[RenuKumar]

Hi, I request the 2003 Ford Flair 1.3 Rocam users to give me an insight on the regular maintenance requirements. I have bought a second hand car.

The car has run 59,000kms. I have given it for servicing at Lathangi Ford in Bannerghatta road.

I have taken an appointment with Red Rooster Racing for the fitment of BMC DIA (Direct Air Intake System).

Once this is done, I am getting the FFE at Jameel's place in Bangalore.

I want to fit fog lamps. Has anyone done the modification so far to fit the fog lamps? The bumper doesn't have the option to fit the fog lamps, so I have to go for Hella.

Will it make sense to use iridium plugs?

Your response is highly appreciated.

[supertinu]

Originally Posted by RenuKumar

Hi, I request the 2003 Ford Flair 1.3 Rocam users to give me an insight on the regular maintenance requirements. I have bought a second hand car.

The car has run 59,000kms. I have given it for servicing at Lathangi Ford in Bannerghatta road.

I have taken an appointment with Red Rooster Racing for the fitment of BMC DIA (Direct Air Intake System).

Once this is done, I am getting the FFE at Jameel's place in Bangalore.

I want to fit fog lamps. Has anyone done the modification so far to fit the fog lamps? The bumper doesn't have the option to fit the fog lamps, so I have to go for Hella.

Will it make sense to use iridium plugs?

Your response is highly appreciated.

I own a 2004 Flair with 64K kms on Odo which I have pretty much kept in stock condition since the beginning except for K&N air filter change. Cant give you much insight on mods, but from a general maintenance standpoint my advice would be to get all oils and fluids drained and changed since you got it 2nd hand. Get the front suspension checked. The bushes tend to wear out and esp the lower front suspension arm bushes wear out and impact wheel alignment.

The bumper has provision to fit those triangular shaped fog lamps but i never found them effective or worth the money. Bulb upgrade to 90/100W is a definite must. If HVAC system is working fine then good, else you might have to swap the Heater valve at some point of time or choose to bypass the valve and disable the heater altogether. Being in Bangalore you wont miss heater much.

[mayankjha1806]

More than the mods i would recommend check these.

• Engine oil, change it (Maybe move to synthetic that itself will make the engine smooth)
• Suspensions front and rear
• Clutch plates
• Brake pads and Disc
• Check if the engine has been de-carbonised before and if not get that done
• Check Gear oil and if possible change it
• Replace re-flush coolant

[RenuKumar]

@supertinu and mayankjha1806: Thank you for your reply :-) I have heard that the AC parts are too expensive on Ford. Is it true?

I have asked the Service Adviser to check the suspension, engine and brake.

mayank: What should be the od reading before de-carbonisation? Please suggest.

[rajeev k]

Originally Posted by RenuKumar

What should be the od reading before de-carbonisation? Please suggest.

I don't think that your car requires decarbonising soon as it has clocked only 59K kms. You can wait till at least till 80-90K Kms.
Another point is that the performance mods can wait till you get settled with the new buy and not to act in a haste.

[mayankjha1806]

Originally Posted by RenuKumar

mayank: What should be the od reading before de-carbonisation? Please suggest.

Maruti recommends it at 50K, if i remember it correctly, check it for Ikon, it might something similar. There are folks who do it every 20K. I got mine done at 50K.

Here is the thread which exclusively deals with engine decarbonising, you could post your query there.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...on-engine.html

Originally Posted by rajeev k

I don't think that your car requires decarbonising soon as it has clocked only 59K kms. You can wait till at least till 80-90K Kms.

Wouldn't it be risky at 80/90K Kms, as carbon deposits would be more on the engine and getting that flushed would mean loss of compression and power?

[kiku007]

Congratulations. The Ikon is one of my most favourite cars

Let me give you my frank opinion,

1. Please be extremely careful in the mods you plan to do with the Ford Ikon considering the fact that OEM parts don't come cheap.
2. Be clear on what you expect from the FFE. Better low end, mid end, high end, better FE etc. The ROCAM has excellent low end and I personally wouldn't want to tinker with that.
3. The FE isn't great in the first place. If it goes further down south with FFE are you ok with it? Some say FE improves with a certain setup of FFE. I don't know about that.
4. Parts prone to fail: Ignition Coil and AC Condensor Coil (?)
5. There are lots of ownership threads on the IKON. Please check them out.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by RenuKumar

The car has run 59,000kms. I have given it for servicing at Lathangi Ford in Bannerghatta road.

Any reason why you bought the 1.3? There is no price difference between a 1.3 and a 1.6 in the used market. And you are obviously looking for speed & performance.

Will it make sense to use iridium plugs?

The only sense Iridium plugs make is to the seller who books a profit. They will not make any difference to the performance of your car.

As you've just bought this used car, I would highly recommend a visit to my thread. First, you should focus on bringing the car to absolutely top shape mechanically. Then, go for the modifications.

I would also highly recommend a competent, independent garage. Authorised service stations work too expensive for used / old cars.

[arnabchak]

@Renu

Congrats on your purchase.

The Ford Ikon is one of the very best cars to drive and enjoy.

However, having the Ikon for 2 years and using the same for close to 51,000 kms in this time span has helped to know the vehicle in depth.

Some of the most important things to take care of:

1) Keep a schedule to change/top up your essential vehicle fluids.
2) I had got an irritant clutch oil leakage twice(from the clutch cylinder).
3) Suspension overhaul @65K Kms.
4) The car spares are reasonable now though you will not get any spares over the counter. The labour cost is pretty expensive though.
5) The A.S.S staff attitude ranges between indifferent to strictly average and the "change it all" syndrome for faulty spares still exists big time.

My sincere advice would be not to do a lot of modifications as ay glitch in the electrical circuits will cost big bucks.

Also, try to stick to A.S.S as original spares are not available outside and the local ones are not trustworthy.

[1self]

Renukumar,

First thing to check after bying a used car is the timing belt & associated pulleys. This, I would suggest to get done at an authorised workshop. The rest can easily be handled by a compentent independent garage.
Irridium plugs are no good if you don't have ignition amplifiers. So that is waste of money as mentioned earlier by GTO.

Congrats on your purchase!

[dhanushs]

Congrats on the purchase Renukumar!. The IKON is one helluva FTD vehicle. But, you should've bought the 1.6!

As for the questions:

Originally Posted by RenuKumar

I have given it for servicing at Lathangi Ford in Bannerghatta road.

I'm usually a very forgiving person, but each and every encounter between me and them has turned out to be ugly!. They just dont know what they do!. If you dont have any parts to replace, then PLEASE take it to a good competant workshop. I'd suggest "Technocraft" which is nearby Lathangi (~4km)

I have taken an appointment with Red Rooster Racing for the fitment of BMC DIA (Direct Air Intake System).

I've talked to RR guys about mods in the IKON 1.3 Flair. Except for FFE, all the others just didn't seem have any effect!

Once this is done, I am getting the FFE at Jameel's place in Bangalore.

Go for lower end. More lower end grunt wont hurt. Also, if possible make it sound sedate below ~3.5k, and roar above 3.5k. You will just enjoy it!

The bumper doesn't have the option to fit the fog lamps, so I have to go for Hella.

The bumper does have the option. Cut the grille inside the triangular opening on both sides of the bumper.

Will it make sense to use iridium plugs?

Ford already uses iridium plugs as OE.

Originally Posted by RenuKumar

I have heard that the AC parts are too expensive on Ford.

AC evaporator coil costs ~4k including labour. AC divertor valve costs ~2k including labor. ~1.5k for oil top-up. These are the parts you will need. Rest are pretty rugged, it seems.

I have asked the Service Adviser to check the suspension, engine and brake.

It might be time to change the shocks, as its done ~59k kms and 9 years. ~2k for each side. Also, tuk-tuk noise on gutters means, check lower arm bushes. ~2k for each side. Same kat-kat noise on gutters and if wheel is shaking vertically change ball joints. ~1.5k each side. Springs should be fine.

And, whenever one buys a used car: Please change ALL the fluids and lubricants irrespective of the condition.

Originally Posted by 1self

First thing to check after bying a used car is the timing belt & associated pulleys.

1self, this ikon comes with a timing chain, with a life of a lifetime!

[rajeev k]

Originally Posted by GTO

First, you should focus on bringing the car to absolutely top shape mechanically. Then, go for the modifications.

Yes i too said this and happy that you also have this view.

Any reason why you bought the 1.3? There is no price difference between a 1.3 and a 1.6 in the used market. And you are obviously looking for speed & performance.

Yes Ikon 1.3 is not a road blazer where as 1.6 is though not in the league as Palio 1.6

[ilangop]

Hi Renukumar,
Congrats on your buy. Yes, as many have already mentioned, the ignition coil and the heater by-pass valves are the onces that get conked off very often. My dad has a 2005 Flair.
We had to replace the heater by-pass valve somewhere in 2009. When the dealer quoted somewhere around 4K I was able to procure it at 1.75K. And now it costs only Rs 850/-.
A new ignition coil (Motokraft make) in 2010 costed 4.5K at the TVS all cars service centre. Last month I had purchased a Marelli made one for 1.8K.
We see that the spare parts availability increasing & cost of parts going down. So enjoy your ride and drive safe. You can look into this forum for having a cable operated boot release and such simple DIY stuff to have your Ikon as customized as you want.

[lancersfx]

Originally Posted by RenuKumar

Hi, I request the 2003 Ford Flair 1.3 Rocam users to give me an insight on the regular maintenance requirements. I have bought a second hand car.

I want to fit fog lamps. Has anyone done the modification so far to fit the fog lamps? The bumper doesn't have the option to fit the fog lamps, so I have to go for Hella.

Congrats on buying a Ford. Great drivers car this and you'll love every bit of driving in it. I too am a ford owner but a diesel and maintenance is on the higher side. However, the only value add that I could do to your post is with reference to the Hellas's. When I got mine, I checked if there are others in this forum who installed aux lamps but didn't find any thread on the same. I have the Hella 700ff Bolted to the bumper with the two nuts in front of the ford logo on the grille. Another option is to make a clamp (custom) that will protrude from behind the bumper through the lower grille/slots in the bumper and extend upward.
Here's a pic of the Hella's installed on mine.

[rajeev k]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Maruti recommends it at 50K,
Wouldn't it be risky at 80/90K Kms, as carbon deposits would be more on the engine and getting that flushed would mean loss of compression and power?

Maruti instruction manual doesn't recommend any KM based decarbonizing.
I feel there is no risk of by way loss of compression and power as mentioned.