[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by LegalEagle

Based on the inputs, I am actively considering the Hella lights option - only difference being
(a) I want to position them at the same level as the current fog lights, in the air dam right above the number plate holes. Is that going to help or not?
(b) It would be a completely independent circuit - running only when the key is in the ignition, and with an independent switch installed. Planning against a link to the high beam option, as use the high beam frequently while overtaking.

Let me know your thoughts.

Some suggestions.

Position : Closer to the headlights, they work together. Closer to the ground and they cause bright spots near the vehicle that will cause eye strain.

Switch : On both my vehicles the driving lights are running on a separate relay with a dedicated switch in the dashboard, however even if that switch is on , the driving lights will switch on only if the headlamp stalk is on high beam position. This diagram is present in the kit from Hella.

[LegalEagle]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

Some suggestions.

Position : Closer to the headlights, they work together. Closer to the ground and they cause bright spots near the vehicle that will cause eye strain.

Thank you for the guidance. Enquired at Indian Decars and Hella 700FF is to be ordered as not in stock. Saw Hella Rallye 3003 - liked the looks but think it may be overkill.

Better half now says if you are adding lights, add a Lightbar. Not sure if it would help my requirements as such.

So the search continues...

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by LegalEagle

Thank you for the guidance. Enquired at Indian Decars and Hella 700FF is to be ordered as not in stock. Saw Hella Rallye 3003 - liked the looks but think it may be overkill.

Better half now says if you are adding lights, add a Lightbar. Not sure if it would help my requirements as such.

So the search continues...

Lightbar is not entirely useless, you can use them in remote places at night. Hella used to publish beam pattern for all their lights earlier from what I remember the lightbar's light wasn't going anywhere useful.

If I was not worried about the lights getting stolen, I sure would love to fit something more expensive. Some places we visit does not have a secure enough place for me to sleep peacefully with anything expensive fitted outside the vehicle . The stone shield of such premium lights in itself is very expensive.

500/700FF is good value , beam pattern suits our highway driving needs and you worry a lot less about it getting stolen.

[ntomer]

I drive a Dec-2015 TUV, which has done 97K KMs. Lately it has developed a strange problem - if I turn off the ignition immediately after stopping car, car won't work again.

Engine would start but will stop immediately with violent jerks. It takes resetting the ECM to make it work again. What maybe the reason and what is the solution; any ideas?

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by ntomer

I drive a Dec-2015 TUV, which has done 97K KMs. Lately it has developed a strange problem - if I turn off the ignition immediately after stopping car, car won't work again.

Engine would start but will stop immediately with violent jerks. It takes resetting the ECM to make it work again. What maybe the reason and what is the solution; any ideas?

I'm thinking of two things.

1. Fuel system - hoses that are leaking, lift pump inside the fuel tank is overheating or has sucked in air due to low fuel level. Clogged fuel filter or adulterated fuel.

2. Engine stop start system - It needs input from many sensors, including clutch, gearbox , bonnet switch etc etc.

[sathyasuri]

Originally Posted by ntomer

I drive a Dec-2015 TUV, which has done 97K KMs. ...

Engine would start but will stop immediately with violent jerks. It takes resetting the ECM to make it work again. What maybe the reason and what is the solution; any ideas?

Please do check your battery strength/voltage levels.
Reason: The early batches of TUV 300 came with a finicky battery voltage sensor (found near the negative terminal in the battery compartment) which is very strict in measuring the battery voltage and is the reason for these judders while starting the engine. This sensor apparently confuses the ECU by sending in an interrupt to stop the cranking, whenever the voltage drops below 11v or so. If not for this sensor, the battery would have been able to start the engine normally. I was told by the SA that this sensor was dropped in the later batches.

[sathyasuri]

Originally Posted by procrj

Good to see you posting here sathya. How is your TUV holding up? do share a little more detail on experience, issues and any other anecdotes when you have time...

Buoyed by this post from Procrj I set off to jot down the points that I will cover in a summary of owning a TUV for 5 years. But, TUV being a TUV sprang a surprise last evening when I turned on the AC, I think I heard a short unusual whistle and kaput hot air started blowing.

Took the car to the Mahindra service this morning, the mechanic checked for the coolant gas in the HVAC and it has completely leaked. The service centre was full hence have fixed an appointment for Thursday (24-Dec). A quick inspection of the external condenser shows that it seems to be ok, so the prime suspect now is the Evaporator coil in the dashboard area.

Some info from the conversation with the SA: looks like the Evaporator coil leak is normal for a 4-5 yr old car. There was a 4 yr old TUV and a 3 yr old KUV in the service centre with the same problem today. So a word of caution to other owners, if you don't have an extended warranty I would again suggest you to opt for it, it is worth it. Some numbers to justify the 14K cost towards extended warranty: this evaporator coil costs (source: boodmo) 8.4K and add another 2-3K(rough estimate) towards the labour charge + cost for fixing some other parts failing. In my case, I already had Diesel filter failure and steering pump failure in the 4th year and both were covered by the extended warranty.

Coming back to this issue, as luck would have it my extended warranty expired on 14th Dec and this issue popped up on 21st Dec. The chances of getting a goodwill gesture(read as compensation for being a Beta tester of TUV 300 ) from Mahindra is very bleak right now. Nevertheless, I have placed a request by agreeing to pay for the labour charges, let me see what happens when the work is taken up on the 24th Dec.

Again, in spite of all these issues and niggles, I still don't feel like giving up on it. Perhaps this is what they mean when people say "Character". IMHO TUV sure does have a character like a living person. Like people, it sure does have its own set of Idiosyncracies and quirkiness but when it comes to important things (at least in my case) it just simply means business. And with this ending, I hope to begin my Five year ownership post, hopefully soon.

[procrj]

Originally Posted by sathyasuri

coolant gas in the HVAC and it has completely leaked.

Damn, sad to hear this. Even in my car , effectiveness of AC has dropped quiet a bit. Was planning on getting the gas topped up this week. Do you know if there is any way to check if the evaporator coil is working fine, without opening the dashboard?

Diesel filter failure

can you elaborate on this? Or did you mean fuel pump?

steering pump failure

I have heard a few other owners also complain about steering pump issues and steering becoming very hard. Any warning signs that you experienced before total failure?

chances of getting a goodwill gesture(read as compensation for being a Beta tester of TUV 300 ) from Mahindra is very bleak right now.

Write to the regional manager for Mahindra and start escalating. Its a question of how hard you push. If you do pester them, they should be able to cover this as goodwill.

Idiosyncracies and quirkiness but when it comes to important things (at least in my case) it just simply means business.

+1 to that, will be 5 years with the car on 21st Jan 2021 and I am still loving it. There have been a few niggles in the last couple of months, which have been minor irritants but on the whole, I don't see myself driving anything else for the next 3 years.

Question: How is your suspension setup holding up?

[sathyasuri]

Originally Posted by procrj

Damn, sad to hear this. Even in my car , effectiveness of AC has dropped quiet a bit. Was planning on getting the gas topped up this week. Do you know if there is any way to check if the evaporator coil is working fine, without opening the dashboard?

I am not sure if there is a quicker way other than a compression test of the AC circuit. Compressed air is pumped in to the HVAC circuit through the inlet valve near the Brake fluid container(in TUV) and look out for gas leak sounds at various points in the circuit.

Originally Posted by procrj

can you elaborate on this? Or did you mean fuel pump?

It is the Diesel filter. It is this one.

Originally Posted by procrj

I have heard a few other owners also complain about steering pump issues and steering becoming very hard. Any warning signs that you experienced before total failure?

The symptom my TUV developed was a high pitched noise that was intermittent and used to occur only after long drives.

Both the above issues are in detail here: Post 2465 (Mahindra TUV300 : Official Review)

Originally Posted by procrj

Write to the regional manager for Mahindra and start escalating. Its a question of how hard you push. If you do pester them, they should be able to cover this as goodwill.

Yes, I have the same plan to write to the CRM and try my luck. The last time I did, it was for the MLD fitment for the wheel spin issue. That issue was something that I could live with but this time it is the AC so I think there will have to be a tradeoff between the waiting time and a compromise. Anyways will try it.

Originally Posted by procrj

Question: How is your suspension setup holding up?

In case you are referring to the suspension retrofit for the wheelspin... I went for the MLD retro-fit. Or if you are referring to suspension in general after 5 years, I think it is still ok, no squeaks or unusual bottoming out so far.

[airbus]

Originally Posted by sathyasuri

Again, in spite of all these issues and niggles, I still don't feel like giving up on it. Perhaps this is what they mean when people say "Character". IMHO TUV sure does have a character like a living person.

Originally Posted by procrj

+1 to that, will be 5 years with the car on 21st Jan 2021 and I am still loving it.

Same here, my tank completed five years today. Although I had faced some niggles in the first two years of ownership, last three years were trouble free. ODO reading is 32K and I have not replaced my tyres yet, however got internal TPMS installed in October 2020. I love to drive my tank and plan to keep for another couple of years.

[airbus]

I did 50K kms service on 26 December. Although driving was very limited during the year, it was almost 14 months from the last service and I had a long drive this week. Just routine service, did not have any complain as such.

[shrinz.vivek]

Originally Posted by ntomer

I drive a Dec-2015 TUV, which has done 97K KMs. Lately it has developed a strange problem - if I turn off the ignition immediately after stopping car, car won't work again.

Engine would start but will stop immediately with violent jerks. It takes resetting the ECM to make it work again. What maybe the reason and what is the solution; any ideas?

I faced this issue 4 times in the last 1 month. Once this happened when i was taking a very steep left hairpin bend with 7 people on board. The engine stalled and shut off in 2nd gear and simply refused to start up. Tried everything, taking the key out, locking the doors, pumping the pedals, waiting for 5-8 mins. With great difficulty retraced the hairpin in reverse and then tried cranking and succeeded. Later this happened a couple of times on flat road when my dad put the vehicle into 4th instead of 2nd gear by mistake.

Looking back, the only thing which worked was pushing the vehicle fwd or rev a few feet and then starting it again. I don't mean push starting the vehicle, like how we do when the battery is dead. It just simple turning of wheels.

Based on this experience i feel the problem is with some sensor which puts the vehicle into disaster mode after a stall or sudden switch off. The fuel pump or something shuts down to avoid flooding or fire accident. Moving all 4 wheels tells the ECU that all is well and resets the electronics.

[procrj]

Originally Posted by shrinz.vivek

I faced this issue 4 times in the last 1 month....
Based on this experience i feel the problem is with some sensor which puts the vehicle into disaster mode after a stall or sudden switch off.

4 times is quiet alarming. Were you lugging the car in a lower gear in all these occasions? Would suggest that you start with the MAF and Fuel Sensor, assuming that your air and fuel filters are clean.

[vishy76]

Originally Posted by ntomer

I drive a Dec-2015 TUV, which has done 97K KMs. Lately it has developed a strange problem - if I turn off the ignition immediately after stopping car, car won't work again.

Engine would start but will stop immediately with violent jerks. It takes resetting the ECM to make it work again. What maybe the reason and what is the solution; any ideas?

I would start by checking the crankshaft position sensor. Hesitancy in starting immediately after shutting the car off usually points to a bad CKP sensor. Also get the throttle body checked along with the starter motor and it's solenoid.

[airbus]

After five years both my key cases gave up. To ensure equal usage, keys were swapped every month. I have seen the same problem faced by some other TUV3OO owners as well. Ordered two key cases from boodmo. Delivery expected in two weeks.