The odometer currently stands at 80,000.
Faced quite a few issues with the Safari this time. Not sure if this was due to it not being used at all over the last 4 months.
With a marriage in the family, it wasn't a pleasant experience. But, fortunately, the team at Vijay Motoros, Palakkad, did a great job and got the vehicle back in action on time.
The first issue that came up was a faulty water pump. Vehicle was being driven to Palakkad, from Trichy, and smoke started coming into the cabin from near the steering column. Driver stopped the vehicle for 5 minutes and found nothing burnt or damaged on visual inspection in the engine bay. The smoke came only when the a/c was switched on.
On reaching Palakkad, regardless of it being a Sunday, two technicians were sent by Vijay Motors for an inspection. The issue never came up during their test drives! Regardless, they said their suspicion lies with the water pump.
The vehicle was driven back to Trichy and the water pump and timing belt was changed. The odometer stood at 75,000 kms. Cost came to around 13,000 INR, with discount thrown in for the monsoon camp that ran during the start of August.
The work was done at VST motors, Trichy.
The billing had INR 1,000 marked for ECU diagnostics. When asked the SA what this was, he mentioned it was for checking the ECU with their laptop!!!
Went back to them since the ABS light was on. They took one whole day and weren't able to resolve it. In fact, the error code which was there only for right front wheels, now was present for the left front wheel as well. This and a WHOLE lot of grease on the panels were the take away that day.
I had noticed a change in the engine idling sound when I started up the vehicle the first time after arrival. And smoke. Lots of it all across the gears and acceleration. Previously smoke used to come only under heavy acceleration. Poured in a can of System D.
Few days later, started off to Palakkad and even before I hit the outskirts of the city, the service light came up. Used TorquePro and the OBD scanner to clear the code and completed the drive.
Error code went from this:
to this:
Noticed that the error code came up only when I hit speeds of 70 kmph. Told the team at Vijay Motors to first clean the EGR and check.
Took 4 hours to get it done and they called back saying it is all fixed. No more errors.
Fortunately, I was able to catch them doing a final test drive on the way to collect the vehicle. Got into the driver seat and the first thing I noticed was that the pickup seems to be better. But smoke was still present as before. And on hitting 80 kmph, got back the service light. It was so bad that the vehicle was not able to climb up a small ramp while trying to make a u-turn. Fortunately, was carrying the OBD scanner, so ended up clearing the code and drove back to the service center.
The error code now was:
On getting back, the SA got hold of the lead technical supervisor and told him of the issue we faced. Gave the error code to him and off he ran to check his manual. The supervisor came back with a request to leave the vehicle for a day so that they can check the turbo system thoroughly. Date and time was agreed. Paid INR 700 for EGR cleaning and drove back home.
Left the vehicle back with them at 9am on 21st. Got a call at 1pm saying that there is oil in a sensor connected to the turbo and they suspect the turbo itself. Not a pleasant news!
I had searched the forum for any leads and came across a post here about a new 2.2 that faced similar issue - service light on reaching around 90 kmph. The issue was traced to a faulty cracked plumbing hose. Asked the SA to check the plumbing before touching the turbo.
Now, with all the mumbo - jumbo that I did with the OBD scanner and TorquePro, they had realized that I wasn't the regular vehicle owner, due to which they took this suggestion seriously.
4pm got a call that it was in fact a hose that had a leak. This hose not only feeds the turbo but also the brake booster. Had had a case of brakes going hard without any action couple of days back. All due to this leak.
The cause of all problems:
Went for a test drive at 5pm, hit high speeds and never got the service light. The vehicle pick up was back to normal. Wheel spin in first gear. No excess smoke. Brakes were working normally.
Had asked for the the part to be replaced, but they had none in stock. So they did the next best thing, sealed, with m-seal, I reckon.
They kept the vehicle over night to do another test drive the next day morning to make sure the jugaard is working. It worked.
Got delivery on 22nd morning at 10am. Cost was INR 1,260.
They also identified the issue with the ABS, namely, a wire cut in the sensor. Not in stock, so had to leave it as is.
Drove close to 1,000 kms between 22nd to 29th August and the issues never re-surfaced.
Need to thank Dheeraj, Service Advisor and Akhil, technical supervisor, at Vijay Motors for their support and getting the work done on such short notice. There were two long consecutive weekends during the said time and there was quite a backlog.
Doesn't end here.
Returned home and parked the car. An hour later, had to ferry few relative. Insert key and dashboard lights all start flashing!!!
Turned out to be a dead battery, could hear boiling sound from within the battery. Died after 6 years and 1 month of service in the vehicle; this was the battery that came with the vehicle.
Got Amaron 80 amps at INR 4,800 (got INR 1,200 as cash back for the old battery) from the local Amaron dealer.
The next part that will need attention are the tires. Will most probably be going back in for Michelin's.
Post fixing the issues above, the vehicle ran like a dream. All drives had at least 8 people in the vehicle, and in some instances, 6 adults + 5 kids in the boot! Don't ask me how they sat in there, as I gave up trying to convince them otherwise. But the continuous chatter and the flashing camera's seemed like they had fun back there.