[vcash]

Originally Posted by MexXxentric

Does this 'tune up " include ECM diagnostic test? how come they zeroed on the speed sensor error?
Check the clutch master cylinder for leaks. My sport had this squeaking, which developed to a leaking cylinder.

Congrats on ur "100 16V". Do put this decal on her cheeks

They did do a ECM diagnostic test and got the speed sensor error.

The decals will go on post detailing! Thanks!

[nishantgandhi]

Originally Posted by vcash

Hello Everyone,
I just called to reconfirm my appointment and to discuss what work they would do tomorrow and I got the following estimate from Fortune:
1) General Service: Rs. 2100 (Rs. 750 for labor + 1350 for consumables)
2) Engine Tune Up which includes cleaning the sensors, injectors, throttle body cleaning: Rs. 3,500
3) Speed Sensor Replacement: Rs. 910 (But currently out of stock)

As most of you advised to get the engine decarbonized, I asked for this service but Fortune refuses to do this process as they say it is not good for the car?!

Intrigued, I called up Concorde Motors in Worli and spoke to their service advisor and here are his inputs:
1) General service: Rs. 5000 (Rs. 1800 for Labor and Rs. 3200 for consumables)
2) No Engine tuning but Engine Decarb available: Rs. 1500
3) They will check whether speed sensor needs replacement only after their own inspection.

So now I am in a conundrum, what work should I get done and where should I get this done? Ideally, I would have like to do the service at Fortune, the engine decarb at Concorde and the tuning and cleaning of the injector, spark plugs and throttle body at an independent garage where it would be much cheaper.

But since that Teerth yatra will take me days, what should I do?!

Thanks,
V

If price is the decision criteria, split up the work. Get regular servicing and engine tuning done at Fortune, and engine decarb at Concorde. But I would still suggest - go to a service center that is trustworthy, even though it might be slightly expensive.

Originally Posted by black12rr

Why engine decarb , why not go for engine flush ?

Engine flush is needed whenever engine oil is changed. e.g. when I changed over from mineral to synthetic oil, I got the engine flushed. AFAIK, engine decarb cleans the engine from carbon deposits that build up over time due to fuel.

[karizma_devil]

hey Vc waitn for your update ...

Am sure it would be a pretty event ful on guys .. busted rear windscreen and what not !

[vcash]

As KD posted above, the weekend was quite eventful!

I dropped the car off at Fortune Fiat in Powai on Friday, November 6th. While I was the first one to get there (Even before most of the staff got in), it took them a good 30 minutes to take the car in for servicing. Based on advice from you folks and the PUG, I decided to stick with a simple servicing this time around prior to any Engine tuning / cleaning etc. I told the service advisor to take care of the following:

1) General Service – Air Filter / Oil Filter / Engine Oil / Fuel Filter
2) Coolant Flush and Top up
3) Fix Speedometer (And Odometer)

During the day I got a call stating that the brake discs and pads have begun to wear down and will nedd to be replaced in the next few months but they could do it preemptively now. But I found the braking quite adequate and precise, I told them to defer it to the next service (Parts estimate for theses were Rs. 3,500).

On Saturday, I went to pick up the car at 9:30am and again it took close to an hour to pick up the car. The service advisor reported the following:
1) Paid service completed: Rs. 1500 for Parts and Rs. 750 for Labor
2) 3 Liters of coolant used: Rs. 733
3) Speedometer and Odometer was not fixed as they need to replace instrument cluster (Rs. 14K + Rs.900 for speed sensor)
4) At some point in the future Radiator needs replacement as it is choked (Rs. 19K)

The positive outcome of this service was that the car stopped heating (Earlier at 40% mark and now at 20% mark post service) and the intermittent stalling that was present has ended.

The negatives were that the speedometer issue was not fixed and the news of impending expenses! However on the plus side, the SA gave me the number of a meter guy who could fix the speedo and odo malfunction for me at a cheaper cost.

After wrapping up at around 10:45am, I proceeded to Thane to get my car detailed at Shining Cars. This place was recommended by Karizma Devil as he had got great results with his S10.

I dropped the car of at around 11:30am and was informed that the detailing process would take 4 to 5 hours and includes the following: External Shampoo / Internal Shampoo / Roof and Carpet Steam cleaning / External Scratch Coating / Dashboard Polishing / External Waxing and Polishing / Tyre cleaning and dressing and window dressing.

The cost would be Rs.1600 and I gave them the go ahead and also asked them to remove all the stickers on the car. I left Shining cars and proceeded to meet up with KD at his home. We met and chatted about his S10 which by the way is lovely! He expressed an interest to come and see my GTX and we proceeded to Shining Cars at about 12:30pm.

As we walked up to the garage, I was talking to KD looking at him while he was looking straight ahead and suddenly he asks me: “How come your rear windscreen is broken?!” and I say “What?!!” I turn to look at my car and I am mortified: “The rear windscreen is in a million little pieces strewn across the workshop floor.

We go across to the guys working in the car and question them on what happened and get a flury of excuses: “It broke on it’s own”; “The suns heat must have broken it” to “Bumb type noise phata!”.

KD and me went up to the manager and asked him for an explanation who was also not sure on what exactly happened; only reassuring us that they would replaced the glass on their expense after we played a little good cop – bad cop with him. KD was the bad cop

The owners of the establishment also came and reassured me that they would replace the glass with either AIS, Asahi or St. Gobain but that they would take some extra time to finish with the car now. While this was an inconvenience, I appreciate their gesture and not putting up a fight in paying for something that was damaged on their property and most probably by their staff (KD and my theory is that they might have tried to chisel the stickers out and that pressure would have broken the glass.

Car was ready by 6pm sans rear windscreen but I was mighty impressed with their work! The car was all shiny and new (Reminds of a song by Madonna!).

The owners then said that their driver would take me to a glass guy at Kurla who would install the glass. Got to the glass guy and the fixed a Fiat AIS glass on for me, taped it up and asked me to avoid bumps and potholes for a few days and not to wash the car. I finally got home at around 9pm and day 2 came to an end.

Sunday was a lot less stressful: I got some audio work done: HU cleaning and Aux integeration, got a set of front speakers and had the rear speakers moved from the boxes in the boot to the parcel tray creating more space and better sound.

So this was my first weekend with the GTX! Eventful but as others have said, totally worth it!

Some pictures to follow later tonight, but please be forewarned that they were taken in very bad lighting with a cell phone camera.

Some of my thoughts and questions after this experience:
1) My experience with fortune has made me realized that I need to find a good independent garage, one who maybe specializes in Fiat’s – I believe the cost of work will be cheaper as well as the quality of service would be better too. It would be great if Fiat owners in Bombay can help me locate a good, honest and competent garage.

2) While Fortune claims to have put in 3L’s of engine coolant after flushing the radiator, I found more distilled water and next to none green coolant. However, the engine heating has stopped so, I presume that the coolant has in fact been changed.

3) Despite the unfortunate incident with Shining Cars, I do recommend their service if you are willing to drive up to Thane.

4) How do I go about fixing this meter / speed sensor problem? The meter guy referred to me by Fortune who recently fixed a Palio Stile’s odometer problem told me that he would replace the speed sensor and fix the cluster meter – Cost would be Rs.3000 for both but no warranties or guarantees here. The other thing is that he does not have a workshop – he is a mechanic at Hyundai and said that he would come to my house, take the meter, work on it and install it back – this seems a bit sketchy if you ask me.

5) The engine stalling at idle has stopped and once in a while the car has oscillating revs when started but a quick on and off resolves this. I still think I will need to get the engine tuned and cleaned but would like to do this at an independent garage.

6) I will also need to figure out the radiator and brake replacement issue soon.

7) I was actually surprised that the glass guys let me take the car on the road right away as I thought the glass needs to set for some time - I also still here some "Kutch Kutch" type noise happening when I drive but this might just be the tape on the glass and not a loose glass that will fall off on me while driving!


That’s all for now folks. Would appreciate your comments and advice as always!

V

[rikhav]

Hi vcash
I saw many radiators at the Kawa Auto godown when i went to pick up the gear lever cable. You can contact them and inquire the price. Also i am posting contacts of other shops stocking fiat spares. These contacts were given to be me be fellow tbhp members when i had issues locating the gear lever cable

Kawa Auto
23827562 / 23853131

These shops are at Kurla
Amber Auto
9323938963 / 25038963

Bhartiya Auto
26508530 / 9867070419 / 9987118401

I am also looking for a garage who are good with Pallio/Petras and have the necessary equipments to diagnose problems. Seems like the Authorized service centres are no more interested in repairing Palios and Petras

[genesis]

Originally Posted by vcash

6) I will also need to figure out the radiator and brake replacement issue soon.

That’s all for now folks. Would appreciate your comments and advice as always!

V

Depending on the condition of the brakes, you should be able to get the discs machined and replace the front brakes. It definitely does not cost 3500. Should be around 1500 to 2000 max. 500 for machining and 1000 for brakes and labor and some more for the brake fluid.

[MutantX]

hey vcash, please do post detailed pics of your cat after detailing!. This would give a good idea of your GTX looks like!

[rikhav]

Originally Posted by genesis

Depending on the condition of the brakes, you should be able to get the discs machined and replace the front brakes. It definitely does not cost 3500. Should be around 1500 to 2000 max. 500 for machining and 1000 for brakes and labor and some more for the brake fluid.

Hi Genisis
Just confirming that by brakes you mean "brake pads"?

[karizma_devil]

Good that you got you glass fixed.
Honestly dude .. had it been my car you would have seen some real action.

Take care and drive safe.
I have dug up a guy at thane , who was ex-anuroop and fort point guy.
Seemed well informed about 1.6 Palios, let me try him out this weeek end, though his telephonic advice helped me solve my dodgy fuel pump rel;ay issue. She is up and running.

[genesis]

Originally Posted by rikhav

Hi Genisis
Just confirming that by brakes you mean "brake pads"?

Yes I meant brake pads to be specific....

[vcash]

Hi Guys,
As you may have read in the above post, the detailing guys broke my rear windscreen and this was replaced by them FOC. The job was done at Kurla and original Fiat AIS glass was fit.

The glass guys asked me not to wash the car for 2 days and leave the scotch tape on as well and avoid any major potholes in the road.

So I did this. No water touched the car from Saturday to Tuesday Morning after which point it poured for two days and my car is parked in the open. I took the tapes off tonight, Thursday which is 2 days more than the recommended time.

I have also avoided major potholes and the car has been stationary since Sunday night. I did some short driving on Sunday but no more than 10 odd kilometers.

Now when I drove the car tonight, I could not hear a sound when I was on smooth surfaces, however when I drove on some uneven surfaces and went over bumps or cracks in the road, apart from the usual rattles I could hear a lot of "Chan Chan Chan" type noise coming from the rear glass. Also, when I opened the boot, I noticed that the two edges of the rubber beading have not been afixed properly and are loose.

My biggest fear right now is that the windscreen is going to pop out at any given moment or shatter, espescially when I hear the "chan chan" noise.

Should I be concerened here? I don't want to go back to Kurla as it is far from my house and I really don't remember the shop location.

Will windshield experts come to my house to diagnose the problem? What should I do here?

Thx.
V

[Radnam]

Originally Posted by nishantgandhi

+1 to that. I pay Rs 400-500 for normal engine tuning, and if getting injectors and throttle body cleaned also, the total comes to around Rs 1200. This is at a reputed garage with a trusted mechanic. I have never got decarbonising done, so cannot comment on the cost.

Also, PM me if you are willing to come to town side for a good garage/mechanic.

Hi Nishant,

I am looking forward for a engine tuneup for my GTX and also check if there is any Engine Oil Leakage. I am already hunting for a Garage and a Mechanic who is aware what they are dealing with . Can you PM me the details, I stay in Girgaon stones throw from Charni Road Stn.

[DRC]

Vcash, take heart. Palio rear windshield is just glued to the frame of the rear hatch. There is hardly anything that can go wrong. I do not see any beeding/rubber involved in the fitment, they are there for waterproofing the hatch. So they should be easy to fix.

Chan chan sound you hear are due to the remaining debri of the broken glass while removing it. Small crystal king of pieces get into all sorts of crevises while removing the broken glass. You will find them every time you clean your car interiors.

Happy ownership, you will enjoy 100 horses.

[vcash]

Thanks for the advice DRC - I actually looked and you were correct - I am finding bits and pieces of small glass crystals every where! I think majority of them are stuck in the rear stop lamp so I will unscrew and try and get this out.

Also some good news on the speedo - odo front. PUG had the number of Shailender at Milan Auto in Santa Cruz and I gave him a call. He seemed very knowledgable and courteous - He explained that the cluster meter would not be the culprit and there would be no need to remove it and fiddle around with it. All that would need replacement would be the speed sensor. He told me that his distributor does not currently have it in stock, but if I could organize one, he would have it installed at his workshop.

I called up Concorde motors in Worli and they confirmed that they had the part in stock - Picked it up and took it to Shailender who installed it in 15 minutes flat.

Total Cost: Rs. 910 for the sensor + Rs. 150 Labor. No fuss & No mess.

He also drove my car and gave the following suggestions:
1) Car is missing - Recommends injector cleaning, throttle body and fuel lines.
2) Power Steering pump might need replacement.
3) Recommends a Pipercross air filter.

Thats pretty much it. I think I will go back to Shailender and get some more work done and update with my experience.

Thanks,
V

[DRC]

good to hear that vcash.
Usually, Auth service centres are bit too replace happy. They would not understand anything to debug and fix. If speedo does not work, replace everything related to it. Speed sensor, instrument cluster. Actually they would not know, speed data comes to instrument cluster from ECU. Otherwise, they would change it too.
16v100 is the most problem free engine and can take a lot of abuse. I got to see it first hand.

Enjoy the car.