[speedsatya]

Team,

All the cars in the family are serviced at manufacturer specified intervals with parts being compulsorily changed as per the schedule in the manual (irrespective of whether it needs a change or not ).
Talking about the Zen,thanks to MASS like Surakshaa and with some basic care ,it still does 160 on the speedo and it still gives a very superb FE.

The odometer is close to 200K kms and I dont intend to sell this off.Nor am I planning an engine swap.

Not everyone keeps their cars for so long ,but I know of a few people here who do have cars having 200K+ on their odos.

Was just curious to know as to what should I be taking care of .The service manual unfortunately doesnt mention of anything that should be looked at in the 200K service .

In addition to what the manufacturer specifies,some additional replacements that I do are :
1- Fuel Tank clean( Every 40 K kms)
2- Radiator Flush(Every 40 K kms)
3-Engine Decarbon( Every 10 K kms)
4-Engine Mounts( Replace every 40 K kms )
5-Stabilizer bar bush(Replace every 40 K kms)
6-Steering Overhaul( Every 40 K kms)
7-Throttle body clean ( Every 20 K kms)

So all this + the usual consumables will be replaced at the 200K kms.

What else do I need to take care of ?

BTW the car is car is driven near the redline at every given opportunity on the highway and its always eager to do more

[blackfire_9]

Congrats on achieving this milestone

I have also recently completed 150K on my Alto LX.

Though nothing can be termed as an exhaustive list of what should be done, I would suggest getting the timing belt changed. I do not know about the Zen per se, but as far as I know, this component needs replacement (or is suggested) at every 100K kms & I feel it's a very critical component.

However, I believe that the things under pts. 4,5 & 6 are not required to be changed at the intervals you have listed. It looks over the top, not required.

Drive safe, & do update this thread with the extensive service you went ahead with for the car.

[kpzen]

Woooh 200k !! you still have your zen ?
I thought you had sold it.

Get the exhaust end can flushed.
Check for body rust, running board area & under door rubbers.

Post some pics pls. I still miss my zen.

Still running on GIIIs ?

[Mr.Boss]

Congrats buddy,

200k is a great run for zen without major problems. This reflects your maintenance and care towards the car.
Wish you happy miles ahead.

Originally Posted by speedsatya

3-Engine Decarbon( Every 10 K kms)

Decarb required for every 10k km? AFAIK its not mandatory for such a short interval.

[MileCruncher]

Congrats on achieving the 200K Mark. Now you are up there with HVK (He has two 200K + Vehicles).

Originally Posted by Mr.Boss

Decarb required for every 10k km? AFAIK its not mandatory for such a short interval.

I think a few things are over the top but the Engine Decarb definitely is. Some amount of carbon is good for a petrol engine and I think you should atleast increase the interval if not altogether stop it.

Cheers

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by speedsatya

Team,

The odometer is close to 200K kms and I dont intend to sell this off.Nor am I planning an engine swap.

What else do I need to take care of ?

Please check the bodyshell throughly for weak spots - specifc check of the area under the front aprons.

I am sure you're looking at the timing belt.

Rest is in order ; great work SS

[BuRnT RuBbEr]

a. Does it have an AC? if yes, you could get the blower cleaned. more hygiene than anything else. the dashboard might be harbouring unwanted entities.
b. Also, the wiring insulation may have matured in some places, so a careful checkup can be undertaken.
c. check rubber beading and gaskets all around for (approaching) maturity.

some of these might already be on suzuki guidelines.

[speedsatya]

Yeah .I know a few things could look over the top ,but that has been the secret behind the super reliability of the car .

Forgot to add that the Timing Belt has a 80K limit that I have decided on .So I have changed it twice at 78 K and 162K kms .

@KPZen : Yes I had sold it when i went out of the country for my higher studies,but I bought it back as soon as i landed back .The exhaust end can ,has been replaced at 170K kms .The car had been running on Automech MS exhaust mufflers since 30 K kms .Changed just the muffler to an Automech SS muffler at 170K kms .Will replace the headers and the expansion chamber as well soon to a SS set .

I have had to change the cross member twice for rust.And yeah recently got the underbody painted as the car waded through bumper level water and had water inside as well .But still it didnt stall .But this did affect the exhaust sound :( (Mr.Vivek Bhat from Automech says this is because water must have damaged the cotton wool inside the muffler).I havent changed this as he says the performance wouldnt be affected .

The car still has 165/60r13 GIIIs ,but has new Evo rims replacing the Aura rims at 175K kms .As I couldnt find 5 J rims ,I had to go for 5.5 J rims .I used to get the injectors cleaned every 10 K kms ,but now we do the decarbon done every 10 K kms since the 150 K mark.Earlier it was every 20 K kms.

The AC is one of the weakest links in this car .I do get the blower cleaned and the gas replaced once a year ,but these days i leave it to Surakshaa to decide .Though have done it twice in the last 1.5 years .

Yeah,the beadings have gone kaput as water does enter the running board whenever it rains heavy and one can hear the water whenever i brake .So have to get the beadings replaced.

@Burnt Rubber :Thanks for reminding me of the wiring !I will get the entire wiring replaced in the next service .The rat buster brushes have been protecting the car from brushes,guess even that will have to be replaced.

Another question that I have is on the Engine Oil.The car has been always running on Mobil1 or Shell Fully Synthetic Oil .But I have been reading articles which advise against using fully synthetic oils in older engines.What do the experts think about this ? One particular article speaks about using oil additives that would act as a sealant ! Not sure on this .

Mr.Vivek Bhat of Automech has also advised me to do a compression check .Will be doing that as well in the next service

[BuRnT RuBbEr]

I feel you should not change engine oil brand at this time. everything in the engine has formed an agreeable chemistry ( literally, at those temperatures) with the oil. So if you change oil now, you might find that some gaskets suddenly give way, or something else will start to behave inappropriately. We shouldn't create circumstances for an engine repair when things are going fine.

another passing thought, is the oil sump removable? you could consider getting it cleaned.
also, the copper winding on alternator, starter etc. must have lost much of the insulating varnish. it might be a good idea to get hold of a knowledgeable guy and see if something needs to be done.

[speedsatya]

Okay ,will stick to the same brand of E Oil.On the alternator ,this was changed recently as the OE alternator was damaged by a chip of stone which damaged the outer casing .This caused the alternator body casing to touch the moving parts and hence a short ckt.Luckily the battery light came on when i was in the city and not on a highway drive.

The car now has a new alternator in place .

Engine oil changes are done after a engine oil flush additive,wherein I add the additive just before i drive to the service center ( 5 kms ).

Will have to check the compression and the gaskets for sure .

The fuel pump is something I am worried about ,but the MASS just tell me to use it as it is .

[blackfire_9]

^^ mate, I might be wrong but I think you shouldn't be driving a car after having poured the engine flush. For a few flushes that I have seen, the packaging clearly mentions that the engine should be left at idle for 5-7 minutes & the car shouldn't be run.

[ashis89]

Sorry for a late Congratulation for achieving the 200k kms in your trusted Zen. It's still a beauty and i can understand your attachment with it. Your car seems to be overflowing with TLC but it is good because i believe, a man and his machine are in a Give-n-Take relationship. You take care of your car and in turn she takes care of you.

PS: Post some recent pics(exterior and interior) to adorn this thread.

[chetanhanda]

Originally Posted by speedsatya

Team,

All the cars in the family are serviced at manufacturer specified intervals with parts being compulsorily changed as per the schedule in the manual (irrespective of whether it needs a change or not ).
Talking about the Zen,thanks to MASS like Surakshaa and with some basic care ,it still does 160 on the speedo and it still gives a very superb FE.

The odometer is close to 200K kms and I dont intend to sell this off.Nor am I planning an engine swap.

Not everyone keeps their cars for so long ,but I know of a few people here who do have cars having 200K+ on their odos.

Was just curious to know as to what should I be taking care of .The service manual unfortunately doesnt mention of anything that should be looked at in the 200K service .

In addition to what the manufacturer specifies,some additional replacements that I do are :
1- Fuel Tank clean( Every 40 K kms)
2- Radiator Flush(Every 40 K kms)
3-Engine Decarbon( Every 10 K kms)
4-Engine Mounts( Replace every 40 K kms )
5-Stabilizer bar bush(Replace every 40 K kms)
6-Steering Overhaul( Every 40 K kms)
7-Throttle body clean ( Every 20 K kms)

So all this + the usual consumables will be replaced at the 200K kms.

What else do I need to take care of ?

BTW the car is car is driven near the redline at every given opportunity on the highway and its always eager to do more

congrats on nearing 200K!!
just a few quick basic suggestions from the top of my head considering age of your engine and driving style.
I'd suggest begin with a compression test - just to see how much life you have left or if there is something serious you need to address 1st.
This will give you a rough idea how much life your engine has left with existing components i.e how your valves/piston rings etc are doing so far.

Probably inspect the following also -
1] check the condition of the distributor, rotor, cap etc - replace it if necessary
2]check your tappet setting , get them adjusted, I feel you should keep it closer to the upper range e.g if your specs are .13 to .17mm then keep it on the 0.16 mm.(Not sure what the specs are for a zen)
Atleast in my experience older engines need a bit more clearance when hot.
(Get it done exactly w.r.t TDC, some mechanics are lazy. I insist on matching the CMP exactly for every cylinder even if the mechanic says the mark on the crank pulley nearly matches, in carb you may have to rely on probaly the marking on the crank/cam pulley marking etc since you dont have this sensor)
3]check conditions of your cam lobes, rockers - in case they are worn out too much.
4] check all belts - if they are showing signs of being cracked,frayed at edges etc. I'd suggesting changing all the belts itself seeing the age of your engine and your driving style.Atleast change the timing belt and idler pulley to be on the safe side..but seems you haver already taken car e of that.Just a query did you change the belt only ? or did you also change the idler ?
5] gearbox oil - when did you change it last ? you can change the oil if reqd.How does your gearbox/syncros feel now?
6] bearings - get your all 4 bearings checked, raise it on the overhead jack and see if you have play in the wheels, try and pull/push down on the wheels from the sides and see if you have play. Maybe also just give them a rotation with your hand and see if you can hear something ?
replace if necesary
7] Bushings - raise the car and see the underside, just check the condition of all your bushings, I'm guessing you may see some cracked/deformed/crushed bushings.
8] Shocks/Struts - not sure what suspension you have on your zen but check if you can see some signs of wetting/damp spots indicating worn out seals etc. Probably replace the entire shock/strut..
9] I was going to say injector cleaning ... but
10]Synthetic engine oil - Flush with decarboniser , probably use a fresh quantity of some cheap mineral oil ...
Replace with fresh new synthetic oil.
I really dont think replacing with synthetic engine oil will create any problems.
11] Simple stuff like spark plugs. Go for factory spec ones only.
12] Ignition timing - Get your "base ignition" timing set exactly as per factory spec.
I really dont know what kind of a mechanical "ignition advance" mechanism the carb zen has. Probably get it checked also if it works as expected with a timing gun.
Probably in your carb system wed need to check the dwell angle also.
If you are replacing a worn out distributor I'm guessing this would take care of the dwell angle settings also.
If not then set the dwell correctly as per spec.
(If it was an ECU based system things would be diff, we'd disconnect the ECU for doing the base ignition and leave the advance to the ECU and its sensors etc, we dont have to worry about dwell angle)
13] Alternator : <Post edited you already took care of it>

Cant think of more stuff at the moment, will add if I think I've missed out something.

[humyum]

Of everything, I don't think you should get a decarb done in a car that has run so much and decarb every 10 k is pushing it IMO. Carbon seals some of the compression which you might end up removing and fast forwarding an engine overhaul.

Regular oil changes are more than enough to take care of the engine bit.

[chetanhanda]

Originally Posted by humyum

Of everything, I don't think you should get a decarb done in a car that has run so much and decarb every 10 k is pushing it IMO. Carbon seals some of the compression which you might end up removing and fast forwarding an engine overhaul.

Regular oil changes are more than enough to take care of the engine bit.

Ya, decarb at every 10K is really pushing it.
But decarb at 200K is ok I feel.

If the car is literally relying on carbon deposits to keep the compression and keep it running in reasonable state then it might as well need an overhaul ASAP!!.
I wouldn't agree with the concept of having carbon is a good thing for old engine.Engines designs do account for some amount of carbon build up but not decarbing older engines becoz "carbon is a good thing for older engines" is a totally diff thing.
Engine should be carbon free as much as possible but that doesn't mean decarb at 10K intervals.
(This carb is a good thing or not can take up 100's of pages and we would go OT in no time, we should have a new thread for this )