[RahulNagaraj]

Thanks to Viswanathan Asokan for sending this in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this Team-BHP share page!

I had purchased a brand new Tata Safari (Chassis MAT631590NPA50653) from Lakshmi motors, Velachery, Chennai and took delivery of the car on February 11, 2022. My new car had completed the 1000 km and was due for the first free service as I was in Kerala I had left my car for the first free service at Hyson motors, Guruvayoor, Kerala.

My complaints of poor milage and infrequent drop in the pickup of the new vehicle were given to the service advisor. On inspection of the vehicle, the service team found a hole in the engine manifold intake and told that this had to be replaced under warranty as this was a manufacturing defect of the engine. Since the service was done in a Tier II area, the service centre did not have the required part to be replaced and requested a 15 days time to replace the faulty part with manufacturer defect. As I was travelling back to Chennai I had told them that I would get it done in Chennai.

I have contacted my dealer Lakshmi motors, Velachery for the replacement of the faulty component due to a manufacturing defect and they are not able to find the suitable part in Chennai to be replaced.

I kindly request you to help me with this issue, as it is a major defect on the engine supplied by Tata Motors and has hurt the fuel economy of the car delivering 8 km/l in the city and 13 km/l on the highway. The pickup is also inconsistent due to this issue with lag in the performance and sudden bursting sounds coming from the engine. There has also been a carbon deposit on the engine and I am attaching photos taken from the service centre with the hole in the engine manifold.

I am totally surprised how a brand new car could report such an issue in the first service of the vehicle. There has been no proper quality control from Tata Motors in the delivery of the new car and I was provided with a faulty engine from Tata Motors.

The car is presently at Lakshmi motors service centre ECR, Injamabakkam in Chennai. I had left the car at their service centre on February 17, 2022, and they are saying that the car spare parts have not reached the Pune plant. They had assured me a delivery date of today and they are postponing the issue as the spare part has not yet been received by them from the Tata Pune plant.

Thanks.

[Agarwal_Aayush]

That's a very big thing to miss in QC at the manufacturing as well as the dealer level.
I know the dealers QC is more of a hogwash, but this is something that should not have been missed. Looks like a bad part which gave way while the car was running.

Tata should investigate this and identify where the miss was and replace whatever is necessary even if it means the complete car (that seems to be a little fat fetched though considering it to be TATA)

[Kosfactor]

I don't think this happened in the factory because the vehicle won't pass emissions and roll out.

Assumption - The place where air gets hot enough on the intake side to melt through the manifold as well as the turbo heat shield is only if exhaust gases heated up by the DPF regen system makes it way through the EGR and reaches the intake side. Vehicle must have overheated in that case I guess, hope we get to know the root cause.

[giri1.8]

Damage looks bad, can experts clarify if this can be easily repaired or new engine would be a better option? Would it be possible for derbis to have entered the engine and caused more damage than what meets the eye?

I am afraid we can do very little help, except highlight his issues on social media! Even then there will be fanboys saying all brands have issue, so we should go easy on Tata and so on.

[chef-de-jeep]

Just an irony. Exactly a minute before I was reading about an emotional owner who had a Hexa submerged in floods. Such was the impact on me that I was narrating the episode to my mother and now its all flat! Maybe instead of sponsoring cars to celebrities and events who anyways do not have any value or appreciate it beyond a few words it should be used for such cases. Would definitely go a long way. Yes, the Qc team must have a shake up. Maybe a job loss would be too much to demand in this age and date but yes future increments and bonuses should be suspended temporarily for those involved, does look like a vendor / store / supervisor /workman collusion for such an outstanding performance.

MOD NOTE : Please punctuate and put space between punctuation and sentences where required. Request you to please proof read your post before submitting it.
Thanks.

[IP_Man]

Has they said it is a manufacturing defect? If yes then technically they should replace the car.

This again showed incapability of TATA giving consistent quality. How this car was passed through outgoing QC?

TATA is growing but it seems old culture still persist.

[kosjam]

Originally Posted by RahulNagaraj

Attachment 2276343

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

Assumption - The place where air gets hot enough on the intake side to melt through the manifold as well as the turbo heat shield is only if exhaust gases heated up by the DPF regen system makes it way through the EGR and reaches the intake side. Vehicle must have overheated in that case I guess, hope we get to know the root cause.

While what Kosfactor said makes sense, the edges of the hole are far too clean (meaning it doesnt seem to have been due to overheating and melting) for it to have been a material failure. And in any case, as there does not seem to be any weld spatter/ remains on the edges, it would be safe to say that there was an existing hole in the manifold when it was manufactured and to get away with it, the hole might have been cold worked to make it seem like original, the (mistaken) logic being used could be that it is an intake manifold and there should not be too much of an issue.

Tata should carry out a self audit of component QC as well as a vendor audit responsible for this particular part.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Before the Tata bashing gets out of hand, let’s not forget that this same engine made in the same very factory also powers the Hector and Compass. This is a very unique fault that has happened. I have never heard of the engine manifold developing a hole, ever, in any vehicle, any make. And it cannot be a QC failure at factory level, the engine would never pass emission tests.

This has to be a metallurgical failure under use, which is a rarest of rare occurrence. Sheer bad luck on your part that it happened in your car. Tata should however audit other engines of a similar vintage on a proactive basis and issue a recall if needed.

Other affected engines, if any, might be under the hoods of MGs and Jeeps.

[Neil Roy]

Hi,
Don't know if this might help. Contact Mr. Ramesh - 8939876761. He is in charge of TATA motors Tamil nadu and stationed at Chennai. Explain your situation and your expectations for a solution.
Also, if you are comfortable with TAFE, contact Mr. Suresh Kumar - 7401699502. He is the GM service for TAFE in greames road. TATA QC issues usually spoil the ownership experience even though the car is suitable in every other way. Regarding mileage, I'm also getting 8 KMPL in city and 13 KMPL in highway now. Have to check the manifold to see if this is a common problem. I have completed 18500 kms and had to suffer the anxiety of leaving my Safari in the garage for 15 days till they got a new DEF tank. If you force these two gentlemen you will get a quicker solution. However, the solution alone is not an indicator that TATA QC has improved. Its just a reassurance that if or rather when things fail, at least you have an immediate solution.

[Izk]

I think what Kosfactor said makes sense.

My personal experience in attempting to work with Tata to troubleshoot a Nexon Drive Mode Issue has been negative. It's been 4 years, still unresolved, and has aggravated to engine shuddering, stalling and mileage drop. Customer Care and Service Center are clueless. Hence I wouldn't advice going down that route.

Your photo proof is shocking. Any issue significant to engine can affect other related components, and such QC lapses makes us wonder what else are lurking beneath the surface. Ideally, you should ask them for a replacement.

[FiatDiesel]

This is actually painful to see on a brand new car after 25 lacs post tax money. i guess QC and customer care are the area where Tata needs to improve significantly.

You need to really put all your effort’s to escalate this topic for resolution. I am not sure if they will replace the car, you are kind of stuck, check what best the have to offer. Even if the replace engine, I think it should relieve you from pain.

[FASTLIFE]

Looks like it didn't happen in the factory but on the road. Looks like a metallurgical failure to me too, maybe the turbocharger gases and malfunctioning tappet closure/opening created pressure that blew out the soft part of the defective manifold. I guess these are cast aluminium/iron and not machined, die cast items can easily have defects like these.

[knshailender]

Is there a possibility that the hole was caused by a flying debris? It looks more like a bullet hole than a metallurgical failure.

[appupandya]

One of the biggest reason I didn't go for Safari was that, most of the important parts of the car are not developed and then made by them, be it engine, transmission or even chasis which is land rover derived. All they are doing is assembling them.

When you yourself have not created something, and when such problems defects arise you yourself will be clue less how to resolve it.

This can lead to multiple issues and you should not ask for anything less then replacement

[arj2695]

I have followed TBHP for a long time now, but not as a member. Just recently my registration got approved and this is my first post in here. If there is any mistake please do correct me.

I have a fair knowledge in Diesel Engines and After Treatment Systems. From what I see, this is neither the intake nor the exhaust manifold rather it is the exhaust after treatment system which is placed rightly after the turbo charger.

With BS6 diesel engines, the DOC has gotten big and DPF/SCR systems got added and the regeneration process that is carried out once in a while would lead to high temperature near these areas. But before the DOC, that is where the hole has happened, the temperature would mostly be around 400 degC.

As many of you have pointed out here, any QC would not be able to find such flaws because these would happen over the time and not in manufacturing.