[deep_bang]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

6 years back I faced this problem of headlamps (upper beam) fusing, 4 lamps in two days were gone. Courtesy to the discussions in TIUG group, the problem was traced to the alternator. Alternator was generating voltage spikes (due to a faulty voltage regulator) & these spikes were getting passed to the bulbs through the battery. .

I had the same problem on my Indica at around 35k Kms. indicas do seem to have a lot of alternator issues. If not the relay I too suggest to follow what the Indica-guru (AutoIndian) has to say.

[AutoIndian]

Yesterday I had gone to my daughter's school for her annual sport's day function. Since the car was parked under the sun for 4-5 hours, it became quite hot. Hence while returning I rolled down all the windows, to get in some fresh cold air. I then rolled up all the windows one by one. All, but the LHS rear window rolled up. This one was making some khad-khad noise & trying hard to roll up without any success. I tried to pull it up by hand by pressing the button, but no use. Finally I gave up & drove to my garage. I knew the winder might have given up. I told my mechanic to open the panel & at least roll it up as I didn't have the time to get the new winder. This way I could at least park my car safely over night.

Today morning went to my garage. He opened the winder assembly. Since he did not have a similar one in spare he told me to get it from outside. I went to the Rajdhani Spares shop in Kasarwadi (Nasik Phata) & bought the assembly for Rs 650/- Came back to the garage & my mechanic fitted it in half an hour. Labor charges Rs 150/-. I also put in a new air filter (Rs 270/-), since the earlier one was fitted 15K kms back & it had become quite dark & dirty.

Old winder assembly with motor


New winder assembly

[AutoIndian]

Friends,

Since many days I was harping on giving my car a mid life make over, within a shoestring budget of 5K. So went to the car decor shop near my home. Three things were on top priority, speakers, steering cover & floor mats. The existing ones were still functional, however after prolonged usage of over 9.5 years, these begged for a change.

1. The speakers off late were sounding quite awful. The sound was cracking like hell at higher volumes. So change of rear ovals & front rounds were a must. JVC was close to 4.8K, Sony a bit cheaper, but zeroed on the Pioneer's which were the cheapest (2.5K ovals & 0.9K round) totalling 3.4K
2. Secondly wanted to change the steering wheel grip. The current one was not that bad, but over time with usage it had become glossy & slippery. Hence went for an art leather grip, stitched one (0.5K)
3. Thirdly floor mats. The current ones, were torn & worn out. Hence fitted black rubber mats on top of the existing ones (0.6K)

The total came to 4.5K, well within my budget. The break-up is as below:

1. Pioneer 400W co-axial oval speakers at rear, 2 nos 2,500.00
2. Pioneer 180W round speakers at front, 2 nos 900.00
3. Steering cover 500.00
4. Packy floor mats 600.00

Will click some pictures tomorrow after I finish my Sunday ritual of washing my car. Till then good night.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

Will click some pictures tomorrow after I finish my Sunday ritual of washing my car.

Here are some of the pictures as promised.

New floor Mat on top of Old one


New Speakers


New Speaker Right


Old Speakers


New Steering Cover


Old Steering Cover

[AutoIndian]

Friends,

The new year didn't start on a good note at least for my car (was bound to happen as she had entered into 10th year of her existence). After I returned home from office on 31st Dec 2013 @ 09:00pm, I did not even touch the car on new year's day i.e. 1st Jan 2013 as I did not go to office.

On 2nd Jan, I had to take my Dad to the hospital @ 10:30am. When I gave the ignition key, it cranked, but did not start. Tried it 3-4 times, but the same result. Since Dad's appointment time was already overdue, I had to take him to the hospital on my scooter. I dropped him at the hospital & returned back to see what's wrong with the car.

After the ignition coil symbol on the dash would disappear, I could hear the distinct sound of the glow plug relay cutting off, however the cabin light intensity would hardly change. It meant that the glow plugs were not consuming any power. I also checked if there was any diesel leakage, around the filter or fuel pipe, but couldn't find any. I then checked the priming pump. To my surprise, when I unscrewed the knob, I could pump about 50-60 strokes. This confused me & I though it could also be the air leakage in fuel line issue, which had pestered me couple of years ago. However I didn't spend much time & borrowed my BIL's Vista D90 for my office commute. I let my car rest in the parking & had a blast with the D90. On very rare occasions do I drive in triple digit speeds during my office commute, but with the D90, I could not resist.

On reaching office I called my garage & informed Harish @ the situation. He was ready to send the mechanic, but I would return home only by 11:00pm, hence postponed it for the next day.

Today morning I straightaway headed to my garage. Got one good mechanic, Pravin along with me with all his tools & tackles. He also picked up 4 Beru make glow plugs from the stock so that if the existing ones are kaput, they can be immediately replaced. Once we reached my home, Pravin gave ignition key 2 times & cranked. He concluded that 2 or more GPs might have failed. He then unscrewed the small nuts from top of the GP stems, removed the battery connection to GPs & the common connector. He then took one wire, connected one end to the battery +ve teminal & the other at the top of the GP stem. Only one out of the 3 GPs could produce the customary sparks, indicating that only one was healthy & the balance 3 have gone kaput. I told him to use one that I had in spare & put other two from his stock. He removed all the 4 GPs & cranked the engine. Fine diesel particles were sprayed from the GP holes in the cylinder head. He said this was done to remove some carbon deposits. He then fitted all the good ones. Gave the ignition key twice & voila the car started in first crank. The problem fixed in 20 minutes flat.

I then went back to the garage to drop the mechanic & pay the bill. I was charged Rs 900/-, (700 for the 2 GPs & Rs 200 for the mechanic's home visit). After some bargaining Harish waived off Rs 50/- & the total bill came to Rs 850/- I was expecting a hole of more than 1.5K as I thought all 4 GPs would have to be replaced, however the overall damage was restricted to slightly above half of my expectation. So happily paid him & drove back home. Returned BIL's Vista D90 & when I began my office commute the car started without any fuss, as if nothing had happened.

The saga with my Indica continues. Thanks for reading patiently.

[deep_bang]

My cousin's indica 2001 model, seems to have a hot start problem. Once in a week or 10 days, after switching off a hot engine, it does not start for about 5 minutes. Any idea what the problem may be?

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by deep_bang

My cousin's indica 2001 model, seems to have a hot start problem. Once in a week or 10 days, after switching off a hot engine, it does not start for about 5 minutes. Any idea what the problem may be?

This is a known problem with the older generation Indicas pre V2 & even V2. The starter motor winding of these old gen Indicas was rated at 0.8 kW. When the engine becomes very hot (temperature indicator needle at halfway mark), the resistance of the winding increases, which results in the starter motor drawing a current from the battery that is beyond its capacity. Hence the battery is not able to provide enough current to the starter motor to take up the load, resulting the car does not start when very hot.

This problem was resolved by TML from the 2005 batches & beyond by replacing the starter motor winding with that of a higher rating 1.1 kW. Even for me this problem used to aggravate especially during summers. Then in 2011 I overhauled my starter motor from Lucas TVS & replaced the winding with a higher rating, since then the problem has not resurfaced & car starts easily even when the engine is very hot.

Details of part & labor charged are listed below for reference:

[AutoIndian]

Hello Friends,

I did the 140K service of my car today. Actually I had planned this scheduled service for the next week end as the odo was still short of the 140K mark by 350kms. However today afternoon I got a call from my office informing me that next Saturday would be a working week end. Hence thought of checking with my garage Venus Auto, if he could attend to my car if I bring it to him in half an hour. When he gave the green signal, I reached there within 30 mins @ 03:00pm. Car was handed over back to me by 05:00pm (of course no washing, but the necessary service being done).

No major issues & this was a regular scheduled service. Along with the engine oil change I got the engine flushing done (as last flushing was done @ 70K kms). While adding the fresh oil I added the Wuerth engine oil additive. Swapped the front two tyre. After the service went to Darshan tyres for wheel alignment. Fixed 2 punctures there in my spare tyre. Had a thought in my mind about changing the tyres, hence enquired about Michelin XM2 (165/65R13). Single tyre costs Rs 3500/-. So dropped the plan as of now. The current tyres can easily last next 5K kms. If I retain the car well beyond that, then I may put in new tyres, but if I sell it off in the meantime, then won't go for new tyres.

The part & labor break-up of the servicing is mentioned below:

Assly Oil Filter -1 nos (Bosch Mico make) 163.00
15W40 Diesel Engine Oil - 4 ltr (Castrol GTD) 1,044.00
Fuel Filter - 2 nos (Bosch Mico make) 258.00
Coolant - top up 0.00
Gear box oil change - 3 litres (Servo make) 690.00
Engine flushing oil - 3 litres loose 450.00
Wuerth engine oil Additive (250 ml, MRP Rs 500/-) 281.25
Wuerth Flushing agent (250 ml, MRP Rs 500/-) 253.12
Total - Part Charges 3,139.37

Engine Oil, oil filter, fuel filter change 200.00
Air filter (cleaning)
Gear box oil change
Front brake pad check
Underbody inspection
Tyre Rotation
Wheel Alignment check 200.00
Fixing 2 punctures in spare wheel (@ Rs 100/ per puncture)200.00
Total - Labour Charges 650.00

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am looking for a used Innova, will finalize the deal in the next couple of months. If Innova proves to be too big for my daily office commute & city errands, then I will retain the Indica for some more time (using the Innova only for outstation family trips), else I will bid adieu to my Indica, if Innova serves all my requirements

[searacer932]

140K on an Indica,WOW! Congrats AutoIndian for a well maintained car. The Indica does have its own share of niggles but its a VFM car. How many times have your brake pads been changed during the 140K journey?

Also, I am sure you might have done detailed analysis on choosing an Innova but any specific reason for ruling out Ertiga. Unless you are going to have somebody occupying the 3rd row of seat most of the times the Ertiga should tick most of your requirements.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by searacer932

140K on an Indica,WOW! Congrats AutoIndian for a well maintained car. The Indica does have its own share of niggles but its a VFM car. How many times have your brake pads been changed during the 140K journey?

If you take good care of your car, it reciprocates & showers on you all the love that you have bestowed on her. In the 140K kms till date my Indica has never let me down even once (touchwood). No doubt I take utmost care of her, but then she gives back all that care.

Regarding brake pads, I have replaced them 3 times till date. The replacement set, running & price is mentioned below:

1st Set - 35K kms - Rs 777/-
2nd Set - 80K kms - Rs 580/-
3rd Set - 110K kms - Rs 845/-

I could have replaced the 4th set today @ 140K kms, but the mechanic advised that the current ones are good to go for another 5K kms. Will take a call then, I may replace the brake discs along with the brake pads then, still running on factory fitted brake discs.

Also, I am sure you might have done detailed analysis on choosing an Innova but any specific reason for ruling out Ertiga. Unless you are going to have somebody occupying the 3rd row of seat most of the times the Ertiga should tick most of your requirements.

Good question. I am looking for an MUV to take my family of 6 (two aging parents, wife & 2 kids) for long outstation trips in absolute comfort. I am likely to carry two or more passengers (over & above my 6 family members). I am a firm believer that a MUV must have a rear wheel drive, because the rear wheels take maximum load. When the car moves ahead the centre of gravity shifts backwards, hence most of the MUVs have rear wheel drives. Imagine a situation when the car is fully loaded, you are climbing an incline or a ghat & you have to come to a stand still. A front wheel drive vehicle will find it difficult to get any traction & could cause some wheel spin or you have to generously burn the clutch to get the car moving ahead.

The Ertiga no doubt is a good city car, but if you have to cover hundreds of miles in a day with 6-7 passengers & their luggage onboard, without breaking any sweat, then Ertiga cannot hold a candle in front of the Innova.

Any other MUV cannot come close to an Innova on the reliability front, especially when you are looking for a used one. I don't want to invest 15-16 lakhs in a new Innova (my finances don't permit me). The max I can stretch is 8 lacs. Moreover I don't have the privilege of two parking slots. So in case I have to park one car outside the building, then I would prefer an older vehicle to be parked outside.

Hope I was able to answer your query.

[rkw]

Completely true! A well maintained car is a pleasure to drive & own. Have been driving Indica since 2001. It is a great VFM car if properly taken care of. Crossed 1 lac km.
Have always gone to TASS for service & major repairs. Brake pad change was more frequent in the beginning. Schedule as below:
24932 km

34786 km

45563 km

83900 km


Brake disc changed at 45563 km.
TASS was suggesting changing disc too last time but I was not convinced. So got the pads replaced from outside at 83900 km.

[AutoIndian]

Hello Friends,

Thought of sharing one observation with the group. As you are aware I did the 140K service last week & before doing the oil change I got the engine flushing done. Also I had added 250ml of oil additive to the fresh engine oil. Due to this I have found remarkable improvement in the low end torque. It is nowhere near to the common rail counterparts (this being an ancient naturally aspirated indirect injection engine), however now I can easily cross some city speed breakers even in 3rd gear, without stalling the car. Earlier the car used to struggle in 2nd gear on the same speed breakers. Also the engine always felt strained with the AC ON, now the car pulls cleanly even with the AC ON.

One of the litmus test is still remaining. Earlier when the engine used to get really hot (temperature needle as half way mark), the car became very lethargic. There was absolutely no response to the throttle input & in stop-go traffic it would become a nightmare to drive the car. It remains to be seen whether engine flushing has helped overcome this issue. Will keep you posted on my observations.

[AutoIndian]

Yesterday night while returning from office, I had the scariest experience of my life . It was 11:15pm in the night & I was entering the Khadki Bazaar area. I wanted to take a left turn so as to get on the road that leads to the old Mumbai-Pune highway. I had given the left indicator & turned the steering almost halfway into the turn & bang I hear a loud noise on the left front door & before I could make out what was that I could see one bike fellow hitting the tarmac & both the bike & the biker getting dragged on the road for almost 20 feet before coming to a halt. He could be easily doing 50-60 kmph when he hit my car. I immediately got down from the car & ran towards the fellow. Couple of other passers by also stopped to help the guy. Someone picked up his bike & other that fellow. Fortunately he was in his senses. There were bruises & cuts on his elbow & his leg. I ran back to my car to get the water bottle & locked the car. Offered him some water. He was talking. I asked him if he did not see my indicator. He said that he was engrossed in some thought & failed to notice the indicator. Thank God he at least accepted his mistake. Other passers by stopped to ask what had happened. I told them the incident. On seeing that I was helping the victim, they too helped him & didn't bother me much. Luckily the biker was staying in the nearby area & when I offered him to drop in my car, he said that he was fine & can manage to ride back to his home on his own. I told him to check if his bike was in condition to ride & luckily it was. When this guy left the spot, other locals who helped said that he was a drunk fellow.

Later on I came back to my car to check if there was any damage. There were couple of scratches on the door, fender, bumper & the alloy wheel. When I started the car to drive I noticed the steering wheel was offset from the centre position by at least 15-20 degrees. I had to cover about 16kms to reach my home, hence drove very carefully with the tilted steering. Luckily the car was able to keep a straight line, indicating that the alignment was not disturbed, only the steering wheel setting got disturbed, when this fellow banged on my turning wheel. All the way back to home, I have lost the count how many times I would have cursed this guy for driving so recklessly. On further analysis I realized that before that left turn, there was a speed breaker & this moron didn't care to slow down on the speed breaker. When he might have seen my car turning left, he would have tried to brake, but having been air-borne going at high speed over the breaker, there was no chance that he could have stoped in time, resulting in hitting me & skidding all the way to glory. That moron was also not wearing any helmet & was lucky not to get any head injuries.

Today morning I got up to see the damage in daylight & below are the few snaps. Nothing major (touchwood)

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

There were couple of scratches on the door, fender, bumper & the alloy wheel. When I started the car to drive I noticed the steering wheel was offset from the centre position by at least 15-20 degrees.

I did mend the minor damage to my car. I was able to get the bent sheet metal above the wheel fender back in shape by pressing it from inside. I tried to remove the steering wheel by removing the horn, locknut & the washer, but was not able to pull the steering wheel out from the splined shaft. Finally took it to my garage & he did the job in 2 mins. Now the steering wheel is perfectly centred. He said its better to get the wheel alignment checked. He didn't charge me anything for this. I will leave the other scratches on the door, fender & alloy wheel unattended as they are not even noticeable.

[deep_bang]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

. When I started the car to drive I noticed the steering wheel was offset from the centre position by at least 15-20 degrees. I had to cover about 16kms to reach my home, hence drove very carefully with the tilted steering. Luckily the car was able to keep a straight line, indicating that the alignment was not disturbed, only the steering wheel setting got disturbed, when this fellow banged on my turning wheel.

I would definitely check the alignment. If the impact of the bike has caused the steering to turn, it is more likely that the front suspension/tyres are out of alignment than the steering wheel.