[dot]

Today, Scorpo shared road space with two new boys in town, the XUV500 and the new Swift. That too on the same road. The XUV500 (or is it XUV5oo?) was going to Koregaon park and Scorpo was behind and overtook just before the signal. Nice car! Need to TD it sometime soon.

The new Swift was in the form of a cool cab, the one that runs between Bombay-Pune. I wonder who bought a new Swift VDI and converted into a cool cab. The new car does look stylish.

Unfortunately no pictures as the mobile was busy moonlighting as the HU. Coming to the sound system, the Morels do take a long time to sound nice. It is getting better and better. I get a lot better treble nowadays. A friend and colleague had accompanied me on the day of the installation. At that time he didnt like the sound at all. Today he was in the car and asked me "aap ne kya kiya? (what did you do?); the sound has totally changed.

[jatinpatel]

@subodh


Have finalized hertz HE4 or Crunch 4channel amp which pumps out 175w rms at 4ohms per channel.
now am confused between these two
both are US based.

Marshall i know those are some very good amps but what would be the pricing?
and for components at the front i am considering

Focal accese 165 a1 or Morel Maximo Or Hertz
what a confusion


@dot
sorry to hijack your thread

[dot]

Ratted

Started Scorpo in the morning only to find the engine check light on. Had some critical stuff to do and could not believe my rotten luck. So popped the hood to see if anything was amiss.

The only thing I could spot is a small piece of soft tandoori roti on the plastic cover of the manifold.

Now, I have not bought or brought any kind of roti in the last few days and definitely not had lunch or dinner inside the car. Told this to wifey who said that rat must have visited the engine bay. So they must have chewed something which is causing the engine check light to switch on.

Rather gingerly I drove the car for the rest of the day, till an opportunity presented itself to take a visit to Pervez bahi who has an OBD scanner. Scanner was put to use. The error code read P0102. Even after wiping off the code, the light would come back suggesting that there is a persistent issue.

Checked the net then and there and found that it corresponds to issues with the air flow mass sensor.
http://www.obd-codes.com/p0102
Below is a picture of the mass flow sensor of my car.


We promptly checked the wiring of the sensor and to no one's surprise one of the five lead was snapped clean open and there was bite makes at some places too.
Rats.

(the above picture also shows the dirty engine bay, kindly ignore)

The lead was soldered back on. The check light vanished. It was then we bought the lastest accessory: a anti- rat cake which was kept at a couple of strategic places inside the bay.

Guys, if you have some better anti- rat solution do let me know!

[sumeethaldankar]

Originally Posted by dot

Ratted
It was then we bought the lastest accessory: a anti- rat cake which was kept at a couple of strategic places inside the bay.

Guys, if you have some better anti- rat solution do let me know!

Keeping only the cake does not gurantee the chance of a kill as i have found in my expericence.I have used a combination of Roban cake and have applied Ratol cream on top of the cake and have had a successfull kill within a day or two.

I have observed before , just leaving the cake does not have much of a effect on the rat and it takes quite a while for it to kill the rodent.The above method described by me is a sure way of making a rat kill.However the fumes of the Ratol tube are harmful and also please make sure you do not touch the paste from the tube.The rat won't die inside the car but will be found dead around the car outside a day or 2 later.

[Swanand Inamdar]

Dotty, firstly ask your society guys to undergo pest control. With the kind of rains, the rats are bound to look for dry/warm spots to hide. Engine bay's being one of them.

Also, try the cakes. But of late, Ive noticed, the rats seem to have gotten used to these cakes. Its like they are immune to them. Ask around for a stronger dose, or a sure shot solution to get rid of one.

There's a thread that talks about getting rid of rats (in car/house). Try and see if you get some ideas there.

[sriturl]

Originally Posted by Swanand Inamdar

There's a thread that talks about getting rid of rats (in car/house). Try and see if you get some ideas there.

Its here - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...tect+from+rats

The most common trick you find is to open bonnet and sprinkle some tobacco (stronger the better). You get this from regular pan shop as chewing tobacco.

[KSM-Vtec]

Originally Posted by dot

Ratted

Guys, if you have some better anti- rat solution do let me know!

The simplest and very effective solution is to tie tobacco packets in the bay. I have seen it work with my cars.

[hiren.mistry]

Originally Posted by KSM-Vtec

The simplest and very effective solution is to tie tobacco packets in the bay. I have seen it work with my cars.

I would suggest the same, I've seen umpteen car owners who have kept tobacco packets in the engine area. Recently I had a chance to look at a Civic owner who had kept no less than 8-10 tobacco packets.

All the best!

[dot]

Thanks a lot Hiren, KSM-Vtec, Sriturl, Swan and Sumeet. The suggested thread was pretty useful. However I am updating here. During the last two nights, I had put some rat cake next to the battery. Both of them were devoured and left over pieces were seen on the top of the manifold cover. BTW, the vtec indicator wire has also been snapped, buggers.

So I washed the engine with a bucket of water just now (my son pointing torch light, much to his delight) and planning to put phenyl water after dinner. Then I try to buy a rat trap or place the cake once again to see if the unwanted guests pay a visit tonight.

Also paid the local cleaner to clear off the junk around the parking spot.

[sumeethaldankar]

Originally Posted by dot

Then I try to buy a rat trap or place the cake once again to see if the unwanted guests pay a visit tonight.

A rat trap may not be a practical solution inside the engine bay.You could use sticky boards and keep bait at the centre of the same.Hovewer removing the stuck rodent is pretty messy and not a pleasant job

(http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ml#post1943947)


Now that the rodent is used to devouring the cake left behind by you,i seriously suggest applying the Ratol poison on top of the cake and leave it.This gurantees a certain kill for sure.Remember these creatures are habitual visitor and once they find something to eat inside the engine bay (like the cake) he's gonna keep coming back for more.

[dot]

Time flies. It is one year since Scorponok arrived in our lives. What a year it was! So I was planning for some pending stuff that needed to be completed before the "birthday" was up!

Pending things.
1. Sort the remaining alternator whine.
2. Get the jammed CD changer fixed.
3. Repair the rat eaten up vtec indicator wire
4. Refinish the bumper from 2-wheeler scratches.
5. Tend to the auto-tensioner noise, if possible.

Things took an interesting turn when one day, early this month, Scorpo's front right tyre fell in a ditch. I was driving slowly and was looking out for a landmark and didnt see the sharp pit. The oil pan needed to be replaced and right rocker panel's dent fixed and painted. I decided repair the car to a new independent garage, suggested by friend and BHPian Monaro CV8.


Picture of the engine from the open oil pan area. Note no build up of sludge.


Picture of old oil pan. No sludge build up.


New oil pan.


Dented rocker panel area. This got repaired and repainted. The bumper was also repainted at the same time.

When the repair work was over, we tried to address the tensioner sound by installing a new serpentine belt. And administer fully synthetic oil - Castrol Edge 10w40. After the new oil was added the noise reduced considerably. To note the noise had already reduced a lot after the tensioner was changed in summer. Now it was barely audible. We put back the old belt. No change. Old belt was retained.

I also added Lucas Injector and Upper Cylinder Lubricant along a full tank of fuel. This was part of the US stash consignment. Seems to have helped. Previously as soon as the compressor would switch on, the noise would come. Now it doesnt.

They also repaired the vtec indicator wire.

Next thing in agenda was the CD changer and alternator whine. Previously alternator whine issue was addressed by providing a common ground to the ReQ and the amp and adjusting gains. Later I read in 8th civic forum that alternator whine can be eliminated by connecting the ground to the negative terminal of the battery. Which we finally did. Oh how it works! The whine is completely gone. Doesnt even come when AC compressor comes on. Ok I can hear it very very faintly at 4k+ rpm. But it will do.

So gain was readjusted and now music seems to have better clarity. Or is it the placebo effect. I dont think so.

CD changer was also repaired.
All check.

How else to celebrate, but a road trip with family. A short road trip was planned by wifey to Raigarh. However we didnt go all the way. The road was so nice that we stopped here and there. Flew kites. Had a picnic. Adventured among grasslands to reach the dam waters. And came back by evening for a siesta.


























P.S: When we hit the highway in the morning, there was a odd flapping sound from the front. Stopped the car to find out the some tabs were missing on water shield plastic plates below the bumper which were swaying and hitting the tyres. What to do? Thought for sometime, then took a old ziplock bag, tore into half, packed each part into a thick roll and pushed into the tab area. The thing did the job for the whole road trip. A lady was watching me doing this. She offered some strings which also came in handy as I could tie them at a different position. Then we bought tea from her.

Mods, if you think it is appropriate, kindly move the thread to long term ownership review section.

[ajay_satpute]

Originally Posted by dot

Time flies. It is one year since Scorponok arrived in our lives. What a year it was! So I was planning for some pending stuff that needed to be completed before the "birthday" was up!

Congrats DOT on completing one year with the Scorponok. Seems the Scorpo has served you well throughout. Wishing you many more pleasant years with the Scorponok.

Cheers!

[Swanand Inamdar]

Congrats on the 1 year competion Dotty! What a way to celebrate that too!
Lil Dotty looks like he has learnt to take lead! Watch out mate .

Glad to see Scorpo back in ship shape. The minor damage has been attended to, and how!

[sumeethaldankar]

Hey dot, nice to read updates on your civic. Was the rat problem solved ?

[dot]

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

Congrats DOT on completing one year with the Scorponok.

Thanks Ajay. Yes, Scorponok has more than served, it has enabled a new lifestyle.

Originally Posted by Swanand Inamdar

Lil Dotty looks like he has learnt to take lead! Watch out mate .

Oh he is born to lead. I will gladly follow.

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

Hey dot, nice to read updates on your civic. Was the rat problem solved ?

Thanks. Yeah the rat issue looks to be under control. I keep an open bottle of phenyl in the engine bay every night. The rat(s) didnt come back after that.