomahawk]

Hi Harjeev,
Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 50,000 is quite cheap . I paid 1,50,000 as tax not counting the extra 20,000 to the agent according to the books the tax was coming close to 2.5 lakhs. Transfering from one state to another is a costly affair.

[tsk1979]

Rahul, tax in punjab is only 2% so there is no need of any hanky panky.
Getting a new reg in pb should cost around 30-35K. I suspect the agent is trying to make quite a bit of moolah.

[rahultomahawk]

Hi Tanveer,
In Maharashtra Tax is 16% on imported cars .They charge it on the original invoice value. Its very cheap in Punjab lucky Harjeev.

[harjeev]

Hey Guys
Extremely sorry for the long pause with the update. Last maintenance update was on 15th October 2010.
The ODO has now (as of today) crossed 111k kms and now reads approx 111030 kms .
In the past couple of months I took the vehicle to the workshop thrice to sort out some small and big issues that are natural to crop up with the ownership of the vehicle especially when one buys a second hand or in my case a 3rd hand vehicle. Please do not misunderstand me as I am not cribbing or complaining, I am rather happy that these issues are cropping up as, as and when I am resolving these issues my vehicle is getting close to near perfection, atleast mechanically.




ISSUES
As I hadn’t got a chance to check whether the 4x4 was working or not, I was not really comfortable about the 4x4 capability of my vehicle. Please bear in mind that I never had or have any doubt over the 4x4 ability and/ or capability of the mighty 80 series, I only wanted to check whether it was in proper working condition or not. The reason for my doubts was that my brother had taken the vehicle for two outstation trips and both the times he’d got stuck in sand and that too in the simplest of the places. Over the phone I guided him to lock the front hubs and press the H4 button on the centre console but he had to be pulled out both these times. So this was problem number one.
The second issue, though much smaller was the front power windows ceased to function along with horn.
SOLUTION
All this time I wanted to get the 4x4 issue resolved but I didn’t get a chance to even check what the problem was. I didn’t know whether there was a problem in the front differential or the transfer case or the 4x4 switch or any other issue that I wasn’t thinking about or didn’t know of it. So one fine day (9th of November 2010) I took the vehicle to the workshop and told guy to raise the vehicle on jacks and mount the triangle shaped mounts which all workshops and tyre shops use. They can be seen in the following pictures


What effectively I thought that we’d do is that raise the vehicle on all 4’s and then try engaging and disengaging the 4x4. This would tell us whether the 4x4mechanism was working or not.
After the above exercise was done we discovered that upon engaging the 4x4 the front shaft was rotating but without the force or the rotation being transferred onto the front two wheels. This gave me a sigh of relief that atleast the transfer case and the 4x4 mechanism was working and this was my main worry. Now I thought that the fault would either lie in the front axles or the Free Wheeling Hubs. So naturally we started opening up the front disc assembly along with the front hubs and all.













In this process it was discovered that the front left Free Wheeling Hub FWH had developed an issue. There was this small circular plate which when the FWH is rotated to the LOCK position, pushes and locks the axle in place. This ring or plate was badly bent and mangled and was was preventing the front left wheel from being locked in place.



Also it was decided that when we have already opened the front assembly we do a complete service of the front discs (i.e. cleaning, greasing, washing, checking the bearings, etc)



A picture of the faulty part after being repaired




Some pictures of the final assembly in progress








The air filter was also given a customary cleaning or the air filter element



So after everything was done the vehicle was again checked and this time the front wheels were engaging like a charm. Also earlier I had to use a pair pliers to lock and unlock the front FWH’s but post this exercise I was able to lock and unlock them with my hand.
When one has to spend an entire day at the workshop you have to keep yourself busy. Well, I took some pictures of vehicles standing at the workshop.










As it had become quite late in the evening and me too was quite tired, I decided to attend to the power windows the next day. Next evening I took the vehicle to Palika Bhawan and discovered that the power window motor had gone for a toss. The mechanic overthere told me that I can install Hyundai’s (whether accent or Sonata’s I am not sure) power window motor and that it works flawlessly. Spoke to Bobbie and he too agreed that I can safely get them installed. These were eventually changed along with the complete window rubber beading.







Again time has to be passed so I tried taking some long exposure, just experimentation







All pictures are from a P&S camera.

[svsantosh]

Did you try some soft roading yet? Will be fun in this vehicle I suppose.

[saintsinner]

there are ghosts in the last picture!!!

[rhandle]

Originally Posted by svsantosh

Did you try some soft roading yet? Will be fun in this vehicle I suppose.

I guess we have done some good off-roading in this, from climbing up dunes, rock, to getting stuck in lake.

The beast is powerful and gets out from every where by it self but when it got stuck then two Pajero had to be used to take it out.

[VCheng]

Great DIY on the front hubs! A question: How was the preload adjusted on the front hub bearings to the specified torque?

[harjeev]

Originally Posted by svsantosh

Did you try some soft roading yet? Will be fun in this vehicle I suppose.

Originally Posted by rhandle

I guess we have done some good off-roading in this, from climbing up dunes, rock, to getting stuck in lake.

The beast is powerful and gets out from every where by it self but when it got stuck then two Pajero had to be used to take it out.

Hi Santosh, As rahul said, yes I did a little bit of off-roading, not hard core but we had good fun with this beast. One thing that this vehicle has is immense amounts of power at the disposal of the driver and once you have it in the right powerband, she's has that go anywhere, do anything attitude. Initially I'll get just the hang of it for the 1st couple of years, and later on now with Ironman liftkits and suspension mods available in India, who know what I'd be doing with this vehicle in the years to come.

Originally Posted by saintsinner

there are ghosts in the last picture!!!

Hahaha. Really looks like it na. Its actually a long exposure that I was trying in the evening while getting the power window issue sorted out.

Originally Posted by VCheng

Great DIY on the front hubs! A question: How was the preload adjusted on the front hub bearings to the specified torque?

Thanks mate and no idea how the hub bearing was adjusted. Though the workshop has a torgue wrench, but I didn't see them use it.

[VCheng]

Adjusting the front hub bearings is critical for a long service life and accurate tracking at highway speeds.

I have a Series 100, so the procedure might be different for the 80, but the bearing is first torqued quite high to seat properly, and then loosened, so that the force needed to rotate the hub is only 6 lbs or thereabouts, measured at a stud. This needs a load guage in addtion to a torque wrench.

From your description, your workshop may have just "winged" it. That might work if the mechanic has good experience, but given that "feel" is no substitute for proper specifications, overheating might occur if it is too tight, or highway tracking might be off if too loose. Both conditions are not good.

[harjeev]

Sorry for the long post.
Post the previous service interval, I had taken the vehicle for an outstation trip to Tordi, Rajasthan for some dune bashing and off-road fun. This was a three day trip and the TLC performed remarkably well during the entire trip both on and off-road.

However there were some parts that conked off during/ after the trip and I had to replace them after I came back to Delhi. The following was the job done
110295 kms on November 22, 2010
Power Steering Pump replaced
Brake Master Cylinder replaced
Rear Differential Seal Replaced
Oil Pressure Switch (This was not working since the day I bought the vehicle)
Radiator Cap
Differential Oil
Power Steering Oil
Brake Oil
Grease
Washing
Labor Charge
Power Steering Change
Brake Master Cylinder Change
Differential Seal
Front Guard Setting
Washing







Later on I drove the vehicle for about 2 month and the radiator started leaking. Got it again checked up and discovered that the top tank of the radiator was leaking. Therefore I got that changed too, As luck would have it there was an old radiator at the workshop of a Toyota 4Runner that that almost the same dimensions. Thererfore I got the part from that radiator mounted on my radiator. Further the vehicle had run for 5400 kms since the last full service, I decided to get a full service done in the meantime the vehicle was at the workshop getting the radiator work done



110930 Kms on January 19, 2011
Engine Oil
Oil Filter
Coolant
Air Filter
Radiator Repair
Labor Charge




Tyre Changed
111122 Kms on January 21, 2011
I got the tyres replaced too. Decided to go in for Yokohama Geolanders AT-S 275/70/R16. Infact I got a really good deal too. A friend was selling his slightly used set of 5 tyres, 2009 manufactured and I decided to go in for them. As the size that he was selling was an exact match to the OEM tyre spec I picked them up replaced the old tyres.
I have to mention that the ride quality has phenomenally improved since the day I got the tyres replaced. The vehicle has become so smooth over the potholes and uneven surfaces on the road like riding a well cushioned sedan. The road grip and road noise has also improved for the better. All in all I am really happy with the change. I was initially a little apprehensive with going in for old tyres, but it all worked out for the best.
Also I got the new set of tyres balanced, got the alignment done . This is where I discovered that the steering shock absorber was leaking and had lived its life.







111360 Kms on February 2, 2011
On this day I decided to replaced the steering shock absorber and as I had saved some cash on the tyre replacement I decided to change the headlamps too.
This was carried out on this day.




There are some updates left that I would do so in a couple of days. Post these updates, this thread would be up to date.
Regards

[53BHP]

way to go buddy. you are really into this I see. And you are giving it a good run as well. before you know it you will be past the 150k mark

[harjeev]

Originally Posted by 53BHP

way to go buddy. you are really into this I see. And you are giving it a good run as well. before you know it you will be past the 150k mark

Thanks a lot Rohit
Glad to see that atleast someone is following the thread.
Yes I sure am trying to put it through its paces, on a recent count I've driven the vehicle for 14+K kms till date and am all set to embark on another 3000 kms round trip to Udaipur, Gir & Diu.
Found a very good workshop Lakozy Toyota and have given it for some repairs, well if anyone follows me on FB then they already know. Should get it back tomorrow and will update soon

[svsantosh]

Paaji - we all follow your thread, what to do, your FB and blogs are a few days ahead, so dont reply much here

[zipperone]

Originally Posted by harjeev

Thanks a lot Rohit
Glad to see that atleast someone is following the thread.
Yes I sure am trying to put it through its paces, on a recent count I've driven the vehicle for 14+K kms till date and am all set to embark on another 3000 kms round trip to Udaipur, Gir & Diu.
Found a very good workshop Lakozy Toyota and have given it for some repairs, well if anyone follows me on FB then they already know. Should get it back tomorrow and will update soon

You are not getting it back tomm as the putty was still not dry by this evening and they will need all day tomm to paint it. The job seemed decent but could not feel the smoothness of the repairs as the putty was still wet and not sanded.

The chap said he will need all day tomm. No word on other items you wanted fixed as I was there only a few minutes. Let me know if you are coming tomm. cheers