[Autocop]

Originally Posted by zoombiee

Just out of curiosity, are you doing coolant topups or coolant replacement? You should be getting the entire coolant drained then the plumbing cleaned with a bit of distilled water and then replace the complete coolant. Fiat cars are known for a bit of rusting with the coolant plumbing and could cause serious issues. I have faced them myself.

As far as I know have done coolant replacement (4 litres) during 30K service and a top-up during 45K service. I am not sure if TASS guys cleaned the plumbing with distilled water while replacing coolant during 30K service. Is it a standard practice during replacement? How do they clean the plumbing with distilled water? Does it require any special equipment?

For everyones benefit, appreciate if you can elaborate a bit about the problem you faced and learnings from your experience.

[zoombiee]

Originally Posted by Autocop

As far as I know have done coolant replacement (4 litres) during 30K service and a top-up during 45K service. I am not sure if TASS guys cleaned the plumbing with distilled water while replacing coolant during 30K service. Is it a standard practice during replacement? How do they clean the plumbing with distilled water? Does it require any special equipment?

For everyones benefit, appreciate if you can elaborate a bit about the problem you faced and learnings from your experience.

I think coolant replacement is needed every 15k kms. What happens is that the rust accumulates at certain parts. In my case it was the valve which lets hot/cold air since the coolant passes through it. Over a period of time the valve stopped moving. Since in India we never use hot air, I never noticed this problem. At the end of it I saw a lot of rust being removed and the valve needed replacement (rare part to find).

Coolant replacement -
Normally what is done is that the outflow hose is disconnected and coolant from the tank is allowed to fall out. The tank is then refilled. The better way in my opinion (and followed by some) is to remove the inflow hose. The engine is kept running. Coolant is collected in a bucket. Keep adding distilled water into the tank. At some point you will see clear water coming out. At this point refill the coolant into the tank and connect all hoses. This will make sure that atleast a big chunk of the rust comes out. If you see too much rust using a radiator flush would be a good idea.

I own a Palio btw.

[Autocop]

Originally Posted by zoombiee

I think coolant replacement is needed every 15k kms.

The replacement interval may vary from car to car. Linea owners manual suggest coolant replacement at 60K or 2 Yrs whichever is earlier. When I did 30K service the car was about 18 months old. The SA suggested to go ahead with coolant replacement at 18 months age to avoid any warranty claims issues later.

Originally Posted by zoombiee

In my case it was the valve which lets hot/cold air since the coolant passes through it. Over a period of time the valve stopped moving. Since in India we never use hot air, I never noticed this problem. At the end of it I saw a lot of rust being removed and the valve needed replacement (rare part to find).

Believe you mean the heater core valve (which regulates the flow of hot coolant into heater core) which in turn controls temperature of hot air blown into the passenger chamber by the heater blower. Since in India we hardly use heater, this valve remains closed 99.9%.

To prevent/prolong the issue you faced with the heater core valve replacement, do you think it would help to turn the heater on once in a while to ensure functioning of heater core valve?

Originally Posted by zoombiee

Coolant replacement -
Normally what is done is that the outflow hose is disconnected and coolant from the tank is allowed to fall out. The tank is then refilled. The better way in my opinion (and followed by some) is to remove the inflow hose. The engine is kept running. Coolant is collected in a bucket. Keep adding distilled water into the tank. At some point you will see clear water coming out. At this point refill the coolant into the tank and connect all hoses. This will make sure that atleast a big chunk of the rust comes out. If you see too much rust using a radiator flush would be a good idea.
I own a Palio btw.

Thanks for the detailed explanation. What you have described is more than just coolant replacement, believe we are talking about flushing of the entire cooling system. Found a couple of different procedures around coolant flush on the net. Checkout the links below,

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/conten...ng-system.html

http://voices.yahoo.com/how-flush-ve...em-386510.html

[zoombiee]

Originally Posted by Autocop

The replacement interval may vary from car to car. Linea owners manual suggest coolant replacement at 60K or 2 Yrs whichever is earlier. When I did 30K service the car was about 18 months old. The SA suggested to go ahead with coolant replacement at 18 months age to avoid any warranty claims issues later.

Oh ok. In that case its fine.

Originally Posted by Autocop

Believe you mean the heater core valve (which regulates the flow of hot coolant into heater core) which in turn controls temperature of hot air blown into the passenger chamber by the heater blower. Since in India we hardly use heater, this valve remains closed 99.9%.
To prevent/prolong the issue you faced with the heater core valve replacement, do you think it would help to turn the heater on once in a while to ensure functioning of heater core valve?

Yes, what I have been told is that both AC and hot air needs to be used regularly. I use them both daily atleast for 5 minutes each.

Coming to coolant flushing. Ideally the coolant needs to be flushed during replacement. But the word flush is tricky as if this word is used the garage guys will use a radiator flushing agent (which may or may not be useful).

[Autocop]

1)
Had been to Jalna over the weekend. Followed usual thane-vashi-chakan-ahmadnagar-aurangabad-Jalna route. The beauty performed brilliantly. Forward journey stats below from MID (after correcting 3% speedo/trip error),

Distance: 450KMs
Avg Speed: 58 Km/Hr
Travel Time: 7 Hr 42 Mins
Avg FE: 22.8

Forward journey always yeilds lower FE (by about 1.5 - 2 units) due to Khandala/Lonawala ghat ascend on Expressway. Forgot to record the return journey stats immediately upon arrival and since then have driven around in the city.

Her 3rd birthday is due in about 2 weeks. The ODO stands at 55700 Kms.

2)
Had changed/upgraded tyres at 49K and have decided would follow about 5K interval for wheel alignment/balancing/rotation/nitrogen top-up.

Accordingly got all the things done at Mayur Tyres (Bridgestone Select Dealer on Ghodbunder Road, near Waghbil Flyover) on Chirstmas Eve.

Was charged Rs. 700 and was also offered Bridgestone Table Calendar for 2013 as a complementary token. Overall quite satisfied with the experience at Mayur Tyres. Highly recommended.

@ MODs:- Please move the thread under Long Term Ownership Section and Change the Title as "Proud Owner - F. Red Fiat Linea MJD E-Pack (55000 KMs and counting)"

[Autocop]

My Lino completed it's 3rd Birthday on 10th Jan. In anticipation, gave her a good polish coat over the earlier weekend. Considering reverse parking assistance system as a birthday gift this year. However, lacking vitamin M, will need to postpone the gift idea to at least until March-April.

As I write ODO reads 56K. She has started showing signs of 60K service approaching, the engine noise has increased a bit, suspension has become a touch noisy, can hear few screatches from panels/doors while going over speed breakers and rough patches. Eagerly waiting for next service to sort out minor issues and get her back to the best.

Having said that, Owning and driving her contineous to be sheer pleasure. She has served me very well so far. Looking forward to another year of enjoyble time with my Lino. Wish her a Happy Birthday and wonderful year ahead!

MODs:-
1) Request to please move the thread under Long Term Ownership Section, and,
2) Change the Thread Title as "Proud Owner - F. Red Fiat Linea MJD E-Pack (56000 KMs and counting)"

[Autocop]

1) Refrigerant Top-Up:
Last Friday I noticed AC in my Lino stopped working (AC was blowing normal air irrespective ACC temp setting). Consulted independant AC shop (ZERO DEGREE, Louiswadi, Thane) and his initial diagnosis was refrigerent in AC system has gone away (no leaks revealed in the system).

His suggestion was to get the Regrigerant Topped Up (assuming cooling coil is intact). Went ahead with refrigerant top-up. With that, thanksfully, the cooling returned back.

2) Battery Replacement:
Was getting "Airbag Failure" message since last 2-3 months. It was diagnoized due to the battery nearing end of life (by Exide dealer earlier). Last Friday, went to the AMARON Dealer on Ghodbunder Road to check the battery, he suggested the battery is OK and I continue to use it as long as its working.

However,
a) didn't want to continue running the risk of "Battery Conk Up causing a brekadown in middle of road", and,
b) wanted to get rid of those messages Airbag Failure messages,

hence, decided to go ahead with replacement (against AMARON Dealer's suggestion). Opted for AMARON DIN45 (stock size) Battery with 4 years warranty.

On Sunday, went for a 250KMs one-day outing. Happy with the AC effectiveness (chills the cabin in no time) and Luckily no "airbag failure" messages either. Fingers crossed, hope it stays the same for a long long time.

[Autocop]

The battery space provided in Linea can accomodate a DIN55 battery size, however company provides DIN45 size battery.

AMARON dealer suggested not a huge difference between DIN45 and DIN55. Moreover DIN55 costed about 1000 bucks extra. Hence, decided to stick to the stock battery size.

[aks_karthik]

Originally Posted by Autocop

The battery space provided in Linea can accomodate a DIN55 battery size, however company provides DIN45 size battery.

AMARON dealer suggested not a huge difference between DIN45 and DIN55. Moreover DIN55 costed about 1000 bucks extra. Hence, decided to stick to the stock battery size.

I think Linea MJD uses DIN50 Battery and not 45 or 55.
Please check the URL of my Thread.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post2562971
i have replaced my DIN50 with DIN50MF last year.

[Autocop]

The AMARON and Exide dealers I went to mentioned the battery size as DIN45. Also came across this link on Vickys with Linea Battery spec.

http://www.vicky.in/shopping/exide-b...ery-fma0din44r

May be the OEM battery size varies between DIN45/DIN50 depending on batch/model year.

Originally Posted by aks_karthik

I think Linea MJD uses DIN50 Battery and not 45 or 55.
Please check the URL of my Thread.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post2562971
i have replaced my DIN50 with DIN50MF last year.

[aks_karthik]

Originally Posted by Autocop

The AMARON and Exide dealers I went to mentioned the battery size as DIN45. Also came across this link on Vickys with Linea Battery spec.

http://www.vicky.in/shopping/exide-b...ery-fma0din44r

May be the OEM battery size varies between DIN45/DIN50 depending on batch/model year.

As far as i know, All MJD version has DIN50. DIN45 is for Petrol Version.
Any how please cross check with A.S.S before buying a battery.

[akshay4587]

I recently got Amaron DIN 60 or 60AH Battery for my Linea.
It fits in perfectly,and you need to remove that plastic in the battery tray to accomodate it.It may be in the head,but i feel that cranking duration has reduced,and car starts more quickly.I paid 6K for the battery.

[Autocop]

Had been to Jalna over the weekend. Started on Saturday morning 8AM and soon discovered AC in my Linea was again not working.

Still, decided to go ahead with the journey. The journey was a bit tiring and slow (as we could't bear wind beyond 80 KM/Hr). However, the only positive side of this was, my Linea recorded its best ever FE figures.

Forward Journey (Thane-Jalna) Trip stats (Pictures 1-4)
Return Jourrney (Jalna-Thane) Trip stats (Pictures 5-8)
Overall Journey Trip stats (Pictures 9-12).

Due to tyre upgrade (from 195 60/R15 to 195 65/R15) ODO/Trip meter in my Linea shows 3% lesser readings (for distance, speed, FE). Need to divide the figures 0.97 to get actual values. The actual FE figures after trip error correction below.

Actual Fwd Journey FE = 23.6 / 0.97 = 24.3
Actual Rtn Journey FE = 24.9 / 0.97 = 25.7
Actual Overall FE = 24.2 / 0.97 = 24.9

[Autocop]

Karthik, May be I got confused with battery size. If you are that confident happy to take your word for it.

The fact, Replacement battery in my Linea is stock size (AMARON) still holds.

BTW, It's been close to 2 weeks since the battery change and no more false MID messages so far. Can safely say the battery change has indeed helped takeaway those false "Airbag Failure" messages.

Originally Posted by aks_karthik

As far as i know, All MJD version has DIN50. DIN45 is for Petrol Version.
Any how please cross check with A.S.S before buying a battery.

[Autocop]

Recently completed out station trip about 900KMs. Received decent FE (20.6 KMPL) for the overall trip despite engaging in spirited driving (100 - 120 range). Linea is going strong and continues to be a pleasure to drive and own.

The running has decreased significantly since have started using company transport for office commute. The ownership period has crossed 50 months, which means warranty and extended warranty have already expired. Last servicing was done in Apr-13 at 58K KMs. 12 months since last service are over and ODO meter is few KMs short of 67K. Was planning to get servicing done at 70K, however, it may be another 3-4 months before Linea reaches that mark.

Is it safe to hold next servicing for another 3-4 months till Italian Beauty reaches 70K mark (well within 15K KMs service interval limit)?