Entries from August 2007 ↓

Preamble
When it comes to reversing and taking off smoothly on an up-gradient, most drivers in our country no matter how ‘experienced’ are quite at sea. The reasons for this are not far to fathom as unlike in the West, there’re hardly any well-organised driver training programs in the country. In fact, things are so bad in some of the states that depending upon one’s clout, one can get a driving licence delivered to one’s door-step - w/o even having to fill-up a form!

The solution to such a problem that most people face can best be ‘demonstrated’ live by a ‘good’ driver, rather than instructions on a printed handout. None the less, let me try…

1. Using the Hand Brake to ‘assist’ is the right thing to do. In fact out there in the West, it’s mandatory to shift the Car to neutral and engage the Handbrake when coming to a stop, such as on traffic lights. The reason being - i) you don’t roll forward/backward unknowingly and ‘kiss’ the guy ahead/behind you, and ii) if some one hits you from behind, you don’t take-off and start a chain reaction.
2. Likewise when you have to stop on a slope, engage the HB fully first and then shift to neutral and take your foot off the clutch. This presumes that your hand brake is correctly adjusted and in good working order to hold the car there, without having to reinforce it by shifting into 1st or Rev. gear.
3. Now comes the tricky part - to take off smoothly on an up-gradient w/o the engine stalling or the Car rolling back. In fact it’s as easy as learning to ride a bicycle, once you get the ‘hang’ of it. Here’s what you do -
   • With the HB still fully engaged you start the car, get into the first gear, rev-up the engine somewhat above the usual and only then let the clutch go slowly - till the Car ‘attempts’ to move even with the HB engaged - which will be apparent by the engine tending to stall and thus demanding more accelerator.
   • NOW you ‘co-ordinate’ the clutch release + more accelerator AND ‘progressive’ handbrake release in such a manner that the Car smoothly moves fwd w/o stalling or rolling back. It’s a skill easily acquired by getting the ‘feel’ of things and not getting nervous about it.
4. Always remember that it’s you who’s driving the Car and not the other way around. It’ll do exactly what you command it to do - knowingly or unknowingly.

Driving with Hand Brake ON
This is another area that afflicts most drivers at some time or the other, tho’ a sensitive driver should be able to detect it sooner than later due to the ‘drag’ it’ll create. Notwithstanding, depending on the extent of its engagement and the speed/distance covered, the damage to the rear wheel/drums ‘Assembly’ - where alone the handbrakes work - can be from insignificant to considerable.

Such damage will arise due to very high localised temperatures within the drums as can be imagined - leading to:

1. Permanent Damage to the brake shoes - calling for their replacement.
2. Likewise to the Hydraulic Wheel Brake Cylinders and
3. The Wheel Bearings.

If one doesn’t feel any adverse effects soon after having driven some appreciable distance with the HB ‘on’, it’s recommended that one gets the rear drums opened at the next service and has all the above three properly inspected, tested and replaced as necessary.

If the (2) above appear undamaged, they must atleast be completely ‘bled’ to drive-out the boiled over/deteriorated Brake fluid that would be trapped in them and thus hampering their proper working.

Preamble
Many people, mostly youngsters with their fathers’ deep pockets, often ask me how to soup-up their cars - more to show off and impress the girls at large rather than participate in an amateur Rally.

There are several aspects and consequences to this - topmost being annulment of one’s OE Warranty if in force and even if not, invalidation of the Insurance cover for having carried out ‘un-authorised modifications’. In other words, if one were to be involved in an accident resulting in substantial 3rd party claims, such as a loss of life, you’ll be on your own w/o any Insurance!

So let’s have a look at some of the common options available:

A - The Simplest and the Cheapest
For an average motoring enthusiast who is not interested in ‘drag-racing’ kind of events, replacement of ’stock/paper’ Air Filters with ‘K&N Free-Flow’ type is the most cost effective bet.

These basically come in 2-varieties - one which is a straight replacement of your OE type Paper Filter that one can DIY it into the place. This can easily yield +5% performance/FE. The other one comes with its own ‘adaptor’ and it isn’t so much of a DIY and costs 20-25% more, promising another + 2.5 % or so. For further insights into the subject, please surf their following URL -

http://www.methodsonline.com

B - Exhaust Headers
The next but not so simple thing to do is to install custom-built ‘exhaust headers’ AND ‘free-flow’ tail-enders. These for most 4-cyl stock cars can be had for about Rs: 10k or so. The EH’s start with one pipe for each cyl at the exhaust manifold and after a ‘calculated’ length, depending upon the CC of the engine, they merge into 2 and then into 1.

Sometimes, this can create problems for the proper working of the ‘O2 sensor’ of Mpfi’s that has to be relocated, from its OE location bang next to the OE exhaust manifold, to down the line to where all headers unite into one. By which time, the exhaust gases have cooled down a bit and may thus lead the OE/O2 Sensor loosing some of its sting. This in turn can upset/enrich the A/F ratio via the ECU as it’d then ’see’ the engine as running colder than what it actually is - making the FC and CO levels go up for good.

Further, in the process, there’s no room left for the OE fitted/under-chassis Catcon and it has to be dispensed with - which itself costs ~ 12k+. With EU-IV norms round the corner, your otherwise EU-II/III compliant Car will fail PUCC’s with this arrangement as the CO Norms for all road worthy cars then stand to come down from the present 3/1.5% to 0.5% max!

C - Upgrading a Stock Car Engine
Upgrading of a stock Car engine/performance involves the following:

1. ‘Blue-Print’ the Engine.
2. Shave off/lighten the Flywheel as much as possible.
3. Increase its Compression Ratio by ’shaving’ the Cylinder Head suitably and advance ‘Ignition-Timing’ to as much as it can take with 93 Octane ULP.
4. Upgrade Spark Plugs/Performance Air Filters/Cooling System to match.
5. Polish and ‘Tune’ its Air Intake including installation of a ‘Performance’ Air Intake System - to increase its ‘Volumetric Efficiency’ as far as it’d go.
6. Put in a ‘high-lift’/Performance Camshaft and alter ‘valve-timing’ to suit.
7. Put in Free flow/Performance Exhaust ‘Headers’.
8. Re-map the ECU - a Specialised Job.
9. Alter the ‘Final Drive’ Ratio to suit.
10. Put Alloy Wheels/Tyres to suit.
11. ‘Front and Rear-end’ suspension stiffening would be required too - by any one of the various means available.
12. Super or Turbo-Charge the Engine. This one is a lot more complex an issue and we’ll talk about it in one of our next issues.

All these are highly specialised skills and not every other Garage’s cup of tea. A good ‘Pro’ job can set you back by as much as Rs. 30k for the above 1-11 alone, if not more! Besides, such mods should not be attempted while a Car is still under its OE Warranty - for obvious reasons. As to where to get it done, one will have to seek out Garages which prepare Rally Cars. One such is in NCR/Noida and can be reached by surfing http://www.performanceauto.in.

These 2-are as removed from each other as Adam from Eve - but yet compliment each other and are often ignored by an average motorist - especially the former.

Any mass produced wheel (Rim+Tyre/Tube) does not have ‘even’ weight distribution around its 3-axes. Consequently, when it rotates around its own axis, it tends to ‘Vibrate’ - the intensity of which is directly proportional to the degree of unbalance as above AND the rotational Rpm. As a car owner, it’s worthwhile to know that ‘vibration’, like cancer, is the biggest killer in any machine and thus needs to be nipped in the bud.

Such imbalance induced vibrations gain significance with the wheels Dia’s getting smaller for the mini’s and micro-mini’s and yet having higher cruise speeds’ capability. If left ‘un-treated’, they induce annoying steering wobble up front at various speeds - incl damage to the suspension members/bearings all around INCL at the rear. Wobbly wheels up front even affect free-rolling capabilities of a Car and thus eat into its fuel efficiency as well.

Consequently, ‘Dynamic’ Wheel Balancing techniques were developed way back in the ’50s in the West and like all others, are well computerised today. Take your wheels to any ‘tyre-shoppe’ and see them being balanced and you’ll know the rest.

To sum-up, it’s a fallacy that only one’s front wheels need to be balanced, say every 5 kkm under our driving conditions. The fact of life is that one should have all of one’s 5-wheels in good balance all the time, as one never knows when and where one of the 5-wheels may have to be used upfront too.

Wheel Alignment on the other hand is quite a different ball game. In the Amby/Fiat era - with miles of slack in the steering linkages anyway, one got away with the crude method of using a String with a ‘chhotoo’ to assist but not any more. For starters, present day Cars have their front ‘Track’ appreciably wider than the rear to give them the desired high speed cornering ability. To make it worse for the ’string-wallahs’, we now have Cars with independent rear suspension too calling for the rear wheels’ alignment as well!

All this has led to the development of the present ’state of art’ Wheel Alignment m/c’s using infra-red sensors to read/correct the basic parameters of a Car’s f/r suspension systems. Like for wheel balancing, take your wheels to any ‘tyre-shoppe’ and see them being ‘aligned’ and you’ll appreciate why it’s so important to have one’s wheel alignment checked/reset every 10 kkm in our context, if not SOS after hitting a bad pot hole or a rut.

Preamble
A vast majority of car owners, particularly the young ones, have this obsession that the OE Wheels of their new cars aren’t good enough and they need to be upgraded to ‘Alloys’, with wider/fatter tyres to match.

Such a fad needs to be looked into with some hard facts and practicality…

Whether Alloy Wheels:
Alloy Wheels derive their nomenclature as they’re made out of Aluminium Alloys of which Magnesium is a principal ingredient to give it the desired strength - hence the name ‘Mag/Alloy’ Wheels as well. Their manufacturing process basically comprises - a) Pressure die-casting, b) precision machining and c) Finishing by way of powder coating etc. Thus the end product is considerably lighter than their ‘pressed-steel’ counterparts and a lot more ‘true’ in their X-Y-Z axes.

While Alloy Wheels will make a noticeable difference for the better in handling/ride quality, it’s my personal opinion that Alloy Wheels are not for our Pot-Hole ridden Roads and the wayside ‘Hammer and Tongs’ Puncture Repair facilities. If subjected to either, they will be vulnerable to permanent damage by way of chipping and cracking. FYI, more than half of Europe rides on Pressed-Steel Wheels - inspite of the above two limitations not being there. So, what does it prove!

Whether Tubeless Tyres:
A vast majority in the motoring world including the developing countries today rides on Tubeless Tyres coz of the various advantages they offer over Tube types. However, the disadvantages of TLTs in the present Indian scene are that they require:

i) Special puncture repair techniques, tho’ they’re well within the competence of an average DIY person using the ‘Kit’ available for the purpose.

ii) Mechanised tyre mounting/dismounting facilities, to save their special rim/beading from permanent damage.

iii) High pressure compressed air, to suddenly inflate them, so as to be able to quickly and effectively ’seal with the rim’, in case they’ve to be dis/re-mounted for/after puncture repairs.

iv) It’s inadvisable to put in tubes inside once punctured TLTs - for high speed applications - as they wld run hotter than their tube type eqvts coz of greater friction between the TLT’s inner surface. However, it’s recommended to carry a new tube as spare for contingencies during outstation travel.

Even though most of above prerequisites may not yet available in every nook and corner of the Country at the moment, the fact remains that TLTs are the order of the day and a beginning towards it has already been made, with more and more new cars coming in with TLTs as OE fitment.

FYI, on older cars, TLTs can be used on pressed steel rims also PROVIDED they are flawless AND TRUE INSIDE OUT; but once deformed due to a Kerb or pot-hole impact or rust setting in - especially at the insides of filler-neck hole - they will become unsuitable for TLTs.

Altering OE Tyre Specs
Likewise, tampering with the OE Wheel Specs or suspension settings of a Stock Car is far from advisable - as they are arrived at after exhaustive R&D by the OEMs to give best possible results under the most trying conditions that an average motorist is likely to encounter.

On the other hand, altering the designed front and rear ‘Track’ of a Car is a total NO-NO, as all these can lead to annulment of your Warranty and hence the Insurance Cover - should something go wrong!

However, within limits, one can ‘Upsize but NOT Oversize’ but at one’s own risk. The basic funda here is of ‘one-up’ and ‘one-down’. In other words, one can go for the next higher/wider ‘foot print’ but the next lower ‘aspect ratio’ ALSO at the same time - maintaining the OE Rim dia/size - such that the ‘overall’ Wheel Dia doesn’t change by more than (+/-) 5 mm. However, with wider tyres, depending on their size, the ‘J’ size of the Rims too may have to change.

Wider ‘foot-print’ means better handling but at the cost of somewhat higher fuel consumption and stiffer steering and lower ‘Aspect Ratio’ means a stiffer ride/prospects of more rim damage at the cost of better handling/body roll. So the choice is yours!

Preamble
During the last five years, diesel engine technology has seen phenomenal pace of development and turbo-charged ‘common rail direct injection’ systems have become order of the day, giving a full run for their money to their petrol siblings. So, let’s have a look at some typical QnA’s on the subject…

Question and Answer
As a Diesel Car is less environment friendly and has higher maintenance cost, would it not be prudent to get a CNG kit fitted in the car by a reputed manufacturer, even if it affects the warranty of the Car? Please advise. Does loosing the warranty matter much, especially if the car is from a reputed manufacturer? Do the latest Diesel Engines e.g. those of Maruti Swift, Logan and Ford Fusion, in the long run, make noise, pollute more, have a higher maintenance cost etc.? It’s understood that one should be doing 1500 km+/pm for a diesel to be ‘viable’.

For starters, with the state of art ‘common rail direct injection’ technology with ‘multiple pilot injection’ as found in the MUL/Swift-D, diesels today are actually MORE environment friendly AND ‘fuel-efficient’ compared to contemporary petrol engines. In fact, nearly 60% of new cars sold in the EU today are diesels! LPG/CNG are also good ‘green’ fuels but only petrol engines can be converted cost-effectively. Besides, their road side availability any where in the world, leave alone in India, is not as wide spread as diesel.

As far as losing warranty on engine is concerned, it’s far from advisable as if at all some thing goes wrong - the chances of which are bright in retro-fitment of Gas Kits into Mpfi’s, it can set you back by thousands of INRs’. Therefore, it’s a lot wiser to go for vehicles that come OE with such Kits - a number that’s growing steadily over the years.

As for engines of present generation diesel cars getting noisier over the years, a perceptible increase is inevitable due to wear and tear - just like the petrol ones - but other than that, if maintained ‘as per the book’, which is seldom the case with most car owners in India, no abnormal noise levels can arise. Once the warranty is over, people tend to be penny wise pound foolish by stopping from getting their cars serviced at the OE authorised service centres and instead, go to the friendly neighbourhood mechanics - not realising that the present day cars need special hi-tech diagnostic and servicing eqpt. costing lacs of Rs., not to mention the know how - something which the FNM’s can never afford to acquire or have.

Regarding higher maintenance costs as the vehicle gets older, it’s but natural and petrol cars are no exception. It’s one of the reasons why it’s recommended that one should be doing more than 1500 km/pm to ‘qualify’ for a diesel.

Question and Anwser
1. My diesel Zen has done 40,000 kms. It is in for servicing and they want to do engine de-carbonisation. Is it required?

1a) Strictly speaking, decarbonising at this stage/40 kkm is not called for on engines like yours but a lot depends on the quality of diesel fuel used. What you should ask your MASS is as to how they propose to do the de-carb. If it’s going to be by lifting the cyl head and mechanically scrapping the combustion chamber/piston tops’ deposits BUT leaving an about 3-5 mm ‘ring’ of carbon deposits around their periphery/cylinder walls, then it may be done. But on the other hand, if they’re going to do it by hooking on some m/c with solvents etc and then run the engine on it for 1/2 an hr or so, then it’s NOT advisable coz it can lead to some serious problems of loss of compression later on.

1b) In addition to above, the vehicle’s ‘exhaust line’ should be manually decarbonised. This can be done by taking it out completely, ‘tapping’ well the catcon and the mufflers with a rubber/wooden mallet to dislodge their internal carbon deposits and then flushing them out with high pressure water hose shoved in at the engine end till clear water starts flowing out of its tail end.

2. Do you recommend any more special work/check to be done during servicing, in addition to what is in the Manual?

2a) In addition to these, you should also ask the garage to change your ‘valve timing belt’ at this stage, to pre-empt its snapping in foreseeable future. For, if it snaps while the engine is running, it can cause a lot of expensive internal damage to an engine like yours. Unfortunately, such belts don’t come cheap - over Rs: 1,000/- but it’d be money well spent.

2b) Besides this, you should also ask your garage to reset the various/8-nos ‘valve clearances’ at this stage, as they’re bound to have reduced over the limit due to wear on the valve seats. If allowed to continue with such reduced clearances, burning out of exhaust valves in particular cannot be ruled out in near future - again an expensive and a cumbersome procedure to fix.