[vrprabhu]

Originally Posted by neoonwheels

I can give some inputs on this clutch thing:

According to one of the FIAT techies (Was working with BUB pune), this is a clutch release spring sound which is not a major issue.

I have a similar issue with 1.2NV (20,000 kms on the odo and 5 years old). It more like a slight grating sound for less than a second, when you depress / release the clutch; the same explanation was given. WD40 stopped the sound for some time, and now it is back. After a lot of trial and error, found it is not coming from the cabin - rather from the engine bay. So it is spring + cable issue. BTW, my clutch is slightly harder than my friends. Unfortunately for him, the lighter clutch was reported to be faulty, and the entire assembly was replaced for about Rs. 10,000/-. This was three years ago at Jay-Vijay, Pune.

Have to do servicing in a couple of weeks, so will update after it is done.

[drifter]

Praful,

It's probably just the release bearing like most others have suggested. It's nothing very major. Clutch wear is hard to believe at your kind of mileage. The brake cylinder thing is also normal, I had them done at the last service as well.

As for the clutch hardness, get the system bled and refilled. It should sort that out. My 1.6 has a very nice soft clutch (comparing it to my bus ofcourse). While you're at it, have the clutch play set as well.


Drifter

[praful]

Originally Posted by vrprabhu

Have to do servicing in a couple of weeks, so will update after it is done.

Waiting to hear what they tell you.

Originally Posted by drifter

Praful,

It's probably just the release bearing like most others have suggested. It's nothing very major. Clutch wear is hard to believe at your kind of mileage. The brake cylinder thing is also normal, I had them done at the last service as well.

As for the clutch hardness, get the system bled and refilled. It should sort that out. My 1.6 has a very nice soft clutch (comparing it to my bus ofcourse). While you're at it, have the clutch play set as well.


Drifter

Lets see what the second mech has to say about this. One thing is for sure, I am not replacing the clutch due to this. If its just a hard clutch I am ready to live with it. Din't have any issues driving down from Bombay or even a quick trip to Goa and back.

[arnabchak]

Praful

Thats a good deal.

The Palio is a wonderful car and it was really heartening to see one that is so well maintained.

The pic with the brothers standing side by side looked good!!

Congrats and enjoy your drive!!

[neoonwheels]

Originally Posted by praful

Was bored of my mileage conscious 2-3K RPM shifts, took a temporary break from that for a little pedal to the metal. And contrary to what I thought of this 1.2L engine, I am actually pretty impressed considering that its an overweight, underpowered car the performance it put out was pretty good.

The engine is indeed rev happy. I have done 155kmoh on Express highway and the car was as stable as anything. It struggles a bit after 140 to reach 155 but then it has the capability to hold 140 mark consistently.

[vrprabhu]

Originally Posted by praful

Waiting to hear what they tell you.

Here goes!

Servicing done yesterday. Got this problem noted for attention.

To be frank, we were unable to pin-point the exact cause. Opened the bonnet, and had one person inside to activate the pedal. When the cable was activated, the lever (near the engine) appeared to cause the sound.

Evening - after service - sound is gone! When I asked, was told that they oiled the pedal joints and the cable after washing, and the sound stopped!! I was also told that they have done a thorough check and there is nothing wrong with the clutch cylinders etc.

What I noticed was - the lever which was actuated by the clutch cable has some play - it moves up and down as if on a pivot. May be at certain position it causes the noise.

What is your status now?

[praful]

Had a few minor niggles to be sorted out and wipers to be replaced, so I decided to give Bosch Car Service (BCS) a try. I was told that United Motors, Rajaji Nagar is the best of the lot in Bangalore. And I was really impressed with staff and person incharge over there. The knowledge is good and involvement in listening to your problems and providing solutions was something which I really liked about this place. I would definitely recommend this place to a lot of people, but unfortunately due to a series of unfortunate events my day spent at BCS ended with a very bad taste in the mouth.

Below is the set of issues I had gone to them with, and the list is done in reducing order of priority i.e. there the #1 is the most important.



1. Scratches on windshield due to dry wiper running - I had heard of a windshield polishing job being done to fix this. So when I asked at Bosch Car service they said they do such a job.

Solution: They called in a third part vendor who is an expert in windshield related activities. Their agent came and first cleaned the glass and then applied some solution and buffed it using a rotary buffing tool. He then did the same again with some other solution. Whilst this was in process I failed to understand how this would increase the visibility and reduce the scratches.

End Result: The glass earlier just had streaks from running the wiper dry with barely a few circular scratches here and there. Now, this looked like a 10 year old windshield with so many circular scratches that I could barely see anything on the road with oncoming headlight glare. They had not worsened it, they had actually screwed the windshield.
I guess the guys who use this polish buffing thing have already so scratched windshields that they can't figure out the difference. But as a sincere advise, please stay away from any buffing treatment for the windshield.

BCS say they will use some 3M solution for fixing my windshield, but I have my doubts if anything can fix physical scratches on the glass.




2. Vapor formation in Left Head Lamp - Again something which Bosch car service said that they fixed.

Solution: They opened up the headlamp, dried it out and then applied a sealant of some sort.

End Result : The amount of vapor definitely reduced but was not completely gone. Also it was visible that inside the indicator housing there was a lot of deposition of I don't know what. I made up my of changing the head lamp assembly in a few months. What happened next was something neither I nor BCS expected, after the full body wash, the head lamp glass developed cracks across the surface. I was again ....

BCS, has said that they would provide me with a replacement head lamp at as much discount as possible. Spoke to them yesterday, and they quoted 6.7K for the Head Lamp. I spoke to TASS and they quoted 3.9K for the Palio H/L assembly. When I told them this, they said that they will get back to me with another quote.




3. Starting issue - For the past few days I was having a weird starting issue, morning/cold starts were fine. But if I tried starting after a short drive the engine would not crank, it would just give a click sound and nothing. After about 3-4 such tries the engine would finally come to life. I suspected it to be a battery issue as it was more than 5 years old now, but then if it was a battery issue it would have manifested itself in cold starts as well. Anyways, BCS (Bosch Car Service) said they will "try" to fix this, but cannot promise a resolution in one day.

Solution: BCS actually spent most part of their time fixing this. And fixing it they did, the Solenoid Switch was replaced.

End Result: Atleast the 1000 bucks I spent for this were not in waste, there are no further starting issues.




4. Wiper Replacement - This was the reason why I contacted BCS in the first place, the current wipers though just about a year old were not working as desired and I wanted to have them replaced again with Bosch wipers.

Solution: Replaced and works like a charm.





5. Brakes+Handbrakes Issue - For the past 10 days I have noticed an increase in the travel of the brake pedal and a reduction in overall braking performance. Additionally now the hand brakes were not very effective either, the hand brake lever had to be pulled up quite a bit to lock the wheels. So I suspected it is some issue with the rear brakes. BCS said they will look into this as well.

Solution: They opened up all 4 wheels and checked the discs up front and drums at the back, everything from the disc pads to the liner seemed to be order. So bleeding of the brake lines and replacement of the brake fluid was done. Hand brake cable needs replacement and hence the issue with the hand brakes, they did not have the spare for the cable so it was not done.

End Result: Nothing! Extremely minor improvement in braking, brake pedal travel is still quite a bit and braking performance is still poor.

__________________________________________________ _

Here is the break-up of the bill :-

1. Windshield Glass Cleaning - 850
2. Body Washing - 200
3. Brakes Overhaul - 450
4. Brake Bleeding - 180
5. Starter Overhaul - 475
6. Head Light cleaning - 150

Parts Cost:

7. Wiper Blades - 300
8. Brake Fluid 500ml - 115
9. Solenoid Switch Assembly - 1055
---------------------------------------
Total -> 4052
__________________________________________________ _____________

Knowingly or Unknowingly they have botched up the two most important jobs that I had gone to them for. And as of now it seems like my wallet is going to be lighter by a few Gandhi's for no fault of mine. Still awaiting an update from BCS regarding headlight/windshield solutions.

Do you guys have inputs to share on this?

Originally Posted by vrprabhu

Here goes!

Servicing done yesterday. Got this problem noted for attention.

To be frank, we were unable to pin-point the exact cause. Opened the bonnet, and had one person inside to activate the pedal. When the cable was activated, the lever (near the engine) appeared to cause the sound.

Evening - after service - sound is gone! When I asked, was told that they oiled the pedal joints and the cable after washing, and the sound stopped!! I was also told that they have done a thorough check and there is nothing wrong with the clutch cylinders etc.

What I noticed was - the lever which was actuated by the clutch cable has some play - it moves up and down as if on a pivot. May be at certain position it causes the noise.

What is your status now?

Sorry for the late reply, got kind of busy with other things. I still have not been able to take the second opinion regarding the clutch. Thought I would do it at the day spent in BCS, but did not want the higher priority jobs to get pushed back.

Still need to get this thing checked.

[praful]

I forgot to add in my previous post, the odo went past the 25K mark!

Things currently in queue are Bosch Silver Battery replacement (~4K) Or maybe again an Amaron. And most importantly the tyres need to replaced, being 5 years old now I am kind of worried about tyre bursts etc. Most probably going for either Yoko A or C drives (~16K).

When the car was lifted up on the platform I could see that the muffler was rusted till pretty deep inside. 4K for the replacement of the muffler. Wondering if there is anything I can do to increase the life a little bit more.

[krish3]

Is the windsheild so scratched that you can't see at night? If so, better replace it. More damage to your pocket, but very important.

Do it quick if your planned drive involves night driving, specially in Kerala roads.

For tyres, I feel a Michelin XM1+ is better than Yokos on 2 aspects - Comfort and less tyre noise. Grip wise, I feel both are same.

[jacs]

Originally Posted by praful

I forgot to add in my previous post, the odo went past the 25K mark!

Things currently in queue are Bosch Silver Battery replacement (~4K) Or maybe again an Amaron. And most importantly the tyres need to replaced, being 5 years old now I am kind of worried about tyre bursts etc. Most probably going for either Yoko A or C drives (~16K).

When the car was lifted up on the platform I could see that the muffler was rusted till pretty deep inside. 4K for the replacement of the muffler. Wondering if there is anything I can do to increase the life a little bit more.

I am still running on my stock Amaron (6 years completed) and no issues till date. I think you can stick to Amaron unless there is a big advantage with Bosch.

Tyres, yes. Its better to replace if its very old and rubber seems to be stiff. I run on Bridgestone S322 since bought and found no reason to change except looks .

You can live with a leaky muffler but it would slightly affect your performance and fuel efficiency. Mine is leaky since almost 6 to 8 months and found FE reduced by 1-2Kmpl plus the hissing noice. Sometimes I felt the power loss when i push the trottle hard. Luckily our fellow BHPian Jeeva donated a good stock end can and I'm changing it. Its better to change.

[praful]

Originally Posted by krish3

Is the windsheild so scratched that you can't see at night? If so, better replace it. More damage to your pocket, but very important.

Do it quick if your planned drive involves night driving, specially in Kerala roads.

For tyres, I feel a Michelin XM1+ is better than Yokos on 2 aspects - Comfort and less tyre noise. Grip wise, I feel both are same.

Don't intend on doing any serious night driving as of now. As it is Fiat would not have stock of windshield

I'm sold on Yokos, and totally against Michelins...This is just a personal opinion!

Originally Posted by jacs

I am still running on my stock Amaron (6 years completed) and no issues till date. I think you can stick to Amaron unless there is a big advantage with Bosch.

Tyres, yes. Its better to replace if its very old and rubber seems to be stiff. I run on Bridgestone S322 since bought and found no reason to change except looks .

You can live with a leaky muffler but it would slightly affect your performance and fuel efficiency. Mine is leaky since almost 6 to 8 months and found FE reduced by 1-2Kmpl plus the hissing noice. Sometimes I felt the power loss when i push the trottle hard. Luckily our fellow BHPian Jeeva donated a good stock end can and I'm changing it. Its better to change.

The battery load testing tool at BCS said that I need to replace the battery, but the BCS guys said I can use it for a few months more. I am going to be following good battery maintenance from now, no ICE/blowers/lights when vehicle is switched OFF!

Even I am running on the S322's, there is plenty of life still left in them. Only concern is that they are 5 years old and I thought this the time to replace them.

You're lucky, maybe even I can look for a totaled Palio to donate the muffler to me! LoL

[planet_rocker]

The amount of vapor definitely reduced but was not completely gone. Also it was visible that inside the indicator housing there was a lot of deposition of I don't know what. I made up my of changing the head lamp assembly in a few months. What happened next was something neither I nor BCS expected, after the full body wash, the head lamp glass developed cracks across the surface.

Did they blow dry the head lamp cluster to get rid of the vapor?

if yes, then IMO they used hot air - so the glass was hot - i guess it developed the crack once it came in contact with water during body wash. But generally, this shouldn't happen.

[praful]

The time difference between drying the inside of the H/L assembly and getting the body wash was more than 3 hours, I'm pretty sure that did not cause the surface cracks to appear.

Will try and post a few pictures of the same.

[kri$hna]

Originally Posted by praful

Don't intend on doing any serious night driving as of now. As it is Fiat would not have stock of windshield

Fiat would any way not stock windshields.. It is ASAHI india who stocks windshields of all cars, or saint-gobain.

There is a factory outlet of windshields in JC Road, who does fitment as well, and stocks windshields of almost all makes of cars. For a palio, i think windshield would cost abt 3400 & add 1000 bucks for the sealant.

The time difference between drying the inside of the H/L assembly and getting the body wash was more than 3 hours, I'm pretty sure that did not cause the surface cracks to appear.

Well, my guess is, they might have used hot air blow, and then sealed it.. so the hot air remains inside, no way to escape, and finally when it was washed, the cracks might have come up !

[praful]

Originally Posted by kri$hna

There is a factory outlet of windshields in JC Road, who does fitment as well, and stocks windshields of almost all makes of cars. For a palio, i think windshield would cost abt 3400 & add 1000 bucks for the sealant.

You sure about this? If its really gonna cost me 4.5K I'll change the windshield right away! As I was under the assumption that windshield will cost me upwards of 8K.

Originally Posted by kri$hna

Well, my guess is, they might have used hot air blow, and then sealed it.. so the hot air remains inside, no way to escape, and finally when it was washed, the cracks might have come up !

But the weird part is that the cracks appeared on the outside surface. Need to get deep into physics and chemistry to figure this out!