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Originally Posted by Gannu_1 I'll only get to know the severity of the outcome on Tuesday morn. |
With a lot of anxiety, I fired her up on the Tuesday morn and there were no complaints! I was worried if the rodent ended up chewing some cables/fuel pipes/firewall insulation etc. over the weekend but it looks like spraying the repellent worked or I was just plain lucky! I wouldn't want to take a chance henceforth and will be installing few bucket rat traps at the basement where I park the car.
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Originally Posted by Leoshashi Yes I have been purchasing stuff from him since October, and since I purchase in bulk(3-4 friends together), he always gave us a very nice deal. ![Thumbs Up](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images/smilies/thumbs up.png) |
Please share the contact details of such vendors here - it would help a lot of them to source the consumables at a cheaper rate.
![Smile](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.png)
If you've already shared the details before, many thanks!
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Originally Posted by Leoshashi I was wondering if the same magnetic process can be followed for glass lens HL too?? |
I don’t see a reason why this method wouldn’t work on glass based lens. These neodymium magnets are powerful enough so they can hold on to each other through a thicker lens.
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Originally Posted by torque18 Just wondering why did you decide to replace the water pump. The service schedule doesn't recommend it i suppose. Any particular reason? |
Preventive maintenance. I am told this is one part which is prone to failure without any telltale signs. I’d rather not get stranded in the middle of a trip if the water pump suddenly decides to fail on me.
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Originally Posted by torque18 Also, what about the fuel pump? |
Nope, not replacing it for the time being. Cross checked with the FNG - he confirms that replacing the fuel pump isn't mandated.
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Originally Posted by chiranjitp Now that you get your servicing done at a FNG, why not change the engine oil at 10k kilometers? |
TBH, I am not quite convinced that a 10k service interval works better for the engine than a 15k service interval. Why not at 7500 km then?
![Smile](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.png)
Some folks actually do an oil change at every 7500 km interval. At the risk of inciting brickbats from the members, do we have qualitative metrics to prove that an engine (or the associated components) has actually lasted more because it was serviced at shorter intervals over the longer ones?
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Originally Posted by chiranjitp Is there any noticeable improvement after using Liqui Moly engine oil? |
Yeah, there is. I have explained it further below.
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Originally Posted by chiranjitp Pardon my ignorance. How does one actually pay the custom duties? Is it something which we can pay by cash on delivery? |
That’s correct. India Post does not intimate the receiver about the duties in advance but DHL, Aramex, FedEx (and other private courier companies) do so you know you can be prepared with the cash when the delivery guy comes with the consignment.
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Originally Posted by msiva75 Hi Gannu, Jai Prakash did a good work when I visited him for my Polo rat byte issue. I am planning my next service in his Garage only. |
I visited Jai last week and we took a long’ish test drive near Perambur. He did concur that the clutch has become hard and a replacement would reduce the hardness. He did however say that clutch packs were replaced as early as 45,000 km and as delayed as 180,000 km and this depends on a lot of factors. At the moment, he has a very small makeshift garage (which honestly, can be a turn off for a lot of prospective customers if they were to see it in person) but I was fairly convinced that this gentleman knew the tools of his trade. But unfortunately for both of us, due to our current schedules, I’ll be dropping the car only during the third week of January.
Over the New Year's weekend, I undertook two major activities - the MAF sensor cleaning and the 120k km service. Technically, this is the 8th scheduled oil change service. They've been explained in detail below. The pics are not the best!
MAF sensor cleaning:
After delaying this activity forever and ever, I finally got to clean the MAF sensor, a day before the air filter was changed. The MAF sensor was never cleaned to this day in the last 4 years and 3 months of ownership. The process was very simple and straightforward.
Unplugged the connector to the sensor, removed the air filter box’s top cover out of the assembly, twisted and removed the air filter and, using a pair of hose clip pliers, the plastic hose was disconnected from the sensor outlet:
This is the hose clip pliers - an incredibly helpful tool for loosening spring clips and holding it under tension, unlike the combination pliers which can slip:
2 Torx screws hold the sensor to the filter box cover. Unscrewed them to get the sensor off the box:
Used a bottle of IPA (iso-propyl alcohol) and a CRC spray can to clean the sensor and the innards:
The 2 ends of the sensor assy. were closed using lids of Johnson's buds plastic jar after IPA was poured and shaken thoroughly to dislodge any dirt stuck to the sensor element (which BTW, wasn't visible to the naked eye!). A discarded toothbrush was used to clean the innards and other hard-to-reach areas.
The filter box was also cleaned:
The sensor was screwed back to the filter box cover. The assembly was left overnight for any alcohol to dry off before it was screwed to the air filter box.
120k km oil change servicing:
Sourcing the parts for the 105k km service was a breeze. Unfortunately, not so this time! I had to torture a friend who in turn had to contact some of his friends and garage owners to get the parts, some of them turned down the requests, some of them were gladly over-charging for the parts, calling up DTDC/Tirupati couriers/Professional couriers for a priority next day shipment and so forth.
Sheethal and
Nikhil, if you guys are reading this, please accept my apologies for the relentless torment you guys had to endure over WhatsApp and calls! I am glad that all the parts did reach me before the New Year's eve and it was one fine weekend. The service was done at the apartment's basement and I had sought the help of 2 friends to lug the parts and tools, hold something etc.
Gagan and
Midhun - thank you so much guys! Appreciate all the help!
So here're the parts:
(The drain plug missed the photoshoot.)
The old air filter after enduring 15,000 km of sucking all sorts of air in the last 4 months:
![VW Polo GT TDI ownership log EDIT: 9 years and 178,000 km later...-img_20171230_220053.jpg](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/long-term-ownership-reviews/1712652d1689873201t-vw-polo-gt-tdi-ownership-log-edit-9-years-178-000-km-later-img_20171230_220053.jpg)
(Despite making it a point to clean the air filter at 7500 km, I conveniently miss the target and push it to the next service interval where it is ultimately replaced!)
Innards of the air filter box after cleaning it using a handheld blower:
The new filter is in:
Draining the old engine oil (wore a pair of gloves this time as the oil was warm after the car being driven around for 20 minutes):
The oil with a lot of residue being drained into the tray:
Almost there:
Removed the old oil filter:
![VW Polo GT TDI ownership log EDIT: 9 years and 178,000 km later...-img20171231wa0018.jpg](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/long-term-ownership-reviews/1712662d1689873244t-vw-polo-gt-tdi-ownership-log-edit-9-years-178-000-km-later-img20171231wa0018.jpg)
There must be a knack to get the oil filter off the assembly. It is just too hard to get it off especially when the oil is warm (or hot rather)!
"Yikes, this is hot! How am I supposed to remove the stock filter from the assembly?!"
The new oil filter is in place with the replacement O-rings:
And screwing the assembly back:
Emptied a bottle of Liqui Moly Ceratec 300 mL...:
...to the last drop:
And 4 litres of the TopTec 5W40 engine oil:
Measured the oil level as well and it was perfect:
The service interval in the MID was reset:
And we had to drain the old oil from the plastic tray into two 2L empty bottles:
Since the location of the ball valve was a little higher from the base of the tray, we had to raise the tray a bit as the oil was being drained:
The 2 bottles filled to the brim, were handed over to the neighbourhood garage for recycling:
So, I drove down to Palakkad from Chennai 2 days back and I must admit, the engine noise has gone down and there's a perceived overall smoothness to the drive. I am just not sure which component helped the most - the new oil or the Ceratec additive! I usually cruise at 110 kmph in the 5th gear at 2200 RPM on the highways and when the audio was muted, the only sound evident inside the car was a gentle
hum unlike the 1.6L engine's audible thrum at those speeds. When the car is idling, there is a noticeable reduction in the engine clatter. As far as FE goes, I'll be able to comment once I do the next fill-up.
The engine cover was in a sorry state after the rat attack in the engine bay - rat poop and piss all over. I decided to take it to the apartment and thoroughly clean it using an APC (all-purpose cleaner), a scrubbing pad and a discarded toothbrush for those unreachable nooks and crannies. Result:
Timing belt kit + water pump:
Here are the parts for the timing belt kit and the water pump:
I shall share the detailed part numbers of the components and the price breakup later after I get the car serviced from the FNG.
A closing shot of the headlight scattering (after the basement parking was sprayed with the mosquito repellent):
![VW Polo GT TDI ownership log EDIT: 9 years and 178,000 km later...-img_20171229_190252.jpg](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/long-term-ownership-reviews/1712677d1689873244t-vw-polo-gt-tdi-ownership-log-edit-9-years-178-000-km-later-img_20171229_190252.jpg)