Swift VDi - execessive tyre wear - help

ramkris · 11th March 2010, 20:09

Today, I left the car at THE famous service center at Garvepalaya, Hosur road for the whole day, and after getting the car back, car is still pulling to the left and now to add to that, now it feels like i have power steering disabled on the car :( To add to that, the steering wheel points to the right when going straight.

I am not clear why a service center which has technicians trained by the manufacturer would not be qualified enough to do the alignment work on a car compared to individual tyre shops.

Concerns with dedicated tyre alignments shops is that I had found they have tools that are not as good as service centers. For example, they put the jack at the wrong place and possibly damage the under body of the cars.
Also the customer service is too bad and they simply dont care. And you have to wait too long a time to get the work done. This is from my experience from a famous alignment center at JP nagar.

Either way I have learned an expensive lesson, but i found the JKs to be pretty good for my style of driving and never had any complaints, till now. Just recently for the past months i heard tyre squeal while cornering even at sedate speeds even around 70 kmph. Realising now, it might be something to do with the mis-alignment.

Please recommend any good independent tyre/wheel alignment centers around either Electronic city or Bannerghatta road area who are well equipped to do this kind of a job.

narayanang76 · 11th March 2010, 20:51

@ ramkris: By looking at the tyre wear that is now time to replace them. Which is 'The Famous service centre' you are referring here - not sure.

From what you are mentioning about pulling to the left, definitely the wheel alignment issue there. But if you hadnt felt that before the recent service, then I would also suggest to check the lower arm (any recent underbody scraping / hitting the humps?) Lower arm bend/out of position could also give the tyre uneven wear - please note.

If you are not talking about Suraksha car care center here, please try it out, you can mention that you are from TBHP and get things easy and better then.

Hope that helps..

sdp1975 · 11th March 2010, 21:08

ramkris, please visit Madhus on Langford road. They have state of the art equipment for alignment. The steering wheel problem should also be corrected during alignment.

Madhus.com

Unfortunately, your tyres have to be replaced seeing the amount of wear in them.

Also, why don't you approach the service centre asking them to bear the replacement cost in part based on usage ? After all, if you have been getting your car regularly serviced from them, it's their responsibility to ensure that the alignment is taken care of and the tyres last their usual lifetime. Complaining to Maruti might also help.

Jaggu · 11th March 2010, 21:28

Ask them to loosen the steering damper when doing alignment and that will sort out the tight steering. Better buy new tyres.

vinu99@gmail.co · 11th March 2010, 21:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

It's definitely a wheel alignment issue. No question about it.

Did you get it done regularly or did oyu just ask the service guys to do it when you ghave it for service?

Even with a regular alignment interval of 5000 Kms, I had my Swift rear tires worn out in a similar fashion, but not as bad as these tires. I had to discard those at 26000 Kms. Few of the tire guys attributed it as a common issue with Swift rear tires. Coincidentally, front tires were displaying a uniform wear. Overall, I had not much hard feelings as I got less than 50 kms run MRF ZV2ks for 800 a piece from a brand new Swift which underwent a tire upgrade

ramkris · 11th March 2010, 21:41

Rubbing salt in the wound, I tried to plug in the panel of my Eclipse 5030 HU after getting the car back from the service center and the display wont turn on, and no controls work but the cd will play. Another 15k down the drain apart from prospective tire change cost.

And by the way the service center I mentioned is RNS Hosur road. Didnt want to mention it if they were able to resolve the issue.

Jaggu · 11th March 2010, 22:04

Check if the terminals of the HU and face plate are aok. Use a fine tweezer or pin to set it right, but be very careful.

sukiwa · 11th March 2010, 23:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by ramkris

I am not clear why a service center which has technicians trained by the manufacturer would not be qualified enough to do the alignment work on a car compared to individual tyre shops.

Don't think that training from manufacturer would involve detailed instructions about wheel alignment. Secondly, service technicians would be more interested in learning about car repair details rather than wheel alignment. Sorry for going off topic.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ramkris

Concerns with dedicated tyre alignments shops is that I had found they have tools that are not as good as service centers. For example, they put the jack at the wrong place and possibly damage the under body of the cars.

From my limited knowledge, to carry out wheel alignment, one need not put car chassis on jack. Sensors get attached to wheel to read alignment data.
Please visit competent tyre shop as suggested in earlier posts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ramkris

Rubbing salt in the wound, I tried to plug in the panel of my Eclipse 5030 HU after getting the car back from the service center and the display wont turn on, and no controls work but the cd will play.

It's very much likely that HU faceplate hasn't been placed correctly. Remove it & connect it properly again. It should work if no contacts have been broken in previous removal/attach process.

VTEC_Rocks · 12th March 2010, 10:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by ramkris

Please recommend any good independent tyre/wheel alignment centers around either Electronic city or Bannerghatta road area who are well equipped to do this kind of a job.

I'd recommend Vijay's Wheel Alignment near Sajanrao Circle. They do a good job, or you could get it done in Srinidi Agencies in Adugodi. He does a fair job too.

ramkris · 12th March 2010, 10:38

[quote=sukiwa;1778358

From my limited knowledge, to carry out wheel alignment, one need not put car chassis on jack. Sensors get attached to wheel to read alignment data.
Please visit competent tyre shop as suggested in earlier posts.

It's very much likely that HU faceplate hasn't been placed correctly. Remove it & connect it properly again. It should work if no contacts have been broken in previous removal/attach process.[/QUOTE]

When a wheel alignment is done, we generally go for tyre rotation and that is when I was referring to jack being used.

I know its OT but regarding the HU, there definitely seems to be a problem with the HU. I had done all basic checks: checking if it is inserted properly, try to clean the contact points on both the HU and faceplate etc., to no avail. I will check the wiring and the fuse later to see if there is any loose connection. Maybe its time to open a new thread for new HU recommendations in the ICE section.

SirAlec · 12th March 2010, 23:12

Its an alignment issue.

I recall you have run 20000 +kms. in this course of time you should have rotated atleast 4 times. have you done that.?

11th March 2010, 20:09	#16
ramkris BHPian Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 122 Thanked: 20 Times	Today, I left the car at THE famous service center at Garvepalaya, Hosur road for the whole day, and after getting the car back, car is still pulling to the left and now to add to that, now it feels like i have power steering disabled on the car :( To add to that, the steering wheel points to the right when going straight. I am not clear why a service center which has technicians trained by the manufacturer would not be qualified enough to do the alignment work on a car compared to individual tyre shops. Concerns with dedicated tyre alignments shops is that I had found they have tools that are not as good as service centers. For example, they put the jack at the wrong place and possibly damage the under body of the cars. Also the customer service is too bad and they simply dont care. And you have to wait too long a time to get the work done. This is from my experience from a famous alignment center at JP nagar. Either way I have learned an expensive lesson, but i found the JKs to be pretty good for my style of driving and never had any complaints, till now. Just recently for the past months i heard tyre squeal while cornering even at sedate speeds even around 70 kmph. Realising now, it might be something to do with the mis-alignment. Please recommend any good independent tyre/wheel alignment centers around either Electronic city or Bannerghatta road area who are well equipped to do this kind of a job. Last edited by ramkris : 11th March 2010 at 20:11.
	() Thanks

11th March 2010, 20:51	#17
narayanang76 BHPian Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: KA 53/KL 9 Posts: 451 Thanked: 835 Times View My Garage	@ ramkris: By looking at the tyre wear that is now time to replace them. Which is 'The Famous service centre' you are referring here - not sure. From what you are mentioning about pulling to the left, definitely the wheel alignment issue there. But if you hadnt felt that before the recent service, then I would also suggest to check the lower arm (any recent underbody scraping / hitting the humps?) Lower arm bend/out of position could also give the tyre uneven wear - please note. If you are not talking about Suraksha car care center here, please try it out, you can mention that you are from TBHP and get things easy and better then. Hope that helps..
	() Thanks

11th March 2010, 21:08	#18
sdp1975 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,700 Thanked: 1,273 Times View My Garage	ramkris, please visit Madhus on Langford road. They have state of the art equipment for alignment. The steering wheel problem should also be corrected during alignment. Madhus.com Unfortunately, your tyres have to be replaced seeing the amount of wear in them. Also, why don't you approach the service centre asking them to bear the replacement cost in part based on usage ? After all, if you have been getting your car regularly serviced from them, it's their responsibility to ensure that the alignment is taken care of and the tyres last their usual lifetime. Complaining to Maruti might also help. Last edited by sdp1975 : 11th March 2010 at 21:20.
	() Thanks

11th March 2010, 21:28	#19
Jaggu Team-BHP Support Join Date: May 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 20,212 Thanked: 15,892 Times	Ask them to loosen the steering damper when doing alignment and that will sort out the tight steering. Better buy new tyres.
	() Thanks

11th March 2010, 21:41	#21
ramkris BHPian Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 122 Thanked: 20 Times	Rubbing salt in the wound, I tried to plug in the panel of my Eclipse 5030 HU after getting the car back from the service center and the display wont turn on, and no controls work but the cd will play. Another 15k down the drain apart from prospective tire change cost. And by the way the service center I mentioned is RNS Hosur road. Didnt want to mention it if they were able to resolve the issue. Last edited by ramkris : 11th March 2010 at 21:43.
	() Thanks

11th March 2010, 22:04	#22
Jaggu Team-BHP Support Join Date: May 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 20,212 Thanked: 15,892 Times	Check if the terminals of the HU and face plate are aok. Use a fine tweezer or pin to set it right, but be very careful.
	() Thanks

12th March 2010, 10:38	#25
ramkris BHPian Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 122 Thanked: 20 Times	[quote=sukiwa;1778358 From my limited knowledge, to carry out wheel alignment, one need not put car chassis on jack. Sensors get attached to wheel to read alignment data. Please visit competent tyre shop as suggested in earlier posts. It's very much likely that HU faceplate hasn't been placed correctly. Remove it & connect it properly again. It should work if no contacts have been broken in previous removal/attach process.[/QUOTE] When a wheel alignment is done, we generally go for tyre rotation and that is when I was referring to jack being used. I know its OT but regarding the HU, there definitely seems to be a problem with the HU. I had done all basic checks: checking if it is inserted properly, try to clean the contact points on both the HU and faceplate etc., to no avail. I will check the wiring and the fuse later to see if there is any loose connection. Maybe its time to open a new thread for new HU recommendations in the ICE section.
	() Thanks

12th March 2010, 23:12	#26
SirAlec Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: zxc Posts: 3,393 Thanked: 726 Times	Its an alignment issue. I recall you have run 20000 +kms. in this course of time you should have rotated atleast 4 times. have you done that.?
	() Thanks

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