[MAS]

Update:

I had been travelling away from the country very frequently and the Endy was left in the garage covered in sheets of textile for quite sometime.

Yesterday morning, i decided to take the Endeavour out, as my Fiesta had almost done 60K kms and was due for service.

Surprise!! The battery was almost dead and the starter motor did not crank. I plan to get the car back in shape tomorrow either with a recharge of the old battery or a buying a new one.

Any suggestions on which battery to buy?

[arup.misra]

Originally Posted by MAS

Update:

Any suggestions on which battery to buy?

I sail in the same boat as you. Travelling too keeps me away quite often. I recently changed from OEM SF Sonic to Amaron Pro . Its got a 3 + 2 year warranty.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by MAS

Surprise!! The battery was almost dead and the starter motor did not crank. I plan to get the car back in shape tomorrow either with a recharge of the old battery or a buying a new one.

Any suggestions on which battery to buy?

IMO, isn't it better to disconnect the battery and then cover it under textiles till your back and ready to roll.

Suggestion: I say Amaron.

Anurag.

[MAS]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

IMO, isn't it better to disconnect the battery and then cover it under textiles till your back and ready to roll.

Suggestion: I say Amaron.

Anurag.

In the past, I used to disconnect the battery and go on my tours. But this time, I had absolutely no time and I only remembered it every time I sat on the airplane (the moment I start missing my cars).

I will try to get Amaron Pro tomorrow, if the shops are open.

[Wanderers]

Hi MAS,

Sorry that your battery went dead.
I do have similar travel scenarios but never exceed 3-4 weeks so I do not disconnect. I think since my Fortuner is less than a year old, the starting may not be the problem.
Request your as well as Anurag advise on this.
Should we disconnect every time as I believe this is also linked to the life of the battery.
We have this as first diesel car and I am afraid that battery would not last long like in a petrol car.

Thanks

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by Wanderers

Should we disconnect every time as I believe this is also linked to the life of the battery.

A small example but not a relevant vehicle I am quoting. I own a 2009 Karizma R that is lying idle 95% of the time and I use it once a week or sometimes once a month as my major usage is by car. Earlier I never bothered to discontent the battery when it is idle so after a month or so it is dead. My FNG mechanic said if not riding the bike just disconnect the battery and keep it safe outside and when needed plug it back.

I have been following his advice from the past 1 year and have no issues in getting the bike started in the first kick.

Since all automobiles being similar I am thinking this rule will be applicable to cars too.

If your suspecting the battery condition itself is worse then I suggest one test:

1) Park the car pointing onto a white wall or a dark area so as to notice the headlight beam;

2) Switch ON the low beams;

3) Crank the starter and see how much does the headlight dim when the starter motor is working.

If the headlight dims more then the battery is on its life's end.

CAUTION: Do NOT thumb the starter for long time and Do NOT do this test frequently.

Anurag.

[MAS]

Originally Posted by Wanderers

Hi MAS,

Sorry that your battery went dead.
I do have similar travel scenarios but never exceed 3-4 weeks so I do not disconnect. I think since my Fortuner is less than a year old, the starting may not be the problem.
Request your as well as Anurag advise on this.
Should we disconnect every time as I believe this is also linked to the life of the battery.
We have this as first diesel car and I am afraid that battery would not last long like in a petrol car.

Thanks

When i was working away from home, almost a decade back, I had serious problems of the battery draining from my first car, a Santro. Disconnecting the battery terminal (positive) and leaving the car idle used to save me anxious moments running behind the battery wala.

But there is a negative to this too. Disconnecting the battery will also deactivate the security system. Hence, only do it if you have the car parked in a safe place. Secondly, when reconnecting the battery terminal, make sure that the car keys are not inside the car. The reason is that the car's security system could lock the car.

BOUGHT A NEW BATTERY:
I had ordered a Amaron battery from batterywale.com, which is Amaron's authorised online sales website. The follow up and price was good, but as today was a holiday, they said they could only deliver tomorrow.

As I wanted to get the battery today, I took out the old battery from the Endeavour and went hunting in my Fiesta, for the new battery. After searching for an open battery shop for an hour or so, I bought an Amaron Heavy Duty battery, AAM-HW-HC620D31R for 5300 bucks, after exchanging my old battery.

Strange observations
- The website batterywale.com, recommended a different battery when comapred to www.batterybhai.com and www.bookmybattery.com; The former recommended AAM-GO-00150D31R, while the latter two recommended AAM-HW-HC620D31R.

- www.bookmybattery.com was the offering batteries at the lowest price (almost 10% lower), when compared to the other websites. But, as I wanted my Endeavour to be up and running today, I did not wait for their Cash On Delivery from the website.

- My old battery returned the right voltage when tested, but when the positive and negative terminals were shorted, there was absolutely no spark.

Finally, my Endeavour was back to life and is running very smoothly. I guess the ECU was reset due to this episode. All in all, a holiday, well spent

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by MAS

But there is a negative to this too. Disconnecting the battery will also deactivate the security system. Hence, only do it if you have the car parked in a safe place.

In addition to this if you don't have a safer parking lot once the battery is disconnected, pull out the fuse for the starter motor or ignition system that will render the car useless to a theif.

Originally Posted by MAS

I bought an Amaron Heavy Duty battery, AAM-HW-HC620D31R for 5300 bucks, after exchanging my old battery.

Best manufacturer in battery business and a must for a peaceful ownership IMO.

Originally Posted by MAS

Finally, my Endeavour was back to life and is running very smoothly. I guess the ECU was reset due to this episode.

Congrats and good the ECU was reset by this activity but all trip meter data and music system settings also would have been reset which is a pain getting it back.
Don't worry the ECU learn your driving and customises itself to your driving style and IIRC this happens every 3K kms.

Anurag.

[MAS]

The Endeavour is serving me well as a weekend truck. Love the respect it gets on the road. The Endeavour has clocked close to 30K kms and I will take it for service by the end of this month. (Last service was done in August 2013, surprised I missed out mentioning the service in my ownership thread).

The Fiesta is my daily use car and is about 1K kms shy of the 70K kms service. I had been to Ooty recently and the details are in my Fiesta's ownership thread http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...ml#post3492335

Though the Fiesta performed well; I want to drivthe Endeavour to Ooty, but I am worried of two potential issues that I forsee in the Endeavour.
- Automatic gear box = No engine braking on descends = over-heating of brakes
- Large turning radius = sharp U turns require more planning and careful execution.

Any thoughts about the potential issues could help me out.

[MAS]

Gave into the temptation of modifying the Endeavour.

Last weekend, I took the truck to 3M and blacked out the bottom portion of the space around the front air intake in the bumper.

Today, i bought a pair of Hella Ralle 3003 for the Endeavour. Since the Ralle 3003 do not come with the FRP HELLA cover, I bought the cover of Ralle 3000 for protecting the glass reflectors. Bought the lights and covers for 10K from GP Road. Had to park the Endeavour in Express Avenue and walk down to Variety Auto.

I took the truck + Ralle 3003 to Gokul in Adyar. Thanks to Neol, i got this wonderful contact http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...rket-horn.html. Gokul seems to know his job. Since Gokul wants a full day to set up the clamps (no welding), I will try and squeeze a day out in the next few weeks. Since the Endeavour is due for its yearly service, I might as well fix the lights post service.

Will keep this thread updated.

EDIT: My 1500th post

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by MAS

Though the Fiesta performed well; I want to drive the Endeavour to Ooty, but I am worried of two potential issues that I forsee in the Endeavour.
- Automatic gear box = No engine braking on descends = over-heating of brakes

Any thoughts about the potential issues could help me out.

Hi, maybe a silly question can you not lock the automatic into 1 or 2 to ensure engine braking? You will of course still need to modulate the brakes and keep a sharp eye/nose w.r.t. your brakes.

I routinely take the steep Masinagudi route on the way down and try and stay in second gear on my manual Cruze. If you lock into second, there should be no issues at all!

Have seen many people going down in what seems to be neutral!!!

[MAS]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Hi, maybe a silly question can you not lock the automatic into 1 or 2 to ensure engine braking? You will of course still need to modulate the brakes and keep a sharp eye/nose w.r.t. your brakes.

I routinely take the steep Masinagudi route on the way down and try and stay in second gear on my manual Cruze. If you lock into second, there should be no issues at all!

Have seen many people going down in what seems to be neutral!!!

Hi itwasntme (great handle!!)

Endeavour has a strange slush box. It is rugged, but very basic in nature and one need not even press the brake lever to slot the gear from P - R - N - D - 2 -1

Unlike other Automatic transmissions, the Endeavour has no Engine braking in any gear other than the overdrive (6th gear by my calculations), which is activated when the car touches 85 kmph true speed, irrespective of the pace of acceleration.

In other words, the Endeavour's engine goes back to Idle rpm as soon as the foot is lifted from the accelerator. Effectively, even if I lock the gear in 2, the Endeavour simply cruises down the slope with the engine at idle rpm. This is similar to putting a manual car in 2nd gear on a descend and pressing the clutch. No Engine Braking at all!!!

[4x4addict]

@MAS:

YOu can come down in 1 or 2. Since it is a torque converter box, the engine braking is not as good as the Manual, DSG or AMT boxes, but keeps the vehicle in a manage speed.

I live in Ooty and my Landcruiser was automatic, I used to go down in 2 and it worked for the most part and had to use brakes only to come to a crawl or stop.

[MAS]

35,000 kms Update

The car crossed 35000 kms today.


The last 10K kms have been a mixed bag.

Nov 2014 - There was an issue with the aircon as it stopped cooling when the car was on idle but cooled normally when revs build up. The car was about to be out of warranty on 2nd Dec 2014. Took the car to the MPL Workshop on 28th Nov 2014 and luckily we could register the fault in the aircon with Ford.

Ford on its part tried to shoot the case down, but with amazing and timely help from Mr. Sampath of MPL Ford, the whole aircon was changed under warranty, saving me over 40K bucks. The car had crossed 30K and took the opportunity to carry out the service. Ford had recommended to change the T-belt at 80K kms or 4 years, whichever is earlier. The T-belt was replaced. The service cost me around 19K.

April 2015 - The engine check light had lit up while driving back to Chennai on a highway.


Called up MPL L3 Technician, Mr. Kumar and he said that there was an issue with the exhaust-air intake system. Since there was no loss of power, he advised me to drive down to Chennai (a good 250 kms). The next day, i start the car to take it to the service station, but, voila, the check light disappeared. Still i took the car to thw workshop and i simply could not get the check light glowing.

Two days later, on the same trip back to Chennai, the same highway, the same speed, the check light started glowing. Same process followed and the next day morning, the check light disappeared. Did not take it to Mpl Ford as they could not diagnose the issue without the glowing check light. Touchwood, from day on, the check light has not shown its ugly face while driving.

June 2015 -
After over a year after purchasing the Hella Rally 3003, i managed to install them at Privilege Car Spa. The guys there did a wonderful job and I'm enjoying the wonderful install. Ask for Deva at Privilege as he is the best.


September 2015 -
Since it was almost a year since its last service, and since i had planned to visit Nagore Dargah this weekend, i wanted to change the engine oil at MPL Ford. I had landed at 10 am from Shanghai on Friday and on my way from the airport, i called up Mr. Prasad of MPL OMR. We agrred to get the car serviced the same day and he prepared a slot for 11 am.

But, i could reach the workshop at 11.55 am (thanks to the traffic). The MPL Team including my Service Advisor, Mr. Noor, took the car and work started almost immediately. The oil was changed and all checks were done very swiftly. The car was delivered back at 12.45 pm. The service guys were amazing and it just took 50 minutes to service and check the Endeavour. The cost of service was Rs. 3200

The trip to Nagore was postponed by a week and as i had time today, i decided to clean the K&N filter. To my surprise, the air filter cabinet had oil and the lower part of the K&N Filter was almost soaked in oil!!!

Agian called up Mr. Kumar from MPL and he said that since K&N was a wet type filter, it could be the excess oil from the filter. The oil did not smell like engine oil and hence wiped it clean. I also managed to clean the K&N filter using the K&N kit i had purchased a few months back. The car now has improved pick up and the gears shift happen butter smooth. Is this normal?

Otherwise the truck is doing well and since this is my weekend car, i get to drive it much less. I wish i could change this, but the Fiesta serveservesxceedingly well during weekdays.

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by MAS

The car now has improved pick up and the gears shift happen butter smooth. Is this normal?

Yes, perfectly normal. K&N is indeed a wet type filter and tends to get choked with use and needs regular cleaning (a hassle if you ask me). Since your engine is now breathing better, it performs better.