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Frustrating AC fiasco on my Altroz: Things I learnt the hard way

9th May 2024, 11:03 by Rahul Nagaraj

However, apart from the AC the car is absolutely great to own and have completed 21,000 km on the odo.

BHPian AutoYogi recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

It's been a while since I updated about my Altroz diesel. My car has completed close to 21,000 kms and has been mostly trouble-free except for one funny/frustrating issue with AC as always which I will be sharing with you today.

(ATTEMPT NUMBER 1)

INTRODUCTION

I got a call from my Tata ASC here in the middle of Jan 2024 stating that there is a special update for Tata Altroz diesel owners who have complained about excessively cold AC issues earlier. I couldn't make time in Jan hence went to TASC in Feb 2024. I booked an appointment 3 days in advance and reached TASC at 10 AM on 22nd Feb. As I went to TASC I realized that the SA who had called me regarding the recall had quit hence, nobody had a clue about the software update. Finally, they took 4 hours to find out about the software update and started to install the new update.

POST S/W UPDATE SCENARIO

The update was completed in 30 minutes and the AC started to work very well like how it does in other brands with auto AC but, the BCM went haywire in every other aspect. The BCM started acting up weirdly and would do the following actions

Starting and turning off the car would open the boot door partially, like how the boot door shuts when you don't slam it properly (single lock).
Opening the driver door would open the boot door.
The tailgate switch not working. Unable to open the boot using the boot opening switch.
Turning on headlights would drop down the driver-side window.
Fog lamps stopped working.
With the headlamp in the OFF position pushing the headlight stalk towards the floor would activate the high beam.
Switching ON the hazard warning lamps would drop down the driver-side window.
Both the keys stopped working but the car would start.
Lock and unlock not working.
DRL stopped working

I maintained my patience on the first day (22nd Feb 2024) but, on the second day (23rd Feb) I started to feel restless and in the second half of day 2 I contacted Tata Motors customer care and requested assistance from Tata Motors plant since the TASC guys were unable to sort out the issue and started opening up the plastic parts. Finally, I got in touch with the CSM who helped me get my car back functioning normally by the evening. The AC issue which was sorted for good last year has come back to bite me and the AC started to chill me to the bone, no matter what temperature I set it to.

The next day after this fiasco I had to go on a 1300 Km trip and the AC felt way too powerful throughout the trip. My mother kept warning me not to go to TASC as she had seen me struggling with these guys earlier but I was tempted to try the new software which promised an even better calibration and had to face these issues in the end.

ATTEMPT NUMBER 2

THE S/W UPDATE

I couldn't make the time/patience to visit the TASC post my long trip of 1300 Km and I got busy with my work schedule. On 19th March I called the service head at my TASC to get the AC issue sorted and I made it clear that I wouldn't be dropping my car at the SC as I am not comfortable with it. The new service head was kind enough to send his technician to my house and I was quite happy as I need not travel 14 Km to the TASC again for no fault of mine. The technician arrived on 20th March with the diagnostic tool (laptop set) and he came in a white Altroz (in pictures below) because last time during the update my car's battery died all of a sudden and had to be jump-started which is weird as it happened only during the BCM update and never happened before or after the update. Just to be safe the service head sent the technician with the backup car and jump-start cables. My car was placed under a tree shade. The technician started updating the software the same BCM glitch occurred causing the issues as stated earlier. The technician finally installed the latest software by afternoon, after some discussion with someone on call and voila! the AC issue along with all the other issues was sorted and I tested the AC and it worked like it does in my other cars with auto AC and it was back to normal.

POST S/W UPDATE

I had to go to my workplace immediately after the S/W update hence, I left home and started going to my workplace as I started moving the car out of my parking area things were looking nice but as I started to cover 2-3 kms the AC started acting up and it was back to square one. As the AC unit got exposed to the afternoon sun the temperature started dropping to minimum levels no matter what temperature I set the AC at. Tired of this I just let it be. I will be going to TASC to sort this out next week. I'll keep you guys updated.

WHAT I LEARNT FROM THIS FIASCO

Never be the first person to get a software update if TASC calls you. It might be a very small update but still don't take the risk as long as your car is doing fine. I had my AC issue sorted out last year after a gentle soul from the TaMo plant helped TASC calibrate my car's AC. The SA's betterment promise made me fall for it only to realize that I was the beta tester for this software. I remember my mom's warning every time I switch on the AC post update, she warned me several times to think before I go to the TASC as she is aware of the outcomes yet I risked it and paid for it.
The software from TaMo itself had glitches. So much for the software update. Can't they test it before pushing it onto poor customers like me? Good lesson learnt.
TASC was not informed properly and also no software update manual or method was shared. Or maybe it was all mentioned in the E-mail but the TASC didn't notice it.

UPDATE AT 21,000 KMS

Apart from the AC issue, the car has been doing great.

I have clocked close to 21,000 km in a year and she drives like a charm. Love the way she grips the road, that robust feeling and surefooted manners are really admirable. On expressway speeds the Altroz is too calm and composed. Excellent stability and braking along with class-leading road manners. The ALFA platform is way superior to its rivals in terms of NVH, Stability, Safety, Robustness, etc. I am waiting for the SIERRA which will be made on the ALFA Platform.

What I love

Excellent build quality.
Fantastic high-speed stability.
The gem of a diesel engine.
Fast and fuel-efficient at the same time.
Excellent stock speakers. Audio quality is at par or better than rivals.
Well-designed projector headlights. The low beam is quite powerful, decent upgrades should bring out better output from the headlights.
Super light clutch is easy to use, has a short travel range and the easy-to-use bite point is awesome.
Gearbox has become quite a smooth post 7500 kms. Also gear lever is positioned in line with the front armrest making it easy and comfortable to use.
Nice front seats with decent under-thigh support for a tall person like me (6' 3"). The front armrest needs a special mention as it is placed at the same height as the gear lever.
90-degree opening doors aid in easy ingress and egress.
NVH from the frame is well controlled viz. road noise, cabin noise, rain droplets noise etc.
Well-calibrated EPS, weighs up with speed and has a proper feel and feedback but not in the league of Ford's EPS.
The dead pedal is ergonomically placed, neatly finished and set at the same level as a clutch pedal.
Braking is good, well calibrated and stops the car in time. I would give the credit to the Continental UC6 tyres as well.
Cooled glove box (with illumination) easily takes in 5-6 1L bottles and the bottles are icy cold post a 3-4hrs drive with AC on which is nice.
Storage hooks at multiple places help to hang low-weight stuff when required.
The chiller of an A/C with the rear AC vents is quite useful as well.
You can hear a nice soothing turbo whistle at 100-110 Kmph in 5th gear alike those Tata and Leyland buses. It can be heard only with the music turned off, especially during the night drives.
Many people except us enthusiasts aren't aware of Altroz diesel and rarely come across Altroz diesel. When the car starts to pick speed post 1800 rpm fellow road users are surprised by the Altroz diesel's progress.
Nice to hold the steering wheel.
Good paint quality with decent thickness. The paint is not easily scratched and has good depth.

What could be better

The diesel feels a little noisy compared to its competitors.
I can hear a whine from transmission in 1st and 2nd gear. A little more refined transmission would have been better.
The rear seat back angle is set a little upright and the rear seat base lacks under thigh support.
The head unit is slow to respond, feels laggy, is not great to use and hangs up sometimes.
Accelerator input has a 1-2 secs lag/delay especially in first gear.
Driveability in first gear is affected while tackling gradients. I have observed that on flat roads the accelerator delay isn't much but as the gradient increases the accelerator input lag increases and the engine rpm picks up very slowly and might shock you. Even while tackling speed breakers if the front wheel is locked before the speed breaker then the drive ability and accelerator feel coupled together will shock you. Once we cross 10 Kmph things are again back to normal.
TASC experience.
The indicator positioning is at the bottom of the tail lamp. If an SUV, truck or bus is close to you then, they cannot see the indicator as the indicator is placed on an angled surface that faces towards the ground instead of facing upwards.
Horn placement is a nice touch but the horn pad and edge buttons aren't easy to use. It is difficult to use the horn during emergency situation as it is quite hard to press. The horn placement is missed during turns as the orientation of the horn placement moves along the steering while taking turns and causes panic during emergency situations.
Paint finishing could be better in certain places.
Fit and Finish in certain areas could be better.
Tata's unable to fix a simple AC issue for so many Altroz diesel cars is surprising and shows that they aren't proactive rather they take action only when noise is made which affects customers' peace of mind.

Add-ons on my car (Right from the day of delivery)

DDPAI rear view mirror dash cam with front and rear recording with a live view along with a hardwiring kit. I have hardwired my dashcam to the car's fuse box and activated parking monitoring as well. No issues with the battery or any electronics even after 14 months of ownership. The night recording quality is average on this dashcam. The 70Mai rear view dashcam in my Ecosport is way superior in all aspects of recording compared to the DDPAI dashcam. Cost 14,000
Solar based TPMS. Cost 3,000
Double-layer door damping on all doors including boot. Vibrofiltr Gold sheets were used. Cost 7500.
OEM Goodyear Assurance Triplemax tyres (185/60/R16) exchanged with Continental UC6 (195/60/R16). I paid 5,000 extra on each tyre after the exchange as the OEM tyre size for Altroz is an odd size one only specific to Altroz. Nobody was ready to exchange for the tyres and finally, cherry tyres purchased old tyres for 3.8k each.
Purchased rear tweeters from Boodmo and installed them in the rear door using connectors purchased from KarDiy Channel.
80w Philips rally bulb (made in Poland series) on all four headlight chambers.

Special mention about the tyre

I have used these continental UC6 tyres on my Ecosport (installed on D-day) for 2 years & 32,000 kms. I am surprised by these tyres as they have taken all kinds of abuse on my ecosport and Altroz as well. They have sustained several sidewall hits as well during parking. I am so much in love with these tyres that I have turned into a continental tyres loyalist and would only purchase Conti tyres in future. The noise level is low, the wet grip is insane, dry grip is brilliant with the tyres asking you to push for more. I have never heard these tyres squeal even under hard braking or hard cornering in both my cars. I love these tyres as they have exceeded my expectations. Also, these tyres fill the rim quite nicely as they wrap around the rim edges and the tyres protect the rim as they sit outside the rim whereas, the OEM tyres sit inside the rim exposing the rims to external hits. The Conti tyres of the same size look and sit bigger than the OEM Goodyear tyres which I love.

Some pictures shared below

Picture during the first S/W update attempt