[Sumedik]

Is there any minimum CCA recommendation for Astar AT battery? Amaron Go, Flo & Pro 35 Ah batteries have progressively higher CCA ratings.

[condor]

Originally Posted by Sumedik

Is there any minimum CCA recommendation for Astar AT battery? Amaron Go, Flo & Pro 35 Ah batteries have progressively higher CCA ratings.

The car has a 1.0 litre petrol engine - hence any of these should be fine. We got a Flo last month, but more so because Go wasnt in stock.

[condor]

A routine service completed for the A-Star today with the odo at 50250. Replaced the horn, AC belt, air filter and cabin filter. Engine oil was still good, so we let it be. Servicing done at T-Serv / Swastikaa auto in Begur.

[Sumedik]

Of late I am recently noticing something peculiar with Astar AT: The gear lever movement between D and N (D to N and N to D) has become loose as compared to movements between N to R and R to P (and vice versa in both cases).

In other words, I need to put in more effort to move the gear shift know from P to R and R to N (and vice versa in both cases) than movement between D and N.

It is understood that movement between D and N occurs more frequently as compared to movements between N, R and P. However I am a bit confused.

Is it something trivial or an indication of a bigger impeding issue? What could be the cause here? How to diagnose and fix this?

The car was manufactured in February 2011 and no ATF change has been done since it runs less. The color of ATF fluid is still bright and not dark. There is no transmission malfunction and transmission malfunction light has never come on.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by Sumedik

I need to put in more effort to move the gear shift know from P to R and R to N (and vice versa in both cases) than movement between D and N.

@Sumedik,

I'd suggest getting the console surrounding the gear lever assembly opened, and just inspecting the cable links on the gear shifter side and the gear box side. To me it looks more like the links have picked up some gunk. In the worst case, I'd presume that the gear shifter cable ends are getting tight and the cable might need replacement. Attaching two pics for reference

Schematic showing the gear shifter cable for the A-Star AT (image source boodmo.com)


Image of the AT lever assembly of a 2007 Grand Vitara

[Sumedik]

Originally Posted by vigsom

To me it looks more like the links have picked up some gunk.

Thanks for the detailed response. Actually the gear lever movement between D & N in both directions has become LOOSE with time, as compared to movements between P & R.

My concern is this "partial" looseness, not the tightness. Movements between P & R, N & R remain as tight as it was on day 1.

What does the looseness indicate? How to fix this?

[ar@v1nd]

Originally Posted by ar@v1nd

There's a kind of rattling/grinding noise from the engine/transmission when the car tries to pull from low revs. Typically this happens when upshifting to a higher gear at relatively lower RPMs. Once the RPM climbs a little bit or if the load on the car is reduced, this noise disappears. ASC just brushed this off saying this is common in the A star and Ritz automatic and that there is nothing to worry about.

I actually suspect the engine/transmission mounts. There is a fair bit of vibration on idle and when changing the gear from say N to D when the car is stationary, the car actually shakes. If I open the engine bay, I can actually see the engine shifting it's position (rotationally) when it moves from N to D or R. Will get this checked in the next service.

Just wanted to provide an update on this. In the last service I got all 3 engine mounts and spark plugs replaced. The mechanic told me that all 3 mounts were damaged so my suspicion was right. After this change, the car has literally transformed. The vibrations have gone down 90-95%. The car feels so much smoother to drive. I dont know if it's the spark plug replacement or the fully synthetic oil used this time (Motul 5W-30), but the car feels more eager to accelerate as well.

Originally Posted by Sankar

It is knocking/pre-detonation and is there on the AStar and early Swift 1.2 when there is some load on the engine at low speeds. Its sensitive to fuel quality and an upgrade to iridium spark plug will reduce the knocking. There is nothing wrong to leave it as it is either.

The knocking/grinding sound is still there but reduced quite a bit now - maybe the spark plug replacement helped (just regular ones - not iridium). But earlier, the bad engine mounts were transferring this knocking directly to the body amplifying the vibrations and sound. Now with the new engine mounts, this knocking is only faintly audible (no vibrations) and only on hard acceleration.

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by ar@v1nd

Just wanted to provide an update on this. In the last service I got all 3 engine mounts and spark plugs replaced. The mechanic told me that all 3 mounts were damaged so my suspicion was right. After this change, the car has literally transformed. The vibrations have gone down 90-95%. The car feels so much smoother to drive.

My (now sold) A Star AT had the exact same rattling noise issues, back in mid 2021. I had changed the 3 engine mounts, spark plugs as well as the ignition coil. The car was transformed and was a hoot to drive after that.

The knocking/grinding sound is still there but reduced quite a bit now... this knocking is only faintly audible (no vibrations) and only on hard acceleration.

Check out the throttle body, see if it needs cleaning.

Furthermore, like most Marutis, my A Star used to give off this "khat-khat" noise when driven over bad roads. My FNG mechanic had given the front brake calipers to a lathe to fix this and this noise too was eliminated after that. Just adding this bit, in case you face this problem as well.

[georgesunnyt]

My A Star AT had a rattle sound too, coming from the exhaust area. Changed two exhaust mounts, one in front of exhaust which had broken completely and one near the muffler. This eliminated the rattle sounds. There's a total of 4 exhaust mounts. I would recommend changing all 4 of them.
I'm yet to change the engine mounts. I might try changing engine mounts in the future since other bhpians mention it to make a difference as well.

[shresan23]

So, this might seem a bit pretentious, but it is not.

The existing Nissan Kicks was huge. It gave very poor FE, it moved around like a mammoth. My mom was not happy. She couldnt persuade my dad to take her to tight places.

The existing Nissan Kicks was new. It was white in colour. I had just received my Driving License. I wasnt happy. I couldnt persuade my dad to let me drive it in the city.


Despite being a family of three, there was an undying requirement for a small car. Now you can call this thread pretentious

This car is primarily to let me understand the process of Driving a car. Like my dad says,

"There is driving and then there is D-R-I-V-I-N-G"

The second kind of driving needs a bare bones car. So, whenever i threw a fit for not letting me drive, this was his usual reaction,

"i'll get you a pre owned car, you learn to drive on that, and then, and then only will i let you even touch the Kicks inside the city."


Just like how you guys are running out of patience right now, I too was running out of it, big time. The process of getting a second hand car started about a year ago and it moved at crawling speed, until last week.


We shifted our place of residence. The security deposit was back and dad had some money saved up. He initiated the process one thursday. By Sunday, the car was home.



The Process

My first turn was towards the Team Bhp forum. I would like to thank all of you for the reply and the support you gave. While there were many options in front of me, i decided to stick with maruti, due to its reliability and sheer no nonsense maintanance.

I contacted TrueValue first.

They sent us pics of various used cars like WagonR, Alto, Zen Estillo etc.

Out of all this, one of the guys from TrueValue, sent a Zen Estillo home, for us to test drive.

That Zen Estillo was expressly declined. The very first thing i noticed was that the clutch was worn out beyond recognition. There was no bite. Well, i dont know much of the mechanics, but a car is supposed to have a clutch bite. That one didnt have that.

The second part was that, the engine shook like an earthquake in the middle of a thunderstorm. The odo said 40k kms, my gut said 1 lakh+ kms for sure.


The vehicle had minor damage and patch up work on the left side of the car. The pistons in the boot was damaged, the windows on the left were damaged, there was some patch work and dents on the rear bumper and fender and some scratches on the door. This suggested that the vehicle was in a T-Bone accident and was repaired. Now, this is not with absolute certainity but just a suggestion.

Rejected due to,

1. Possible Odo Tampering
2. The damage
3. The Engine vibrations
4. The clutch
5. The prospect of incurring extra costs in the car due to the car not being certified by TrueValue.

That was that. TrueValue itself was rejected. I then browsed the web for cars and came across something called Truebil. This TrueBil is a budget man's spinny. They are sister concerns of Spinny and are directly affiliated to them.

Under our budget of 2.5 lakhs, there were four cars.

1. Hyundai i10 era @ 70k kms
2. Suzuki A-Star
3. Suzuki Alto @ 40k kms
4. Ford Figo


Now, all these cars were 11 years to 13 years old on an average. There was a rising concern for getting the FC in a couple of years, therefore the oldest of the bunch, Hyundai, was rejected.

The Ford Figo was a diesel vehicle and had run i think, more than 90k kms. There was also the whole issue with Ford. Therefore it was also rejected.

The Suzuki siblings were shortlisted and we went down to test drive the cars.

We went to the Alto first. The alto was NOT a Truebil certified car, which meant that we had to take the car as it was, no repairs before delivery, no guarantees etc. Besides, the car had damages in the front and the headlamps suggested that the car was possibly submerged during the '15 floods in Chennai. This car was rejected.

Then we went to the A-Star. Except very minor paint issues, there was nothing wrong with the vehicle. The engine showed its age. However, at 70k kms, it held up very well. The vehicle jerked forward and moved comfortably thereafter. My dad read its service history, i looked for any forensic evidence of the car being in an accident. We came across one point which pushed us home. We booked the vehicle, Paid the advance and came home.

The next day, the vehicle was ready after all pre delivery checks, oil changes, repairs, cleaning, polishing etc. We paid the amount and drove it home.

For the very first time, i drove the car home. It was a 25km drive from Truebil to our place. My dad came alone in the Kicks while my mom and I came in the A-Star.


That was the process of me, a 19 year old, getting his first ever car. I will drive her for a few days, take her to the nearest Maruti Service center, have her checked out and then give you guys a detailed report on the Price, Mileage and all the other things.

[shresan23]

Also guys, i have a small query, how do you change the mode in the stereo to Aux mode? I tried pressing the dedicated aux button, but nothing happened and it still stayed on FM. Am i missing something?

[ar@v1nd]

Originally Posted by shresan23

That was the process of me, a 19 year old, getting his first ever car. I will drive her for a few days, take her to the nearest Maruti Service center, have her checked out and then give you guys a detailed report on the Price, Mileage and all the other things.

Congrats shresan. The A star is a well built car and is quite well priced for what it offers. Did you get an Lxi / Vxi or Zxi?

Originally Posted by shresan23

Also guys, i have a small query, how do you change the mode in the stereo to Aux mode? I tried pressing the dedicated aux button, but nothing happened and it still stayed on FM. Am i missing something?

Just need to press the aux button. Nothing else. I don't remember if it senses if something is connected to the aux port before switching. Please check if the aux cable is plugged in properly.

[outdoorlover]

Has anyone got the head unit of the A Star changed to a single DIN unit? Would like to hear the experience and if it makes a positive impact on the audio quality.

[shresan23]

Originally Posted by ar@v1nd

Did you get an Lxi / Vxi or Zxi?



Just need to press the aux button..

Thanks a ton. Vxi is the variant. This one is without the ABS i believe, there is not branding on the back, which was usually a feature back then.

As far as the aux was concerned, i tried it again after posting this, and it has been working flawlessly ever since.
I have no idea why it didnt work and i have no intention of trying to reproduce the situation.

The FMs are bad. 1 song and 5 ads in between, with a theme song and some random voiceovers.

[condor]

Originally Posted by shresan23

Vxi is the variant. This one is without the ABS i believe, there is not branding on the back, which was usually a feature back then.

The FMs are bad. 1 song and 5 ads in between, with a theme song and some random voiceovers.

The A-Star was an export model, and the VXi definitely came with ABS. (Our AT version is a VXi trim, and has ABS). The badging on your car may have fallen off long back.

Regarding FM - if you listen to it, keep the antenna vertical or at least close to vertical. I prefer to keep the antenna flat (lowered) on my cars, but on the A-Star doing this causes the signals to be not picked up well. ... But no way to cut out those ads and the stupid talk. As for changing to a single-din player, check the thread by @Sankar. You will need an adapter plate for the slot so that the 1-din HU can match the contours of the dashboard. Not sure if they are available now (used to be there on Aliexpress long back. Dont remember amazon if they had it)