Hi Friends,
I know we have a 200 odd page of Niggles thread, why a separate one? Simple, the problem that I am having is not being shown in the fault codes, neither the check engine light is glowing.
Let me elaborate a bit. First the details of my XUV :
Variant : W6
Year of Manufacturing : 2012 August
ODO Reading : 11,198 KM
Engine oil changed on a regular interval starting from 1000km ( after the running in).
Prologue:
After buying of the XUV, it has become my daily drive. Though there had been niggles, like the usual brake grinding noise, the door latch not operating, it was nothing worth mentioning. In fact January beginning only, I have completed a 1500 KM round trip from North Bengal, without any glitch whatsoever. The way this beast chewed on the lunar craters of Dumka-Bhagalpur stretch needs a standard ovation. After this trip there was a routine trip to the A.S.S for a engine oil change, and usual checkup. No problem whatsoever, truck was fine. From Jan second week I became extremely busy due to business travel, moreover I felt that I wasn't doing justice to my Baleno, so started using it on a regular basis whenever I was, with the XUV, being used mainly on the weekends.
The Problem :
Last Saturday, I was taking my wife and kid to my in-laws place, and around 500 meters from my place, while downshifting from 4th to 3rd, the engine dies. In the beginning I thought I have stalled, but then even on cranking the engine wont start. I was stranded in the middle of Ruby Connector , one of the busiest roads of South Calcutta. Shoving a 3 toner from one side to another, and fitting into curb side parking without power assist is a herculean task, believe me. Opened the bonnet and tried to analyse. Starter motor cranking, so the fuse is alright. Checked if oil had water in it. Primed the hand pump to expel air, if any.Nothing! The engine wouldn't fire. There's no check engine light, no indication whatsoever. MY XUV WAS DEAD!!
Called up my relationship manager, he promptly diverted one of the service advisers who has gone to attend a breakdown to me. He checked and couldn't find any fault, said " Sir Leke chalo ". I called up the "with u hamesha" 1800, number, whom I had to explain at least four times on my location ( she was asking whether I am on a highway, when I have told her that I am in South Calcutta, heart of the city). Okay discount that! Then the service support guy called, he tried to help remotely which was nice, cause I am sure there are Johnnie's, who don't even open their manuals. After going thru his SOP, he said he would be dispatching a flat bed truck, along with a cab for me ( I declined). Jolly Good! I have to wait for 1 hour as per him. This one hour went on to become 2, and the flat bed arrived. Okay Discount that! This is India, how much would be the worth of one hour. Nothing! Not to sound caustic, there's also the issue of Traffic.
(Note : This flatbed services are outsourced, not M&M/any dealers, hence they have other commitments with other manufacturers including Merc's, Beemer's, Jag's, Maruti's, Fiat's etc etc), so the service request is like FIFO! If you ever have to wait for a flatbed, try to relax cause it takes time). Even the experience was okay, I would suggest there's a scope of improvement, the time gap between the steps can surely be worked upon.
The guys were efficient, they promptly took the car up the ramp on the flatbed, the winch was prehistoric and the steel cable was not actually very inspiring, but it did its job. Does anybody want to know, how that Ape in the cage thinks when you look at him and explain to your kids about the usual ancestor thingy. Yes? Good Sit on the steering wheel of a car which is on a flatbed and then come and tell me. I had to withstand this ordeal for 30 minutes. And we reached the A.S.S around 4.30 ish. The car was promptly unloaded and taken to the bay. Initial diagnosis was that engine was having no compression. There wasn't any fault codes detected by their software.
I was being informed that the M&M service incharge of East has visited the dealership yesterday based on the TAR report, couldn't find any fault, since injectors 'et all have been checked.
As of now the "suction is not adequate".
He has asked the service head of the dealership to open the head today and send him the report with pictures. I will be getting the report by day end and update the same.
Now let me clarify my stance, being a seller of capital plant & equipment am aware that machines can fail, no matter how reliable or, how "bullet proof" their Sales pitch are. It doesn't make me sleepless, I however just raise my eyebrow on the reliability factor. To me the differentiator is how efficiently the case is being handled.
SO M&M, my only request, please take care of my baby, make him fit n fine fast.
Please feel free to put in your views, opinions and suggestions. I would be updating this thread on a daily basis, so that my fellow Co-owners, and prospective owners can have a fairly good idea on what to expect and how things proceed.
EDIT: Update on 13th Feb:
Am not at all hard on M&M, in fact I kinda appreciate their attitude. But this time am keeping a close watch since this issue is serious.
Yesterday as I reached the A.S.S, at around 7 'ish, I was being informed that they have finally taken the engine out. In our Whats App XUV group, someone talked about open heart surgery. Open heart Indeed! Ok coming back, the fault has been diagnosed.
The hydraulic clamps that pushes down the valves when the grooves of the crank rotates, has broken. For 8 valves there are 16 of these clamps, out of which 3 has broken. And because of this there's abrasion on the grooves. So this is IT.
Now we have found out the "WHAT". Next step is "HOW" to rectify & by "WHEN". What remains unanswered is "WHY".
I take care of the engine like a baby ( changing of oil every 3500 km on an average).
I have just completed a 2000 km drive couple of weeks back, the car performed absolutely fine.
After this drive, I happened to change the engine oil and drove the car for maybe 60 70 odd kms before this incident occurred.
Last night I was having a discussion with Dr. S. Sengupta ( SS Traveler). And till now his logic sounds good, according to him this can happen most probably due to sump pump failure.
That's a probability , feel free to put in your opinion.