[kiku007]

Originally Posted by Gilead

At what RPM do you change gears? I change around 2800 or so in 'normal' mode. BTW my car gives lower mileage when the engine is lugged. I don't know how, but I am 100% sure of this. It gives better mileage when it's in the middle of the power band.

At times I take it well past 3K RPM.

BTW does the music system have trouble in reading CDs with minor scratches?

[DieselAddikt]

Originally Posted by sammyboy

It has covered over 45K kms and there is not a single rattle from it.
Cheers!

I have driven (my F-I-L's) an Ikon that has run over 2L kms. It still did not have rattles. That car has superb quality. The only sound you hear is from the engine and that is obvious because of the old school 1.8D.
The Fiesta should only be better going by the Ikon experience.

Thumbs Up to the owners.

[Gilead]

Originally Posted by kiku007

At times I take it well past 3K RPM.

BTW does the music system have trouble in reading CDs with minor scratches?

Not really but it does skip over bad scratches. The Pio HU on my 800 is far better at coping with scratches.

Originally Posted by DieselAddikt

I have driven (my F-I-L's) an Ikon that has run over 2L kms. It still did not have rattles. That car has superb quality. The only sound you hear is from the engine and that is obvious because of the old school 1.8D.
The Fiesta should only be better going by the Ikon experience.

Thumbs Up to the owners.

I agree. No rattles and nothing falls off either. The build quality amazes you especially when upgrading from a Maruti tin can.

[Willeys78]

My ikon flair 2004 July has covered more than 1.5lacs kilometers so far! I don't understand why people are screaming about the high maintenance cost in ikon as i never had a problem with high service bills. Lathangi ford guys one time told me to replace many unwanted things like -there was a few degrees of bend or tilt in plastic tank where we fill coolant (don't know how he assumed as nobody could make it and hence I denied replacing it!). He also mentioned to replace head gasket and over haul engine. The vehicle has done 10k kilometers after that and the problem was a faulty O2 sensor and ignition coil! As per my knowledge if there is a problem with gasket, water will get mixed with engine oil and the color of engine oil will turn white! This I had seen my dad’s old jeeps! Now later changing the O2 sensor and ignition coil the Ford A.S.S agrees there was no problem with gasket or engine. But who will bear the bills if I would have listened to the wrong diagnostics? - The innocent customer. So my advice to all fellow bhpians, never do costly repairs with advice from just 1 A.S.S, what ever is your car’s make, research about the problem before making any decision.
Few Problems I had seen in ikons including mine are listed below, may be this will be useful to my friends here!
Another thing was the silencer pipe. Ford ikon's silencer pipe is hanged on rubber parts(don't know about other cars), so this rubber parts gets cut after a certain period of time and silencer pipe starts getting moving or even worst cases get cut. Initially there will be silencer pipe leakages and ford A.S.S will always insist in replacing entire stuff. My advice is to go to a good garage outside and try welding (I don't know the correct technical word!) and you can stop the silencer leakage for just 100bucks. The rubber parts will cost just Rs.30 if I remember correct.
Then the next problem part is ignition coil. This seems like a common problem with ikons. So mine to failed one fine day and vehicle started firing on 3 cylinders. Fuel efficiency and power too dropped considerably. I went to OEM supplier for the spare and got it replaced from outside garage at a cost difference of 1k from Ford A.S.S. Also changed the spark plugs from outside (here I made a mistake, my new plugs came at a price of 180 each, I believe these days the OEM plugs comes at a cheaper price at the A.S.S. Bangaloreans check with Metro Ford Lingarajapuram as there is a price difference between Lathangi and Metro in spar parts prices (This is just my opinion as I found Metro ford slightly cheaper for spares)
After replacing the ignition coil and spark plug, still my vehicle has not giving the fuel efficiency of 10-11 in city and 14-15 on high ways I was getting before! The mileage dropped to a mere 6-9 in city and a maximum of 10 on highways! What to do? I love this car a lot and it is ripping me off with poor fuel efficiency! Then I went for another checkup at A.S.S (Both Lathangi and Metro) to confirm the problem and the culprit was a failed O2 sensor. Replaced it and voila the mileage and pick up came back to normal! The vehicle started performing as if it was new (Cost 4.2k)
Apart from this what I have done in last few years to this car was replacing the front struts, changing lower arms both sides ( Never replace lower arms or suspension related spares outside as it won’t last long!) and replacing tires only.
My cost of repair was less than 40k including replacing both ORVMS, both Lower arms, front shock absorbers with few related parts, 4 tires to Bridgestone tourenzas(185/ 70/ R13 the OEM being 175/70/13), left side tail lamp(buy only OEM , others will fade quickly).
Issues I faced in my ikon and suggestions from my experience in short:
1. Ignition Coil – Get it replaced at A.S.S as ford has upgraded the ignition coil for ikon few months back. When trying to replace it from outside, you may be getting the same old design which came in car and it can fail again
2. O2 Sensor – Not necessary it can fail in all ikons. May be in a few high mileage vehicles. If the vehicle I running in rich fuel, it can emit black smoke and fuel efficiency can be less. There are many things (spark plugs, injectors, ignition coil and sensors) that can cause the vehicle to run rich.
3. Lower Arms, Struts (This is not a weak point in ikon as ikon has one of the best and strong suspension set ups in my opinion). Change only at A.S.S
4. Silencer Pipe. Try replacing only if you cannot get it repaired through welding or such procedures. You can save 2-3k here. My car has no issues after fixing the leakage in silencer 2 years ago and I travelled not less than 30k kms. after that.
5. Spark Plugs – Try OEM plugs as it is cheap and the manufacturer’s recommendations are best suited most of the times.
If you do proper research before any repairs I’m sure all ikon owners can reduce their service bills considerably. Happy motoring to all!

[kiku007]

WOW that's a very informative post Willeys78.

I tried a non-Ford authorised Service Centre once. But I never went there again.

The AC in my Ikon packed up. MPL Ford said they had to replace the AC Cooling coil or something (I don't remember correctly) and cost X amount. Took a second opinion at Electra Automotive and they quoated a much lesser amount.

Gave it for the repair, got the car back only to find that the AC thermostat won't work i.e. the cooling temperature can't be controlled. When questioned, they said the Heater+Cooling coil thing would have costed more (as quoted by MPL Ford). Felt silly on my decision. From that day am stuck with a AC system which gets too cold or too hot and I have only the blower speed to control.

I did try local service stations to weld the exhaust system but they said the metal was too light to withstand welding temperatures. Spent some thousands in replacing it.

One sincere advice to Ikon owners from my experience is, the Ford Authorised Service Centres cost more but definetly worth the extra money. This car is too sensitive to spurious parts or bad tuning (FFE) that it'll throw huge surprises!

[Willeys78]

Originally Posted by kiku007

WOW that's a very informative post Willeys78.

I tried a non-Ford authorised Service Centre once. But I never went there again.

Most of the outside garages does not know about new generation cars and they mess up things, so you need to be specific on the work you wanted to be done outside and should not allow them to experiment with your car.

Originally Posted by kiku007

The AC in my Ikon packed up. MPL Ford said they had to replace the AC Cooling coil or something (I don't remember correctly) and cost X amount. Took a second opinion at Electra Automotive and they quoated a much lesser amount.

Gave it for the repair, got the car back only to find that the AC thermostat won't work i.e. the cooling temperature can't be controlled. When questioned, they said the Heater+Cooling coil thing would have costed more (as quoted by MPL Ford). Felt silly on my decision. From that day am stuck with an AC system which gets too cold or too hot and I have only the blower speed to control.

AC diverter valve issue is a common problem in ikon which i forget to mention in my previous post. Initially as someone here already posted in other thread , raising the engine to 2000 or 3000 rpm helped me AC blow cold air instead of hot air. But after few days, this also stopped helping me finally making me approach A.S.S. They asked me whether i need heating option in car and by disabling heating option they could bypass the AC diverter valve issue and after that there was no such problem of AC blowing hot air.

One more thing i came across with AC in my car was, the AC was not chilling cabin like before, so A.S.S told me to refill AC gas (including gas leakage checking) for Rs.3,700. I remembered my friend, who once told me about another AC repair shop in Kammanahlli bangalore. Got the AC checked there and refilled gas for just 800bucks! I was concerned about the quality of gas they filled but i came to know that all new generation cars uses a certain CFC free AC gas with specific ratings and that's a common thing than rocket science.(The manual says only ford AC gas with a specific rating can only be used!, but the AC gas with same specification is available with all professional car AC guys! at a fraction of the cost than A.S.S). Now for the last 3months the AC performs superb and chills cabin like how it was new 4years back!

Originally Posted by kiku007

I did try local service stations to weld the exhaust system but they said the metal was too light to withstand welding temperatures. Spent some thousands in replacing it.

You must stick to Gas welding than Electric welding and only a professional welder can do the perfect job. Wish you were in Bangalore, so you could come and check my car to see the 2 year old gas welding still works fine for the exhaust without any leakage in my car.

[sanjayc]

Kishore, are u having front windscreen sunfilm? Am not feeling much heat issue now that Chennai is really hotting up..but still will reserve judgement for another month.

Regarding the FE, as posted somewhere earlier, post my trip back, I have travelled next to nothing..in close to 40 days post my return, have only covered some 280 kms or so, all for short distances or peak traffic conditions or cold engine running..Last I filled 41.1 litres, DTE+tripmeter shows appx 405 Kms..so am guessing I will end up at around 9 K/l for such riding conditions (100%ac/ 50% full load)

And, yes, I also feel the lack of the driver seat not winding all the way down like in Ikon which could be almost flattened to around 10-15 degrees and you virtuall sleep with your feet on the steering/dashboard. The low hug position was also a boon much missed.

[sanjayc]

Originally Posted by kiku007

The AC in my Ikon packed up.

My a/c also packed up after 5 1/2 yrs of ownership...IIRC, I ended up paying about 12K at MPL, alongwith some other charges..post the repair/change, the a/c felt superb, till I sold the car off 3 months back.

[vasanthn21]

I am falling more and more in love with the Fiesta off late

But I thought the mileage was much higher! - what is the avg. city mileage for fiesta.

Your Ikon looks classy in that color. Not a very common color and the alloys on the Ikon rock! Did you get it from the first owner or did you add the alloys?

[kiku007]

Originally Posted by Willeys78

Most of the outside garages does not know about new generation cars and they mess up things, so you need to be specific on the work you wanted to be done outside and should not allow them to experiment with your car.



AC diverter valve issue is a common problem in ikon which i forget to mention in my previous post. Initially as someone here already posted in other thread , raising the engine to 2000 or 3000 rpm helped me AC blow cold air instead of hot air. But after few days, this also stopped helping me finally making me approach A.S.S. They asked me whether i need heating option in car and by disabling heating option they could bypass the AC diverter valve issue and after that there was no such problem of AC blowing hot air.

One more thing i came across with AC in my car was, the AC was not chilling cabin like before, so A.S.S told me to refill AC gas (including gas leakage checking) for Rs.3,700. I remembered my friend, who once told me about another AC repair shop in Kammanahlli bangalore. Got the AC checked there and refilled gas for just 800bucks! I was concerned about the quality of gas they filled but i came to know that all new generation cars uses a certain CFC free AC gas with specific ratings and that's a common thing than rocket science.(The manual says only ford AC gas with a specific rating can only be used!, but the AC gas with same specification is available with all professional car AC guys! at a fraction of the cost than A.S.S). Now for the last 3months the AC performs superb and chills cabin like how it was new 4years back!



You must stick to Gas welding than Electric welding and only a professional welder can do the perfect job. Wish you were in Bangalore, so you could come and check my car to see the 2 year old gas welding still works fine for the exhaust without any leakage in my car.

1. It was a very well known repair shop in chennai. The problem was that they assumed that I wouldn't need the heater.

2. Interesting news on the AC Gas and welding. I'll definetly keep in mind.

Originally Posted by sanjayc

Kishore, are u having front windscreen sunfilm? Am not feeling much heat issue now that Chennai is really hotting up..but still will reserve judgement for another month.

Regarding the FE, as posted somewhere earlier, post my trip back, I have travelled next to nothing..in close to 40 days post my return, have only covered some 280 kms or so, all for short distances or peak traffic conditions or cold engine running..Last I filled 41.1 litres, DTE+tripmeter shows appx 405 Kms..so am guessing I will end up at around 9 K/l for such riding conditions (100%ac/ 50% full load)

And, yes, I also feel the lack of the driver seat not winding all the way down like in Ikon which could be almost flattened to around 10-15 degrees and you virtuall sleep with your feet on the steering/dashboard. The low hug position was also a boon much missed.

1. No front windscreen sun film.
2. Change of driving patterns should give me a better FE figure
3. Did you also notice that the fiesta front seats are narrower than the Ikon's?

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

I am falling more and more in love with the Fiesta off late

But I thought the mileage was much higher! - what is the avg. city mileage for fiesta.

Your Ikon looks classy in that color. Not a very common color and the alloys on the Ikon rock! Did you get it from the first owner or did you add the alloys?

1. Even after owning the Fiesta, I still stop by for a minute everytime I see the Aquaris 1.6S in my parking.
2. Mileage should be around 10-11 in the city.
3. Thanks for your compliments. Ikon is in Golden Harvest Brown colour. I bought the HR alloys in 2006 for around Rs.15,000/- for a set of 5.

[kiku007]

Fiest's back from Chennai Ford after it's 1st Service (3 months/1800 Kms)

Earlier I had reported a strange noise from the car's rear. A person named Krishnan (In Chennai Ford for 13 years it seems!) drove the car and said the issue could be with the hand brake cable or suspension. Don't know which one, but it's fixed now. Seems a very knowledgable person.

Asked him about the close positioning of the radiator/intercooler in the Figo to the bumper in comparison to the Fiesta and he agreed that it would be damaged in case of an frontal impact.

Ikon's going for service this weekend. Wife is catching up with her car driving and screams at the lack of LORVM.So it needs to be fixed. I never used them from the M800 days, Ford thought it was a luxury feature 5 years before and now I have to shell out more than a 1000 bucks for this

Thinking of fixing the remote boot release as well. Am tired of the following at office gate

1. Switch off music system
2. Switch off AC
3. Lower down windows
4. Switch off car
5. Hand over keys to the security to open and check the boot as part of their frisking procedure. It's plain stupid in my opinion.
6. Collect keys
7. Repeat steps 4 3 2 1 and drive off

How much will be the damage?

[sanjayc]

Originally Posted by kiku007

Thinking of fixing the remote boot release as well. Am tired of the following at office gate

1. Switch off music system
2. Switch off AC
3. Lower down windows
4. Switch off car
5. Hand over keys to the security to open and check the boot as part of their frisking procedure. It's plain stupid in my opinion.
6. Collect keys
7. Repeat steps 4 3 2 1 and drive off

How much will be the damage?

There is another cheaper option. Carry the 2nd duplicate key with you. Keep sitting inside the car, handover this key to security and get it back when done.

[kiku007]

Originally Posted by sanjayc

There is another cheaper option. Carry the 2nd duplicate key with you. Keep sitting inside the car, handover this key to security and get it back when done.

That's a nice one. But I don't want to risk the duplicate key

[joshdrive]

Originally Posted by sanjayc

My a/c also packed up after 5 1/2 yrs of ownership...IIRC, I ended up paying about 12K at MPL, alongwith some other charges..post the repair/change, the a/c felt superb, till I sold the car off 3 months back.

Looks like the AC problem is quiet common in Ikon(or is it the same for other cars too).My Ikon AC got problems after 4th year (80K on odo).First the coolant was changed at MPL ford and with in a week AC motor stopped working and was replaced with a new motor. Again from next day I started getting too much of mist on the front windscreen for which MPL said the dampening under the dash which prevents AC air flowing on windscreen got worn out and has to be replaced for 2.7k. I felt either they planted this problem or it was because of a careless work done during the motor and coolant replacement. Within a week after this problem was fixed, the AC started throwing hot air. They diagnosed it as a valve failure(the valve which controls hot/cool air) and it would cost 2.5k. I asked for some work around and they simply closed the hot air option permanently for 500 rs.

In between those 4 visits to MPL ford for AC problem, I had a breakdown.The car refused to start and a local mechanic diagnosed it as electrical short circuit and he fixed it temporarily. That is the only breakdown so far and it happened the next day I took the car from service station. I took to MPL and they blamed the mechanic for electrical failure the moment they heard be mention about the mechanic.They did not even listen to be after that. I successfully made them understand that the mechanic came into picture only after the car refused to start at 10:30 PM and I had no other option. This problem too I felt either they planted or it is because of careless work during the AC repair. With a span for 6 weeks I had 4 problems with AC and a electrical problem. I raised this to Ford with complete datewise details. I got calls from Ford and MPL and they apologized for what ever happened and promised to be careful next time.

[kiku007]

Tapped a parked bike while reversing in a narrow lane. Bike fell on the Fiesta:(