[Tgo]

Originally Posted by crazydave

Any inputs on what else needs to be done at this stage? Is there any need for wheel balancing, air filter cleaning etc.? I'm planning a road trip to Chennai in December - 4000 kms up and down. So will return to Delhi and send the car straight for the 10K servicing then. I'm also planning to take the car in for an ICE upgrade - it'll be very minimal, just changing the speakers and putting in some additional damping (the only thing that I hate about this car is the flimsy doors!)

Do get your alignment and balancing checked at an authorized MRF shop. There has been a new development regarding which I will be updating in the evening. In Short the blame game is ensuing between the Renault Service Center and the MRF tire shops. They are in some sort of a battle where the wheel alignment settings are in question. The Service center guys never align the wheels even after being told to do so saying that they did check it and there was no need for alignment.
...Awaiting details from my Dad, will update soon.

[HillMan]

Originally Posted by crazydave

Another issue that has cropped up is an irritating squeak that is coming from the right back end of the car, when driving over bad roads or the rumble strips that are the flavor of the month in Delhi right now. I understand that there is a beading fix that Renault is providing free of charge to all Dusters - should I go in for this now or wait till the 10K service?

The squeak could possibly be from the tool box. Something kept in there might be shaking.

If they are changing the beadings for free, I guess it is best to change when ever you can spare some time.

Any one knows if they are doing this beading fix in Bangalore as well?

[HighwayBuddha]

Originally Posted by Tgo

Our Duster 110 RXZ (O) is going to turn 1 year old on 4th November and it has been driven around quite a bit. It has been to Gujrat (10 Day trip) and Dehradun (5 Day trip) apart from doing duty in and around Jaipur. Dad is posted in Anupgarh (Indo-Pak Border) and has taken it there twice. The current ODO reading stands at 24,000 km which is similar to the first year's reading in our brand new Qualis back in 2001.

There is this humming noise which has cropped up. In the 40-60 kmph range it is really noticeable and above these speeds it goes away or is masked by the wind noise. The sound changes with speed (accelerating/decelerating). It is not originating from the transmission as the noise is present while coasting in that range in neutral. And there are no vibrations noticed in the steering/gear knob/ABC pedals anywhere.

The SA said that the tires are running out and this noise will come as they get older. He also said that it is present in all other vehicles which have done similar distances. I need to know from the forum whether this is being experienced by others as well?

Though I was contemplating if carrying out sound dampening is a good idea or not? It might dampen the unwanted noises but, in some cases the unwanted noises are indicators of something going wrong in the vehicle which can be identified sooner.

So you paid for a Duster and got a Hummer ??!! Just kidding Hope your issue gets resolved soon.

[Tgo]

Originally Posted by Neil Roy

1) Uneven Tyre wear. Have you rotated your tyres every 8000 KMs? Considering your ODO reading, you must have done atleast 3 tyre rotations and 2 wheel balancings. The simplest way is to take an old one rupee coin and check for tyre depth. Put the best two balanced tyres in front and the rest in rear.

Originally Posted by Neil Roy

I am planning to wear out my wanderers upto 55000 Kms before going for a change. My next set of tyres will in all probabality be Michelins.Even though they are overpriced, they are more easily balanced and their life is a lot longer.

Originally Posted by Tgo

...Awaiting details from my Dad, will update soon.

Have a look at the 25 K run tires on our Duster. The pictures suggest uneven wear of the tires. Could be an illusion since the outer most rib is not serrated like the inner two but thee outer edge is actually more worn out than the inner edge. Especially RL.
FL FR
RL RR


Dad went to a known MRF dealer and he said just by looking at the car that the alignment is out. He said we see a lot of customers coming to us at 20-25 K with bald tires with the ply visible and that the ones on our Duster were still better.

Dad told him how the SA said that the tires are defective and everyone is facing this problem with MRF. The dealer said that they are in talks with the manufacturer for changing the standard alignment settings as they do not agree with the ones the manufacturer has prescribed. (I thought this was bullshit as alignment is not tire company dependent, what he might be saying is that stock duster alignment must be set a little off from the company and that same alignment must have been taken as reference by the service centers and they continue the same leading to shorter tire life.)

Anyway, the dealer said to meet with MRF engineers sitting in their Shashtri Nagar office in Jaipur and get the tires checked for defects. He said they will inspect and give it to you in writing that the tires are not defective.

After that Dad has decided to go to the service center and fight it out. For the last two services 10 K and 20 K they had specifically asked if we want wheel alignment to be done and we said 'Do whatever you think is necessary' but none of the service invoices show that Wheel Alignment was done. Could be possible that they wanted to show low service costs and did not do alignment so as to dupe the customer since that would be the only chargeable job on the bill apart from consumables. OR their alignment rig is so busy that they don't do it at all and claim that they deliver the cars on time. In the last service he also claimed that the alignment was checked and was found to be alright (not concurring with the MRF shop guy who checked the vehicle yesterday and could visually tell that the alignment was out.)

To worsen the matter the SA said that Duster will not run on Stock tires for more than 35 K. Which means that the malpractice of not aligning the wheels at the service centers is going on in Jaipur with just one dealer enjoying monopoly.

The MRF guy said if you buy the next set of tires from me and continue getting alignment and balancing from his shop, he will guarantee 50 K km from the Wanderers. We are also thinking of getting the spare wheel rim replaced with an Alloy Wheel and do old school 5 wheel rotation from 30 K service onwards.

[Bluestallion]

Guys, any idea when the Duster facelift is expected to be launched in India? It is supposed to be an improvement on most pain points - better interiors and ICE, enhanced looks etc. Wonder if there is any official announcement from the company which I missed.

[himadrimondal]

Just drove a Nissan Terrano 110PS, where on earth is the turbo lag?
It just not there.

The first gear has a sweet dose of torque perhaps a little more than our Dusters.
Just as we release chutch after engaging 1st gear, duster requires a bit more of the accelerator pedal.
The terrano on the other hand moves on steadily even as the clutch is released, feels much like a bolero or safari in first gear.

Might be our idling rpm is slightly lesser than the Terrano!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by himadrimondal

Just drove a Nissan Terrano 110PS, where on earth is the turbo lag?
It just not there.The first gear has a sweet dose of torque perhaps a little more than our Dusters.

Wow! Thats good to know. But have they worked on the tuning? Also how was the clutch? The official review does not say anything about it.

Originally Posted by himadrimondal

You got it right boss, I too guess its the tuning.
The clutch feels the same as mine which i don't find hard. Interior dash though looks a bit more upmarket than ours.

Thinking aloud:

Can it be the tune which came with the upgraded Fluence? There was a mention about lower lag there.

[himadrimondal]

Originally Posted by ampere

Wow! Thats good to know. But have they worked on the tuning? Also how was the clutch?

You got it right boss, I too guess its the tuning.
The clutch feels the same as mine which i don't find hard. Interior dash though looks a bit more upmarket than ours.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by himadrimondal

Just drove a Nissan Terrano 110PS, where on earth is the turbo lag?
It just not there.

The first gear has a sweet dose of torque perhaps a little more than our Dusters.
Just as we release chutch after engaging 1st gear, duster requires a bit more of the accelerator pedal.
The terrano on the other hand moves on steadily even as the clutch is released, feels much like a bolero or safari in first gear.

Might be our idling rpm is slightly lesser than the Terrano!

Originally Posted by himadrimondal

You got it right boss, I too guess its the tuning.
The clutch feels the same as mine which i don't find hard. Interior dash though looks a bit more upmarket than ours.

Appreciate your honest & transparent inputs about Terrano inspite of owning a Duster. A true bhpian!

Did you feel the material quality better than Duster too? How did the overall product fare in comparison to the Duster? I frankly like the design of the Terrano than Duster and the attitude of Renault guys have put me off.

[::CMS::]

Originally Posted by himadrimondal

The first gear has a sweet dose of torque perhaps a little more than our Dusters.

Sorry, I am out, not the case with my duster.. just kidding..

Terrano is running a better map, I was looking out for a TD, there is no Nissan showroom near whitefield.

[BUXX]

Originally Posted by ampere

Thinking aloud:

Can it be the tune which came with the upgraded Fluence? There was a mention about lower lag there.

The upgraded Fluence actually had a redesigned VGT and air intake. It was not just a case of a different map.

[himadrimondal]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Did you feel the material quality better than Duster too? How did the overall product fare in comparison to the Duster? I frankly like the design of the Terrano than Duster and the attitude of Renault guys have put me off.

The Terrano dash look and feel is much better than the Duster.
The Rear AC is absent too in this version of 110PS XL, the middle passenger will enjoy lots of legroom.
The sheet metal gauge of the Terrano is slightly thicker than the Duster too.

Rest is all the same.

Originally Posted by ::CMS::

Terrano is running a better map, I was looking out for a TD, there is no Nissan showroom near whitefield.

Originally Posted by BUXX

The upgraded Fluence actually had a redesigned VGT and air intake. It was not just a case of a different map.

What ever it is, why can't we have this 'different map' or tuning in our Duster too. Wish Renault does something.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by himadrimondal

....What ever it is, why can't we have this 'different map' or tuning in our Duster too. Wish Renault does something.

If this is just a map, then you can get the ECU re-flashed by someone from Nissan I guess; provided you have some influential contacts.

Between, what's you mileage figures like - both City & Highway (what speeds on highway) ? And how many kms have you closed? I see that the 110 has substantially lesser FE compared to the 85 bhp version, from various threads.

[Neil Roy]

Originally Posted by werfish

The SC has said that the HVAC unit needs to be replaced since the knobs are not working and they will get a replacement in 7 days.

Happened to me within the first month of taking delivery. Some of the knob assembly units in the Duster are very flimsy and have the tendency to get stuck, especially when you try to change the blower throw mode to feet, front wind shield etc. I heard that this is a standard replacement in all the first lot of Dusters and you, my friend, were one the first on team-bhp to get the Duster. In fact I am surprised that it lasted so long.

Originally Posted by MaxTorque

......
The under body coating does not have any direct correlation with anti-rust property of the body. It actually protects the sheet metal and the ED (Electro Deposition) Paint from getting damaged due to stones, gravel etc while vehicle is moving. Electro Deposition and Phosphate Coating are actually protecting the body from rusting.

Hi Maxtorque, What is your take on getting the body work tinkered by even the authorised service centers. Wont conventional body shop works remove the Electro Deposition and Phosphate Coating when they scrape and hammer the existing paint surface to bring it to shape? I need to know whether to live with the slightly damaged bonnet which is protected or go for insurance and compromise on the OE protective coating.

Originally Posted by Tgo

Have a look at the 25 K run tires on our Duster......... The alignment is out. ......The MRF guy said if you buy the next set of tires from me and continue getting alignment and balancing from his shop, he will guarantee 50 K km from the Wanderers.

If you keep an one rupee coin on the tread on each groove on each tyre with the inverted "one" facing down you will physically confirm if the treads are uneven from inner to outer and also tyre to tyre. Your set of tyres look well worn for 25 K. Is there a possibility that you might be running it under-inflated? Not too much sign of bearing related tyre damage but, check for bearing shake nonetheless. After seeing your first post I went to Duster service center in chennai. This is what I observed on seeing at least 10 dusters being ramped up.
1) 4 dusters including mine had bearing/ knuckle shake of varying degrees.That might account for reduced tyre life, So have that checked
2) Along similar lines with the feedback of Jaipur service center, Already 5 dusters in chennai had changed their tyres around 35k - 40k. This is the standard expected life according to Renault India recommendations. In fact one Duster had changed at 25k kms
3) Now to confuse you further All of them had migrated to good year wranglers as their performance is supposed to be much better than MRF wanderers. Latest Dusters have Apollo hawk as their OE tyres along with the MRF wanderers, meaning you have more choice compared to just MRFs alone. If cost is not a factor I would even recommend michelins.
4) Regarding alignment, your tyres dont look that misaligned from the photos. A seriously misaligned tyre will not last more than 2k kms. Having said that, OE alignment settings with minor imperfections will definitely damage your tyre life in the long run as seems to be your case.Rear tyres will not get damaged due to wrong alignment as the Duster does not have independant rear suspension and hence no adjustment can be made/is necessary. A tread difference between left/right indicates improperly rotated tyres. What I would suggest is what I said before.
1) Check for bearing shake.
2) Balance and align existing tyres ad observe if you can feel any difference. Only when the problem is solved, go for new tyres. No point in wasting money getting new tyres if you have alignment/ bearing issues. You will end up paying more money and still your problem will not be solved.I too suspect Renault India is on a learning curve as far as Duster on road performance is concerned.They have already recommended changing the door beadings, changed brake pads to have longer life, and now analyzing tyre life to see if it is a vendor related issue or alignment issue. I think Indian road conditions combined with MRF performance is the complicating factor here. Maybe the rubber is too soft to be able to withstand our road demands. just a thought.

[driverace]

Originally Posted by Neil Roy

Happened to me within the first month of taking delivery. Some of the knob assembly units in the Duster are very flimsy and have the tendency to get stuck, especially when you try to change the blower throw mode to feet, front wind shield etc. I heard that this is a standard replacement in all the first lot of Dusters and you, my friend, were one the first on team-bhp to get the Duster. In fact I am surprised that it lasted so long.

Coincidentally, I noticed the exact same thing yesterday on our 9K run Duster (85) - June 2013 model.
When I keep shift between - feet / front windshield / body+feet settings, the flow doesn't actually feel like we would expect it to.

So, this replacement is from Renault? we have to pay for it?
Is this one of the 'official' common problems faced?

Thanks,

Ace.