[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by honeybee

Have also ordered clear lens headlights, the RH one was readily available, but the LH one will arrive today, most likely. Am thinking of replacing them myself, so will post the experience here.

HL replacing procedure is too easy, that going to a workshop is not justifyable for a bhp'n. Please feel free to check my thread, I have posted the procedure in detail.

btw, the change in looks when you change to clear lens is worth the cost you spend on the lamps. The car will look much better. If possible source a Sxi like bumper, and newer model taillamps (~800 buck for a pair).

Give it a proper wax job, and your car will look atleast 5 years younger.

[honeybee]

Not too keen on making the car look younger, though I do want it to run for another five years! Yes, I have gone through your thread and will be going through it again to understand the procedure for changing headlamps.

The current set of mods/upgrades/repairs will stop after the clear lens headlamps. Hopefully with the new windshield and the clear lens lamps night driving should become easier. Further investment will be on a need basis, more for functional gains than for looks, because moolah is scarce and I have another car waiting in line for its share of my pockets (not to forget my wife!).

Regarding the tyres, I am increasingly thinking of MRFs, as the Ikon's tyres just refuse to let air out! My Santro shod with Michelin XM1s has been requiring a pressure check at least once in two weeks, but the Ikon hasn't warranted it even once since I bought it.

More than the bumper, I am looking to source a steering wheel from the SXi range, which I hear is smaller than the ZXi. I checked with my supplier but he doesn't have it. Does anyone have an idea where I can get it in / around Mumbai?

Also today morning I learnt there's another Ikon to be had, this one an NX, similar to the one I have acquired. The price is down by at least 10k. The car requires a fuel pump overhaul/replacement, so the owner is willing to slash another 10k or so from the list price. Overall, a 2002-3 registered car with 35k on the odo at under 70k. Drop me a line if anyone's interested.

[honeybee]

Replaced the brake oil using the pumping method (went to the mechanic to get this done, actually). The oil used was less than half a litre of Dot4, and the labour I paid was more than the oil used. Am planning to do this next time using the gravity method. The old oil had turned blackish while the new one is like water. The brake pedal now feels much softer, earlier it was like the Premier Padmini brake pedal.

Total charges for the suspension job came to Rs. 13600 (including all four struts and kits, coolant).

Next on cards is the headlight upgrade to clear lens, and then the tyres. One of the rear tyres has got a bald spot, so I am thinking of getting two new tyres, plonk them in front, move the existing front tyres to the rear and discard the existing rear ones. Should still cost me upwards of 8k, so am waiting for the vitamin M to improve a little bit.

[honeybee]

Yesterday decided to splurge some moolah on the red queen, and bought two new MRF ZSLK tyres. The new tyres were put in the front, the front ones went to the back and the back two were discarded. On second thoughts I should have retained the better one of the two, and discarded my spare, as it's probably already dead.

MRP of each tyre was Rs. 4125, but I had to pay only Rs. 3900/- Mounting was free and air pressure check was free. Got two new valve caps too for the older two tyres. Sounds frustrating? They don't offer wheel balancing! The reason was even though other vendors offer balancing and alignment, they do charge for weights, so the amount saved isn't much, and I am already getting a discount on the MRP! Didn't want to haggle much so I left it at that.

The tyres are 175/70/R13 tubeless, same spec as OE and the older tyres, only the older tyres were tube type. The rims too are ten years old and not in perfect shape, but with a little hammering of one of the rims, the tubeless were put on.

Warranty for 18 months against tyre bulging (balooning on one side), and no other warranty. Claims take around 15 days to pass/reject, as tyre has to be sent to the company. This was one shop which promised me some kind of warranty and it seems they own up to it. Plus I have been impressed by the performance of the existing MRF ZVTS tube tyres so far. I was running with a rear tyre which had a bald spot and had started peeling off the rubber on the tread. And I was doing three digit speeds on e-ways!

After the tyres were replaced, I got the wheels balanced (all four) and alignment done. The result of the whole operation is the car wobbles less, the huge vibrations at around 1k rpm mark are gone and I am a little more confident. There's no tyre noise noticed so far even though the front tyres are brand new and should squeak. Completed a trip to the International Airport and the car's handling has shown a marked improvement (but then earlier it wobbled a lot, so the improvement vis-a-vis the older eight year old tyres would obviously be big).

I now am planning to go for two more MRF ZSLK next month, moolah permitting, and then one more for the spare. Next up would be the TPS, tyre pressure monitoring system. I hope the vendor for the TPS has got one with five sensors instead of four. So I have told my wifey no more clothes for me for another six months!

Unfortunately I don't have the photos right now, so I shall have to upload them in another post.

[honeybee]

The limit to edit the message expired, just as I had uploaded the photos and added their descriptions.

OK, here are the images:

215: The new tyres with their packing
216: New tyre with packing inserts inside
217: Closeup of the ZSLK tread
218: Markings on the new tyre
219: Markings (closeup)
220: More markings
221: Some more markings
222: The rim, stripped of the old tube tyre and ready for the tubeless
223: Front right with new tyre
224: Again, markings: this time from the other tyre
225: The old warrior: this was mounted on the rear right
226: Markings from the old tyre
227: Same tyre with its tube
228: The tread on the old tyre
229: The tube
230: Battle scars? The bald spot on the old tyre. You can't see the rubber peeling off as it's facing the ground, but this photo should show you what condition this tyre was in. No bursts, no leakages, no punctures. It felt as if this tyre could go on and on. Which was of course not the wisest of thoughts.
231: The other discarded tyre. This one had good tread.
232: The front left gets the new ZSLK.
233: The spare, removed at the servicing station. Don't know if it was painted yellow or has turned yellow. In any case its days are numbered.

[honeybee]

An update on the new tyres: They are super silent. Even when taking curves at 60kmph, where most new tyres would squeal, they are silent. The grip level is good and I haven't checked the air since they were mounted. Which should be good again.

Am now planning to switch the existing tyres to the rear, get two new MRF ZSLKs up front, throw away one of the rear ones and the spare, and move the remaining rear into the boot as spare.

Refilled the tank last week, and the FE is now 12+. I have also remarked on the increased FE on my Santro thread, and the trends are the same. Both cars have been lying idle for days in the last two months and there has been a change in the route and the climate. If that's pushing up the FE, well, that's quite a relief.

[honeybee]

Update: Completed a four-day trip to Kolhapur, touching many places en route to and fro. Total distance covered was approximately 850kms. Have yet to calculate the FE.

The Ikon's owner manual specifies tyre pressure to be maintained at 37psi front and 41psi rear for a full load. With three people on board and quite a good amount of luggage, I decided to go for 34psi all round. With the onboard TPMS I kept monitoring the pressure throughout the journey.

The morning pressure dropped to 31psi at times, while the peak pressure was 39psi. The handling remained good and I was able to maintain three digit speeds on open patches of the highways without losing composure. Braking remains to be a sore area which will have to be addressed somehow or the other, otherwise the car would never truly be inspiring.

Discovered that when I top up the fuel, there's some leakage from under the vehicle. I suspect it's from the feeding pipe. This gives off a strong petrol smell inside the vehicle too. This is why I resorted to filling up in quantities of 20 ltrs each instead of going for a tankful. Any ideas what the problem could be, and how it can be fixed?

[honeybee]

Update: Have now crossed 43k.

Recently got the front brake pads replaced. There was some material still left but since braking was already a problem area I got the same replaced. Also the accelerator pedal, cable and the throttle body was given a liberal dose of WD-40. Now the acceleration has become a lot smoother and the brakes have more bite, inspiring a little more confidence. The mechanic did say the brakes needed some 100kms to bed in and it's already working.

[mkpiyengar]

@honeybee
I went through your posts regarding the headlight bulb upgrades, but could not find the detail of the bulb.
Could you kindly share the exact specification /rating of the bulbs. Was it Philips X-treme H4 .

Cheers
MKP

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by mkpiyengar

@honeybee
I went through your posts regarding the headlight bulb upgrades, but could not find the detail of the bulb.
Could you kindly share the exact specification /rating of the bulbs. Was it Philips X-treme H4 .

Nope, it was the 90/100 bulbs. The relay was already there in the car, so I just replaced the bulbs. I had planned for an upgrade from 55/60 to the 90/100 ones, but since the relay was there, it wasn't really an upgrade.

I haven't tried the X-treme ones, though I have heard they give a good throw. Being 55/60 they should be a direct fit without requiring a relay, but they are very costly.

[Tornado]

Dear Ford Ikon Mates,

I just joined your club by buying a used Ford ikon 1.6 Nxt Zxi 2004 model which is driven just 18,000+ (18K) KM in Bangalore. Even the first aid kit is there intact in the dicky.

Car looks new and interiors are immaculate. Drive is good but it seems bit noisy compared to my 2012 - Optra magnum Diesel. Probably magnum is well insulated.
City drive is excellent and there is a good torque.

Tyres are the OE ones with Feb 2004 stamp and lot of thread is left. But they might be hard , looking for replacing atleast front ones.

I changed the engine oil (10w40) -castrol magnatec ,oil filter & air filter(basically I prefer shell or valvoline or mobil etc). As per mechanic 4 liters were consumed.
But when i checked after an over night parking with dip stick the oil level was coming only below the lower mark.
I went back to mechanic , he draind the oil and measured the oil and it was around 4 liters. Then he was telling me that the dip stick could be of diesel ikon and it is longer than 1.6's.

Any idea on this ?

Just wondering if all the Ikon mates are still around so that this thread can be revived.

Regards

Originally Posted by honeybee

Nope, it was the 90/100 bulbs. The relay was already there in the car, so I just replaced the bulbs. I had planned for an upgrade from 55/60 to the 90/100 ones, but since the relay was there, it wasn't really an upgrade.

I haven't tried the X-treme ones, though I have heard they give a good throw. Being 55/60 they should be a direct fit without requiring a relay, but they are very costly.

[honeybee]

Usually if the car is leaking oil you will find visual signs of it under the car. I am not sure if the diesel car's dipstick is longer, you can check at a parts store.

[roadlover]

Hi guys, great to see the active discussion on the ikon 1.6 rocam..I own a Y2K model, racing blue original rally sport color, done just 70k kms, going strong and still love every meter of the drive! All I am missing are power windows (!!) in my car, would be too thankful if someone can guide me on an authentic source in bangalore who can do it. Even front two windows would do. Next I would like to know from any of you guys if brakes can be upgraded at all.. No other issues in the car..Thanks in advance guys.

[Praveen92]

Hie guys,
Bought an Ikon 1.6 2002 model recently. I and my friend were working on the car fixing up the engine related issues it had. On opening the intake manifold, the manifod plastic was molten at few places from the inside, which didnt seem healthy & we suspect a vaccum leak from there.

Any idea how much a spare intake manifold cost - at spare market & at Ford A.S.S ?

[Praveen92]

Originally Posted by roadlover

Next I would like to know from any of you guys if brakes can be upgraded at all.. No other issues in the car..Thanks in advance guys.

What is the issue you are facing with brakes ??? In my opinion, the brakes are just fine. I agree that the brakes on an Ikon have less bite feel on pressing the pedal, but if slammed hard the car stops on a dime !