[jayded]

I'm no where close to being well-informed about cars, but i'll just give a shot at it based on my learnings till now

Originally Posted by santosh.s

Purpose of warming up is kind of obvious, but what does this idling achieve when the engine was in running condition anyway?

This idling is for the turbo (which spins at a faster rate compared to the engine rpm) to calm down. The turbo is fed with the engine oil and giving it some idling time makes sure that the turbo also settles down and is not made to work after the engine oil is cut off, which happens as soon as we switch off the engine. This step if followed will reduce the amount of wear on the turbo.

Originally Posted by santosh.s

Think of it, why should it increase? If distance was 100km, would smooth running after first 10km undo the earlier damage?

This view of your's could be flawed if we take the frequency of such runs into consideration. We know that an engine suffers more wear and tear when it's working below the optimum temperature. Just for example, imagine if an engine takes 10 kms running to reach the optimum temperature. Now consider 2 different kinds of usage pattern for the same engine on a particular day:

1) You have 10 short trips of ~8 kms each
2) You have a drive of 40 kms + 40 kms round trip

Even though the distance traveled is almost same in both cases, won't the engine be happier working for the 2nd scenario? An engine frequently working for case 1) will be having more engine wear compared to one working in case 2) over a period of time, won't it?

This is what I felt could be a reason, I'm not sure if this is technically even close to being correct, but would be interested in knowing if there is another explanation to it.

[theoriginal9321]

^^ id say the engine wear and tear is MORE LIKELY for someone doing short trips as there are chances that the engine might not reach the optimum temp even after idling once or twice if ones not careful!
I dont have any knowledge about diesel engines but hope to have some after becoming a mechanical engineer

PS: But if you are really careful and check the temperature gauge on the figo EVERYTIME before starting then you probably wont damage the engine as much.

[santosh.s]

@jayded, agreed if you are looking at "wear per km run". But take a typical practical usage where car is used for commuting to/from workplace. Person A's office is 8km away from home while person B's office is 40km away. On a usual day, one will drive 16km while the onther drives 80km but both cars have to bear two cold starts (same number).

Generally when you have frequent short trips, I think many of them are likely to be "warm" engine starts which are not going to be that bad for both lubrication as well as FE. Once warmed up, it takes quite some time for an engine to cool down (that too to damaging levels!).

About turbo, doesn't it stop more or less along with engine?

[anilisanil]

Originally Posted by jayded

I'm no where close to being well-informed about cars, but i'll just give a shot at it based on my learnings till now

I reckon you are right. I am not an authority either here, but I will try and explain what you proposed

Originally Posted by theoriginal9321

^^ id say the engine wear and tear is MORE LIKELY for someone doing short trips as there are chances that the engine might not reach the optimum temp even after idling once or twice if ones not careful!
I dont have any knowledge about diesel engines but hope to have some after becoming a mechanical engineer

PS: But if you are really careful and check the temperature gauge on the figo EVERYTIME before starting then you probably wont damage the engine as much.

You too, I guess are alomst there. Please read on!

Originally Posted by santosh.s

@jayded, agreed if you are looking at "wear per km run". But take a typical practical usage where car is used for commuting to/from workplace. Person A's office is 8km away from home while person B's office is 40km away. On a usual day, one will drive 16km while the onther drives 80km but both cars have to bear two cold starts (same number).

You are right in a way, but the problem is if the engine runs for those 8kms ONLY over a period of time.

Originally Posted by santosh.s

Generally when you have frequent short trips, I think many of them are likely to be "warm" engine starts which are not going to be that bad for both lubrication as well as FE. Once warmed up, it takes quite some time for an engine to cool down (that too to damaging levels!).

I disagree with this. Diesel engines are built on the premise of heat and pressure, the hotter and tighter the better it would be for the engine!! I am not too sure what you meant by saying that the engine warming up to too damaging levels, as long as there is engine oil to lubricate and coolant to cool the other parts, there is no reason why things should be damaged!!

Originally Posted by santosh.s

About turbo, doesn't it stop more or less along with engine?

Turbo does stop with engine (not more or less), but the turbo charger need to cool down gradually and hence we need to idle the engine (so that the engine fluids reach the turbo charger and do their job) and the same apply while we start the engine. After all turbo charger is a compressor that increases the pressure of the air entering the engine, if we right away the charge the engine, since the turbo works on waste gas from the engine, you are loading your turbo charger to pressurize the gas with out much power for it to perform its job and hence damaging it. Similarly when you do not let the turbo charger cool, and shut the engine, the turbo charger does not know where to exhaust the higher pressure air as the intake manifold is closed again damagin the turbo charger. Which is why it is recommended to idle before you switch on or off the engine!


Regarding the shorter trips and longer trips, the only difference is that if you keep on using the diesel engine for shorter trips, you are not "breaking-in" or "running-in" your engine. This is important for the piston and cylinder to acquire the tolerances(dimensions) that they are designed for. A diesel engine run for small distances may have rings that do not perform properly and hence resulting in pressure loss during the ignition stroke leading to loss of efficiency. Please remember all this is assuming that the engines are yet to be run in when sold to you.

So while there may not be any more damage for the engine that is used to for shorter lengths, running it in temperature ranges which are less than its designed optimum temperatures may lead to sub optimum performance like decrease in pick up and lesser mileage per liter than the engine that works in the optimum temperature range.

Hope this helped!!

[anilisanil]

^^ Forgot to add and cannot add this to above post as the 20 min edit time has elapsed.

This has been proved on this forum, members who intially reported lesser mileages were reported to be using the car for shorter runs. In fact a few gauges were used to see that the instant mileage per liter dropt to single figure levels (9 kmpl) when the vehicle was driven at sub optimum temperatures.

[Snazzy]

I have experienced the same too. Over short drives the DTE shows lower mileage. Last night, drove to the airport and back (about 80 KMs) and as per the DTE, the mileage was 12. Must add, the car handles very well at high speeds (touched 120 for a breif period).

Can someone explain to me about the temperature gauge and what the significance of this is, please? I did not noice any such gauge so far.

[COUNSEL]

Whats the cost of OE alloys of FIGO? Is it set of 4 or 5? They look great!

[anilisanil]

Originally Posted by COUNSEL

Whats the cost of OE alloys of FIGO? Is it set of 4 or 5? They look great!

they cost around 16k for set of four!

[Snazzy]

Got another query. The owner's manual recommends tyre pressure of 36 and 41 for a laden car. I maintain it at 34 and 38 (same for all situations solo driving and laden). Is this okay? Please advice.

[COUNSEL]

Originally Posted by anilisanil

they cost around 16k for set of four!

Wow! Thats good. Then why did you put after market alloys? You didn't like the OE ones?

[anilisanil]

Originally Posted by Snazzy

Got another query. The owner's manual recommends tyre pressure of 36 and 41 for a laden car. I maintain it at 34 and 38 (same for all situations solo driving and laden). Is this okay? Please advice.

It depends on how often you load your car! I maintain 32-33 as its just me and wifey most of the time!

Originally Posted by COUNSEL

Wow! Thats good. Then why did you put after market alloys? You didn't like the OE ones?

16k is just the approximate value and labor charges are extra. The OEM ones did not seem to be going well with my car's color and moreover I liked the after market ones more, they costed me 15k inclusive of everything for set of four, of course!

[DRIV3R]

Spotted this FIGO obviously owned by some smart lad

[anilisanil]

Originally Posted by DRIV3R

Spotted this FIGO obviously owned by some smart lad

good find driver!!!


By the way, how much does it cost to get a number of our choice. Pune RTO has rates for some specific special numbers like 303, 100, 9999 etc. But it does not mention anything about he numbers that we may want. Now say in Pune I want 7160, how much does it cost? And how does it cost in Chennai?

[RGK]

@ Captainslow - Yes I have all the photos. Really do not have time to spend on this wonderful forum and I also miss lot of things

Yes Jayded is right - The oil stays in Turbo container & also in the head. Thats why even after driving 5 km after new oil change, all the oil mix up and shows black even if it is very new.
@anilsanil - Till invoice value less than 5lakh - for nos to choose from the next 1000 it is 8000/- to the RTO and 500 - service charges in TN.

DTE gets the info from the ECM based on the last 500km driven pattern. So city drives will definitely show lower DTE's. For very shorter runs and frequent engine switch off/ons - Petrol is the right choice.

Had the first puncture experience. Left rear after driving more than 450km. Luckily tire flattened after parking in my house.
A big bolt was seen. Took to the tyre centre. Found two nails also. Stickers pasted from inside. Total cost came 250/-

One thing I found was I felt bit difficult to loosen the wheel nuts as it has some rust. Luckily got the WD-40 spray and it made me easier to remove the wheel. Thinking of buying one and keeping in the car. May help during drives.

Had a discussion again with Ford Regional service manager and Customer care. He has taken complete responsibility in solving all my issues. Has arranged to pick my car tomorrow and check. Hope things would be sorted out at last. Will update all in my ownership thread. Somehow not finding time. Definitely planning to do by tomorrow.

[DRIV3R]

Originally Posted by anilisanil

good find driver!!!


By the way, how much does it cost to get a number of our choice. Pune RTO has rates for some specific special numbers like 303, 100, 9999 etc. But it does not mention anything about he numbers that we may want. Now say in Pune I want 7160, how much does it cost? And how does it cost in Chennai?

There are no fixed rates. It all depends on that particular RTO. One of my friend had got a fancy number 4555 for 2k, while another friend of mine got 555 for no extra amount, as that particular series was to end and that number was not taken till then. So, it all depends! If you have contacts, well and good.