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-   -   Renault Duster AWD : An owner's point of view (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/202700-renault-duster-awd-owners-point-view-8.html)

Duster is sitting idle for nearly a month now.
During this lockdown, I drive it till the main gate of our house and reverse it back inside the garage. I change the parking position by 1 or 2 m once a week & keep the AC on for 2-3 minutes to keep the AC gas flowing.

Compiled a small video from the last OTR, I attended with my Duster.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp2uV6kRHI0

Wow what a wonderful ownership thread, enjoyable and insightful. The travelogues too are fun and interesting to read.
I was wondering if the Fuel injector issue occurs only in Duster AWD or all the vehicles with K9K engine? Like Captur, Kicks?

Thanks.

It's not limited to the Duster AWD. The injector failure is common across the k9k, 110 ps tuned engines. The 85 ps tuned k9k engines do not have this issue.
The injectors are from Continental and is super sensitive to adulterated fuel & not suitable for Indian condition's. In more humid places the injectors are more prone to failures. Maybe with BS6 fuel with lesser sulfur content this will work better! It's just a guess though.
Many owners use fuel additives and injector cleaners from LIQUI MOLY and have got very good results. Though am yet to use it.

So is it a deal breaker as per you? And is the issue quite common with the engine or is it just a few owners?
Actually, I will be getting Nissan Kicks after the lockdown so a bit concerned about this issue. Though I have not seen any post regarding the Kicks owners facing this issue

I wont say it's a deal breaker. I knew about this problem before buying the Duster AWD. Still I went ahead with this car.
You can check this thread-
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...tor-issue.html

Kicks is a very good car.
Just make sure, you refuel from good reputed fuel bunks and use an injector cleaner from time to time.
Every car comes with it's own set of problems & you need to deal with it.

Congrats in advance for your new car. :)

Odo reads-



No niggles to be reported.
Servicing is due this month. (As soon as the service center opens.)

After 9,500 km, I did the blotting paper test for the fully synthetic ELF engine oil which Renault poured during the last service.
Compared to the mineral oil, the engine is much less gruffy post 7,000 km at higher revs & it has definitely held up much better in the long run too.

The central portion is not very dark. This oil can go for another 500 km, without any issue. But am going to change it soon.



The dip in oil level is in acceptable range.



So am hoping, just a general servicing will be enough, no extra attention will be required.
The other fluids do not need any top-up's either. Topped up the coolant level from MIN-MAX at 17,500 km mark, but till now there is no dip.

Few pics of my Duster on the deserted roads during lock-down.

























Will update after the 3rd/20,000 km service.

Got the 3rd/20,000 km free service done with 19,300 km on the odo.

Servicing was done at Renault Budgebudge and the work done was more than satisfactory. No complaints.

They are taking special care for Covid19. :thumbs up

Temperature was checked by an infrared Thermal Gun at the entrance.
Car was sanitized before their technicians touch my car, it was again sanitized before they finally handed over the car to me.
6 feet gap was maintained with the service executive & other people all the time.
The are encouraging online transfers for contact less payments.
The service center chairs, sofa's, washroom, door handles,etc are been sanitized very frequently.

Now coming to the service part-
There was no niggles to be reported. It was just a general service.

Works done-

Sanitizing the car once we reach the service center and again sanitizing before they handover the car to us. This is an additional cost now. I accept it gladly.
Engine oil (Fully synthetic).
Engine oil filter.
Diesel filter.
Air filter.
A/C filter.
Normal washing.
The right side nozzle which throws the water to the windshield was a bit clogged, so the water throw was less. I was not able to fix it by trying with a wire. Got it fixed.

Total bill was Rs 9300. I had to pay around Rs 7,800. Rs 1,500, I got discount from Renault referral coupon.

Mine was the fist car to be serviced in this financial year. Blame Covid19 for this.

Job Card no- 001



Sanitizing the most commonly touched parts like, door handle, gear knob, power window switches, seats etc etc.





A couple of pics from the very next day, Amphan hit Bengal.

Odo reads 20,000 km

Few updates-

The not so good part-

I topped up the coolant at 17,500 km mark from Min-Max. After 2,500 km, it again came down to Min. Am not sure whether there is a leak or it's evaporating. This much dip in 2,500 km is not acceptable. I topped up the coolant again till Max mark yesterday. Informed the service center, that I will keep an eye on the level. If it dip again, will take the car for a checkup.

The good part of the car-

Since last week, had a couple of 250-300 km runs to South 24 Parganas (Sundarban area) in WestBengal. Car performed well.

These area's are badly affected by the cyclone Amphan, which has hit Bengal on 20th May 2020. At few places the road was very narrow, as most of it was blocked by uprooted trees. Incurred few light scratches from the branches of the trees, though a good polish will be enough to remove them.

Had to negotiate some crowded & broken single lane roads. The awesome suspension never complained and we were in utmost comfort.
The mileage I got was around 13 km/L with 100% A/C usage.

It was scorching heat outside. Even at 43C, the A/C managed to keep the cabin cool & comfortable with 3 people on board. :thumbs up



A couple of pics from the drives-





Yesterday I was at Burdwan and met Bhpian Petrolhead_neel with his brand new X-Pulse.

Both loves to go off the road!

This Sunday was a special one. After almost 4 months in lockdown finally put together a quick plan to meet up with some Duster AWD owners in Kolkata. This was an impromptu plan to meet at a place with empty space to take some rolling shots of out cars. Samba came up with this idea and we couldn't pass it up. I will let him share the frames that only he can do justice. clap:

Here are a few snaps I took of the cars with my humble mobile.

21,000 km up

The not so good part-

A niggle surfaced. In the last 3,000 km the car required 1L coolant top-up.
On an average, for every 1000 km there is a dip of 300 ml roughly.
No visible leak could be found, I checked the engine oil too, but couldn't find any trace of coolant by blotting paper test or from the dipstick. Have checked the smoke after the first crank too with a mild rev, the smoke looked normal.
So, I hope it's not the head gasket. Suspecting a leak through the EGR cooler.
I have updated this to the Renault service center & they told me, they will call me once they receive the suspected spare parts for this.

So while using the car now, am taking it easy and keeping a check on the coolant level after every drive.

The good part-

Been for quite a few highway drives & am driving the car with a light foot because of the coolant issue. Surprisingly Duster returned me a mileage of 19-21 km/L with AC on! For cruising at low speeds on highway, the cruise control was a pure bliss.





On a recent long drive, there was a horrible stretch for around 15 km. I just kept the car on 3rd gear and left all the 3 pedals. The car cruised beautifully over that patch at a very controlled speed.

Few pics from the highway drives-







Earlier this month we had a Duster AWD meet in Kolkata (by maintaining proper social distancing and taking proper precautions)

Few pics from the meet-











Will update again once the coolant issue is resolved.

Hope it is something as simple as the seal of the coolant reservoir cap going bad.

Anyway, your car is under warranty, so you're covered.

I was asking Sumo-da how you detected the coolant level dropping?

I sincerely hope it’s something as minor as you mentioned. :) The car being under warranty is a big relief.

I keep checking all the fluids, belts and few other essentials every 1,000 km or so.

Today Brownie (My Ecosport TDCI) has completed 3,500 km on the odo, since I bought her on 13th March 2020. On this occassion, I like to post a couple of pics with her elder sister DBhpian Samba’s Duster Awd. Needless to say I would like to thank DBhpian Samba, again and again, for his unconditional help while buying my ECOSPORT TDCI, right from price negotiation till delivery.

My 5 years old Duster AWD was giving very low cooling during the beginning of lock down and I couldn't attend it then as the service centers were closed. Now as there is no cooling at all, I took it to a general workshop outside and found that the ac system is leaky. Last week, as the Renault service center opened, i got it checked up there and I was told that the evaporator coil aka cooling coil needs replacement and it costs around 12k. Upon searching on Google I found the coil costs around 6k. Friends, let me know whether this 6k in labour part is what Renault charges everywhere or am I being charged exorbitantly by the dealer. BTW is it quite normal to have the cooling coil replaced at 5 years and just 35k in odo?

5 years or 35k km is definitely early for the cooling coil to give up.

If you can source the spare-part for Rs 6,000, I will suggest you to get it replaced at a good FNG for a labor cost of hardly Rs 1,000-2,000. You will at-least save Rs 4,000-5,000.
Plus I will suggest you, before changing the part, take a 2nd advice from a good A/C repair mechanic from a FNG. A good mechanic will repair minor faults at a fraction of what the company guys quoted you.

It's monsoon and am enjoying the highway drives quite a bit!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRAAPcrUOhY

The 210 mm GC of the Duster turned out to be a blessing to go out of my own house now a days! God knows for whatever reason, the streets around my house are facing heavy water-logging this year.

Sharing a video for ref. The water level at places was till the front number plate of the Duster. From 50 secs to 1 min 15 secs in the below video the water would have raised till the bonnet of a sedan! With the Duster, wading through this much of water was just like a cakewalk!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXIwbDCQWSc

After writing quite a few travelogue's in Team Bhp, with the words 'Sailed through' in the caption, now am literally sailing with the Duster~! :D