[chetanhanda]

Originally Posted by shuvc

My service guy is on leave. Will pop the valve clearance and O2 check queries to him next week. Will also ask him abt getting the scan shots, if possible. I suspect it may not be feasible.
Will post snaps of the earlier plugs today. Wondering if the plugs could be the culprit. I've run 100+ kms on the new plugs and going by the fuel needle, it seems things are slightly better. Fingers crossed. Will know when I top up later next week. I always top up till auto cutoff, after the needle hits red - ie with minimum 40 litres (tank is 51).

Plugs may not be the culprit as u have put new ones recently, but they are a good indicator of the health of the engine..thats why I wanted to see them.
Do u have a low fuel warning lamp ?
Try filling x litres from 1/2 tank and see when it comes back to half tank marker ..

[shuvc]

Update.

Did 2 fuel top-ups in March 2nd week, last week - post the plug change. 40+ litres each time.
1. With zero AC, I got 12kmpl. This was more like what I used to get.
2. With 75% AC, I got 9.5kmpl. This was again down by 1kmpl.

Have run another 225kms after last top-up. Seems like it's going to be less this time too. However, this run, I'll top-up when tank is half full - within the next 2-3 days.

Attaching snaps of the earlier standard Champion plugs. 3 odd months old.

Went for the O2 check today. They used a Suzuki Tech2 to check. Readings were < 1. The snaps are taken at idle rpm and it shows Closed Loop. I forgot to ask them to check at 2K+ rpm specifically. Though IIRC, they revved once in front of me. Value remained < 1, but it did switch momentarily to Open Loop and then back to Closed.

I'm not sure how it was checked, but the mechanic said that the injectors were also working fine and that valve seals were fine too.

I told them that CO levels were higher after floods. They decided to check the reading. Unfortunately their machine went kaput. Will have to go back another day for this.


Edit: @chetan, to answer some of your Q's
- I don't think the Baleno has a low fuel warning indicator.
- Car has run 30K kms
- Let me revise my statement about loss of power. I haven't felt any change post flooding. However, I've always 'felt' that the engine is a wee bit constrained - difficult to explain. Specially after I drove a stock EII Baleno for some time. Not sure if there difference between EII & EIII is that perceptible.


I wasn't prepared to take snaps of the O2 scan today. Did not take a camera along. Had to make do with my phone cam. Close shots lose focus, long shots meant nothing would be legible. Those hazy snaps were the best I could do :(

[jinojohnt]

MODS: I couldn't find a similar thread when I searched, please merge or even delete this thread if you find this irrelevant.

I took my first PUC certificate for my Alto on its first birthday, about 6 months back. The CO emission was 0.02
(It was just two days after changing to 'Mobil 1' oil and a new Maruti Genuine oil filter. Everything else was original factory fitted).
After 6 months and 4000 kms later, I checked again yesterday. The new value is 0.39
(Only thing done inbetween is changing to a new maruti genuine air filter - Iam yet to change the engine oil again).

Though the pollution limit for cars is 3.0, I am still unhappy with my reading, considering the car is not very old.

From what I know, the following steps should reduce pollution:
1. Changing engine oil and oil filter (Done around 4000 km back, still not very dark).
2. Changing Air Filter (Already done around 3500 km back, and it's not dirty now).
3. Replace spark plugs and distributor wires (Is it really needed? Car is less than 16000 km).
4. Use good fuel (I regularly fill Xtra Premium Petrol from a civil supplies indian oil pump, I guess the fuel is fine).
5. Clean the fuel injectors (I haven't yet done this, also not very sure whether this will decrease the pollution).

Any other steps to reduce pollution (as it is Good for Mother Earth, Good for our car and Good for mileage)?

Most important reason for starting this thread is to know:
1. What is your car
2. How old is your car
3. What is your CO emission value?

Mine is ALTO Lxi, 1.5 years, Pollution 0.39 - What about your's?

[pramodpk]

I think the value depends on the accuracy of the machine and they way reading is taken (very much). I think you should not worry about the readings as long as they are within limits which is true in your case. Personally I have seen widely varying readings in my car.

[devsoftech]

Is it possible that a petrol car emits 0 hydrocarbons and 0 Carbon monoxide. The emission centre testing guy was so pissed off that he told me to idle at 3000, but no use. The reading was sampled for 2 minutes approx and is the averaged value. Is my 3.8 year old car really this healthy ? I have this experience everytime I go to an emission centre (not just one centre) every 6 months (I always get 0 HC 0 CO in all testing centres around sarjapur road). The 02 value is also very high at 17.xx-21.xx. For a change this time, I received a SMS from Transport Department, Karnataka - acknowledging the test and road worthiness. So can I assume that in KA vehicles can be fined using blackberry once all centres go online

Note: The car is driven for 6 kms atleast from cold start, before I reach any one of the testing centre

[varadha_r]

I checked team bhp to the best of my capabilites but could find no thread that discusses the level of pollutants that are spewed out of our indian cars and if they use polluting materials like asbestos, lead etc.

Is'nt it time we understood the externalities of our own cars better ? Our indian cities are amongst the worst in the world in terms of pollution and with manufacturing having moved out of most of our cities, it is vehicular pollution that is the biggest cause.

I, as a responsible citizen want to know what I can do to minimize it. can we discuss this

[saket77]

The PUC certificate carries the details of the exhaust contents of your car. However, I do not subscribe to the thought that private cars, esp. petrol cars pollute as much as the old diesel/ commercial vehicles. This is especially true when a vast majority of these cars are at least Euro-II compliant (in fact many are Euro -IV compliant as well). I would blame industries and most ill-maintained & old commercial vehicles for pollution like buses, diesel autorickshaws, trekkers, 407s, etc.

[abhi29]

I am no expert on this matter, but here’s my take. I think it can be very simple for us to minimize the impact of our vehicle on the environment if we follow these simple rules-

1. Maintaining the vehicle – Regular services – oil changes, air filter checks etc. will not only keep the engine healthy but will also reduce the emissions and improve overall cost per km. All we have to do is take care of the vehicle.

2. Take steps to maximize fuel efficiency – this should include taking care of the wear and tear of tires, avoiding overloading the vehicle with unnecessary luggage. Higher efficiency means lesser emissions per km.

3. Adopt good driving habits – Maintaining moderate speeds is not only safer but also a cleaner thing to do. Also turning off the engine during long halts (more than a minute) can help in cutting down fuel consumption and emissions.

And above all, if you are willing to occasionally part from your vehicle, car-pooling and taking public transport will be of great help too.

[rsidd]

I often see Tata cars (usually taxis, Indica/Indigo and heavier vehicles like Sumo) belching thick black smoke on the road. This is a sign of a bad fuel-air mix, which could happen for various reasons. I rarely see Swifts/Vistas/Puntos (which use Fiat engines) or other diesel cars (Hyundai/VW/etc) doing this though. Does this mean Tata's diesel vehicles are of poorer quality, or is it just that they get put into heavy use as taxis and are not serviced as per schedule? The other thing is, it's hard for the driver to know about his/her own car's exhaust! The pollution control test checks for some common pollutants but it is done when idling and the emissions when driving can be different.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by rsidd

I often see Tata cars (usually taxis, Indica/Indigo and heavier vehicles like Sumo) belching thick black smoke on the road. This is a sign of a bad fuel-air mix, which could happen for various reasons. I rarely see Swifts/Vistas/Puntos (which use Fiat engines) or other diesel cars (Hyundai/VW/etc) doing this though. Does this mean Tata's diesel vehicles are of poorer quality, or is it just that they get put into heavy use as taxis and are not serviced as per schedule? The other thing is, it's hard for the driver to know about his/her own car's exhaust! The pollution control test checks for some common pollutants but it is done when idling and the emissions when driving can be different.

Excess black smoke from diesel engines mean rich air fuel ratio - means more diesel being injected with not enough air. Many a times it is also a result of fuel adulteration and anyway diesel is not as clean of a fuel as petrol.

Another point in case is that air supply cannot be regulated in a diesel engine. Since it is only the air which is compressed in a diesel engine and then fuel being injected which automatically ignites due to high temperature of compressed air, this can make the engine belch a lot of black smoke when you hit the accelerator pedal hard. A lot of unburnt diesel is expelled that way. Comparing it to a petrol engine, air/ fuel mix can be optimally controlled in all conditions (by the carb or the MPFI system) and the combustion is complete and hence no unburnt fuel.

Regarding your other point - at genuine pollution testing centers, the emissions are tested across a wide RPM range, not only at idling.

Regards,
Saket

[aditya101]

Originally Posted by rsidd

I often see Tata cars (usually taxis, Indica/Indigo and heavier vehicles like Sumo) belching thick black smoke on the road. This is a sign of a bad fuel-air mix, which could happen for various reasons. I rarely see Swifts/Vistas/Puntos (which use Fiat engines) or other diesel cars (Hyundai/VW/etc) doing this though. ....

The black smoke is also very typical when drivers try to give excess throttle input at high gears while not maintaining the RPMs (aside from the post above).

So if you try to pull in 3rd gear at 20 kmph the diesel is spent unburnt.

[rsidd]

Originally Posted by saket77

Regarding your other point - at genuine pollution testing centers, the emissions are tested across a wide RPM range, not only at idling.

At least here in Chennai they only test idling. (And the few testing centres are closing down too. Plus I haven't been asked for the pollution certificate since I moved here 10 years ago.) Granted the pollution here hasn't reached the crisis levels in Delhi, but do they want it to?

[varadha_r]

That's not the right way to look at things - what matters is emissions per capita. A bus's pollution is far far more tolerable than my car's (even though in absolute terms it may be higher). I am not advocate of particulate matter being belched out by modern diesels but I find it disappointing that BS V norms have not been enforced in India which willl make Diesel particulate filter and turbo petrols standard.

Also, what's important is what needs to be done with our older stock of vehicles - there has to be a retrofit/tighter checks - otherwise, India will become a tough place to live in.

All of us have to lose a little to gaina lot more. Massively increasing parking charges, doing away with free parking on road sides, increasing road tax on private vehicles are all ways we can make this work

[shady_lawyer]

My 8 year Alto Lxi, just returned a 0.00 reading for O2 at both idle and high rpm. What does this figure even mean. I had the test done twice across two separate centers but the 0.00 figure stays. Should I be worried?

[eapen]

I have achieved ' 0 ' standard measurable emission long back (2015) in my Alto by not even touching the engine & by simple methods. The test was done in Sathya emission testing center, Brigade RD, Bangalore, in the city centre which used to do regular emission checks.

See the O2 level at 20.94%