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Old 5th April 2008, 13:47   #46
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if your ac is still ineffective after changing the coil, you should get the following checked
1. have a look whether the ac pipe is swollen. goes from on top of the radiator, has a black rubber kind of hosing on it. if it needs a replacement. costs around 1350/-
2. if the pipe is swollen, when he changes it, you'll have to pay for the gas top-up as well, the difference that is. the gas he should use is RF-12. even if he charges you for the whole thing, bargain with him Rs. 550, max.
3. also check if the ac filter is choked, thats a major cause for ineffective cooling. many times you get everything fixed and still the ac doesnt cool. filter is a problem. costs around 350/-. located behind your front bumper on the right side. cylindrical shape.
4. leakages are another thing.

i doubt what the guy said. that the compressor is weak. esteem has a small compressor 110cc i think, but the compressor is weak? sounds stupid to me. its not that its gotten old or something. and cleaning the cooling coil is enough, you should'nt need a replacement. guess this info. helps.
good luck to you, hope they fix your ac soon, summer heat is a real pain.
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Old 5th April 2008, 13:49   #47
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Quote:
Originally Posted by esteem_lover View Post

You are right, they have to take it out for this. This is being done under the direct supervision of a Maruti engineer, so if there is any screw ups, I will make sure they pay for it.
There is no supervision...forget about it..let me tell you a story...

Harpreet Ford is a very large dealership of Ford, one of their guys for an Endeavor to be done by my Neighborhood ac walla...there was a minor problem and the AC walla charged Rs.1200 of something about that...the engineer who got the car, told the dealership that he has paid Rs.4000 and pocketed the rest of the amount..and the dealership billed the customer for Rs.13,000.

Esteems AC system is not very complicated....spare a day and sit at your AC walla from morning..get a thorough examination done in your presence, and trust me this will get the job done...

My Esteem always get done by local mechanics, but always in my presence..there is not much scope for a screwup..especially when you have all the amazing advice coming from Tbhp..
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Old 10th July 2008, 17:51   #48
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Update !!

ABT Guindy were no better than ABT Arumbakkam. In fact i think they were more incompetent. They actually employ Pudupet fellas to do this lind of a job. This guy works inside their workshops with scant regard to quality measures.

Day 1: I get my car to ABT guindy & the Maruti Service Engineer meets me & we go over to the AC repairs bay where my car is parked & being inspected.
After about 25 minutes the AC technician says that the compressor has to be 'overhauled'. No one seems to know the real process involved except that some local mechanic picks up the comp & delivers it after 3 days, 'overhauled'. So how much for that ? 5k. Whats the gurantee for this work ? Just the working gurantee, the moment the car rolls out of the workshop, it is your business. SO i ask for the price of a new compressor. 20K plus taxes & other related charges, approximate 25k. I walk out confused & dejected. How can a reliable easy to maintain maruti be like this ?

Day 2 : Still wondering what to do.

Day 3 : same as Day 2.

Day 4 : Suddenly i think of the pudupet option. Why dont i go to pudupet & get the compresor overhauled myself ? or better still pick up an used compressor. A friend of mine who is familiar with pudupet dealings takes me there. I am quoted 9k for this including replacement of the dryer unit & the expansion valve with a 3 month gurantee. More confusion. I promise to come back the next day & get it done probably with a 1k discount.

Day 5: confused

Day 6 : Went over to one of my regular garages & he said ' Why TF are you breaking your head. New esteem subros comp costs only 8k." I said "what ??" & he calls up someone & confirms that it is around that price and he also knows the right person to do this job. On top of the world, i go back home & open that bottle that i had been keeping for long.

Day 7: The car is taken to the garage & picked up in the evening. There was a case of replacing the condensor too & the total bill came to around 15k.

Parts replaced :
1. Compressor
2. Condensor
3. Dryer
4. Expansion valve
5. Piping

I had already changed the cooling coil a year back. SO all in all a brand new AC & i can feel the chill. I learnt quite a few things from this ordeal. Would love to help any one going through this one.

Lesson learnt : Maruti repacks OEM parts & has a huge mark up in the MRP. All these parts are available in the local market under the manufacturers name for almost half the price.

And thanks for all the good advice given. some were very very useful.

cheers
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Old 11th July 2008, 09:49   #49
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Good to know the AC problem is finally fixed, I have been there with my Zen and know exactly how it feels, when everyone you meet to fix the problem wants to take you for a ride. Your AC now is as good as new. I think this whole thing of Maruti being the best in customer satisfaction is over hyped, Maruti is good only in the first couple of years where cars usually don't give trouble, after that it's a different story.
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Old 11th July 2008, 14:24   #50
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Very true. I believe they are fast losing that position. But the thing about maruti cars is that they are serviceable by anyone & anywhere. Parts are available off the shelf at any point of time.
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Old 11th July 2008, 15:11   #51
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Hi Esteem lover,
Good to know that your esteem AC has failed,just because you support Maruti always your car has failed.So understand that even maruti a.s.s is hopeless.So dont keep singing the song again and again that good a.s.s from maruti.ok?Even the parts are expensive in Maruti a.s.s as well.So even with FIAT the case is same.


Vignesh
1.2 Siena ELX
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Old 11th July 2008, 18:24   #52
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Quote:
Originally Posted by musicmanaman View Post
Good to know the AC problem is finally fixed
Quote:
Originally Posted by vigneshram View Post
Good to know that your esteem AC has failed,just because you support Maruti always your car has failed.
Wow!!! contrasting 'good to knows'. I wonder why.

Quote:
Originally Posted by esteem_lover View Post
Very true. I believe they are fast losing that position. But the thing about maruti cars is that they are serviceable by anyone & anywhere. Parts are available off the shelf at any point of time.
Please read the above post. I have said that maruti cars are serviceable anywhere & by anyone. And most importantly parts are available off the shelf at very reasonable prices.
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Old 11th July 2008, 19:20   #53
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nice work john even last time when tata used to mention that they source parts from lucas and other vendors I used to wonder if it might not work out cheaper to source it from them directly.
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Old 11th July 2008, 19:26   #54
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One thing I appreicate John, is that inspite of numerous problems, true to your name, you have kept the car, cared for it like your loved one and attended to all its complaints.

Anyone else would have got fed up and disposed the car. It takes a lot of passion and commitment to overcome these niggling issues which take a lot of time, effort and money.
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Old 14th July 2008, 12:53   #55
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For an about to be 10 year old car & how much abuse it has taken, the trouble is nothing. Somehow this esteem has stuck with me. Wonder how long ! For now, I'm loving' it.
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Old 3rd October 2008, 00:34   #56
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Esteem Airconditioner, advice sought...

Gave our Esteem to Millennium Mobility (Dapodi) over a week ago for servicing, denting/painting and few other niggles. Got the car back after 8 - 9 days... and in short was not happy. A lot of issues remained unadressed. Won't get into the other issues right now, but would really seek the advice of you guys about the A/c as I dunno much about the A/c and have never delt with A/c issues.

Before the car was given, the blower was good at blowing 'normal' amount of air. However, the cooling had gone down. I told them to service and clean the A/c and do whatever to make the A/c operate to its optimal cooling. Also the recirculation mode was not working, and I'd asked them to fix that.

Now, when I get my car back, I see that they have only made the recirculation switch functional again. However, the cooling level has dropped even more, as compared to what it was before giving it to them. The blower intensity has also gone down a bit.

When I brought this to their notice, they said that they have not done anything to the A/c except replace the 'flap' which enables the recirculation mode. Furthermore, they insisited that nothing else was/is wrong with the A/c hence they have not done anything else. And to prove their point, they got a temperature sensor to check the grille temperature. The guy set it to recirculation mode with the car in shade, in the evening, and after quite sometime, the temperature read about 4 deg. And they said thats below Maruti's specifications, and hence A/c is normal. I didnt buy that as I said you are checking in the shade, in the evening and that too in recirculation mode. They said thats how it should be tested!!! Since I dont know for sure, I could not argue on that point. But told them I'v been using this same A/c for years, and I know when its at its optimal and when its not. And finally to get to the point, i asked them to tell me very clearly if they they can do anything about the cooling. They said nothing can be done... at the max. the gas pressure should be checked, but they are unable to do so since this is an older car and it uses R12 gas (if I remember correctly). They dont have that gas or the apparatus to handle this older a/c system. Ah!!! So 1st they try to dismiss the problem itself, and then later wash their hands off the thing by saying they dont have the facility for fixing it! Sux!!!

Now my question is what might be the problem behind the lower blowing power of the blower? The difference is very approx 20% compared to what it was before delivering the car to them. Could the replacing of the "flap" made any difference to this?

Also, what could be the reason for the reduced cooling? The difference is approximately 30% to what it was before delivering it to them (which wasn't optimal to being with).

Will checking the gas pressure and topping up help my case? Can anybody tell me where I can get this done reliably in Pune? I dont know any place that does it.

Please advice guys, I really need to fix the A/c and cheap (as have already spent a packet on the car already... and dont have much cash for more fixes.). Else will die of heat in the car, in the peak afternoon sun, with this kind of cooling!

Also, anybody with any experience with Millenium Mobility? They gave me a bill of about 5.5 k, and I still need to spend to get a lot of things fixed... :( Out of that Rs. 450 is for the labour charges for the "flap". Strangely the "flap" itself does not seem to figure in the parts bill.
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Old 3rd October 2008, 12:49   #57
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The esteem's AC is a tad weak even it is in its prime. In an older car, it is bad. But 4deg at idling speed is pretty good. I have recently revamped my AC system in the esteem. Had very similar problems like you have now. I would suggest you check the grill temperature again with a different mechanic.
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Old 3rd October 2008, 13:05   #58
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I got my car serviced at MM, Dapodi once but the service wasn't anything to remember them by. I have a used Esteem and MM gave me a long list of things to be done on the car. I just got my regular service done. One of the best guys in that area is Wonder Cars, Chinchwad. Those guys are very very professional and have never let me down.

Even I had some cooling issues in my car recently. Wonder Cars, Chinchwad, told me that the cooling pipes are rusted and will have to be replaced for around 8.5k!! I got my car checked at Marshall, Hadapsar. They didn't find any leaks, just gassed her up and the AC is working fine for the last one month. Marshall is a Car AC specialist and is highly recommended. His workshop is in the lane next to Croma in Hadapsar.
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Old 3rd October 2008, 16:06   #59
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Thanks for the response guys!

Esteem Lover, 4 deg. might look good, but is that the correct way (have described in earlier post) to check??? I mean on a monsoon season evening, in the shade, and with the recirculation mode on! The Ac will just keep cooling the same air repeatedly... so whats the use of such a reading? The fact is that, the current level of cooling is not at all comfortable!

Fatal3rror, it would have been intresting to know if the pipes were indeed rusted! Did you ever get to confirm that? And aren't those pipes supposed to be alluminum? If yes, hows rusting possible?

As for Wondercars, my dad does not have a good experience with them. I wasn't around that time, so cant make a personal comment on them.

As for Millenium, 1st experience with them was last year, when I got the car serviced. At that time, it was quite satisfactory. They only thing that peeved me off was that they didnt fix the A/c recirculation mode. So I sent the car all the way back (It was a pick up and drop job) thru the same driver. Next day they call and tell me they dont have the damn "flap" in stock, but have ordered it, and it can be expected next week. So the car was just delivered back.

However, I was happy with their other work. In some ways, I tried to test them too, for eg. when the service advisor called to ask if he should do the 40k service, I said yes, but please ask me before you do the things individually. One of the things that was to be replaced at that reading, were the spark plugs. I remembered that my dad had replaced them couple thousand km earlier with quad electrode Bosh plugs. I didn't tell him that, and said, please take them out and inspect them, they may not require replacing. Later, he called back to tell me "Sir, you have quad electrode (he didn't use that term, but described it accurately) plugs and they seem new, so no need to replaced. Tried this with few other things, and he correctly stated what neednt be replaced. So at least they don't seem to cheat with the method of replacing parts that dont need replacement, which is a big relief!

Even this time, I didn't find any reason to believe they cheat using this method at least. But the service level was not upto the mark. I'm surprised they even released the vehicle before checking all the things they should have checked (wont get into that)...

But then I guess their employees change, and its your luck as to which kind of service advisor your car is given to.

As for my current A/c problem, dosen't anyone know any place around Kothrud (where I stay) or at least somewhere at a saner distance from Kothrud? Going to Hadapsar just for an A/c job is gonna be very difficult. :(
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Old 1st April 2009, 19:28   #60
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3 years ago, my esteem's ac went kaput! So my ma took to an a/c repair guy near her office in kalina. There they charged us rs.7900 for a second hand compressor.

It gave cooling for some months, but last year we suddenly noticed that it wasnt cooling anymore.

So this time i took it to a a/c repair shop that my mechanic knew. Apparently this repair guy is famous. So any way, this time we got a new subros compressor for Rs. 11000, with bill and warranty, we also changed our cooling coil for Rs. 4000, The expansion valve and the filter was also changed, but still though it has just been 7-8 months after the new compressor and related work, the a/c doesnt cool in the afternoons. I took it to the ac workshop today again and they said i need to refil gas!
HOW? i am confused!

What else needs to be changed? (the engine?? lol )It should coo,l shouldnt it? Let me also tell you that the condensor has not been changed. Will changing that help? if so whats the price? What can/ should i do? Please help and advise!! I need the a/c up and running asap! Please advise!!
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