[kaustubh_vaze]

@Bullitt -
I am not sure about the seats being a direct fit. One of the fitters said we can get brand new Amby seats for around 6K a pair. They are the most comfortable according to him. But the ingress/egress for the rear passengers will be a problem. Here's my take on the seats -
1. Driver's seat - Innova driver's seat
2. CO-Passenger's seat - Innova 7 seater middle row bucket seat - Since it has the mechanism to slide forward for the 3rd row.
I dont know how identical these are. I need a good fitter's garage in Pune. The work I got done is OK in some aspects, but shoddy at some places. Need a guy with passion.

Regards,
Kaustubh

[Bullitt]

@ Kaustubh : So I take it that the driver's seat of your Sierra does not slide forward and collapse (at the same time) for entry/exit to the rear of the car. It can slide forward, and the backrest can be adjusted for tilt, but by using individual locks only. The combi-lock exists only on the co-driver's seat. Am I right?

6K for a pair of Amby seats is a good price, but Toyota being Toyota, I guess a pair of brand new seats will cost at least 2.5 - 3 times as much, if not more. Used Innova seats would be a better option, if they can be found, but I really doubt that in a place like Pune. Mumbai would be a better bet.

I am facing the same difficulty as you in finding a good garage for my Sierra. The ASC guy I mentioned is alrite, but he has a knack of creating new niggles everytime he fixes an old one on the car, and even though the niggle may be minor, it is a put-off for me.

The last time he worked on replacing the broken PS shaft, he took a lot of pains to find the right part and fit it, ensuring good work at a reasonable price. But now there is an irritating rattle emanating from somewhere inside the dashboard. When I asked his mechanic about it, he said that some bracket is broken and he will have to open up the entire dashboard for it. What a pain! Since I need to get the car repainted sometime in the near future (for which the dashboard will be removed anyway), I decided to live with the noise. Besides, the fear that the guy might introduce a few more niggles while trying to fix the dashboard made me all the more apprehensive.

Moral of the story: The guy is good enough for routine work and emergency repairs, but I'm definitely not getting any specialized work done from him. This is also the reason why I avoided letting him do trial and error work on the seats.

- Bullitt.

[condor]

Bullitt : .. because the piece that is missing comes in direct contact with the glass.

@Bullitt, I think a picture will really help here.

Bullitt : I agree with you that the "covert" wheel-arches look best on the Sierra with that subtle tone of understated muscle, but hey, the "overt" wheel-arches is the single most distinguishing feature that differentiates the Turbo Sierra from the NA variant.

@Bullitt, IMO the Sierra itself is the identity. Esp in today's scenario. The type of wheel arch will be lost on most people - unless the person already had a Sierra, or people like us who loved the Sierra. So I'd suggest that you go with the look you like. And you'll any have the badge.

kaustubh_vaze : .. the driver side, internal door opening mechanism is broken and needs to be replaced.

Kaustubh, picture please. If anybody wants to help you, a picture will give the right ..picture of what you want

[Bullitt]

@ condor: I will put up a picture of the glass/defogger soon, guess I'm just too lazy to move my sorry behind and click it.

I see your point about the Sierra's identity, it proves you're looking at the "big picture" while I'm fiddling around with the small things. In any case, the 207 DI wheel-arches are the easiest to source and therefore, the natural choice. I noticed that those are indeed bigger than the Sierra Turbo's, and Tata has added small triangular plastic pieces to the 207DI front bumper ends to make the lines match. Here's a picture (courtesy our very own Team-BHP):



Anyway, those wheel-arches (or "eye-brows" as the mechanics call them) are just a cosmetic addition which I will worry about when the car is taken up for painting.

Do you have any suggestions for the front seats? If you have gone through recent posts on this thread, you will see that both me and Kaustubh are having issues with the seats.

As of today, the Innova 2nd row captain seat is the only sliding collapsible seat that I know of in the market (the mechanism is similar to the Sierra co-driver seat, where one latch causes the seat to slide forward and collapse at the same time, allowing ingress/egress for rear seat passengers). Do you think the Innova seat will be a direct fit into the Sierra, or will modifications be required? Also, any idea about costs?

I also need a replacement for the driver's seat. Is it collapsible too, like the co-driver seat? (The lock on mine is broken) If not, I guess the Sumo/Safari driver seat will be a good choice. If it is collapsible, then I will have to get both the Innova's 2nd row seats (I believe both are collapsible in the Innova, since it has a door there too, am i right?)

Where would be the best place to go looking for new/used seats? Do accessory shops sell seats too?

- Bullitt.

[sierrakamat]

suggest both kaustubh and bullit to make a trip to mumbai kurla cst road on a sunday together ,pick up all the spares they need including seats and the wheel arches and do the fittings at pune will save both of you loads of money.

[kaustubh_vaze]

Good suggestion @SierraKamat!
I now have 3 minor things to look after:
1. The right side door lock
2. PS fluid leak issue (something new I guess)
3. Resolve the screeching sound that comes when the car is started (Just like to fan belt noise, but I think its not the any of the belts since all are new in my case) and it wont idle on cold starts!!

@Bullitt - If you have the patience to wait, we can do this in first or second week of January, what with the wedding season in full blow, weekends in December are swamped!!

I will post detailed pictures tomorrow.
Regards,
Kaustubh

[Bullitt]

@ Kaustubh,
Looks like we both share the same predicament about weekends, so I will be waiting for January, whether you want me to or not!

I came THIS CLOSE to the Mumbai trip this weekend (Sunday). In fact, I had even called and confirmed everything with the sierrakamat on Saturday evening. Some time later, the home phone rings and... it's curtains for my Mumbai trip, once again.

Saturday on the phone, Sierrakamat had asked me to check if you could come along too, but since I don't have your contact number, I had no idea how to get in touch with you, and decided to carry on alone. But now that I read your post, it made me think "Everything happens for a reason".

January it is, mate. Do give me your contact number, so that we can stay in touch.

@ All:

Coming to issues, I just observed today morning that my Sierra's fuel tank drain plug is leaking tiny quantities of diesel (~15-20 drops overnight). This doesn't seem significant, but I'm afraid it might increase. How can this be fixed?

Since the tank is three quarters full right now (Xtramile), my dad suggested I wait until it is near empty, then get it fixed. He says the way this is done is to unplug the drain plug, drain the tank, wrap some sort of tape around the plug and re-plug the tank, then re-fill the tank. He says if I do it now, the garage guys will drain the diesel into an unclean reservoir and compromise the quality of fuel, not to mention pilferage. Your thoughts please?

The reason why I mentioned the type of fuel above is that I have recently taken to using this fuel, and I find the car runs a lot smoother on Xtramile. (To put a disclaimer, this is my first diesel car, I always use regular petrol in my WagonR and bike, and no, I do not work for any OMC.) In fact, I have only filled Xtramile twice, each time worth a 1000 bucks. The first time I filled it was actually an eye-opener. I narrate:

There is a very good and honest IOC fuel station near Nashik Phata, Savani Enterprises, which I know dispenses good quality fuel. The first time I took my Sierra there to re-fuel, they didn't have normal, and I grudgingly agreed to fill up "Xtramile", as the tank was very near empty. I filled up for a 1000 bucks, and left the place grumbling to myself for having to make do with lesser quantity of so-called "premium" fuel (I was a non-believer then). But a minute later, I actually felt the difference in the engine's response and vibration levels. It felt silky smooth, and the throttle felt instantaneous. My anger changed to joy, and the second time I visited the same pump, I voluntarily asked for Xtramile, even though regular was available. To summarize, I have found my Sierra's performance to be much better since I began using Xtramile. I have not used any other brand of premium diesel yet.

Coming back to the fuel leak, I couldn't help but wonder if the leak is a result of filling "Xtramile" in the tank. Maybe the additives caused the grime around the drain plug to dislodge, thus springing the leak? If so, will it have similar detrimental effects elsewhere too?

Also, is it advisable to use Xtramile in the Sierra Turbo? I have gone through quite a few threads here in Team-BHP about this fuel, and apparently Common Rail diesel engine users are unhappy about this premium fuel (read injector/fuel pump issues). Some of them have been advised by the manufacturers/dealers/service-centers against using premium diesel. But some members have said it can be used with "older" engines (which I think means "non-common-rail" engines). Now, the TATA 483DL IDI Turbo is an "old" engine by that yardstick.

Does any Sierra/Estate/Sumo owner have experience with this fuel? Does it have any short-term/long-term detrimental effects?

- Bullitt.

[kaustubh_vaze]

Dude,
Lets make this trip in January. I am also looking forward to meet @SierraKamat. Some help from @SierraKamat would also be really appreciated!
I will also be on the lookout for the DI 3.0, Turbo engine when we visit Mumbai.
On another note - This is just the beginning of the ownership of the Sierra. There is still a lot to be done to make this into a good reliable vehicle.
Will drop you and SierraKamat a PM with my contact details.
Regards,
Kaustubh

[condor]

Originally Posted by Bullitt

He says the way this is done is to unplug the drain plug, drain the tank, wrap some sort of tape around the plug and re-plug the tank, then re-fill the tank.

Strongly Suggest that you do not do this - it is the fuel tank, not something else. More than the loss of fuel, the leaked fuel should not come into a combustible situation

Originally Posted by Bullitt

Coming back to the fuel leak, I couldn't help but wonder if the leak is a result of filling "Xtramile" in the tank.

Does any Sierra/Estate/Sumo owner have experience with this fuel? Does it have any short-term/long-term detrimental effects?

Fuel leak will nothing to do with fuel used.

Xtra-mile will show that "reduced vibration / harshness".
Yes, even Tata recommends to use standard fuel & not premium diesel for their Dicor engines.

I have used premium diesel & also Shell in the Sumo (TCIC). No harm in using it, but I did not find the extra cost on fuel giving tangible results apart from the smoothness. I have reverted back to regular diesel. I find the regular brew good enough.

[Bullitt]

Originally Posted by condor

Strongly Suggest that you do not do this - it is the fuel tank, not something else. More than the loss of fuel, the leaked fuel should not come into a combustible situation


Fuel leak will nothing to do with fuel used.

I think there has been a misunderstanding Sir! I do not plan to make this a DIY operation. It will be done in a proper garage by a proper mechanic. My father only explained the procedure to me regarding what is done to fix a leaky drain plug in a car's gas tank.

What bothered him was that ~the mechanic~ would probably drain the diesel (there is a lot of it in the tank right now) into any random and unclean container (you see a lot of these lying around in any garage), which would result in the diesel getting contaminated. Also, the mechanic would probably swipe a few litres of diesel too. Which is why he recommended I wait till the tank is near empty.

Thanks for the input regarding the premium fuel. I was a bit worried the additives in the Xtramile might cause unexpected damage in areas of the engine that I may not come to know of, until the vehicle has stalled. I was particularly worried about the FIP/injectors and Turbo, as these are important and expensive components. There is some talk on this forum about additives removing "good carbon deposits" in old engines and stuff like that, I'm not sure how true it is.

In case you know of any alternate method of fixing the leaky drain plug (without draining the diesel tank), do let me know.

- Bullitt.

[kaustubh_vaze]

Originally Posted by Bullitt

@ condor: I will put up a picture of the glass/defogger soon, guess I'm just too lazy to move my sorry behind and click it.

I see your point about the Sierra's identity, it proves you're looking at the "big picture" while I'm fiddling around with the small things. In any case, the 207 DI wheel-arches are the easiest to source and therefore, the natural choice. I noticed that those are indeed bigger than the Sierra Turbo's, and Tata has added small triangular plastic pieces to the 207DI front bumper ends to make the lines match. Here's a picture (courtesy our very own Team-BHP):

- Bullitt.

@Bullitt - On closer inspection today morning, I found that my car's bumper too has that small triangle that mentioned. How come your car doesn't come with one? Is it because the bumper on your car is different to accomodate the "eyebrows"?

In fact, I am even thinking of doing away with the covert wheel arches that are present on my car. I feel removing these will give the Sierra a taller stance!
Regards,
Kaustubh

[condor]

Originally Posted by Bullitt

It will be done in a proper garage by a proper mechanic.

Actually, good chance for you to get the tank cleaned thoroughly and fitted back. You can make sure any sludge in there is removed.

[Bullitt]

@ Kaustubh:
I see what you mean. THAT triangle is a bit different than the one I have illustrated, and is specifically meant to match the "covert" wheel-arches with the bumper on the NA Sierra. If you observe carefully, you will see that the piece on your car is smaller (or thinner) than the one illustrated in the 207DI picture above.

On my car, the front end of the "eyebrow" sits directly on top of the bumper where the bumper ends, so my guess is the bumper of the Turbo version has been extended to facilitate this structure, thus eliminating the need for a triangle.

Do take a look at Sierrakamat's pictures in this thread to get a fair idea of what the Sierra looks like without "eyebrows". Also take a look at the white '96 Sierra from Mumbai posted in the TBHP Classifieds. The car looks good minus eyebrows, but with bigger tires, though I don't agree with the way they bulge out from the body in the pictured car.

But you can take a cue from the picture and remove the eyebrows on your Sierra, then buy and fit a set of bigger alloys and tires. But make sure the alloys have a lesser offset so that the bigger tires don't stick outwards so much. The bigger tires will definitely add to the tall stance of the car, making it taller.

I'm sure sierrakamat will be able to give you more tips on the correct tire upsize and alloys to go for.

@ condor: That's a good tip. I'll get the tank cleaned at the same time.

- Bullitt.

[sierrakamat]

Both of you are more welcome to mumbai ,seeing you guys floundering over minor issues i want to lay my hands on your vehicles and straighten them out
once and for all more than you do.
just found a photograph of my last baby

[kaustubh_vaze]

Thanks @SierraKamat!!! Your car looks awesome! How do you contemplate laying your hands on both our vehicles?
I want the same front crash guard in black powder coating. Should be easily available in Mumbai I guess. Did not find one in Pune.
In Mumbai, we need to hunt for the Victa DI turbo engine + GB.
BTW an update:
My car has just gone to the garage again.... .....Inexplicably, I did not get the fuel pump serviced last time.....so getting it done now, since it is leaking diesel. Plus the whining noise was some belt fouling against the tensioner! The mechanic is getting it fixed as we speak. Should get the car back in 4 days time.
So getting everything fixed now. Just the door lock and seats remain to be taken care of.

Regards,
Kaustubh