[ankurbhageria]

Thank you everyone for the valuable information.

The car has been properly serviced. And yes, as rightly pointed out, I'll let HASS diagnose the issue. I had taken a warranty extension till 4 years so that comes as a relief.

I'll update everyone about the problem soon.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by ankurbhageria

Thank you everyone for the valuable information.

The car has been properly serviced. And yes, as rightly pointed out, I'll let HASS diagnose the issue. I had taken a warranty extension till 4 years so that comes as a relief.

I'll update everyone about the problem soon.

Good, I seriously doubt it is anything to do with the transmission. First thing is to get it hooked up to a proper OBD scanner. That will take all guessing out of the equation. Don’t let anybody do any replacement of parts without a proper diagnosis. Good luck.

Jeroen

[ankurbhageria]

Originally Posted by aadya

Check list to ponder upon
1.Fuel quality
2.Tyre pressure
3.Filters - Air, Engine oil, Fuel
4.Oil levels - Engine oil, Transmission oil
5. Hand brakes
6. Overdrive Off button
7.Regular service if not done
8.High revving in safe roads
9.System G like additives.

Note : 130-140/kmph is highly unsafe in any car/road in India. Drive Safe.

I am taking the car for a run on the highway. Let's see if anything changes. And yes, I don't go over 100 unless there is a very specific reason.

[ankurbhageria]

Update:

I went to H.A.S.S. and they advised me to take the car for a run, full tank from different bunk. Also to stress the vehicle a little.

So I used the tiptronic mode for higher RPM gear changes and 250 kms later, there is a very significant change in the performance of the vehicle. It's quite close to normal.

I'll go to HASS again once the tank is near empty.

[ankurbhageria]

Long term update:

As some of the members had suggested, I went with a step by step approach.

HASS inspected the brakes, ECU / OBDII, Fuel Injectors, Spark Plugs and a host of other things.

They finally "concluded" that due to start and stop driving, there has been some problem with the torque converter and that it would need to be replaced.

I guess the only premise that they are building this argument on is that fact that I told them that the car's performance increases if I take it for a highway run.

Torque converter costs upwards of Rs. 2,00,000/- including labor and taxes so I see no point it getting it changed.

[curios]

Need some advice really bad. It has been a trying time to solve the issue of poor pick-up in my 2009 Spark. The General Motors ASC (RN Chevrolet, Noida) guy says there is no issue.

But I know how bad its gets when the car struggles to accelerate and it feels weak and under-powered. Sometimes, the responsiveness is suddenly low, after some kms of driving.

The engine makes a lot more noise as if it's struggling hard to revv up. This seems to happen with the AC on; the engine feels much smoother without the AC running.

Over the past nine months, have had the spark plugs, battery (was due) and the accelerator cable replaced, and just had the evaporator/cooling coil changed a few days back since it was apparently corroded and leaking.

The ASC supervisor says nothing is wrong otherwise with my car and it's normal wear and tear of the engine (lie I'm imagining things!). Worse still, he won't drive it enough to figure out the issue. That's even more frustrating.

Thing is, the issue is big enough for me to not want to drive at all, except when unavoidable.

With my limited knowledge and through google research, tried figuring out possible causes and kept insisting that the ASC do a physical inspection of the vehicle including checking the timing and other belts but again felt like they were not really keen on a thorough diagnosis; only superficial observations, and billing.

Is it a worn out clutch? Want to retain the car for a couple years at least, so willing to spend on keeping it fit.

Any recommendations for a service centre with better diagnosis if possible. Using the Bosch service in Ghaziabad too hasn't been a great experience last year.

Hope I can get some direction and sense on how to address this problem. Please suggest what I can do. Thanks

[deep_bang]

Can you try showing the car to another garage? Or a FNG?
I found that sometimes diagnosing a car is like talking to doctors. Each one has an opinion and if you are not satisfied with one, you would want to try to get another opinion from another doc.

To test for a worn out clutch, try releasing the clutch in 3rd gear when the vehicle is in standstill. The car should stall and switch off almost immediately. If not, then the clutch has wornout way too much.

On my Mahindra Quanto, when the clutch was worn out I could see sometimes that the rpm would change without the speed changing. This is another classic indicator of clutch wear. Not sure if Spark has rpm indicator or not . I think not, but can you confirm?

[freak]

Spark has a digital RPM indicator , that can be used as a reference. I have given up on company service centre, I go to FNG.

Try competent FNG who do work on engine and related components.

Please check if engine is heating up, any sign of smoke etc.

Try reaching out to company personnel other than dealer staff , contact helpline when at service centre they shall get in a concall with service centre team if you still stick to company service centre.

[jaguar.runs]

Originally Posted by curios

Need some advice really bad. It has been a trying time to solve the issue of poor pick-up in my 2009 Spark. The General Motors ASC (RN Chevrolet, Noida) guy says there is no issue.

But I know how bad its gets when the car struggles to accelerate and it feels weak and under-powered. Sometimes, the responsiveness is suddenly low, after some kms of driving.

Hope I can get some direction and sense on how to address this problem. Please suggest what I can do. Thanks

Rule out primary contributors and all related parts. Whatever related to air, fuel and ignition needs to be addressed one by one. Air Filter & MAF Sensor for Air, fuel injectors (may need cleaning) & fuel pump pressure for fuel, Spark plugs and ignition coil for ignition. From the symptoms you have described, as you are getting this issue more when you have traveled for some time, primary suspect will be the ignition coils. Ignition coils, if weak, usually doesn't work properly when hot.

[curios]

Originally Posted by deep_bang

Can you try showing the car to another garage? Or a FNG?
I found that sometimes diagnosing a car is like talking to doctors. Each one has an opinion and if you are not satisfied with one, you would want to try to get another opinion from another doc.

To test for a worn out clutch, try releasing the clutch in 3rd gear when the vehicle is in standstill. The car should stall and switch off almost immediately. If not, then the clutch has wornout way too much.

On my Mahindra Quanto, when the clutch was worn out I could see sometimes that the rpm would change without the speed changing. This is another classic indicator of clutch wear. Not sure if Spark has rpm indicator or not . I think not, but can you confirm?

Been away for long but thanks a lot. Will check the RPM bit as you have advised (didn't know about this).

[curios]

Originally Posted by freak

Spark has a digital RPM indicator , that can be used as a reference. I have given up on company service centre, I go to FNG.

Try competent FNG who do work on engine and related components.

Please check if engine is heating up, any sign of smoke etc.

Try reaching out to company personnel other than dealer staff , contact helpline when at service centre they shall get in a concall with service centre team if you still stick to company service centre.

Sorry for a terribly late reply. Will need to find a FNG who comes recommended, and keep you posted.

[curios]

Originally Posted by jaguar.runs

Rule out primary contributors and all related parts. Whatever related to air, fuel and ignition needs to be addressed one by one. Air Filter & MAF Sensor for Air, fuel injectors (may need cleaning) & fuel pump pressure for fuel, Spark plugs and ignition coil for ignition. From the symptoms you have described, as you are getting this issue more when you have traveled for some time, primary suspect will be the ignition coils. Ignition coils, if weak, usually doesn't work properly when hot.

Sorry for a very late reply. Didn't get around to doing anything about it, and the issue gets on my nerves while driving, say, for 45 mins to an hour or so. It's almost like I'm not sure how the car responds. Sometimes okay, sometimes irritatingly odd. The engine noise is too much sometimes, at low speeds when changing gears feels awful. The while driving experience is unpleasant, to sum up. For these reasons, I'm unable to head out of the city despite getting brand new XM2s in July 2018.

And did I mention that mileage as last measured was a shade under 8kmpl (in 2018)! The fact that I drive once or twice a week, has been the saving grace. Else my fuel bills will empty my wallet like leaking faucet.

[govigov]

Originally Posted by curios

Sorry for a very late reply. Didn't get around to doing anything about it, and the issue gets on my nerves while driving, say, for 45 mins to an hour or so. It's almost like I'm not sure how the car responds. Sometimes okay, sometimes irritatingly odd. The engine noise is too much sometimes, at low speeds when changing gears feels awful. The while driving experience is unpleasant, to sum up. For these reasons, I'm unable to head out of the city despite getting brand new XM2s in July 2018.

And did I mention that mileage as last measured was a shade under 8kmpl (in 2018)! The fact that I drive once or twice a week, has been the saving grace. Else my fuel bills will empty my wallet like leaking faucet.

Are you seeing what is called as 'missing'? Do get the fuel pump checked, swap with a known good one and see how that goes. If all is well, the fuel pump is the culprit.

[Jeroen]

My suggestion would be two fold. Find somebody knowledgeable who is prepared to take it for a proper test ride to experience the problem first hand.

Find a person with a proper OBD scanner, preferably a brand/model specific and see if there are any error codes.

Of course, preferably one at the same person. Good experienced mechanics should be able to give you some idea once they experience the problem first hand themselves.

An OBD scan might pinpoint the problem right away, or at least eliminate a lot of possible problems.

Poor pick up at speed could be related to a host of things but unlikely a poor clutch. You would notice the engine rev going up without the car accelerating.

Good luck
Jeroen

[scorpian]

My line of thought,

1)Air filter
2)Fuel Filter
3)Plugs
4)Fuel from a different bunk with a good fuel cleaner additive.A nice drive at higher rpm to let the additive do its work.

Besides this i would agree with Jeroen on having it checked with brand specific OBD diagnostics but again this will require the person checking to look with a fine comb if anything is out of spec.