[phamilyman]

43k is pretty decent considering it includes a tyre change as well. I've spent 39k on service + tyres myself so far in 50k km

But what was the root cause?

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

43k is pretty decent considering it includes a tyre change as well. I've spent 39k on service + tyres myself so far in 50k km

But what was the root cause?

What gave you that idea ?
Tire change not included. I am just talking about the money paid to Tata Motors Limited.
As for root cause, in Tata there is no root cause, only result.
BTW, the car is still with workshop as condesor fan is not working. Since its covered under extended warranty, they have applied for the same, and once approval comes the AC will be put back together.
So I will get it by noon tomorrow

[tsk1979]

Car is back with me.
Replacements
Roof AC Pipe - The leak source
Condenser fan - Discovered during checkup
AC Gas
Compressor oil

total =9717 . Extended warranty covers the condenser fan, so charge was 4586
Rs 1000 goodwill warranty given(due to power window and various other switches replace which were charged(2632 bill))
Total damage = 3586

Cost per km after 54500kms = 0.78 Re/km This does not include accessories and tires.

After 54500kms approx, if we do the total running expenses it comes to
4.94/km
Fuel cost = 3.19
Accessories = 0.36
Other(like tires) = 0.61
Repair = 0.78

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Roof AC Pipe - The leak source

Did you check why the roof AC pipe leaked? Any signs of corrosion on that pipe? I'm asking, keeping in mind the super-corrosive air around where you stay, which eats up your home ACs.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Did you check why the roof AC pipe leaked? Any signs of corrosion on that pipe? I'm asking, keeping in mind the super-corrosive air around where you stay, which eats up your home ACs.

Nope, leak is from the joints. the AC pipes in the engine bay are fine.
I have never heard of car ACs leaking in our apartment complex. Its mostly samsung ACs which leak often

[tsk1979]

Guess I will give a slight update
1. The loud clang/khat sounds when steering is turned right is back. Sometimes it goes Khat Khat Khat clang clang, and its so loud that people notice. When center pin and tie rods were replaced(no warranty) the problem had gone away. now few thousand kms back the gremlins are back
2. The right brake pads sometimes grab when the car has run for a long time(hot rims) and I turn right. This problem started coming when brake pads were replaced at 45K. I spoke to another 3.0 Liter owner, He has the same problem. It started when new brake pads were fitted
3. The clutch did not return from bottom once. Never happened again. Looks like master slave cylinder issue. I am also planning to get the clutch pedal spring as it makes noise sometimes. Why wait for it to break. Its not a very expensive part.
4. The center interior light(above the middle row) has stopped working. If bulb is gone. I will fit LED myself, if switch is gone, then I guess I have to get switch changed

I have decided not to go to Sterling for these problems because they have been unable to fix these. I had reported all the major problems(1,2,3) just before warranty got over, and had returned with a lighter pocket.

The odo reads almost 57000kms, and 3000kms later the 60,000 service is coming up. So I will take her to Autolinks. With metro reaching gurgaon, there is not much issue with leaving the car there overnight if needed.

[tsk1979]

She crossed 60,000kms a short while ago, so it was time for the 60,000km service which is the last "FREE SERVICE".
Jobs carried out
1. Radiator coolant change + Radiator flush
The radiator flush was optional, but I decided to get it done anyways, since it happens once every 60,000kms. Extra cost 1000rs
2. Engine oil, Oil filter and diesel filter change
3. Rear suspension Bush kit replacement (2500 for parts and labor)
This took care of the noises from rear to a large extent. Some noise still comes on marching, but I am told this is quite normal
Front suspension bushes will last me another 15000kms, so at 75000kms they will also need to be changed.
Alignment was done at Star Wheels for 150rs

Other than that brake pad cleaning was done(225RS). This has taken care of the brake pad rubbing issue to quite a large extent.

Adjustment of the front suspension was done to get rid of the loud khat khat sounds coming while turning the front wheels on rough terrain. However, a new noise, the "idler arm khat' has started coming whenever full suspension travel happens on a speed breaker.
I guess this will be taken care during the front bush change. I am told this is more of a annoyance, and not really a functional issue.

Total cost of service = 9977 INR including alignment


Cost/km on repairs and service till date(excluding tires) = 87p/km
A trifle expensive to maintain I guess.

Vaccum hoses are supposed to be changed, but they checked everything up, and they are as good as new. I guess it has something to do with these being replaced during the experiment period(idle surging).

That said, I am happy with the service. Engine is smoother, and pickup has increased. A longish trip will really tell how is the vehicle.

I also got a full suspension check done. As mentioned earlier, front bushes will need to be changed at next service, and dampers should last a lot more, as they are practically as good as new.
I also discovered, that they take a rubber sheet, and cut the bushes on the laithe inhouse. Front bushes are done on a laithe outside the workshop.
I am wondering, how about I buy a teflon sheet, and get teflon bushes? I wonder if autolinks will agree to that.

Another observation I made is that the front tires wear out slightly more quickly than rear tires. So got the rotation done. The continentals have done 40,000kms now. 2 of them are as good as new. Well one better be since its new, and the other 3 are in various stages of wear. The worst one is doing duty as spare, and it got badly damaged due to a thick bolt on one of the highway trips.
One is little more worn than others and does duty at rear. But it should last me another 15K easily.
I think, after a few months, I am looking at 2 tire change, not 4 tire change.

that said I wish there was a 100,000km full coverage plan from Tata for the Safari. I would have willingly paid 40-50K for such a plan!

Do such plans even exist?

[sudev]

The white elephant seemed to be chained just like its boss is to his desk ;-(

When do have the next travelogue?

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by sudev

The white elephant seemed to be chained just like its boss is to his desk ;-(

When do have the next travelogue?

I recently posted one in December
Of course, it was without the white elephant.
Next white elephant travelogue coming up within a month, promise . No snow this time. I will ping you for some GPS trails shortly.

[rajneeesh]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

I recently posted one in December
Of course, it was without the white elephant.
Next white elephant travelogue coming up within a month, promise . No snow this time. I will ping you for some GPS trails shortly.

Tanveer, we have got used to a new travelogue from you every six weeks. The new year has begun, Christmas came and went but no new travelogue from you. We want one that has the " White Elephant" in the leading role.

[tsk1979]

Finally, this saturday, the white elephant was with us after 2 weeks in the workshop.
Why two weeks? More on that later, but first a little background.

For quite some time, I have been complaining about weird noises from the steering, too much play, and dodgy handling(not that handling is a strong point of safari).

The rear diffs were also making lots of noise. For the steering I had complained to Automobile sterling, and all they did was change center pin at cost. Some 1500rs later, I was still stuck with same problem.

So it was time to go to specialists. I was thinking of timing it with my 75000kms service.

But two major things started happening.
Rear axle started jamming up. I could feel the resistance. FE also dropped to 10 on highway due to this.
I was worried about my clutch burning up. Add to that the clutch was getting sticky.

On the steering front, it got dangerous. The steering would vibrate and shudder, and around 60 the entire car would shake dangerously. Even the weights on front RHS wheel fell off due to vibrations.

So mid june, on a saturday, we gave our safari to Autolinks Gurgaon, and caught the metro back to Gurgaon.

Extended warranty claims can be filed on on weekdays, so finally on tuesday the claim was filed.

Since tot total claim value was close to 14K, it took 2-3 days to get approved.

The following parts were to be change
1. Rear DIFF LSD kit
2. Rear axle bearings (they were jammed)
3. Steering cross (IT had cut the center pin again)
4. Clutch slave cylinder(Insurance company gave approval for only slave cylinder)

Apart from that more work needed to be done, which I had to bear
1. Front shock absorbers
2. Steering damper and center pin
3. Entire front bush kit
4. Front brake pads
5. Rear axle plate

The total bill came to 29K+ out of which around 16K was paid by me.

Due to this hefty expense, at 70,000kms the safari has a 0.99 Rs/Km maintenance cost(excluding tires)

That said, she runs much better now.
However, jobs are pending and will be done at 75K service

1. Front disks - Brake pads were eaten in just 25,000kms. The earlier brake pads lasted 45K with 5K life still left in them. It looks the disks are the culprit
2. Front hubs - These need to be inspected Sometimes when shifting to 4H, weird noise comes
3. Master cylinder - Clutch is no longer sticky, but now its hard. Earlier it was soft. So just the slave cylinder change is not going to work
4. Camber adjustment - Their machine cannot do alignment for alloy wheeled cars. This is a problem. Outside, very few places do camber adjustment. I am going to ask them to use the "string" method to get camber right.
5. On full turn the steering still does "khat".

Other than that the pickup has improved. The axle bearings were really jamming the axle and killing the FE.
The suspension noises have vanished.

I still have one year of extended warranty left, and hopefully this will ensure that my running costs stay within 1rs/km for the 100,000kms

Coming to extended warranty, this insurance thing is customer harassment.
First they can take 2-3 days to approve claim. After claim approval, they do partial approval and ask to do TD and see if symptoms go away, and then if they don't you file a new claim.
Often parts also take 2-3 days to come. So 2 weeks is given if you have a big claim with hard to get parts.

Not only that, its all the insurance guys whim which counts. For him everything can be wear and tear. After all its an insurance company, not a company tech! So parts like hubs etc., which are clearly mentioned in booklet can be refused as "wear and tear". Ditto for brake discs.
I guess high claim amounts on the safari can be the cause, but then the insurance company should take it up with tata motors instead of harassing customers.

Ideally, extended warranty should be extended warranty, not some insurance policy. Moreover, if a company has trust in its product, why give 100,000kms 2yr warranty?
I guess very few non commercial owners will tough 100,000kms in 2 years.
give a 4 year 100,000kms warranty if you trust your vehicle for 100,000kms.

If you think your vehicle can do good only till 60K, then say so in your advertisements.

[rrsteer]

Hi Tsk,

When you say that 'the clutch was getting sticky', what do you mean by this?

[suman]

The Steering Cross Member is another irritant as I recently found out!

By the way, they cannot do alignment of alloy wheels but they can definitely adjust the Camber! In fact, whenever camber setting has required adjustment, I've given it to Autolinks as no alignment shop would touch a Safari's camber setttings.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by rrsteer

Hi Tsk,

When you say that 'the clutch was getting sticky', what do you mean by this?

The clutch would stay down, and won't come up until a second after you lift your foot

Originally Posted by suman

The Steering Cross Member is another irritant as I recently found out!

By the way, they cannot do alignment of alloy wheels but they can definitely adjust the Camber! In fact, whenever camber setting has required adjustment, I've given it to Autolinks as no alignment shop would touch a Safari's camber setttings.

Thanks suman, I will tell them this at 75000kms service.

[rrsteer]

My suspicion was correct. This is happening in my safari too. The clutch pedal returns after a gap. In addition my clutch is harder to operate than before and the gear lever isn't as smooth as before. But is changing the master slave cylinder the definitive solution to a sticky pedal?. (though you just got the slave changed)

Say so, because my clutch otherwise seems ok. For eg in an incline with no input from me, the car climbs up well by itself.

Btw how much is the cost to replace the master- slave cylinder for a safari?