Team-BHP - Tata Safari Storme : Official Review

Quote:

Originally Posted by condor (Post 5413921)

Hey -good idea. But that means about 4 days including festival time to find Safari with a dead battery.
:D

I think you'll take the NICE road ? What time approx ?

:uncontrol

Usually take the Electronic City flyover and reach Hebbal either through ORR - or in the unlikely case/ time where traffic is light, through the city itself (Brigade Road - Bellary Road) - on to Yelahanka - Devanahalli. Maps has not offered NICE as an alternative so far!

Planning to start around 5am, should be about 9am when I touch Attibele!

Quote:

Originally Posted by condor (Post 5413676)

Thanks, @Vixit. How difficult was it to pull out the wiper motor + arms ?

The guy here tried quite a bit, and finally used a hammer and sharp object to move away the surrounding metal (especially in the center /below the middle point of the glass) to get it out.

Can you share the first 6 digits of your chassis number. If it's 617001 we have the same generation. I think there is some difference in the mounting.
There are total of 7 variants in the pre facelift model.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ph03n!x (Post 5413883)

I'll be crossing B'lore on my way to Hyd this Friday or so, and a jumpstart cable is a part of my boot - if you're game, we can have a quick experiment if a Thar bab jumpstart a Safari or not :)

I'll leave my parking lamps on overnight if you're coming to HYD rl:

Quote:

Originally Posted by speed79 (Post 5413945)

. I was just wondering why both you and Vixit got this issue with wiper unit? Do you park the Storme outside in rain? What vintage were your cars?
.
.
Baby Punch being parked in place of Storme along the aunt Vista.

Congratulations on the Punch.

Mine is a 2013 with a little more than 1L kms on the odo.
the car now has a closed parking but for 3 years before this, it had an open parking.

I for one am very happy with the way things are failing on my car.
read on, before you call me an idiot lol:

The reason we ruled out any new tata as a replacement for the storme was consistency in the vehicle quality. Yes, none of them could do what the storme does, but even if we compromise and get a harrier or safari, we never know what it'll turn out to be like.

I have driven a harrier that has worse NVH and worse fit and finish than my storme. and also driven another that felt like it rolled out of the JLR assembly line. Some are too good, and some putrid.

The good thing about storme is that it's a simple car that has been mostly consistent with it's quality throughout it's life. Many of the issues/niggles/failures reported by other storme owners are happening at the same age/km mark for most of the owners.

I am a keen follower of the LC200 forums on ih8mud.com the petrol v8 has a radiator and water pump issue ever 10 years and a starter motor conk off at 200k miles or so, and people talk so casually about it like yeah I changed mine out too, it's like a periodic maintenance thing. They know exactly when they need to do it. I think it's an amazing testament to the car's engineering.

Although preventing it could have been much better, but then I wouldn't call it the most affordable BOF 7str then.

Quote:

Originally Posted by condor (Post 5406311)

Btw is it correct that the Storme cannot be jump-started - the battery in the vehicle must be good. In other words, if the battery goes dead, then we need to either charge that battery outside and put it back in, or place a good battery in the vehicle to make it start. Has anyone else faced this ?

My experience is with the XUV500. The problem with jump starting these diesels is that some battery shops use jumper cables that cannot handle the amperage requirements even if the other battery has the capacity. I experienced this problem when my car wouldn't jump start in a remote location in Kerala. I finally forced the battery shop guy to attach his battery directly to my car and it started. I have since purchased high amperage jumper cables from Amazon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by condor (Post 5423081)

At least in my incident, the cable was quite thick. But it did not have the clips on it.

Sorry to barge in. I have started my genset with a 110Ah battery with my WagonR 32Ah battery. The AH doesn't matter but the state of charge of the jumper battery and it's current delivery number matters. And when you have the engine of the jumper battery running it can also provide the required current to the starter of the drained car. Hence if the battery shop guy uses just a battery alone maybe it won't work in all cases unless that battery is in a good state of health and the connection is tight. So another car with engine running is the best idea. There is no car in this world running on a 12V system which can't be jump started as long as you do it right :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by condor (Post 5406311)

Experienced an issue with the Starter today.

I normally switch off the engine when the wait time at a signal is long, and did so today a couple of times when on way to office. However on the 3rd instance, the Storme refused to start. I was in the right lane of a divided stretch, and traffic busy. Tried to start, but when it didnt, I let the Storme move forward on the sloping road, and managed to bring it to the left side before starting the problem solving process. Thanks a ton to all the other motorists who realized there is a problem, and let me move across from right side to the left.

Electricals looked ok - stereo, power windows both work. However on cranking, there is no sound that one would hear from the starter motor. Absolute silence.

Removed key and re-inserted, tried again. No luck (has worked once before in an instance long back)

Called Exide Batmobile who raised a paid service request. The person came after an hour, and we tried to jump-start by connecting the spare battery using the jump cables. This too didnt work.

The Amaron battery showed health status green, and the cells looked to have full level of water in it, despite the 2 years of use.

We managed a push start and then I went directly to TASS. My regular mechanic checked it further.

Relays were good. However, the culprit turned out to be a loose clip on the cable connecting the battery to the starter motor. At the starter motor end, there are two types of connectors on this cable: a clip or a regular nut to hold the cable down. The problem noticed in my Storme was because it has a clip type connector.

We tried starting a few times there, and it worked fine. Came home and checked it again after some time. Thinks look fine for now.

He also checked the battery for voltage levels, and it looks good. The starter motor did not have any powder/residue on the surface either.

So fingers crossed that the problem does not occur again.

*

Btw is it correct that the Storme cannot be jump-started - the battery in the vehicle must be good. In other words, if the battery goes dead, then we need to either charge that battery outside and put it back in, or place a good battery in the vehicle to make it start. Has anyone else faced this ?

One more thing just a suggestion from a fellow safari owner.. Don't switch the engine off at signals because everytime you switch it off and on. It may affect the engine performance.

The turbo charger needs to reach to certain RPM to adjust with engine and also it creates load on battery.

Quote:

Originally Posted by audioholic (Post 5423187)

Sorry to barge in. .. .. There is no car in this world running on a 12V system which can't be jump started as long as you do it right :)

Thanks, @audioholic. I have a good jumper cable from AAA, which i normally carry when I travel. Reading the above line makes me feel better.

Yella ok, Sorry yaake ? rl:

Thanks !

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xtraterstial8 (Post 5423230)

.. Don't switch the engine off at signals because everytime you switch it off and on. It may affect the engine performance.

The turbo charger needs to reach to certain RPM to adjust with engine and also it creates load on battery.

Thanks, but having done two Tata diesels over the past 16 years and 1.9L km, I have not found any issue with engine performance due to this.

How is the turbo related to the battery ?

Quote:

No its incorrect. Car batteries are classified or sized by CCA or cold cranking amps. If the jump starting vehicle meets the CCA your vehicle needs and there are no losses via the jump start cable, your vehicle should start.

Quote:

Originally Posted by condor (Post 5406311)

Not just Storme, any vehicle has to have enough power to power on the electronics and fuel pump before cranking. If the battery is too weak/dead, there is a possibility of voltage drop even when the donor battery is of good condition. This may prevent the firing up of the engine as the ECU malfunctions at low voltages.

I am facing a serious issue with my car.
The Roof AC unit in my car is making a terrible, sharp and loud whistling noise that is making the car unbearable to be in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sasi405 (Post 3980286)

1. The rear ac unit has started making a horrible whistling, hooting kind of sound that make you feel that there's Casper and all his family in the car. The culprit seems to be the expansion valve within the rear ac unit. It has also started making some kind of gurgling sound after the car and ac is switched off. Apparently, the entire unit will have to be changed under warranty. If your'e out of warranty, then only the expansion valve needs to be changed. Anyone else faced this problem?

It happens when:

1) front AC is switched ON.
2) Whether in ECO mode (green light) or Normal AC (Blue light) doesn't matter, happens in both.
3) Happens even if the rear ac is OFF. By OFF , I mean, the main switch in front for REAR AC is OFF.

It becomes quiet within a minute of turning off the front AC.
But starts within five minutes of turning it ON again. This issue was faced by me a few years prior too, but it was intermittent, but now it seems to have become permanent.

Please help with any possible fixes, diagnoses or pointers.

I spoke to to CEO of one of South india's biggest Tata dealers, They told me to sell the car and get something new. Rolls Royce doesn't want to give me a Cullinan in exchange for the storme, so I have to make do with this for a while. Any and all help is desperately awaited and very appreciated.

Quote:

Originally Posted by viXit (Post 5435540)

...
Please help with any possible fixes, diagnoses or pointers.

I spoke to to CEO of one of South india's biggest Tata dealers, They told me to sell the car and get something new. Rolls Royce doesn't want to give me a Cullinan in exchange for the storme, so I have to make do with this for a while. Any and all help is desperately awaited and very appreciated.

rl:

Which part of Hyd are you in, have tried your trusted independent garage? If you're in Miyapur or thereabouts, you can try Team Tune-up, ask for Kiran.

Quote:

Originally Posted by viXit (Post 5435540)

I am facing a serious issue with my car.
The Roof AC unit in my car is making a terrible, sharp and loud whistling noise that is making the car unbearable to be in.

Suggest to get a good technician and disconnect that part. Cooling of the cabin will take more time, but you should be able to manage.

Alternately, check with a good a/c mechanic about using parts from the Sumo's roof a/c unit. (Yes, some variants of the Sumo had the roof mount a/c). After market units were also available.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ph03n!x (Post 5435720)

rl:

Which part of Hyd are you in, have tried your trusted independent garage? If you're in Miyapur or thereabouts, you can try Team Tune-up, ask for Kiran.

I'm in secunderabad ph03n!x,

But I travel to Miyapur everyday, I'll give them a ring, thanks for the suggestion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by condor (Post 5435730)

Suggest to get a good technician and disconnect that part. Cooling of the cabin will take more time, but you should be able to manage.

Haha, My father actually told me to do the same. But it will require me to remove the gas from the pipes. So I'm searching for diagnoses and fixes where I don't have to evacuate the circuit. Looks like I'm going to have to do it anyway.

Quote:

Alternately, check with a good a/c mechanic about using parts from the Sumo's roof a/c unit. (Yes, some variants of the Sumo had the roof mount a/c). After market units were also available.

I'll keep this in mind while looking for parts. Thanks condor.

Does your car have a roof AC unit too? any gargling noises after turning the car off?