[condor]

I seem to be going through mid-life blues of the life of the HU now.. Or may be just tired of the Advertisements stations that fill the FM Airwaves.

Was getting really tired of the constant stream of Ad's on the FM stations. Sometimes it is like no matter which station you tune in to, it was only ad's.

The CDA-9826 is almost 7 years old now. It does not have USB / Aux-In, and not even a remote control bundled with the HU. The only alternative to FM was CD's, but I did not want to be carrying CD's around. I did not want to give up the HU either since it's a pretty good HU. So when casually looking around, I checked for Aux-In connector cable for the HU. Found the right one on ebay.in, and @Ampere helped me order it. Cost - about 600 for the cable, and about 250 for shipping. Came in about 18 days, and I got down to connecting it.

The cable:


Pull out the HU from it's slot, to give access to the AI-Net Port:


Route the cable so it comes out down near the rear of the gear-lever console:


Attach the cable:


And a small setting change to enable the Aux-in port, and the HU's Aux-ready ! No jugaad, no cutting/soldering

There were two cables available to use this port: a KCA-121B which has a RCA output. This would have meant having to get a RCA to Stereo convertor. But luckily, found the KCA-235B which was a Ai-Net to 3.5mm Stereo pin cable.

Now time to get a nice MP3 player.


The stock HU does not come with a Remote control ( the remote is supplied with the next model CDA-9827, though). I wanted a little convenience in switching the HU on/off. Found a suitable one on-line in US. Luckily, brother's friend was coming down and I got it in less than 10 days after ordering it.



All in time for an up-coming long drive

[akshay4587]

How much did you pay for the lights?
Do they come with any mounting brackets?

[condor]

@Akshay,
I had got these about a year back, for about 4k. The box includes one pair of mounting brackets, which can be used to mount the lamps on any surface. But you will need some setup to create a platform to mount them.

[condor]

11-Nov to 18-Nov
BLR-Sankeshwar-Gokak-BLR
1550 km
FE: 19-20 kph. (Some bad roads, and some roads under re-construction - that required 1st gear)

Odo is now at 38250

Fully loaded, with luggage over-flowing the boot and having to be put into the rear seat.

Two of the modifications to the car really helped: the Coil Spring spacer and the Hella's. Was able to happily drive at regular cruising speeds at night too, and with all the luggage in the car. The added visibility with the Hella's was worth the money spent on them. And the spacers ensured that the tyres did not scrape the wheel arch at any time.

[condor]

Completed 4 years on 29th December. Odo was approximately at 39k.

Routine servicing routine being followed, though now extending the service interval to about 9 months. Hence, so additional service at end of the 4th year.

12-Jan-2013:
At the stroke of 4 years, 2 weeks, the OE battery conked out. Showed signs of splutter couple of times on 9/10th Jan. On 12th, was at Gandhinagar where the car didnt start. It was around 10.30 pm. Called BatMobile, who initially didnot agree to come, but later did so after Dhanush called & convinced them. (Dhanush, thanks so much for that ! )

On 13th & 16th, I checked out the options:
Amaron:
5187 - 587 (exchange) = 4600.
2 + 2 yrs wty.
Home Delivery

Ford:
OE Motorcraft battery:
4500 + Labour. No discount on exhange.
1 year / 20000 km wty
Will not give battery in hand. For any home delivery, I had to book for break-down service.
A token exchange amount of 200-300 may have offset the breakdown OR service charge, but the wty was only 1 year.

AC Delco:
Called all the listed AC Delco dealers (as listed on AC Delco India website). Two dealers said "they will call back" (Dealerspeak for "no"). Most others didnot carry the item. One did not pick up the phone.

So picked up an Amaron.
Checked charging, and all good.


Additional update:
The tyres get Nitrogen. Rs 60 for fresh fill of all 5 tyres. I was alwasy sceptical about Nitrogen. Air is already 78% N2. Now what could an additional 10-15% N2 do ? But no harm in trying, so I got it.

Result: Steering feels lighter, and ride is a little smoother. I do not have any explanation for these. My steering used to feel a little heavy, but is much better now. (Tyres are 185/60 R14 - as against the stock 175/75/ R13)

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by condor

... Called BatMobile, who initially didnot agree to come, but later did so after Dhanush called & convinced them. (Dhanush, thanks so much for that ! )...

What / Who is "BatMobile" ?

[condor]

Exide BatMobile - the free battery (jumpstart) service.

[condor]

4 years, 5 weeks to a Four & Four Zeroes. The Ikon crossed the 40k mark today.



The last 10k covered in a shade over 9 months.

[condor]

Replaced the sun-film I had got 4 years back, when the car was new. That was Film-Pro / Carbon, 50-VLT. I now have a lighter Garware film on the sides, which has better heat rejection than the earlier one. Visibility is excellent from inside.

[condor]

Had a quick run to Akkalkot, Maharashtra. 1440 km in 46 hours - pretty much running most of the two days. Odo is now at about 41681.

Recent modifications/ changes like Nitrogen in tyres, the AUX-in cable for the mp3 player, the Sansa clip+ for playing the music, heat reducing sun-film on the sides, the Hella 500FF's - all put to good use.

On-ward:
BLR- Hiriyur -Challakere-Bellary-Hospet-Bijapur-Solapur-Akkalkot

Return:
Akkalkot-Solapur-Bijapur-Hospet / TB Dam - Chitradurga - Tumkur - BLR


http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post3044785

[condor]

4 years, 3 months
42450 km

A/c diverter valve finally conks out after about 2 years 8 months. Rather than replace it, got a by-pass job.

Car otherwise running fine.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by condor

4 years, 3 months
42450 km

A/c diverter valve finally conks out after about 2 years 8 months. Rather than replace it, got a by-pass job.

Car otherwise running fine.

Sorry to know about this, but what does the valve do? If it can be bypassed, then is it necessary?

And is it very expensive?

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by condor

A/c diverter valve finally conks out after about 2 years 8 months. Rather than replace it, got a by-pass job.
.

Finally, eh?

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Sorry to know about this, but what does the valve do? If it can be bypassed, then is it necessary?

vnabhi, when you select hot air, the valve sends in hot coolant from the engine. When it malfunctions, even if you select cold air, it keeps sending in hot coolant.

When you bypass the valve, you lose hot air functionality.

And is it very expensive?

IIRC, its around 2.5 k. But, the problem is that the part is never reliable, from like say, the introduction of IKON's

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by dhanushs

vnabhi, when you select hot air, the valve sends in hot coolant from the engine. When it malfunctions, even if you select cold air, it keeps sending in hot coolant.

When you bypass the valve, you lose hot air functionality.

Got you, thanks. I guess only people living in cold climes will ever use the heater. I've used mine only once or twice in Ooty. So if that part is expensive, I guess it is good to by-pass it.

[Fordmanchau]

Luckily, the Divertor valve issue has not yet come to hound me. I often use to turn the setting between cold and hot, as sometimes the A/c chills too much for my comfort, when the weather is good.

It's been 4 years 2 months and 33.5K kms for my Ikon. The battery also is going good, but the signs of weakness is already showing. May be in a month or two, the replacement would come up.