[NPV]

Update on Battery:
After verifying that battery is on it's way out (both at Maruti service centre and then again at Madhus), I did not want to risk taking the car out with an imminent failure looming large, so had the battery replaced today.

Owners manual mentions Battery Type as 34B20L, but online searches on battery sites were not yielding results for this and the suggested battery for Wagon R petrol was 38B20L.

I visited a trusted local battery store and he mentioned that 34B20 is only available as OEM in new cars, retail market has 38B20 only.

My experience with Exide batteries hasn't been very good over the last few years, so again went with Amaron - got the Amaron GO 38B20L battery with 18+18 month warranty for Rs.3500.

Hoping to take Waggy out on the highway (maybe a 100-200Km drive) sometime soon to stretch it's legs

[NPV]

Found the perfect Sunday to give Waggy® a highway run after a very long time (probably first in 2 years I think!). Being a long weekend for many people, traffic was thin in Bangalore over the last 4-5 days, so we started out around 7am and headed towards Hosur-Krishnagiri. Drove at leisurely pace, never exceeding 80Kmph and stopped at the newish Murugan Idli Shop about 2Km before the Krishnagiri toll plaza. The ICICI Fastag worked like a charm at all the tolls en route.

This is the huge signboard that greeted us:


After a 90Km drive, it was around 8:30am and we were happy we'd reached a nice looking place with lots of parking space and also just when we were beginning to feel hungry.
But you know the foodie Bengalureans, right ? They never spare any place serving good food!

There were lots of families seated on chairs outside the building and many standing around a guy who had a notebook! Yes, they had given their names and were waiting for tables. I wasn't too keen to wait there, but the family said we'll wait for about 15 minutes and we did manage to get a table in that time. The food was worth the wait though.

Started our return journey around 9:30am, and reached home in the afternoon after couple of short stops en route, a good drive of ~200Km. Well spent Sunday morning with the WagonR.

[NPV]

Waggy® is doing just fine, but usage isn't too much with only short runs inside the city for school, shopping etc. Recently though, thanks to lockdown times, usage was even lesser than last year!

The annual service was due in March 2020 but I couldn't get it done due to the lockdown. This time though, I had decided to get it done at Swastika Auto Centres, run by Lokesh and Girish who have 25+ years of experience with Maruti vehicles and were formerly working at Surakshaa. This was also due to my positive experiences with Swastika in getting Dizzy® serviced and also replacing the clutch system few months ago.

Back in May, I'd spoken to Lokesh and scheduled the service but couldn't make it due to hectic work schedules. Lokesh mentioned that 0W20 engine oil wasn't available so he asked me to try procuring it. In the second week of June, I finally found the time to visit Essarr Automotives near Urvashi theatre and buy the necessary parts and fluids for the car service. Here's what I bought and this is kind of my Standard Operating Procedure for both the cars (petrol engines and low running). Post the warranty, I get the cars serviced just once in a year since usage is between 5-10k Km only and replace all fluids, filters and spark plugs.

This time was no different, so got these parts from Essarr:

1. Air Filter 13780M67L00
2. Fuel Filter 15410M79F01
3. Oil Filter 16510M65L10
4. Cabin Air/AC Filter 990J0M67LS0-010
5. Coolant (Golden Yellow) 99000M24120-639
6. Brake Fluid GC1500AA 500ml 99000M24120-579
7. Spark Plug NGK KR6A-10 09482M00609 x 3 no.'s
8. Engine Oil Ecstar 0W20 (Petrol) 99999MN0W20-SHL
9. Engine Oil Drain Plug 11518-63J10
10. Engine Oil Drain Gasket 09168M14012

Total Cost ~ Rs.3500

The wiper blades had started getting bad, so got them replaced at Swastika, they had Bosch make.

Service cost was Rs.1850 + Tax = Rs.2183 and the wiper blades cost Rs.350

Overall, I much more satisfied with work carried out without any unnecessary upsells, etc. I think I will stick to getting parts from MGP store and getting the service done at a trusty FNG like Swastika.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by NPV

Here's what I bought and this is kind of my Standard Operating Procedure for both the cars (petrol engines and low running). Post the warranty, I get the cars serviced just once in a year since usage is between 5-10k Km only and replace all fluids, filters and spark plugs.

Sshhhh...MSIL may be reading this secret and may implement this and include it in the maintenance schedule section of the owner's manual too .

I guess 1 year is a decent interval for such low use case. My WagonR too runs almost or little less than 10k kms per year now and I invariably get this serviced once a year, sticking to manufacturer recommended interval.

However, I really do not feel the need to replace the spark plugs every year. Instead, I suggest you spend some time to find out how healthy are your ignitor coils of these plugs and replace these next time. Spark plugs don't really age without usage and hence they don't really show any symptoms that you need to replace every year even if you think you are being proactive. But the OE cables after so many years would have become hard, brittle and even corroded from the inside.

Check these and check for all the ground points in your car, most of them behind the carpet. At this age, these are more important than the plugs to ensure your car has a healthy electrical system.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

However, I really do not feel the need to replace the spark plugs every year. Instead, I suggest you spend some time to find out how healthy are your ignitor coils of these plugs and replace these next time. Spark plugs don't really age without usage and hence they don't really show any symptoms that you need to replace every year even if you think you are being proactive. But the OE cables after so many years would have become hard, brittle and even corroded from the inside.

Thanks for the advice on the spark plugs, Parag!
Exactly what Girish also told me. My thought process was that these are not the iridium ones and they're quite inexpensive (< Rs.100) so why not change them each year

Also, all this is quite new to me so I'm still learning. My SOP earlier was to trust the authorized dealer owned service centres and I'd built good relationships with the service managers but off late I found that there is lot of unnecessary work done to enlarge the bills! Just started losing trust in them, so I'm trying the FNG route and also buying parts directly from the MGP stores.

What are the cables you suggest need to be checked and replaced if necessary each year ? Will add them to my checklist

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by NPV

What are the cables you suggest need to be checked and replaced if necessary each year ? Will add them to my checklist

You need not replace them every year. I believe this is more applicable for your Dzire and less for the Waggy due to the age of the former.

Waggy am sure will have to wait. But the intent of my post earlier was to say not to really bother much about plugs every year and instead check the condition of the Ignitor coils (comes with coil and stem and you need to buy a pair for 4 plugs for your Dizzy) because your Dizzy is more than a decade old now? Hence its time to assess these elements during the next service.

[NPV]

I'd missed updating a few points in my earlier post about the recent service experience, so here it is.

Odo at the time of service: 18,xxx Km

Service Experience:
Had spoken to Lokesh on phone and scheduled the service for 9am on a Saturday morning.
I'd mentioned to him that I wasn't keen to getting the car washed and would like to return home as soon as the service work is completed (primarily due to the current situation I wanted to avoid spending too much time there).

Come Saturday, I reached Swastikaa a bit late by 9:40am. There were a few cars there but I learnt from Girish that all of them were for running repairs and none for service that day. Girish mentioned that due to lower work loads they're now giving weekly day offs for some of the staff. There were 3 service technicians who all got down to work on servicing the car.

In about 2 hours the work was done and they did a good job too. In the meantime Lokesh also arrived for work that day. Lokesh and Girish supervise the work and constantly direct their technicians to check various things, their involvement and dedication is to be appreciated. The place was open and airy and we maintained social distancing and were all masked, felt weird for me but this is the new normal and we don't have a choice!

The blower was a bit noisy, so they removed and cleaned it, there was a thin strip of grey colored foam inside that was the culprit, probably a mini attack by rats, not sure. There are no other traces of any rat inflicted damage anywhere else in the car though.

I wasn't too keen on the car wash but Girish and team got it done quickly and in quite a detailed way. After the wash, they also did sanitized the interiors with a concoction of the CORRID solution with some Dettol and diluted in water and sprayed.

All the work done to my satisfaction, I paid the bill and headed back home at 12:30pm, everything done in 3 hours!

Can of CORRID solution - used to sanitize the car interiors


CORRID label with the details

[NPV]

Quick Updates:
-Annual Alignment & Balancing routine done at Madhus few months ago
-Recent Odo milestone - reached 20k Km
-*Replaced plastic number plates (had stickering for letter and numbers) with Aluminum embossed number plates

Waggy® is doing just fine, though it is being used quite less due to the pandemic.

*Bangalore traffic cops are using "invalid number plates/format" as the last reason to challan and fine motorists (when everything else is in order), so got the number plates replaced with Aluminum embossed ones (along with the order for my Aviator scooter).

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by NPV

*Bangalore traffic cops are using "invalid number plates/format" as the last reason to challan and fine motorists (when everything else is in order), so got the number plates replaced with Aluminum embossed ones (along with the order for my Aviator scooter).

Well some cops have another reason: Does your plate have Laser etched ID on it? If not, your plates can still be challenged and its not true HSRP. Been there, done that!

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

Well some cops have another reason: Does your plate have Laser etched ID on it? If not, your plates can still be challenged and its not true HSRP. Been there, done that!

At this moment HSRP isn't implemented yet in Karnataka so the cops are focusing only on embossed plates and ignoring the additional styling elements like the blue/red/black patch on the left side (other styles in which these embossed plates are available in).

Apparently the drive is to reduce crimes committed using fake plates and also for better success rate in identifying numbers caught on violation cameras.

The longer story of how this triggered me to quickly get these plates for the Wagon R and the Aviator scooter are in this discussion here (Rants on Bangalore's traffic situation)