[verditer]

Thanks Dadu, Prem.

Yes my office is in Whitefield (iGate) just behind KHT service center; so this morning I dropped her (the Safari) off at KHT for first service.

Yesterday we drove back from Nagercoil to Hosur, some 650 kms with a detour; took only 8 1/2 hours. She is at 2800kms now and quite late for first service, but KHT service advisor didn't mind.

Issues I reported were -
1. When extreme turning the steering wheel, there was a kat kat noise from yesterday, and today at couple of high speed breakers I noticed a noise, like something below scraping the road. At KHT, found that the engine guard had come loose and was half way hanging down - causing the road scraping noise; and the noise at extreme steering was found to be the tyre touching the front bumper at an angle.

2. There was some water leaking from left side pillar close to the roof a/c, only after the ac has been used for an hour or so.

3. The jerk/heartbeat miss issue - it is still there. Week back when we test drove with Anuj and the SA the issue didn't show up, but afterwards it did. It is occasionally there, not very frequent, maybe 4-5 times in a 50km drive (like Hosur to Whitefield). The jerk happens in all gears, and especially immediately after upshifting/downshifting, there is a kitch-kitch-kitch noise very audible at front right side bonnet, and when that noise comes, the jerk and momentary power loss is experienced...


Otherwise, regular first service. The KHT person dropped me off at office, and when he left, I noticed quite a lot of black smoke from the exhaust initially that stopped after he accelerated. Should I call them and inform about that too?

[HappyWheels]

Originally Posted by verditer

...Otherwise, regular first service. The KHT person dropped me off at office, and when he left, I noticed quite a lot of black smoke from the exhaust initially that stopped after he accelerated. Should I call them and inform about that too?

No, don't!

Initial smoke is ok, under hard acceleration. It shouldn't be there always.

Will help if you rev the engine hard, once in a while, to keep the exhaust / cat-con clean.

[verditer]

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

No, don't!

Will help if you rev the engine hard, once in a while, to keep the exhaust / cat-con clean.

You bet.. Revved her quite well yesterday during the drive, and she just surged to around 150 kmph and more.. I love the way she pulls, have to keep her restrained. The road presence is incredible, and on the open 4 lane highway, love the way she runs - smooth, no effort and just cruising at 100/110kmph... and the kilometers are just swallowed in no time.
The high position helps a lot, and planning maneuvers becomes easy.

And in Tamilnadu, there are very few Safaris, the only ones I saw were of MLA/MPs with party flags in front.

[dadu]

I was planning to visit KHT today evening but am not sure, might or will do tomorrow morning. Need to get a 15min job done.

[anujmishra]

Originally Posted by verditer

3. The jerk/heartbeat miss issue - it is still there. Week back when we test drove with Anuj and the SA the issue didn't show up, but afterwards it did. It is occasionally there, not very frequent, maybe 4-5 times in a 50km drive (like Hosur to Whitefield). The jerk happens in all gears, and especially immediately after upshifting/downshifting, there is a kitch-kitch-kitch noise very audible at front right side bonnet, and when that noise comes, the jerk and momentary power loss is experienced...

Even I felt today this jerk issue in extreme cold weather and cold engine when I was going from Whitefield to MG Road around 8:15 AM. But when engine became warm It slowly disappeared. Do not know what to do with this issue? For me in the warm engine I hardly feel this problem.

[kaviprem]

Originally Posted by verditer

Thanks Dadu, Prem.

Issues I reported were -
1. When extreme turning the steering wheel, there was a kat kat noise from yesterday, and today at couple of high speed breakers I noticed a noise, like something below scraping the road. At KHT, found that the engine guard had come loose and was half way hanging down - causing the road scraping noise; and the noise at extreme steering was found to be the tyre touching the front bumper at an angle.
...

Good luck on this problem. I had the very same and took it to KHT for quick fix. Those guys reduced the turning radius and gave it back to me. The problem didnt go out fully though.

I patiently waited till my second service and took it to Concorde. Explained the problem and they got back the turning radius and fixed the problem

Dont want to kill your emotion, But, I would still suggest you Concorde Motors since there are better skilled people there.

Prem.

[verditer]

Originally Posted by anujmishra

Even I felt today this jerk issue in extreme cold weather and cold engine when I was going from Whitefield to MG Road around 8:15 AM. But when engine became warm It slowly disappeared. Do not know what to do with this issue? For me in the warm engine I hardly feel this problem.

Hi Anuj - yes, I agree with you, I feel it more in the morning than in evening, moreso when engine is warming up than when it is hot and has run some 20-30kms. This morning also I felt the problem frequently, maybe upto 10-15 times in the 40km run. I plan to try Dadu's suggestion of using latest batch fuel filter, maybe in the coming days when I get time.

Originally Posted by kaviprem

Good luck on this problem. I had the very same and took it to KHT for quick fix. Those guys reduced the turning radius and gave it back to me. The problem didnt go out fully though.

I patiently waited till my second service and took it to Concorde. Explained the problem and they got back the turning radius and fixed the problem

Dont want to kill your emotion, But, I would still suggest you Concorde Motors since there are better skilled people there.

Prem.

Yesterday's first service was ok, they seem to have addressed all the problems except the jerk/power gap issue. Only frustration is my car was the last in the wash line and had to wait some 2 hrs in the evening there to get her out, even though I was the first to give her for servicing at 9AM. I left KHT at 7PM. Because of the late hour and the rush, the wash was not satisfactory. (Also met Dadu there for a short while)
Planning to try Concorde for second service at 5000kms which is only some 2000kms as I'm already close to 3000kms. Thanks for your advise, Prem.

[cool_dube]

Guys,

The issue with KHT is that they are the service 'partners' for all Meru Indigo Marina cabs in Bangalore and hence are perpetually overloaded. That said, the person in charge of Safaris, Mr. Ramesh, is fairly tech-savvy and customer friendly. All of my interactions/experiences with him have been largely satisfactory. Given that it is just 5 kms from my place (as opposed to 30 for Concorde), I would prefer this any day

[dadu]

Originally Posted by verditer

Hi Anuj - yes, I agree with you, I feel it more in the morning than in evening, moreso when engine is warming up than when it is hot and has run some 20-30kms. This morning also I felt the problem frequently, maybe upto 10-15 times in the 40km run. I plan to try Dadu's suggestion of using latest batch fuel filter, maybe in the coming days when I get time.



Yesterday's first service was ok, they seem to have addressed all the problems except the jerk/power gap issue. Only frustration is my car was the last in the wash line and had to wait some 2 hrs in the evening there to get her out, even though I was the first to give her for servicing at 9AM. I left KHT at 7PM. Because of the late hour and the rush, the wash was not satisfactory. (Also met Dadu there for a short while)
Planning to try Concorde for second service at 5000kms which is only some 2000kms as I'm already close to 3000kms. Thanks for your advise, Prem.

Sorry about the short meet, I thought they will take more time and I will be to say bye to you but they fixed it in front of me and dropped me out of the gate with the Safari.

[verditer]

By the way, the First Service charges was Rs.165. I decided to change engine oil at 5000km service which is only 2000km away, though SA said next oil change is at 15K only. No harm in changing oil at 5000.

Got a call from KHT on service feedback, gave bad rating owing to delay in completing service, bad wash quality, no fix to jerk issue etc. Will try Concorde next, even though it is farther away.

Also during first service, somehow they have changed the time in both clocks - analog and digital. Pretty strange why the heck they fiddle with it.

And Fuel Efficiency: I think I am getting around 13kmpl with 50% A/c and careless revving. Will take some time to start driving her sedately as I get endless kicks pushing her on open highways. ;-)

[dadu]

Originally Posted by verditer

Also during first service, somehow they have changed the time in both clocks - analog and digital. Pretty strange why the heck they fiddle with it.

And Fuel Efficiency: I think I am getting around 13kmpl with 50% A/c and careless revving. Will take some time to start driving her sedately as I get endless kicks pushing her on open highways. ;-)

Not strange enough, in an attempt to rectify your jerk issue, they have removed the battery cable to reset the ECU, wont help though, ramesh was discussing this Jerk issue with me while driving me out.

[verditer]

Originally Posted by dadu

Not strange enough, in an attempt to rectify your jerk issue, they have removed the battery cable to reset the ECU, wont help though, ramesh was discussing this Jerk issue with me while driving me out.

Oh thanks for clarifying that Dadu.
Yes, it hasn't helped, the jerk and the occasional noise from bonnet are both still there.

[verditer]

Did a drive down to Kannyakumari district on Friday afternoon, and returned to Hosur on Saturday. Bulgy clocked some 1400kms in those two days.
On return, brought back my new born 20 day old daughter nicely cuddled in middle row seat.

No issues to report, Safari just her usual self and munched away all those kilometers without any fuss. Average fuel efficiency was around 13.5kmpl with 75% A/C.
While going, on a tankful she clocked some 760kms before touching the redline... Pretty happy, given that I pushed her to 150 now and then and revved quite hard.

She is at 5400kms now, time for next service!!!

[verditer]

6200kms Update: Safari's second service was done on Dec 30th. She was at 6200kms.
Serviced at Concorde Hosur Road.
-Engine oil was changed
-The temp gauge in instrument panel was fixed
Did feel smoother after the oil change.
Wanted the iPod cable to be plugged behind Head Unit, but they said they dont do it themselves but gave me a number to call someone in; I didn't want to call someone just for it and pay separately for that. Have to give another try myself.

Got some art leather seat covers installed at JC road on Dec 31st. Costed Rs.4300. Will post pics later. While there at JC road, saw a exhaust pipe cover in chrome and fitted it just for the chrome look, but after fitting it found it not going very well with the look. Have to remove it.

After fitting the seat covers (they had removed the seats completed, and the unit under driver seat was also unplugged and plugged back), while returning from JC road, the Malfunction Indicator Lamp suddenly came up. I stopped and restarted the car twice, and then it went off by itself. MIL according to the brochure means something wrong with the exhaust, was wondering if the exhaust cover could be causing any issue, but dont know.
However it has not come on since then.

[verditer]

Bulgy completed 10,000 wonderful kilometers today.

Engine seems to have smoothened down well, and she nicely purrs along, if you understand what I mean. Everything about her is beautiful and a pleasure, except for a couple of these minor niggles -

- powerloss issue continues, but revving hard occasionally helps keep it at bay
- the left side middle row door is not opening from inside, even after unlocking child lock
- couple of those plastic push-lock buttons on door insides have fell off showing the hole (have to replace them)
- spare wheel cover has 3 screws inside that hold the centre white piece, 2 fell off and it was rattling, have removed the cover for now
- rear door squeaks, so now plugged in a piece of folded cloth in between body and door and no more squeaks
- there are some swirls I worry about - these were caused I think during initial days' washing with regular cloth and washing at a roadside service station, now using jopasu microfiber cloth and duster and guesss I'm not causing further swirls. Being black, she needs extra care

Sticking to regular Indian Oil Diesel, and she is clocking some 13kms for each litre with 40% A/c.

Planning to do tire rotation this weekend myself.
Engine oil was changed during second service at 6000kms.

Nothing else of concern, and I love her for all that she is and she can do on the road.