[ask77]

I own a Optra 1.6 done 50,000 kms, The thermostat housing of the car , which is located just above the a/c compressor, blew away today and i lost all coolant while city driving. I noticed it when the a/c suddenly tripped and I saw the temp. gauge at h . thank god it was city driving and not the highway since I would have been stranded otherwise. I took the car to a mechanic, not A.S.S since this mechanic was hardly .5 kms away and the car was in no position to travel 10 -12 kms without coolant. The housing is apparently made up of Industrial plastic and not any metal so the mechanic was able to fix it up by using araldite since apparently the joint had given way and it was a clean break. I took thr car to the local A.S.S but apparently they don't have the housing in stock and it will take up to a week for the new part to arrive. Till then I am keeping my fingers crossed and keeping an eye on the temp. gauge.
My advice to optra users is to check on this housing because a sudden loss of coolant can be most disastrous for the car.

[jinu_joseph]

thanks for the tip... could you please post a pic of the location. Thanks

[greatmana2000]

Originally Posted by jinu_joseph

How many kilometres has the car run?
--> 35000 Km

What kind of noise do you get?
--> At low gears typical reving sound when rpm is around 2-2.5k, something i used to associate with Diesel vehicles. At high speeds above 60kmph a kind of pulsating roaring sound.

How good are your tyres? (is it tyre noise or is it something else?).
--> Treads are showing signs of wear but not that much. They are the original tyres got with the car (2006).

The sound I feel has worsened since the 30000 Servicing when they changed some belt, but then i could be wrong.

The problem is I think they replaced the timing belt . And they have replaced it the wrong way . Why dont you try some other dealer ? The problem that you are facing is a typical timing belt job and nothing else to worrry .

[shantnusharma]

Hi,

I am new to this hence in case i am posting this in the wrong forum, moderators please move it to the correct one.

I have an Optra 1.6 LS 2004 and have done 89K KM on it, got LPG installed when it clocked 45K It is "Tomasetto Achille" make but not sure what type..it costed me around 18K in 2007.

My car was giving me an average of around 8 KMPL in city with AC and around 10 ~ 11 on highways, however recently my mileage dropped to 6 in city and 6.5 ~ 7 on highways with around 60% AC usage.
I have shown it to several mechanics in Jaipur and they serviced the vaporizor.. adjusted the fuel air mixtrure, clean the air filter several times but all in vain the mileage is still bad.

The car was serviced at 81K and Air filter and Spark Plugs were changed at that time.

Can some one having experience with LPG Optra share their views and advise on low mileage.

Warm Regards
Shantnu

[ashthedivx]

Shantanu,

I am using CNG in optra widely from last 3 years and haven't faced any such problem so far. Infact my FE is increased in lieu of Petrol. Get you car checked with alternate engineer, it might get it fixed. I am not sure if GM people can do it or not, but if yes, i would certainly recommend to pay a visit to service centre, It will surely help.


Cheers

[shantnusharma]

Thanks Ashish for your prompt response, how ever the challange i am facing is that i have visited several service centres in Jaipur to fix LPG problem but it is still the same. Cant go to *** since it was not installed by them.

Also it could be that Optra performs better with CNG than LPG? As in your case the FE has increased. That is why wanted to know from other BHPian who owns LPG Optra to find out what they say.
Regards
Shantnu

[Ramsagar]

Originally Posted by shantnusharma

Thanks Ashish for your prompt response, how ever the challange i am facing is that i have visited several service centres in Jaipur to fix LPG problem but it is still the same. Cant go to *** since it was not installed by them.

Also it could be that Optra performs better with CNG than LPG? As in your case the FE has increased. That is why wanted to know from other BHPian who owns LPG Optra to find out what they say.
Regards
Shantnu

Shantnu:There's nothing wrong in taking your vehicle to GM A.S.S center. Your vehicle is no longer under warranty, so need not worry.
Its best to take their advice and see if the problem is getting solved.Though the kit is not installed by them,it might be some other problem related to the drop of mileage.
I'm sure they might have experience with other vehicles visiting with LPG kits. And the problem can be diagnosed easily.
Give it a try.

[ashthedivx]

Originally Posted by Ramsagar

Shantnu:There's nothing wrong in taking your vehicle to GM A.S.S center. Your vehicle is no longer under warranty, so need not worry.
Its best to take their advice and see if the problem is getting solved.Though the kit is not installed by them,it might be some other problem related to the drop of mileage.
I'm sure they might have experience with other vehicles visiting with LPG kits. And the problem can be diagnosed easily.
Give it a try.

Also, according to thumb's rule if a car is running good original it should also run good in bi-fuel. So according to me, problem area is petrol tuning for the low FE.

[shantnusharma]

OK, so as advised i am now going to check my FE on petrol, I have got a full tank done and will see how much do i get on petrol, by driving it for 200 odd KMs, In case FE is bad on petrol then will take it to the A.S.S.
Thanks All !

[shantnusharma]

I checked on petrol, my car is giving me an average of 10.5 with 40% AC. So that means there is some problem with the LPG.....

Guys ! please help...

[shantnusharma]

Finally my car FE is back to 9.5 ~ 10 on LPG !! which is great considering the fact that it is giving 10.5 on petrol ... YEAH !!

The problem was with the diaphram of my LPG reducer, got both of them replaced ...

Thanks everyone for taking out time in giving valuable suggestions ..
Cheers
Shantnu