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Unregretful 60,000 km with my Mahindra Thar: ECU remap & service update

24th April 2023, 13:07 by Utkarsh Chaudhary

The fuel efficiency has been more or less consistent ranging from 11 km/l to 15 km/l depending on the city or highway driving.

BHPian abhikb recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

60,000 Kms Update

Clocked 60,000 Kms with the 3507 a few days back, it is still running smooth and just like new albeit with a few running repairs here and there.

Remap usage update

The Stage 1 remap done by T8 Performance is working good and cruising on the highway is much more enjoyable now. Have clocked 7000 Kms in the last 3 months since the remap was done, and haven't faced any downside or troubles till now, rather the engine is now more responsive at lower RPMs which ultimately results in more kms getting covered in an hour event at my regular cruising speeds of 90-100 Kmph. This is primarily due to the fact that once you brake for some reason on the highway and speed drops, it gains back the cruising speed much faster.

60,000 Service update

This one was a comprehensive one, to start off with:

The left hub was making noise on left turns hence got the same replaced with a lesser used hub from a friend's Thar CRDe. It was also not engaging properly as observed during one of the recent OTRs.
The rear portion was making absurd noise when driven over bumps and potholes and the noise rose to a level where it started coming out even while getting in and out of the Thar. Hence, had to replace the bushing of the rear suspension along with slight servicing of the leaf springs at the rear.
Apart from this, it was routine oil changes and general servicing, got the Engine Oil, Oil filter, diesel filter, coolant replaced, didn't change the Gear and Transfer case oils since it was done at 52k after a water wading session.

Total Cost of Servicing came to Rs. 13,898 (Phew, highest till date). Mahindra ASCs are highly occupied, also the cost of replacing spare parts and labor has gone high, hence, I get the running repairs done at an FNG based in Shah Alam (3 generations of Jeep builders and repairers) and routine servicing at Mahindra ASC. Other than the aforementioned reasons I have no complaints with Mahindra ASC since they do their job well.

Usage Pattern

Off-late it has been a mile-munching year for 3507, the last 11 months have seen over 20k Kms of running which included city and highway usage both. FE has been more or less consistent ranging from 11-15 Kmpl starting from City to Highway usage. (Refer to the last post for more details)

Next month will be driving to the mountains for a 10 days road trip, also with my new work profile coming up post May-2023, the monthly usage will be easily 2500-3000 Kms per month. Will be retaining 3507 for as long as the Government norms allow, however, might get a 4x4 tourer probably at the end of the year to share the garage with 3507. The 3507 shall then be used primarily for City and Off-road purposes, the highway runs will be taken care of by the new entrant, Let's see how and what turns out.

Below is the graph showing the Time taken to complete every 10k Kms:

Answering a few questions that I get asked frequently.

Any regrets in these 60k Kms: Not at All,
Is it difficult to use: Not for me,
Is it comfortable to drive: Does the Job for me, "Comfort is a state of mind and Sky is the limit"
How many hours you have driven in a single day: 16-17 hours a day
Your family enjoys the road trips in Thar: Yes they do, the rear portion is converted into a bed where my daughter plays and sleeps while road tripping, good for a small family, not good for elders or 4 adults to travel in it.

In the end, I will only post the last verse of the poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost