[hyper-VTEC]

Originally Posted by viXit

Wobble during start/stop gone?

The first time I replaced the Engine mounts, the car felt like it lost it's wobbly/shaky truck like character

It was starting like a normal car without any dance.

I too have this engine shaking during start up and stop. For some reason it shakes more when switching off. Also as Condor mentioned there is a deep hum/thrum inside the cabin around 1500-1700 rpm and the dashboard seems to shake as well. Higher RPMs doesn't have issue. I would also get my engine and GB mounts changed. Mine is 8.2 years, 57K run.

[condor]

During an earlier work on the steering, my mechanic had said that the steering ball joints would have be replaced in some time. We had decided to let it run for some more time.

Last week, found the steering to be a little hard - not initially when one turned the steering wheel, but further into the turn (like on full left/right turns). So yesterday replaced the steering ball joints. Parts and labour together was about 5.7k.

Hopefully no more work on the Storme at the 10 year mark which will be coming up soon. One thing to be taken care of sometime will be the a/c .. but will need to open the dashboard for that. Odo at 1.182 L now.

[condor]

A quick breakfast meet with the boys:

[BulZire]

How these meets are planned ?. My Storme and I would like to participate in the next meet.

[zadoom]

80k Kms / 9 year update

Just completed 80000 kms a couple of weeks back and complete 9 years with my 2014 VX 4*4 today. Got it serviced at an FNG for the first time in its lifespan a few weeks back. Had last got it serviced about a year back and at about 73k kms (yes, due to the WFH the running has come down drastically). Happy with the FNG service since he resolved a few issues where the TASS would have simply changed the parts and the cost was much lesser.

Major things done -
- Some denting & painting (front bumper, driver side door frame, rear bumper corner cladding panels) - Due to a temporary open parking spot suffered a dent on the driver side door frame (something from someone's flat fell) as the night prior there was no dent. Anyways since there were a few scratches here and there as well, got the painting done on the aforementioned panels. Set me back by around 13k for the painting.
- Oil change - only top-up done as the FNG guy mentioned the oil is in good condition and doesn't need a change
- Sealing of antenna - In the last service at the TASS while changing the antenna wiring, they didn't seal it properly and suffered water seepage on the glass area once in heavy rain. Sealing work done
- Right rear window control from driver side control panel was not working properly (it would go down from the driver side but won't come up from the driver side) - opened, repaired and now it is working fine.
- Wiper Blade replacement

Apart from that, ended up with 2 punctures on a single day (well the spare wheel had never been taken out in the last 9 years so not surprised). So ended up replacing 2 tyres (Yoko Geo AT's again).
The JBL component speakers that I had originally put up in 2014 were hardly in a working condition so got them replaced with the almost cheapest components available - Blaupunkt so all good now on the music front as well.

The next expense looks like the clutch assembly servicing and rear shocks, had last year got the front set of shocks and all brake discs replaced. And, going back for the oils replacement in another 10k kms i.e. at 90k.

The car is performing well apart from the regular and common Storme irritants like fuel lid not opening at times, some creaking noise from the roof liner (this seems to be because the FNG guys opened it up for Antenna sealing), rear left door not getting locked along with Central locking. These however are things that we have come to live with. Looking forward to the next year of ownership and much more longer drives with it.

Cheers,

[zadoom]

Discovered the Cruise Control of Safari Storme

Well on a lighter note am calling it a Traffic Cruise Control feature that Storme has and I discovered it only on its 9th Birthday.

On a serious note, last week while coming back from office in the super slow but moving traffic of a typical Mumbai evening, realised how best to use the Anti-stall feature of the Storme.
(* not sure if that's the right term but what I am referring to is the capability of Storme to drive on its own in 1st and 2nd gear).

So, here's how it works. In the 1st gear once you leave the clutch and don't have your foot on the brake pedal, you don't need to push the accelerator. The car moves on its own at 5Kmph. Same, in the 2nd gear the car moves constantly at 10Kmph. Without any foot inputs to any of the ABC pedals.

So, that day in the almost 1.5 hour time that I spent covering the West - East connector (BKC to Mankhurd via the newly opened flyover over BKC signal on SCLR) I kind of ended up practicing and to an extent perfecting the use of self-cruising feature in the 1st and 2nd gears. And believe me it was as if the benefits of an Automatic gear car and Cruise Control got into my poor 9 year old car . I now use this feature regularly to drive within my society premises and as far as possible in every other situation on the roads where the traffic is slow moving.

Not sure if I am too late in identifying this use but better late than never and best part is, it made me appreciate the car even more.

Cheers,

[condor]

Originally Posted by zadoom

Not sure if I am too late in identifying this use but better late than never and best part is, it made me appreciate the car even more.

IMO, this is not cruise control. Cruise control is for higher speeds, and is not available at lower speeds. This feature has been a characteristic of diesels for a long time. The petrol engined cars got this later when ECM's started to get more sophisticated.
(Open for correction)

[zadoom]

Originally Posted by condor

IMO, this is not cruise control. Cruise control is for higher speeds, and is not available at lower speeds. This feature has been a characteristic of diesels for a long time. The petrol engined cars got this later when ECM's started to get more sophisticated.
(Open for correction)

Indeed, it's not Cruise control. I was just using that term on a lighter note.
Wasn't actually aware that this feature existed always, had read about it but really started using it in the last few weeks.

Infact the cruise control, irrespective of whether it is Petrol or Diesel normally have seen working only at speeds higher than 50Kmph. The final implementation varies a bit from manufacturer to manufacturer for eg Audi and VW had it work from 50 Kmph onwards, Citroen had it from 70Kmph onwards (if I remember correctly) on the Manual C4.

Cheers,

[condor]

Originally Posted by zadoom

Wasn't actually aware that this feature existed always, had read about it but really started using it in the last few weeks.

At the risk of repeating, it's a characteristic. I have been using it from 2005 when I had got my TCIC Sumo, which was much simpler in construction than the newer Storme

[zadoom]

Originally Posted by condor

At the risk of repeating, it's a characteristic. I have been using it from 2005 when I had got my TCIC Sumo, which was much simpler in construction than the newer Storme

Apologies, missed the finer point earlier. Understood now that it is a characteristic with all diesel engines and not a Storme specific "feature".

Cheers,

[condor]

A puncture on one tyre gave up last week. With the spare being a 10 year old Michelin Latitude Cross, junked these two tyres and got two new Yoko G015's from Tyre Professionals (Madhu's other outlet in Basavanagudi).

Could have tried Continental's with their aggressive tread, but decided to go with G015 - these having lasted 54k so far. The other Yoko is now the spare, and am now running with a pair of new G015's in the front and older pair at the rear.

[zadoom]

Recently have been observing that when I accelerate immediately post upshifting to either 2nd or 3rd gear, there seems to be smoke coming out of the exhaust. This mostly happens when it is slightly hard acceleration and in typical traffic signal scenario or speed breaker scenario where you slow down and then accelerate while changing gears to a higher gear.
This seems to be there only in 2nd / 3rd gears and only for the initial say 30 mins (again even in these 30 mins it is not every time but only on hard acceleration). Also, this assumption is purely based on what I see in the IRVM but I can confirm seeing smoke billow out for a moment on quite a few occasions.

What I am not sure is if this has started happening recently (last couple of months) or it's just that I only noticed it recently and might actually have been there for much longer.

In any case, could this be a cause for concern or generally accepted behavior of a diesel engine.

Cheers,
Mayank

[viXit]

Originally Posted by zadoom

Recently have been observing that when I accelerate immediately post upshifting to either 2nd or 3rd gear, there seems to be smoke coming out of the exhaust. This mostly happens when it is slightly hard acceleration and in typical traffic signal scenario or speed breaker scenario where you slow down and then accelerate while changing gears to a higher gear.
This seems to be there only in 2nd / 3rd gears and only for the initial say 30 mins (again even in these 30 mins it is not every time but only on hard acceleration). Also, this assumption is purely based on what I see in the IRVM but I can confirm seeing smoke billow out for a moment on quite a few occasions.

What I am not sure is if this has started happening recently (last couple of months) or it's just that I only noticed it recently and might actually have been there for much longer.

In any case, could this be a cause for concern or generally accepted behavior of a diesel engine.

Cheers,
Mayank

Not enough ram air effect.

Fuel inside the engine is not getting enough air. So you'll see some smoke until the turbo spools up. You'll notice it only if you floor it after shifting the gear.

Nothing to worry about. It's normal behaviour and was there in a little less amount from day 1

[zadoom]

Originally Posted by viXit

Not enough ram air effect.

Fuel inside the engine is not getting enough air. So you'll see some smoke until the turbo spools up. You'll notice it only if you floor it after shifting the gear.

Nothing to worry about. It's normal behaviour and was there in a little less amount from day 1

Great, thanks for the confirmation. Even I thought the same but wanted to be sure if any one has any other experiences.

Cheers,
Mayank

[condor]

@zadoom, have you checked your airfilter ? Hope it is cleaned regularly, say 5k of running.