[abirnale]

There isn’t any long trip or activity happening this month - the pluviophile in us is eagerly waiting for some rains!

But then the short trip to our town outskirts is easy - we had been to Muninagara Dam backwaters on Sunday afternoon. The water levels are scary low. Bunch of bikers and a Thar had gone down to the bank of the water and haing photoshoots, another bunch was playing cricket on the lakebed. So we decided not to go closer to that cacophony. We strayed further into another village - the road is broken and not many humans in the next village. Exactly the way we prefer - without noise and disturbances. The decision was rewarded with an unusual Indian Guar sighting. The baby calf was shy and disappeared even before we pull our camera and click. But then the big fellow stayed back, giving us pose and then disappeared on the shrubs on the hillock on far end.

Happy and content with such a sighting in the outskirts, we spend some time parked on the roadside, watching sunset and then returned home! A great evening after a long time I would say!

And here are the clicks:















Thanks and see you soon with another update!

[abirnale]

For a lazy Sunday, we thought of taking a short drive around BR Hills. Early morning departure from home, blissful drive via Kanakapura - Kollegal and return the same way, it was good stretch for a relaxed drive. Unfortunately not much action inside the BR Hills section - the trees are still very dry, not much greenery, most lakes are dried out. There is not enough rain yet - Bangalore received more rain in last week!

We had planned to take the afternoon Safari in BRT but did not go for it owing to long wait time and nothing much generally happens on BRT safaris.

The highlight is - the Gulmohar trees in this area are in full bloom. They are lovely to see, click and fill in the atmosphere with amazing red and orange hues! It’s a beautiful sight worth having this drive.















Nothing much happening nowadays - just waiting for the rains to turn our surroundings into lush green carpet! See you again with new update.

[abirnale]

Things happen!

Remember the episode from last year when the front left tire brake-pad sensor connection wire had cut-off wile I was on road? It happened again this week - with front right tire! The brake-pads were changed recently, and I was sure that the warning of “brake-pad worn out” must be a false one! I checked quickly and noticed the cut wire - this seems like a very low quality piece of cable in XUV7OO and been causing a ruckus. This wire piece needs some serious reengineering I guess - someone at M&M reading this post?

Apparently, you don’t get just the coupler - M&M asks you to replace the entire wiring harness. It’s not about the cost but the work requires you to leave the car for almost a day plus and the be prepared to see the ripped off fittings to replace this wiring harness! Stupid way to address the issue.

But then, there are ASCs like Chrome Motors, who help you avoid that inconvenience by giving a simple solution: I went there on Monday morning hoping for a quick solution and they lived up to my expectations! Majority of their staff is occupied with 3XO trainings, ASCs is already overflowing with cars and spare parts continue to be challenge! Even then, as soon as drive into the ASC, the SA Zubair and the expert test driver Manju noticed my car. Quickly discussed about the issue and knew what to do. They summoned the electrician Shaid to do the needful. The smart Shaid, got to the damaged wire and coupler - removed it in just a few minutes, required the coupler with proper connection and put it back. It took longer time to lift the car to dismount the wheel to access coupler than the time it took Shaid to fix it!

The start staff - Zubair, Manju and Shaid - got me the out of there in less than 30 minutes. And they didn’t even charge for this work - in some future RO, they can add some extra labour on my bill, and I am perfectly ok with it as their timely help and the day they saved for me is far more valuable than the billing and records.

M&M has this unique setup - the shortfalls of their products are very well covered by the customer centric approach and great mindset to serve customer at all cost. I was mighty pissed off with the quality of wiring harness and repeat occurrence. Fortunately, Chrome and their staff saved the day for me as well as M&M from dealing with escalations.

Here are the not so clear pics of the wiring damage:







And thus, we are back on road - doing what we are supposed to do - DRIVE!

Look what we found on the Chorla ghat on our late night drive to our favourite abode:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Rjxxcgts...K-8z3tLOAkLFf1

Goa is not just about beaches but also about these beautiful temples!



See you soon with more updates and drive - the rain is here!

[abirnale]

Things do happen - without you expecting them though!

If there are any sights that are painful for an auto-enthusiast, this should be one of them:



Things happen!

Wednesday I was driving to a grocery shop nearby, when I parked back in home, smelled some diesel - didn't think it was from TheRedSparkle.

Thursday morning, I took the home minister to another grocery store a km away. When we came back home and parked car, she raised hell that I don't maintain car clean and its stinking. Yes, I am little busy nowadays, thank to the stressful work scenario - this too shall pass.

Thursday evening, I went out for a coffee with a neighbour (yes, male) to nearby cafe. I noticed more strong smell when near the car. While we went to the Cafe, the FE shown was 9.8kmpl on MID. When we were returning, it had dropped to 4.5 for no reason. Upon returning back home, I opened the bonnet, glanced inside engine bay. What caught my eyes was nothing less of an horror. The engine guard below the bonnet was wet with diesel, engine bay was full of diesel spillage and smell.

The first thought that went through my mind was - what if this could have caused the fire in engine bay? Why did I ignore the comment home minister made on first instance itself? This is just not done - frantically called Mahindra RSA and asked for help. They were just getting in Friday mood on Thursday night itself! My request was to have some help sent over. And their point was, we can send you tow-truck provided that you get the car in a place where the car can be loaded on the flatbed! Imagine, they were not even listening to the fact that it seems like diesel spillage and I don't want to drive it anymore without an expert being around from my apartment basement to the ground floor! And they were like, we will talk to you when you have car ready to be towed from spacious location, thank you, bye bye. How on earth they expect me to move the car all alone from basement without starting it, without thinking about AWD system and Automatic gearbox to be manually shifted to N etc. etc.?

Anyway, no point wasting your time with people who don't understand what sensitivities involved here. Then I called Chrome Motors senior technician and GM. These folks are best - they got my back when I need them most! A detailed phone call, some checks and photos, they ensure that it's something they can take care of right-away. Evening 7.30pm, they were sending a technician to help see the issue, identify root cause if at all and get the car to a place where it is safe to load on flatbed. The sanity prevailed - I didn't want to spoil someone's evening - TheRedSparkle was at home and there was no need to call technician from 25 kms away to my home only to inspect and bring car to ground floor. So I asked them to come first thing in the morning and we will do the needful. They agreed.

Got up today morning, and had a look at engine bay. Seemed the leakage is only when the engine is running - so I knew this is not as serious as I thought. This could be just the loose hose, some leakage or worst case fuel injection pump pressure not holding as expected. After a good night's rest, new thought came to my mind. I have Reliance General Insurance and they do have the RSA on my policy. I sent them a "Hi" WhatsApp message - took about 5 minutes to brief issue and what I need. The bot handed over conversation to human and the agent on other side promptly arranged for tow-truck/ flatbed. With ETA as an hour, I called Chrome, they were about to send their person home. I said, instead just guide me to get the car to ground floor and will bring car on flatbed to your place. The reliance RSA did not make any fuss about taking car about 25kms away, that too via less crowded NICE road! Chrome guys stayed on call as needed. best part, Reliance said 1 hr ETA for flatbed to arrive and showed up inside my apartment compound within 15 mins!

And thus we brought the car to Chrome Motors. The senior technician Edrish was literally waiting for me! As son as car was unloaded, he took charge and within 30 seconds found out the exact location of issue. Not just that, summoned the senior mechanic Hanumantha to bring the spare hose. Within 15 minutes, they replaced the hose, and put it back neatly. The car was back to being normal! The root cause was, the fuel line hose to FIP had been rubbing against the silver foil wrapped wiring harness. That rubbing over long time resulted into the puncture in the hose. The fuel was literally getting sprayed in the engine bay. The spilled fuel on the engine bottom guard had wet the guard cover completely! Thank god, I did not decide to drive the car to ASC and instead towed it. Thank more that it's a diesel car and not a petrol one

Happy to report that the issue was very trivial with some of the serious consequences if ignored! As usual, Chrome guys (Edrish and Hanumantha) did fantastic work. They not only fixed the issue but also used some zip ties and nicely tied the wiring harness away from the hose, ensure the hoses don't rub anywhere. This was really going above and beyond of what was needed - the very reason why I continue to go to Chrome Motors and don't even try/ think of going anywhere else while in Bangalore. Love these guys for their focus on customer and ensuring the experience is best. And with the assurance of completing paperwork offline, I was allowed to leave within 30 minutes! M4U app helped make the job card closure formalities and online paid directly to the chrome account. And thus, TheRedSparkle is back on road yet again!

See the pictures to learn the extent of issue and parts involved:

For a change, I take the passenger seat in the tow-truck and enjoy the NICE road!



The fuel hoses:



The spare part and damage hose and the actual damage.









The overall bill:



The overall experience leaves me with this in my mind:
Chrome Motors: 10+/10
Mahindra RSA: -10/10
Reliance Insurance : 10/10
Mahindra - 8/10 - you need to probably issue another recall for ensuring the fuel hoses don't rub against any other parts in engine bay causing this ever again or using the parts that dont give up on such simple rubbing against the other parts!

Stay tuned - I am going to be on the road with TheRedSparkle, solo for next two weeks. More #RedSparkle stories to tell you

[fusionbang]

Originally Posted by abirnale

[b] TheRedSparkle is back on road yet again!

Glad to know RedSparkle is back on the roads and hats off to chrome for handling this very professionally and quickly. Also, the insurance company should get an applaud for the quick response.

Just one question I had, which might help others as well. Can you elaborate a bit more on how the car was moved to the ground floor from the basement? Is that something you could have done on your own or you would need a technician's help?

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by fusionbang

Can you elaborate a bit more on how the car was moved to the ground floor from the basement? Is that something you could have done on your own or you would need a technician's help?

Yes, that was also guided by Chrome guys. The trick was to loosen the fuel cap so the pressure eases, and shouldn’t be a challenge to drive for 45-60s. Because the car was rested through night and a lot of fuel had dried out in engine bay, it was enough time to drive up on ground floor and load up on flatbed. The leakage was ok - it wasn’t spilling into the areas where it can catch fire within seconds or so - else it would have burnt me two days ago only 😀

[abirnale]

Late post

A week before, we had been to our favourite destination, Goa. An amazing drive, great time spent together as family. On the way back, we took Tilari Ghat Road to Belgavi and then back to BLR. Loved stretching legs this time with #TheRedSparkle more than ever. Nothing extraordinary but thought of sharing the pictures we clicked during this trip:





















Stay tuned for more fun updates!

[sachin_cs]

Glad you are safe and your car is back on the road. I hope this reaches Mahindra because it indeed is a very serious issue, and it may happen to other 700s as well.

[TheGearBox]

Originally Posted by abirnale

The engine guard below the bonnet was wet with diesel, engine bay was full of diesel spillage and smell.

Originally Posted by abirnale

The root cause was, the fuel line hose to FIP had been rubbing against the silver foil wrapped wiring harness. That rubbing over long time resulted into the puncture in the hose.

Originally Posted by abirnale

The overall experience leaves me with this in my mind:
Mahindra - 8/10 - you need to probably issue another recall for ensuring the fuel hoses don't rub against any other parts in engine bay causing this ever again or using the parts that dont give up on such simple rubbing against the other parts!

Why was this not covered under warranty? It sounds like a manufacturing issue which might arise in other cars as well

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by TheGearBox

Why was this not covered under warranty? It sounds like a manufacturing issue which might arise in other cars as well

Interesting and I missed to take this stance. Since the damage was very low for part and labour and happy that I was out of there within 30 mins, the thought of warranty claim didn’t even cross my mind. You have a very valid point though.

I think if this gets into their regular inspect category TSB (technical service bulletin) note, it will be a great thing. If they issue a recall like they did for battery harness rubbing issue from last year, that will be perfect. As long as no one else faces the same issue like #TheRedSparkle, my goal would be achieved!

[wadewilson]

Originally Posted by abirnale

If they issue a recall like they did for battery harness rubbing issue from last year, that will be perfect. As long as no one else faces the same issue like #TheRedSparkle, my goal would be achieved!

Dear abirnale, I have an XUV700 AX7L AWD too. Mine has run over 40,000 kms. Should I get the service centre folks to check the fuel line hose or better yet get it replaced on my own? I live in a very rural part of India and I doubt I could get a flatbed and if the issue crops up, the RSA might instead tow the car which might damage the AWD bits and bobs.

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by wadewilson

Mine has run over 40,000 kms. Should I get the service centre folks to check the fuel line hose or better yet get it replaced on my own?.

You can check this yourself - the fuel hoses can be seen once you open the bonnet and remove engine top cover. Use a torch and can see/ feel the hose when engine bay is not warm/ hot. Other thing is, if you are going to ASC anytime soon, just have them check it too. If you just check the tell-a-tale signs under the hood, you can catch this well ahead of time. I don’t think this is something you need to be worried and rushing - just do a quick check yourself in daylight and you should be fine.

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by abirnale

You can check this yourself - the fuel hoses can be seen once you open the bonnet and remove engine top cover.

I added this quick video to A.G.'s thread since his car also had similar issue:

https://youtu.be/sPeRSMZf0qw

#TheRedSparkle now stands at 68K Kms odometer mark I am going to pen-down a detailed #TheRedSparkleStory on recent travel. In the meantime, two clicks form the trip as teaser!





Stay tuned for more updates!

[RVR]

Originally Posted by abirnale

The root cause was, the fuel line hose to FIP had been rubbing against the silver foil wrapped wiring harness. That rubbing over long time resulted into the puncture in the hose. The fuel was literally getting sprayed in the engine bay.

Hypothetically thinking, could this be one of the reason for a couple of 7OOs catching fire as seen on multiple sites. Post incident investigation might not give any clues as the tubes would have already burnt completely. Easy for a manufacturer to close the incident as after market accessory issue.

[abirnale]

The recent monsoon drive (impromptu one - took the longer road back to home!) is documented with details that may be of help for wanderlusts here: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ern-ghats.html (TheRedSparkle Story: Welcoming the rains in Western Ghats!)

There isn’t anything specific to report as of now though the routine Apple CarPlay disconnections haven’t stopped after I upgraded my phone to iOS 18 Dev Beta. The Suspension is making some creaking sound, mostly the springs during the early morning start rituals. At the next ASC visit, will have this checked - nothing to rush for as of now.

Adding some more pictures of #TheRedSparkle from the past 2-3 weeks that are not posted earlier:













As of now #theredsparkle stands at 68K Kms on the odo and before end of July, we will be definitely crossing 70K

Stay tuned for more updates.