[zadoom]

Originally Posted by condor

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

I think I had got it replaced last year only but now that you mentioned shall check this point as well. Thanks.

Cheers,
Mayank

[puneetakhouri]

Has anybody on the forum explored putting the 18" rims of the new safari on the storme?
The storme has tyre specs of 235/70R16 6.5Jx16 rims, whereas the new safari has 235/60R18 8Jx18 rims.
Both look 5 bolt ones to me with same tyre width. Also the tyre upsize calculator shows that the odo reading would vary by a minimal margin. My only concern is the offset but apart from that all look fine, any thoughts?
The thought came to my mind after looking at this rendition of the storme which has the new safari rims https://www.rushlane.com/2023-tata-s...-12452253.html

[condor]

Originally Posted by puneetakhouri

Has anybody on the forum explored putting the 18" rims of the new safari on the storme?

These wont fit. Search for Hexa alloys if you really want larger wheels,

[kochup]

My 2013 Dec model Storme (Odo - 101K) seems to be loosing coolant (the level was near Min mark) however there is no visible leak. Had couple of long drives in this heat including a BLR-Kodaikanal ghat drive and a 20 min bumper to bumper traffic jam between Nagercoil - TVM.

Is this normal or is there anything that i need to check.

No other noticable symptoms including proper AC cooling and temp guage in the normal center position during the drive. Thanks

[condor]

Originally Posted by kochup

My 2013 Dec model Storme (Odo - 101K) seems to be loosing coolant ..

Is this normal or is there anything that i need to check.

Have you topped it up and checked again - esp how much time does it take for the level to drop to minimum ? What's the color of the exhaust smoke ?

It could also be a cracked pipe somewhere.

[kochup]

Thanks Condor for the reply.

Originally Posted by condor

Have you topped it up and checked again - esp how much time does it take for the level to drop to minimum ? What's the color of the exhaust smoke ?

Yes, got it topped up but do not have access to the car for the next 2 - 3 weeks.

Originally Posted by condor

how much time does it take for the level to drop to minimum ? What's the color of the exhaust smoke ?

Not sure, my last service was in Dec end and coolant was changed during that service and frankly did not check in between. Also have not observed any unusual exhaust smoke at all.

Originally Posted by condor

It could also be a cracked pipe somewhere.

Hopefully its not something serious, will check once i get back to TVM where the car is currently. When i got it filled from the service center, I asked the tech if it was a leak and he just mentioned its minor. It did not strike me to probe further.

[hyper-VTEC]

I've been using Amsoil Turbo Truck 5w40 from last 4 oil fills in my 2014 Safari Storme run 57K Kms. However, the truck's running has decreased considerably to around ~5K kms annually.

The truck is used mainly in Bangalore city and occasional highway runs (150-200 kms).

Would it be okay to switch back to good quality mineral 15W40? In addition to the saved cost (7.5 Litres), i am feeling that Amsoil is being wasted since it not getting utilised to its true potential.

What are the possible downsides to going back to mineral? I am expecting it to be less smooth and FE to go down a little. Other than that any major issues i can encounter? I plan to keep the Storme till EoL.

[SoulDrive]

Originally Posted by SoulDrive

Hello Safari owners! I'm a Safari devotee looking for a chance to own this beast for sometime now. If any of you are looking for a new home for your Safari, please do let me know! I'm looking for a Storme (LX/EX/VX) from around 2013-2015. Have spoken to way too many dealers/owners and have not found one yet that I was convinced was cared for with mechanical empathy. I'm based out of Bangalore, but open to acquiring from out of state if the overall budget works out for both parties. Our daughter will be turning 2 soon and we want to go travelling around the country and we would want nothing but a Safari to make memories with!

Its been a while and I have a confession to make. So, I took the plunge around August-September last year, after a lot of searching. Bought a 2014 VX from Delhi. This is a story for another time. I'd perhaps like to write about it some day. The steed served us well in our road trip from Delhi to Bangalore and we did few short trips around Bangalore.

However since last November, she started to show some signs of over heating noticeably after getting a full tank of Shell Diesel. I had by then made acquaintance with Pramod from Leo Carz. I had just about made a long list made for a complete overhaul, just before this overheating issue came up.

We started out by replacing the radiator cap and monitored the card under idle and the car ran fine for 5-7 fan on-off cycles without overheating. No coolant spillage was noticed. However the issue came up again after few test drives.

Meanwhile Pramod also noticed the drive belt had gone almost bald and that the engine note was a bit irregular. The drive belt was replaced. We also replaced the HLAs along with the timing belt, auto tensioner, touch idler, idler pulley and the water pump. The engine note sounded better, however it was still not perfect.

We decided to get the injectors serviced. This turned out to be quite an ordeal. Future Diesel suspected fuel adulteration, some injectors were getting locked, otherwise, they didn't find any other issue with the injectors. Post servicing the injectors, the beast just refused to come to life. The engine was just not cranking even after multiple attempts.

After almost a month and half with Future Diesel with all the back and forth injectors getting locked - serviced - refitted cycles, we decided to get the injectors checked through Nayak Diesel. Now, these guys found that the control valves and nozzles of 2 injectors were whitish due to bad filtration/fuel adulteration and needed replacement.
We decided to remove all diesel from the tank, flush the high pressure lines, change the diesel filter and fill fresh fuel before refitting the injectors.
Once these were fixed, the car started in the first crank! Another lesson learnt!

The engine note was smooth now. I was all set for a test drive. To my dismay, I noticed the overheating issue yet again. This time, we replaced all the hoses suspecting any micro crack that we may have not accounted for. Another test drive, same result. We got the radiator serviced and found the same issue recurring after a test drive.

Until this point, we were hesitant to open the head as it had never been opened before and we wanted to exhaust all other options first. We opened the head and found it to be in not so great shape. We had a process called metal(Al) deposition done on it to bring it back in shape. Before putting it all back, Pramod noticed some of the hoses that became accessible after removing the head needed replacement. We wanted to be sure there's no other possibility for the coolant to leak.

We're right now stuck because we aren't able to procure these hoses despite multiple attempts, its being sent back as "back orders" with the manufacturers.

Its been a quite a long ordeal, but we can't wait to have our steed back with us in good shape.

We have 2 options now.

1. Procure these hoses from the scrap yard
2. Get silicon hoses manufactured for the right temperature/dimensional tolerances

Both are not ideal options and come with risks. The second option has the added disadvantage that it would be insanely expensive given that manufacturers would need a minimum order quantity.

Can someone help me deal with this conundrum? Thanks in advance.

[avinash_m]

Originally Posted by hyper-VTEC

I've been using Amsoil Turbo Truck 5w40 from last 4 oil fills in my 2014 Safari Storme run 57K Kms. However, the truck's running has decreased considerably to around ~5K kms annually.

Would it be okay to switch back to good quality mineral 15W40? In addition to the saved cost (7.5 Litres), i am feeling that Amsoil is being wasted since it not getting utilised to its true potential.

What are the possible downsides to going back to mineral? I am expecting it to be less smooth and FE to go down a little. Other than that any major issues i can encounter? I plan to keep the Storme till EoL.

Not a great idea I'd say. While I can't really call out any specific issues upon switching back to mineral (may depend a lot on your driving style), low running can't be a good reason to switch back. You could extend the change interval maybe, to two years or so. If you're concerned about the under usage, just try taking it out and gunning it every once in a while, I did that during COVID.
I use the same oil since past 4-5 years on my 2016 V400 (@75K) and have always loved the smoothness it brings to the engine. After having used it for this long, you may not like a coarse sounding engine and the resultant drive exp.

Just my 2 cents..cheers!

[avinash_m]

Originally Posted by SoulDrive

Bought a 2014 VX from Delhi.

Congrats; welcome to the Storme club!

she started to show some signs of over heating noticeably after getting a full tank of Shell Diesel.

Could you elaborate a bit on the exact symptoms!? Temp needle climbing (what range?), car becoming sluggish, AC not working etc., during this overheating!?

We started out by replacing the radiator cap and monitored the card under idle and the car ran fine for 5-7 fan on-off cycles without overheating. No coolant spillage was noticed. However the issue came up again after few test drives.

Did you do this test run with the AC on!? Storme has separate fans for radiator and condenser.

Meanwhile Pramod also noticed the drive belt had gone almost bald and that the engine note was a bit irregular. The drive belt was replaced. We also replaced the HLAs along with the timing belt, auto tensioner, touch idler, idler pulley and the water pump

Sounds like it never had the timing kit replaced since 2014, good that you got it done, should be serviced/replaced at about 5yrs/60K mark

We decided to get the injectors serviced. This turned out to be quite an ordeal.
We decided to remove all diesel from the tank, flush the high pressure lines, change the diesel filter and fill fresh fuel before refitting the injectors.
Once these were fixed, the car started in the first crank! Another lesson learnt!

How much had the car run when you got it and did you get it evaluated at a TASS or access it's service history?

Can someone help me deal with this conundrum? Thanks in advance.

Reading through your post, not sure why would an overheating issue warrant opening the head; could be entirely wrong though. Would suggest to take ur car to an engine specialist, or even a TASS; they can tell you the real condition of ur engine. Also, Storme parts are not so hard to get, you can place an order in TASS itself and they should be able to procure it in few days or weeks depending on what they are. Hoses etc. are pretty common stuff, which they should be able to procure for you.

Keep us posted if you get it sorted.

[SoulDrive]

Originally Posted by avinash_m

Congrats; welcome to the Storme club!

Thank you!

Could you elaborate a bit on the exact symptoms!? Temp needle climbing (what range?), car becoming sluggish, AC not working etc., during this overheating!?

I noticed the car losing power first. By the time I noticed this, the needle was above 55-60%. Lost almost all power before I could find a safe shoulder on the side of the highway.

Did you do this test run with the AC on!? Storme has separate fans for radiator and condenser

This idle tests were done with the AC off.

Sounds like it never had the timing kit replaced since 2014, good that you got it done, should be serviced/replaced at about 5yrs/60K mark

Yes, definitely does sound like it. Also, the bald drive belt was literally a ticking time bomb.

How much had the car run when you got it and did you get it evaluated at a TASS or access it's service history?

It had run about 72k. The reading is true. The service history was available till about 2020 mid.

Reading through your post, not sure why would an overheating issue warrant opening the head; could be entirely wrong though. Would suggest to take ur car to an engine specialist, or even a TASS; they can tell you the real condition of ur engine. Also, Storme parts are not so hard to get, you can place an order in TASS itself and they should be able to procure it in few days or weeks depending on what they are.

From what I understand, because of the degradation in the head, there was coolant seeping into the engine. Given the absence of any noticeable leak anywhere even after replacing the hoses, this was the only remaining possibility.

Hoses etc. are pretty common stuff, which they should be able to procure for you.

We reached out to at least 3-4 contacts, including the local TASS and Boodmo. After almost a month of waiting these got marked as "back orders".

[SoulDrive]

So we managed to get some parts from Popular (JC road). Left with 3 parts for which as per TATA, production was stopped sometime in 2020. Despite scouting around the used car parts / scrap market in Shivaji Nagar for half a day, we couldn't find these pipes.

Any leads would be greatly appreciated!


1. WATER OUTLET ELBOW(CYLINDER HEAD)

Part # 278920123803







2. ASSY. VENT TUBE-COOLANT PIPE TO RADIATOR
Part # 278920120166



3. ASSY. COOLANT PIPE
Part # 278920120143

I will connect you to the Scrap dealer (after they pickup my car) and you might deal with him directly. I don't have any commercial interest in this. I and my family loved Storme and miss it a lot.

Hi @speed79 - Would you still happen to have the contact details of this dealer?

If anyone can share any contacts of a possible donor vehicle or a scrap dealer anywhere in India, ti would really help.

<start of rant>
I'm yet to come to terms with the fact that TATA decided to stop production of parts of a vehicle within a year of stopping manufacturing of the vehicle! Whatever happened to the 15 year rule and right to repair? First you kill the brand, then you refuse to support enthusiasts who want to carry forward the legacy on their own!
</end of rant>

You can take out Utility Assembly(Check the Video link) and remove the springs at back(DIY), this will atleast keep it closed. And if you really need to buy the clip, its an imported part and manufactured by Southco costs 1k.

Link to plastic latch: https://in.rsdelivers.com/product/so...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

@shyam078 Can't thank you enough for this! This is another item I struggled to source. Was even open to replacing the entire utility bin for 5-7k, but couldn't find one in beige.

Have placed an order with RS, hopefully they deliver!

[speed79]

Originally Posted by SoulDrive

Hi @speed79 - Would you still happen to have the contact details of this dealer?

The scrap dealer Amjad is based in Shivaji Nagar, Bangalore. His number is 98804 82387. He had told me that he had Hexa parts as well.

I also got my Alto scrapped by him as it was UP regd with KA tax paid, and had crossed 15 years, parked and getting rusted due to non use for last 5 years.

Regarding your rant, I also feel the same, after having bought a used Hexa and now hearing about spares scare, and the auto gearbox being out of bound even for Tata Motors. On the other hand my 2011 Vista quadrajet has no problem in getting spares.

[SoulDrive]

Hi @speed79, thanks a lot for the quick reply. I will connect with Amjad today. Fingers crossed.

[SoulDrive]

Hi @speed79, Amjad couldn't help, he had only a 2017 engine lying around. He seems to have sold your Storme's engine. The search continues!

Would anyone happen to have contacts of possible donor vehicles or scrap dealers in Hyderabad who could help?