[rkbharat]

One of my friend is on his way to leh and he reached keylong yesterday. he is driving safari 2.2 EX, 4000KM driven. He is facing strange pickup problem on steep inclines. As per him with 5 adults in it, bull is just refusing to pickup from idle. He had to apply hand brakes and then rev to make it start. This is just at the pickup. Once its rolling he is finding it ok.

I think this sluggish pickup is normal at that height.

Can any body suggest some help as he has yet to drive on the worst parts of the trip

[jyobeb]

Ask him to disconnect the battery and wait for 5 minutes and re-connect for a soft reset of the ecm. It looks like an ecm problem. If that still does not work, head for a TATA dealer.
Oops, just read the whole thing. Maybe he is not used to starting on inclines. Using hand brakes, revving and slipping the clutch is normal on steep inclines. Also the air being thinner will make the engine struggle till the turbo starts spinning actively.

[lohithrao]

bharat, i think this post should be posted at the technical section...

i think this is very unusual problem, though the decile engines get little sluggish at those heights but nothing very drastic i suppose..

would suggest that he gets it checked before he proceeds any further..

[Rudra Sen]

Mods note: Thread moved.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Could also be due to bad fuel. Did he top-up from somewhere just before the problem started?

BUT- Is this a strange co-incidence?

This is the third thread about the Safari 2.2 absolutely struggling to pull from idle with full load, on a slope. In the other two threads i read, people were complaining it didnt pull up a slove in reverse, till clutch fried. Is there a problem of a weak clutch?

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by lohithrao

would suggest that he gets it checked before he proceeds any further..

Lohith, he is at Keylong; a good six hours drive from Manali. He'll have to abort the trip to return to Manali, as he would have lost too much valuable time in this process.

I suspect that his ECU has not been set to 'normal' yet as it is perhaps still in running-in mode.

[Jr Godzilla]

Originally Posted by rkbharat

One of my friend is on his way to leh and he reached keylong yesterday. he is driving safari 2.2 EX, 4000KM driven. He is facing strange pickup problem on steep inclines. As per him with 5 adults in it, bull is just refusing to pickup from idle. He had to apply hand brakes and then rev to make it start. This is just at the pickup. Once its rolling he is finding it ok.

I think this sluggish pickup is normal at that height.

Can any body suggest some help as he has yet to drive on the worst parts of the trip

absolutely normal - he better use the hand brakes if he is not confident of his clutch throttle engine response

also drive in a way that if he cannot hold the vehicle on steep inclines and its rolling back to make sure he is letting it go to a side of road which has some rocks, stones rather than into any deep sections on the other side.
also as he drives tell him to scan for left right side of roads so as to keep his options ready incase the vehicle refuses to climb.

[dadu]

Resetting the ECU might resolve the problem but it could be bad fuel too, since I have faced bad fuel problems in manali with my Santro.

If he is using normal diesel, it can be advised to put any additive like STP, System D etc to enhance burning.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Could also be due to bad fuel. Did he top-up from somewhere just before the problem started?

[nitrous]

Sounds normal,bharat .

[ashthedivx]

Sounds, normal to me too. However, for a quick fix reset the ECU by disconnecting wires !!

[anupmathur]

Bharat, is your friend accustomed to driving in the hills?

[PAVAN KADAM]

This problem is common to all cars at higher altitude.

I dont see any problem with the Car, however as all T-BHPians suggest ECU reset, Thats too a good idea.

[anupmathur]

Cars with ECU do not display lack of power/black smoke etc.. at high altitudes.
My suspicion is that that Safari is too new. When is the first service? 5000 kms? Isn't the ECU restricted till first service, for 'running in' purposes?
Could this be causing the worry?

[SumitB]

I don't think even an ECU reset is required. As Bharat is explaining, his friend is having to rev the engine a little while initiating the initial movement for the vehicle when on an incline. Its very normal and nothing to worry about. If Bharat can clarify whether this is his friend's first ever driving experience on the hills, we can be sure. Remember, this is a 2 tonner and we have a load of about 350 kgs. in the vehicle. We need to rev the engine before it moves in the hills.

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by SumitB

his friend is having to rev the engine a little while initiating the initial movement for the vehicle when on an incline. Its very normal and nothing to worry about. lls.

That's the problem, Sumit. Bharat has not said LITTLE. If he's having to do LOTS then he might fry the clutch!
Which is why I have also asked about the driver's familiarity with hill driving.