[Buffetfan]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

That gives me some relief to know that I am not the lone person to face this issue . However unlike your case, I am now hearing this noise regularly during my in-city driving, it is not going on its own. I guess the clutch cable needs some lubrication. I will anyways take this up during my 65K service.

True, there will be small issues like this. My only worry is small should not grow into something big and that is why "A stitch in time would save nine"

I have heard this slight creaky noise too. comes and goes away in rainy season. Will get it checked

[AutoIndian]

Friends, good morning. Right now I am at DSK Toyota. came here early in the morning. Job card has been done. Car is waiting for the primary wash. Around 10am, once it is taken inside the workshop I will come to know whether I will get the delivery by today evening or will have to wait till tomorrow. Total estimate given is around 14K.

Below is the job card





Besides the regular service, the most important work is the front RHS wheel bearing replacement. Besides this I am getting the wipers replaced. Also I am opting for the front windshield coating. This will prevent the night glare and will facilitate easy water removal by the new wipers. Have informed about the clutch pedal noise, lubrication should address this. Both the battery terminals are rusted (probably due to electrolyte leakage from the battery at some point in time. Refer the pictures below.







Thought of sharing this, a beautiful model of the regular service and 60 mins express maintenance service. Very cute model.

[AutoIndian]

Forgot to mention one thing. I have given the RC copy to initiate the ownership transfer on my name in DSK Toyota's records. Actually this should have been done long back. Two months ago I had submitted the soft copy of the documents over email, but it seems at times things don't work over the email and your physical presence is a must.

Also gave an application for a duplicate key (with immobilizer only and no remote). This key costs around 2.5K whereas the remote key with immobilizer costs a whopping 13K. Will have to pay 1K advance for this and key will be ready in 15 days time.

I am waiting for my dear friend Shahbaaz to arrive at the workshop. Shahbaaz, where are you. I sent you a text, then called you, but no response. Hope you are coming here at DSK today. Eagerly waiting to meet you.

P.s. Mods, sorry for the back to back posts. Please merge this post with the above one.

[AutoIndian]

Edit: The Service Advisor called me just now and informed me that the water jet spray adjustment is not happening because the nozzles have become tight. Only option is to replace them. The pair costs around 1.5K. Not that it is not working, only issue is that the water jets are not directed correctly on the windshield. Since I am going for new wipers, windshield coating I gave him a go ahead to replace the nozzles.

[AutoIndian]

Surprise a surprise and a pleasant one fortunately. Just now my SA popped in and told me that no need of changing knuckle joint (if I heard him correctly). Most importantly the bearing replacement job is getting addressed in DSK workshop only and no need of sending the hub to outside workshop, vow what a relief. Car should get ready in the next half an hour. This is such a big relief. So instead of leaving the car here and returning home, I stayed put here, which has definitely helped.

[SHAHBAAZ]

Deepak, it was nice to meet you and spend some quality time talking on automobiles. Will catch up again for fitment of interior LED's. Just remembered that if you want to keep the battery terminals out of corrosion, then apply Vaseline on to the electrodes. It's been an old technique that I follow from my childhood. Hope this helps other users.
Rest I look forward for your writeup.

[AutoIndian]

Got the car back @ 05:00pm. Actually the work and washing had finished @ 03:00pm itself, but transferring the ownership to my name was taking some time, reason being in my RC book/paper one alphabet from the chassis number for missing. Result the transfer still could not take place. My SA, Dipak Jadhav advised me to send him a photo of the chasis number and he will take care of the rest. I have sent him the photo, hopefully by Monday this should get sorted out.

When the work was still going on, Dipak offered me to have lunch in their canteen and gave me coupon for the same. Since I didn't have any breakfast in the morning I was feelinG hungry and grabbed his offer with both hands. While I was having lunch fellow BHPian Shahbaaz called me and said he was in the workshop. Later I met him, this was the first time we were seeing each other face-to-face, though we had exchanged notes over the phone umpteen number of times and we were knowing each other for the last 9 months. Shahbaaz had finished his job, but stayed back with me right till the end (thank you so much Shahbaaz for that, really appreciate it). Around 4pm my SA readied the invoice, Rs 14.4K, which I cleared promptly. Also paid 1K advance for the key with immobilizer.

Sharing some pics taken at the workshop.

My SA Dipak Thote with BW in background


The new battery terminals with anti-rus coat (blue coloured)


The clean engine bay after a wash


The turbo charger outlet pipe - Quite rusted


Myself and Shahbaaz moved out together from the workshop. Since we had this mini-TBHP meet, we thought why not have a photo-shoot of our black beauties. We were struggling to find a good spot. Finally got onto the service road besides the highway and took these pictures. Not the best of the locations and both cars deserved a far better location, but we had to be satisfied with this. Shahbaaz next time we will plan for a better locale.

Fellow TBHPian Shahbaaz and yours truly - attempting a selfie


Two Black Workhorses lined up

[AutoIndian]

Later on after reaching home @ 05:30pm and getting some refreshing masala chai I straightaway headed to Darshan Tyres, Empire Estate, Chinchwad for getting the alignment checked and tyre rotation. Since the new set of 4 tyres had run 15K kms and today I had replaced the bearing, it was an opportune tiime to get the alignment and tyre rotation. DSK was charging Rs 550/- for alignment and Rs 300 for tyre rotation, this was way too much. I got the alignment done for Rs 300/- and another Rs 100/- for all five tyre rotation. So all work in Rs 400/-, which was less than half being charged at Toyota workshop.

Sharing some pics taken at Darshan tyres.

BW awaiting for tyre rotation


Spare wheel being lowered from underneath the boot


The chain-pulley mechanism for lowering the spare wheel


The outrotated wheel being put in place


BW after climbing the ramp set for wheel alignment


The TV like screen attached to the rear wheel


Earlier the spare wheel was not properly fixed in the chain and the mechanics struggled a lot to remove the spare wheel from the chain. It seems the bracket was not holding the wheel and the chain links got stuck in the wheel holes. I was fortunate that I didn't have to try my hand at removing the spare, otherwise I am sure I would never have been able to remove the spare wheel from the chain. It was a good learning for me and next time, if ever I have to replace a flat tyre with the spare I should be able to manage it myself.
My steering wheel was offset by approximately 5 degrees towards the right. It was set perfectly at the centre after the alignment. The wheel alignment job carries a 2000 km warranty, which is really good.

[AutoIndian]

The Wheel Alignment Report


The Wheel Alignment Invoice - Darshan Tyres


The 65K Invoice - Page-1


The 65K Invoice - Page-2


The details of part and labor charges as seen in my maintenance spreadsheet


From the past three services one thing I have clearly understood is that Toyota spares don't come cheap or I would rather say Innova spares. I have heard that even the Fortuner spares are cheaper than that of the Innova, need to verify this.

Just look at the examples below:

Windshield water spray nozzles costing Rs 1557/- for a pair
Battery terminals (+ve and -ve) costing Rs 1695/-
Bearing for ABS equipped Innova costing Rs 6147/- and Rs 575/- for labor

So reliability comes at a cost. I have another bearing replacement lined up for the 70K service. After the front RHS bearing replacement, the humming noise had reduced to a large extent. However there is still a mild humming for which the rear LHS bearing needs replacement. I could have got it done today, but then the car would have to stay in the workshop overnight. I was in no mood of doing that and have postponed that for the 70K service.

I want to share the pictures of the parts replaced, but those are lying in my car boot and now I am too tired of removing them and taking the pics, will leave that for tomorrow.

[swamyzen]

Thanks for the update! The pics with the 2 workhorses were really nice and both of them look like cars which have just rolled out of assembly line . Regarding the spares and parts price, yes Innova's spares and service cost is certainly on the higher side which exactly what prompts my brother to look out for a small car because he travels extensively in the city which helps in clocking up the miles really fast. Every time his Innova goes for a service he has a heartache looking at the bill. With his Indigo he used to get a bill of 5k per service but it is 10K more with the Innova and since his running is on the higher side he spends about 40k-50k annually just on service! The highest bill he has had to deal with so far is 35K because of suspension repair and Clutch plate replacement. Also I would suggest you to invest in a 2 tonne hydraulic jack as the OEM jack is bad. Once when he had a flat at first he could not remove the spare because of the chain getting stuck in the wheel which required him to call a mechanic who himself struggled to get the spare out. After he got the spare out he jacked up the car using the OEM jack but after changing the tire the jack would just not come down as it was stuck which resulted in a bigger delay to get a spare jack from the garage. And no the Fortuner's maintenance is much higher as reported by one of his friends who happens to own it. Very aptly put by you - Reliability comes at a cost . Also if the tires have not been changed as yet my recommendation would be to go for Michelin's Energy XM2. Though slightly costly these tires improve the handling and road noise too is minimal.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

I want to share the pictures of the parts replaced, but those are lying in my car boot and now I am too tired of removing them and taking the pics, will leave that for tomorrow.

Have taken the pictures of the parts that were replaced, sharing them below:

The rusted battery terminals (New ones MRP - 1695.38)


Windshield water spray nozzles


Another view of windshield water spray nozzles


Nozzle label showing MRP of Rs 823.50 for single piece (Thailand manufactured)


Nut - Guess it is the lock nut keeping bearing in place MRP 238.50. This might have got damaged during bearing removal


Taper Roller bearing with the rollers dismantled


Bearing Tapered Roll label showing MRP of Rs 3265.50 (Thailand manufactured)


Cap, Knuckle Grease


Cap, Knuckle Grease label showing MRP of Rs 872.50 (Thailand manufactured)


Rotor, Skid Control


Rotor, Skid Control label showing MRP of Rs 1138.00 (Thailand manufactured)


Ring, Hole Snap label showing MRP of Rs 211.00 (Japan manufactured)

Originally Posted by swamyzen

Thanks for the update! The pics with the 2 workhorses were really nice and both of them look like cars which have just rolled out of assembly line

Thank you for your compliments swamyzen. Mine had obviously come out after a good car wash at the workshop and that of Shahbaaz after his monthly ritual of wax polishing his car. Hence the fresh look of both the cars.

Regarding the spares and parts price, yes Innova's spares and service cost is certainly on the higher side which exactly what prompts my brother to look out for a small car because he travels extensively in the city which helps in clocking up the miles really fast. Every time his Innova goes for a service he has a heartache looking at the bill.

with you 101%. Innova service bills are definitely not for the faint hearted. Regular servicing charges and consumables are at par with the competition. However when it comes to the spare part prices, these burn a big hole in your pocket. If you look at the part labels above, none of them are made in India, all are bring imported either from Thailand or Japan. No wonder the import duty added to these parts, takes its price way beyond the reasonable level. I wonder what is preventing TKM from manufacturing these parts in India. Mr Narendra Modi, it seems TKM management is not convinced with your "Make In India" philosophy, please push it hard on them.

With his Indigo he used to get a bill of 5k per service but it is 10K more with the Innova and since his running is on the higher side he spends about 40k-50k annually just on service! The highest bill he has had to deal with so far is 35K because of suspension repair and Clutch plate replacement.

I think the best way to keep the maintenance costs of Innova pretty low is to keep using the car till it starts falling apart. Don't bother about replacing the parts which are not hampering the car's function.

Also I would suggest you to invest in a 2 tonne hydraulic jack as the OEM jack is bad.

Good suggestion, but just yesterday the tyre mechanic, who inspected my Innova's jack said that this is a better jack compared to the conventional scissor jack.

And no the Fortuner's maintenance is much higher as reported by one of his friends who happens to own it. Very aptly put by you - Reliability comes at a cost .

Thanks for that clarification. I will have to get that verified by following some Fortuner threads on this forum.

Also if the tires have not been changed as yet my recommendation would be to go for Michelin's Energy XM2. Though slightly costly these tires improve the handling and road noise too is minimal.

I have already put 4 new Bridgestone B390s. Agreed that Michelin's Energy XM2 improve the handling and road noise too is minimal, but these are more suited for plain highway roads. The roads that we encounter daily in our city are pathetic, filled with potholes, cuts, speedbreakers etc, where the B390s are more suited or even the MRFs for that matter. My earlier car Indica was having Michelins, however I suffered one tyre burst and another sidewall cut by a footpath's protruding tile.

[swamyzen]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

Have taken the pictures of the parts that were replaced, sharing them below:

Your post made me go . In Mysore with Palace Toyota my brother has to suffer for spare parts like mud flaps but meanwhile somewhere else parts like windshield water spray nozzles are kept in stock. It's really nice to see DSK Toyota to keep parts like that in stock. What I hear from my brother always is that service provided by Tata's service center is superior to that of Toyota's service! Looks like the Japanese manufacturers have a thing to manufacture all their parts in Japan and then export it to India. I had ordered the updated A/C knobs for my Honda City ( the facelift variant of the third gen Honda City had different A/C knobs and Volume control knob) and the cost of the 3 A/C knobs was a whopping 3.5K Rupees. I got to know about the price only after the parts landed in Inspire Honda and my SA changed it during a service. When I asked the SA about the exorbitant price he said the parts were imported from Japan and most Honda parts come from Japan or Thailand. Since my SA and Inspire Honda had taken the pain of sourcing the parts I agreed to go ahead with it. But when I inquired about the volume control button cost it was another 5K Rupees. I thanked the SA and asked him to not import that part also as there was no way I was ready to pay another 5K for one silly knob .

[AutoIndian]

Yesterday I received the service feedback call from DSK Toyota. I gave a rating of 8 out of 10. Two points deducted becuase the problem of humming noise is still unresolved even after the front bearing replacement, though it has reduced to some extent. Currently the noise is very mild and a layman wouldnt even notice it. As my ears are tuned to catch up any unwanted noises I can make distinct noise. I will live with this till it aggravtes, because I don't want to spend another 6.5K on a bearing replacement and then hear, Sir the noise is now coming from the 3rd wheel.

[Manoj]

One suggestion, I also faced similar humming noise from the from the front side, mine is 2013 model, ran 26K kms, after the initial 2500 kms I did the wheel alignment at a reputed tyre shop, and soon after that I started getting this noise. I took the car to different wheel alignment shops, and checked the alignment/balancing and all of them told that the mild noise might be due to bearing issue, and no issue in alignment/balancing, Being a new car which ran only 5K kms having bearing issue, I really got upset and took the car to Toyota service centre, and told the issue, what they did was cross checking the alignment/balancing, and did a tyre rotation as well, they confirmed that there is absolutely no issue in the wheel bearing. After this I didn’t faced the issue and I am doing the tyre alignment/balancing/rotation from dealer itself. Now it is almost 20K kms and didn’t faced the humming noise issue at all. I may be wrong, but what I observed is that the wheel alignment done from dealer/outside tyre shop have some differences, and if we do the alignment outside then it creates issue, especially for Innova, we also had a swift and we did the alignment from the same shop (not from the dealer) for close to 80K kms (every 5K kms once), and we never had an issue of any sort, but in case of Innova we faced issue, and with alignment from dealer it is working fine. Not sure about the exact reason, may be you can try the alignment/balancing from the dealer itself and try, this may solve the issue.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by Manoj

One suggestion, I also faced similar humming noise from the from the front side, mine is 2013 model, ran 26K kms, after the initial 2500 kms I did the wheel alignment at a reputed tyre shop, and soon after that I started getting this noise. I took the car to different wheel alignment shops, and checked the alignment/balancing and all of them told that the mild noise might be due to bearing issue, and no issue in alignment/balancing, Being a new car which ran only 5K kms having bearing issue, I really got upset and took the car to Toyota service centre, and told the issue, what they did was cross checking the alignment/balancing, and did a tyre rotation as well, they confirmed that there is absolutely no issue in the wheel bearing. After this I didn’t faced the issue and I am doing the tyre alignment/balancing/rotation from dealer itself. Now it is almost 20K kms and didn’t faced the humming noise issue at all. I may be wrong, but what I observed is that the wheel alignment done from dealer/outside tyre shop have some differences, and if we do the alignment outside then it creates issue, especially for Innova, we also had a swift and we did the alignment from the same shop (not from the dealer) for close to 80K kms (every 5K kms once), and we never had an issue of any sort, but in case of Innova we faced issue, and with alignment from dealer it is working fine. Not sure about the exact reason, may be you can try the alignment/balancing from the dealer itself and try, this may solve the issue.

Thank you for your suggestion. It is quite strange to know from you that the your issue cropped after doing the wheel alignment from a tyre shop and then resolved after doing the alignment/balancing/rotation from dealer itself. Let me be very honest with you, wheel alignment has nothing to do with the humming noise. If your wheel alignment is not correct, your car will drift either to the left or to the right when you lift your hands of the steering wheel. If you are traveling on a plain straight road with flat surface, you lift both the hands from the steering and your car keeps going straight, then your wheel alignment is perfect. If your wheels are out of balance then you may feel the vibrations at the steering wheel at particular speeds. In my case the car keeps going straight and I don't feel any vibrations at the steering wheel. So it is neither an alignment issue not a wheel balancing issue.

Issue is that I get a mild humming noise at speeds of 60kmph and above. Its frequency increases with the increase in speed. During my recent service the front wheel RHS bearing replacement was done and this has reduced the noise to a great extent, but it has not been completely eliminated. I was told that the rear LHS wheel bearing needs to be replaced. I suspect if the issue could be with the differential. Whenever I will get some spare time, I am planning to do one exercise. Jack up each wheel and rotate it independently. Get the ear very close to the wheel and observe for any noise. If there is any noise coming from any wheel then definitely the bearing of that wheel would need to be replaced. Ideally Toyota workshop should have done this exercise but I am not sure if they did it, hence I will have to give it a try.