[h14]

March 2016

76190 kms on the odo and got the tyres balanced, rotated and aligned at Tyredrome on March 19.

Didn't have any pulling or steering wobble issues, but was experiencing a wobble from the rear at high speeds which I believe was attributed to rear wheel balancing.

The Earth1's have now done 33k kms and seem good for lot more.



Clutch change:

It was 76,703kms on the Odo and got the clutch kit changed on March 25.

Was trying to push to Atleast 80k mark but the hard shifts were hurting in city conditions and also was a pain when someone else tried driving.

So went ahead with the same. Opted to do the works at home with my mech and got the parts from dhanam (TATA OEM).

I was away from home when the work was done and hence no pics of work in progress. I had a look at the release bearing and though it came with Tata packing, the part had "Brazil" embossed.

Didn't open the clutch kit, but my mech claims it's exactly the same as FIAT oem (valeo). Not sure if he's correct.

Also changed the oil filter. Car has done around 16k on delvac1 and oil texture and viscosity remain good. Planning to change at 80 along with timing, but the oil filter was already overdue and hence changed it now.

Some pics:








Total costs were Rs.7,200 for clutch kit, release bearing, oil filter for linea and radiator bottom hose and few other components for my other car (Select) and labour for both the cars.

Shall update here once I get the split up of costs from him.

The first highway drive after clutch change:



MAY 2016: Timing Chain Replacement

It's 80 up on the odo now and one more home run completed over the weekend along with some servicing. As I have documented in this thread, the timing chain was replaced in a re-call when the odo had hit the 30k mark, so the next change was due at 90, but off late I had been observing the chain noise on cold starts, though the noise would disappear after few seconds, it was constantly lingering in my mind on whether to continue till 90 or to replace it now.

The stories of the chain touching the cover/oil pump screws and so on only made matters worse and hence decided to change it now rather than being sorry later. Moreover the delvac1 had also done 20k and so decided to replace the timing along with oil and filter.

Initially decided to visit Marvel for the works, but lack of leave and with having to be in CBE over the weekend decided to do it at home with my usual mech. It was fixed that he would come home around 2pm on Saturday (May14), but he in his usual best was delayed and finally it was 7PM when we started work.

It was already late and not helping things was the heavy rain and continuous power cuts! With all this adding to the complex process of the chain replacement, work was finally completed by 2am on Sunday! I never knew that the timing replacement was such a tedious job. It would have been much easier if it was done on a lift, even then this is far more complex than say the Palio 1.2/1.6!

Rain halting work


Looks a little messy ain't it?


The pad's and stretcher


The stock aux belts, no visible cracks and are in good shape




The timing cover shows no sign of any damage from the chain!




The water pump, did not change as there were no leaks or noise from it


This is how work was going on for half of the time! Just a single work lamp


Cleaning the old paste residues


A small video of the new chain being fixed

Video

Also got the coolant changed and after a long time, Cody is back to Selena. Will switch back and stick to Mobil from the next change.

Total Damage, Rs. 8200/- for the below:

Modified timing kit (Chain, pads, stretcher, packing)
Selena WR 4 litres
Tutela 4 litres
Oil Filter
Labor for all the above

Trip data from the weekend homerun

Chennai Home to Coimbatore Home


Coimbatore Home to Chennai Home


Coimbatore Home to Chengalpet


Coimbatore to Ulundurpet Toll

[h14]

The Odo now stands at 83,327. Got the K&N cleaned and oiled on Saturday when the Odo was at 83,832. Around 20,000 kms since the last time it was cleaned. Apart from that nothing much to write about.

Below are the stats from the latest home run (Chennai-Coimbatore-Chennai) between June 10-12.

[h14]

The Odo now stands at 84,542 and one more weekend home run completed.
Got the a.c. pollen filter changed. Car was running on a wire-mesh filter for long time now.
The tyres starting to show visible wear. The earth1 have now done close to 42000 kms and they sort of wearing out faster since the 40k mark. Let's see how long it's gonna last.

The pollen filter

(Mysteriously the filter pic got deleted from my mobile, hence only box)

The outgoing wire-mesh filter.



Chennai to Coimbatore



Coimbatore to Chennai



Coimbatore to Ulundurpet

[h14]

Battery Change:

This happened before the Bangalore drive. On July 1, got the abs/airbag error, but car started with a slightly longer crank. Evening after work, again the error was displayed and this time the crank was even longer, was slightly worried, but reached home without issues.

I was supposed to start the bangalore early next morning and was slightly worried on the battery. The error last came about 1 month back and at that time I topped up distilled water and the error was gone. The error used to come only during the first start of the day, but this time since it happened in the evening too, was worried and at around 10pm tried to crank and check as I did not want to have issues early in the morning and as feared it didn't crank. Battery was dead and even the interior light too glew dinner than usual.

Checked with JP battery and scheduled an early morning appointment. But eventually they reached my place after 10am on Saturday (I do live quite far away from their store).

Now, my current Amaron Flo DIN 55 was 3yrs old and had a 48 month warranty (pro-rata discount after 24 months), based on this I was eligible for a 25% discount, but issue was that the warranty card was in Coimbatore and for such warranty discount, the dealer needs to bill along with the warranty card. He gave me the option to pay full cash and return battery and warranty card later and collect the discount amount, I was considering that option, but when inquired for any other low cost battery, he suggested the PowerZone (a sub brand of Amara Raja, who also make Amaron) which comes with 24 months warranty and can get the same for a cheaper price.

The deal was made and price was Rs.4100 for the PowerZone DIN 55 on exchange with old battery. A good deal nevertheless

Tyre Update:

The Yoko earth1's have now completed 43,000 kms. This is how they look now. They do look good for more, but off later the wear is more prominent on the shoulders.

AC Blower Cleaning

The Odo stood at 85,500 when the blower was cleaned. The niggling noise from the a.c. blower was becoming a very bad irritant and last week it went from bad to worse.

I was in Bangalore that time and couldn't attend to it.

I was back to Coimbatore last week and drove down to ambal ac works and this noise disappeared! This was the second time the noise was playing hide and seek when visiting the place to fix it.

So this time decided to get the blower cleaned. I assumed it to be a tricky job, but seemed pretty simple. They removed the blower in less than 5 mins and cleaned and fixed it back.

Since the noise was not present today before cleaning, can't say if it was resolved or not. But now after the return drive to Chennai, the noise has not come back and I believe the cleaning has resolved it

Denso


Before Cleaning




Blowing Air


The place, crowded as always

Trip Logs:

Ranipet to Krishnagiri


Karumathampatti to Ulundurpet


Chennai - Bangalore - Coimbatore - Chennai (Includes city driving in Bangalore & long idling at the AC workshop in CBE)

[h14]

One more unplanned home run happened last weekend. Had to visit my uncles farm in the TN-KL border and so the return journey was via a different route. As a result the odo has now crept over the 87 mark.

Below was the return route:

Govindapuram-Anamalai-Sungam-Dhali-Palani-Dindigul-Chennai.

I found the Ananmalai - Sungam - Dhali better than the Sungam-Mukkonam road to get to Palani. This was scenic and had loads of curves. Definitely recommended for those who love 2 lanes with a nice dose of corners This route takes you very close to Palani, infact joins just before the shanmuga river bridge. So those travelling from/to chennai/valparai/topslip can try this to bypass Udumalpet and Pollachi.

From Palani its the usual route I took.

Stats from Dindigul to Trichy:



A small break at CCD on the outskirts of Trichy:

Trip stats from Govindapuram to Chennai:



Next day, gave it a well deserved wash!





Cody got a new buddy today in the office parking, was refreshing to see the red Evo90!

[h14]

The odo has creeped over the 89,000 kms mark after a drive to KL over the Independence day weekend.

Locked out with keys inside

Before that the inevitable happened. I got locked out with the keys inside! Yes, it can happen in a FIAT and I was devastated to say the least

This happened on Thursday Aug 11 at the OMR Shell fuel pump. I tanked up there at around 6:30 pm and pulled over to check the air pressure. As usual I stepped out of the car when this was being done and the key was in the barrel, my wallet in the FL seat, all windows up; but luckily had my mobile in hand.

It was just few days before on Aug5 that I identified an issue. When the FL door was opened from the outside, it locked all the 4 doors. That time it happened when I was inside the car and when a friend opened the FL door to get in. I had decided to get it fixed on the next drive to CBE and had been cautious. But somehow that day at the Shell pump, I completely forgot about this issue and whilst the attendant was checking the air pressure, I thought to check the stepney too and opened the FL door to access the boot-switch and that was it! The inevitable had happened and I was locked out.

The spare key was 500kms away in my hometown, my wallet, apartment key etc were stuck inside the car. Called up Dhans who was at work and he rushed to me for help whilst I was trying to reach RSA.

Some 3-4 attempts and I was unable to reach RSA as they were "busy". Was frustrated and tried to look for other options. Called up the SM of Marvel FIAT Erode who along with one of their technician briefed me on ways to remove the beading and unlock.

While I was trying to remove the beading with a screwdriver borrowed from the Shell guys, a complete stranger in a Punto Evo came to my rescue. He was there to re-fuel and on seeing me offered his help saying that he had opened up his punto previously and swiftly removed the beading. Dhans had also reached the place by this time and we scavenged for a metal string from the road side to make it like a hook to slide in and lift up the latch.

After sometime another guy in a EcoSport joined the party and tried, but we couldn't open. Meanwhile RSA was still unreachable. It was already close to 30 mins and I convinced the 2 Good Samaritan's to leave as it was getting late and after assuring that I can get help they left the scene. There was another Punto owner who pulled over to check on how I managed to get locked out and expressed his concern and suggested not to waste time and to go ahead and break the window glass as it was getting late!

Then we remembered that VV car decors was nearby and called up Vadivel who came there to assist and by this time I finally managed to reach RSA who shared a contact and they assured to reach the spot in the next 45 mins. Vadivel tried in vain and upon closer inspection said that the rod connecting the latch and key-barrel seems to have disconnected and hence will not be possible to open up. Not sure on how that had happened and hence we decided to wait out for RSA to arrive and sent off vadivel.

RSA reached around 20:15 and tried hard for some 30 odd mins. When we shared what Vadivel expressed, they didn't pay heed and rather suggested that the mechanism was different and that its not opening due to some other reason. Having said that, the 2 RSA guys were very patient and tried their best. It was around 9:30 that we gave up on this method and started looking for alternate approaches.

Manual opening can be done only in the FR door or the boot (remove the number plate light and access the latch) but that was ruled out since the 2011 Linea has fixed rear seat backrest unlike the 2012/2010 models. Hence opening the boot was of no use and was not attempted.

We then tried to insert a steel scale through the A pillar and tried to reach the handle, but the scale wouldn't go through, next was the attempt to insert the metal string and try to slide it through the gap in-between the door/body. The gap was very tight and was difficult to get it through.

Once it was in, the approach was to slide it behind the handle and try to push it open, after repeated failed attempts, managed to get it behind, but it was simply impossible to pull it open. These 2 guys took turns and tried hard and it was just not happening.

Finally at around 23:15, we decided to break open the door glass! It was a tough and painful decision! Cannot park the car there as it was neither safe nor can shell folks allow it. One option was to tow the car and park in a safe spot (it was in neutral and no handbrake) but then we cannot steer the car and also by that time we were pretty much convinced that what Vadivel spotted was correct and even if I get the duplicate key from home, cannot unlock manually using key. Flat-bed was a very expensive option too!

A very tired Dhans thinking on what next

So the decision was taken and we broke open. It required some hefty blows using a stone :'(

The glass then shattered to pieces and we opened up and drove it out of the pump and started cleaning. The Shell folks were extremely co-operative in this situation and they had to stay for over 45 mins past their closing time due to this.

The RSA guys patiently cleaned up the glass pieces post which I drove back home with a heavy heart.

Got back home and wrapped up the door nicely with a bed-sheet and locked the doors. Thanks to Aravind for the tip because I was planning to use news paper and packing tape. This was a far better way to avoid things getting into the car overnight.

Wrapped up at my parking

Next morning headed straight to Ramkay FIAT. The SA made note and checked for part availability and said that its available as per the system and will check the part physically before starting work.

The staff haven't arrived at that time and took a while for them to start work. But once started it was done in reasonably quick time. Once the glass was replaced, next was the FL door lock issue. Initial suspect was the actuator but they checked and confirmed that the latch was the culprit and needs to be replaced. The cost for the latch set with actuator was Rs.2850+tax. Hearing the price, I decided to try for some other alternatives and was able to source one from a flood hit car.

Hence asked Ramkay not to change the latch and instead got only the glass replaced and took delivery.

Work in progress. It was a fresh 2016 stock

Cost of the FR door glass was Rs.760 + labour. The latch was also replaced and the issue is resolved now. Got all this done in time to start off to Coimbatore for the trip down south to KL for the weekend!

[Gannu_1]

Really sorry to hear that! Must have been painful to break the window.

Just wondering, is there no way to break this small front quarter glass to access the key?

[h14]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

Really sorry to hear that! Must have been painful to break the window.

Just wondering, is there no way to break this small front quarter glass to access the key?

Possible, but the quarter glass is expensive than the door glass (Rs 1300 approx) plus the question of immediate availability and longer installation time decided against that.

[sukiwa]

Sad to know trouble you had to go through.

Originally Posted by h14

I tanked up there at around 6:30 pm and pulled over to check the air pressure. As usual I stepped out of the car when this was being done and the key was in the barrel, my wallet in the FL seat, all windows up; but luckily had my mobile in hand.

Just curious to know, was engine switched off when you stepped out OR engine was still running during this 3-4 hour struggle to reach out for key.

Cost of the FR door glass was Rs.760 + labour. The latch was also replaced and the issue is resolved now.

Glad to know expenses weren't too much.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by h14

So the decision was taken and we broke open. It required some hefty blows using a stone :'(

The glass then shattered to pieces

Oh...bad. Its for sure a painful experience.

The first thing I would do if I need to get out of the car to check something is "lower the front window" and I am very much used to this practice now.

[h14]

Originally Posted by sukiwa

Just curious to know, was engine switched off when you stepped out OR engine was still running

It was switched off.

Originally Posted by arun_josie

I am very much used to this practice now

I've started to practice the same! Either take the key in hand or roll down the window. Lesson learnt the hard way :(

[condor]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

Just wondering, is there no way to break this small front quarter glass to access the key?

@Gannu, far easier to replace one window glass, than the quarter-panel. QP will need glue-ing too.

[KK_HakunaMatata]

Originally Posted by h14

The odo has creeped over the 89,000 kms mark after a drive to KL over the Independence day weekend.

Locked out with keys inside

Not sure how this works or whether it would be effective for our cars, but good to know anyways. Apart from this method there is a string method of unlocking, which only can be used in older vehicles which had pull up lever system of locking/unlocking. But this seems to work on any vehicle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzP2tIH6K5c

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by h14

Some 3-4 attempts and I was unable to reach RSA as they were "busy". Was frustrated and tried to look for other options.

Sad to know about the incident. But I guess the most frustrating part was not able to get across to Fiat helpline. If Fiat cannot make the workshop experience satisfactory, they could atleast do the offsite experience more pleasant. These are the experience which decide whether one should continue with Fiat or not.

Glad to know that you came away with this episodes with some hard learnt lessons.. Aren't all the glass expected to be shatter proof?

So the decision was taken and we broke open. It required some hefty blows using a stone :'(

The glass then shattered to pieces and we opened up and drove it out of the pump and started cleaning.

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by h14

Locked out with keys inside

I am reminded of one instance when I was locked out of my Corolla when I stepped out to clean the glass by spraying the windshield wiper fluid. Key was on battery on position and back in 2003 even the Corolla had to be fitted with Autocop systems. I closed the door accidentlally and was locked outside in Chennai about 350 kms away from home and this was just before I was about to start the drive back home. I had to ask one of my staff to go to my home, take the spare key and take a bus to Chennai, while I waited patiently for a full day. Luckily the car was still in its parked position in the hotel.

Originally Posted by h14

One option was to tow the car and park in a safe spot (it was in neutral and no handbrake) but then we cannot steer the car

Just wondering how you got out of the car with engaging the parking brake or putting the car in gear? The car could roll away if someone accidentally even leaned on your car. Always make it a habit to never leave the car without engaging the handbrake.