So the Baleno touched 1,00,000 kms a while back. Being a Maruti, it generally is not much cause for any heavy duty maintenance as long as regular maintenance is taken care of. However there are chances that some odd component may decide that it's had enough and just fail. For me this component was the
AC compressor.
Started the car as usual one day, and the engine just had a hiccup before it started up. I immediately knew that something was wrong. True to form a squealing noise started and I knew it was one of the belts. Open the bonnet and the AC compressor belt was shedding some rubber indicating some friction. Took it to the Kalyani Nexa at Bangalore and the diagnosis was grim - jammed compressor. And I was to drive to Kerala, that night. Thankfully the Japanese engineers had designed the engine so that the compressor gets a belt separate from the alternator, water pump etc. They removed the belt for me and I made a slightly uncomfortable trip to Trivandrum.
Took the car to an A/C specialist at my hometown who I had used for my other cars and he took apart the compressor. I had hoped that it was just an issue with the electromagnetic clutch but that was not to be. A couple of cylinders of the compressor were well and truely jammed necessitating a replacement.
Here is where a bit of fun started. He said he will get a replacement the next day. I reminded him that my car is a Baleno RS. No problem. However I felt the message was just not getting across. Just sent across the parts number from Oriparts the next day just to be sure. Monday evening he finally understood that the car was different when the replacement part did not fit. The replacement took a week to arrive which was not surprising seeing that Nexa Bangalore told me it would have to come all the way from Gujarat.
New compressor from Subros
High pressure and low pressure lines
Old compressor
The compressor was oiled and the gas recharged. The HVAC was back to it's old health. However this episode has made me switch off the AC before I turn off the car, something I have never done in the last 20 odd years of driving.
Top Mount Bush Replacement
Four months in Bangalore had meted out a punishment to the car that the relatively smooth roads in Kerala had not. I never knew of authorities with such a passion for sleeping policemen. However a lot of them gave me a rude awakening for disturbing their eternal sleep with the result. The front suspension started to feel jarring and lose it's usual rounded edge to the shocks. Order two top mount bushes for starters and replaced them DIY. As the photo below shows there was a difference of almost 0.5 mm in height between the new and old bushes. However I had a brain fart and forgot to order the strut bearing along with them. Have ordered them but this will mean another session of taking apart the front suspension to fix those.
New (left) vs Old (Right). Note the height difference.
Rear Brake Pad Replacement
The service notes at the 100k service indicated that the right rear pads were worn out. This called for replacement. Ordered the pad via Boodmo and replaced them as well. Calling out a few interesting aspects of this DIY
The rear piston is a twist type. This means that you need to turn it clockwise to push it back to install new pads.
New pads v/s old pads.
There is a special tool for twisting the piston. However in absence of that I use a 23 size open ended spanner to get the job done. Turn
clockwise to set the piston back.
Pushing the piston back may cause an overflow of brake oil. Open the cap on the brake fluid reservoir and place a rag around it so that brake oil does not spill onto the surrounding parts. Yeah and don't ask me how I know!
The 100K service
Got the 100K service done. Cost me around
9000 rupees. Main replacements were the brake oil and coolant fluid. The main impact on the cost was from the injector cleaner that costs around 2500 rupees. I use this every 20k kms.
What remains
The front brakes discs are done. Has developed an edge as the thickness of the disc has fallen below the edge of the disc and there is a bit of a drone when running. However there is always an issue I have faced from day one. To get the service folks to understand the fact that parts of RS are different. Most often the parts of the standard Baleno are hauled out just to take them back in again. Had this experience this week with the discs. Might be a boodmo order again.
The car is such a freaking all rounder that I am finding it very hard to let go of it. But the itch for a new one is also there. And I do not like keeping cars without having enough running time on them. Been poking about Spinnys for a decent BMW and need to test drive the new Verna and the turbo Alcazar.
Drive on,
Shibu.