Entries Tagged 'Maintenance & Knowhow' ↓

Preamble
A couple of months ago, I wrote about the Electrical Systems of present day cars and how they are a far cry today from the Amby’s and Fiat’s of yore. While the advent of ‘Alternators’ solved a lot of problems, but as was to be expected, people got confronted with new ones they hadn’t faced before.

Keeping in mind that the present day Alternator in a car mainly comprises – a) Stator, b) Rotor, c) Slip-Rings/Brushes, d) Diode Plate and e) a built-in Solid state Voltage Regulator, out of which the first three are relatively trouble free, it’ll be easier to understand the most commonly faced problem by motorists from the following real life QnA…

Question
I have an indica DLS/2001. Some times, the temp gauge needle goes upto the red mark. After few minutes, it comes down to above but not 100% normal. In addition, I find that when the temp gauge rises, the headlights become brighter and the engine also slows down as if over loaded.

Answer
To me it’s quite clear that your Alternator ‘Voltage Regulator’ is malfunctioning i.e. producing over voltages erratically - as evident by the headlights becoming brighter and the temperature gauge, which is a voltmeter of sorts, showing higher reading. Since the Alternator is getting into an over voltage mode, it imposes a greater load on the engine also, resulting in a feeling of drag on it. Such malfunctions are not uncommon in 30 kkm+ old cars - especially ones fitted with Lucas-TVS Units.

To sum-up, please get your Alternator serviced at either a Tata Motors or its own authorised service centre, depending on its make. Further, it’s advisable to change BOTH its ‘Diode Plate’ AND the ‘Voltage Regulator’ at one go. If you try and save on the Diode Plate now, even if found ok, you’re most likely to find it giving way soon thereafter, coz it’s already been overstressed by the malfunctioning Voltage Regulator.

For your advance information, Diode Plate failures first appear typically as the Alternator/Charging Light on the Dashboard not going off fully but remaining a-glow. This can have a snow-balling effect as more and more diodes fail, out of a minimum total of six, leading to correspondingly reduced out put from the Alternator, which in turn will lead to flat a battery one fine morning!

Incidentally, one of my enlightened readers asked further questions on this QnA. For want of column space, we will discuss them next week.

Preamble
Week before last week we had a look at as to how Power Steerings appeared in India and then sampled a somewhat an ‘extortionist’ kind of a problem faced by one in real life.

Well, I thought it’d end with that but it didn’t, as one well informed car owner bowled another googly at me. This is how it went…

Question
A small doubt SKG: You have said that ‘power assist’ in such steering systems (hydraulic or electric) is cancelled out at road speeds higher than 40Kph. Is it true for all cars, especially those with hydraulic power-assist? I’m asking this coz in my Indigo which has hydraulic power steering, I noticed that if I give even a small twist to the steering wheel at expressway speeds, the car suddenly swerves, which could unnerve you, if you are not prepared for it! In fact, the corrective action you may take on reflex could cause an over-shoot in the opposite direction, making the car go zig-zag at high speeds and thus create a dangerous condition, especially if there are other vehicles near-by or trying to overtake. VG/Mumbai.

Answer
Thanks for the input/feedback VG. Let me try and rise to the occasion:

Although the EPS/HPS fellows positively claim ’speed sensitive’ power-assist, it’s relatively easier to achieve in EPS’s, as it’s a simple matter of programming the EPS/EPROM that takes a ‘road speed’ signal from the main ECU of the vehicle.

However, in HPS’s, as can be imagined, the things are a little more complex. As far as I know, there’s a ‘Pressure Regulating Valve’ of sorts that’s interposed between the steering wheel shaft and the actual steering gear/linkage.

This PRV has 2-slotted discs or cylinders wiping against each other and in their ‘reset’ i.e. ‘straight-ahead’ position, the slots are more or less offset, thus allowing minimum fluid flow thro’ them. Since one side of the PVR is tied down to the front road wheel side of the steering system and the other thro’ a ‘torsion link’ to the steering column, it can be visualised that the ‘through-put’ of Hydraulic (fluid) Pressure thro’ the PVR can be controlled by the difference of torques that it’s subjected to on its 2-sides.

In other words, if the effort on the steering wheel side is significantly higher than the road wheel side of the PVR, it’ll sense it as an attempt to turn the vehicle at low road speed and thus allow higher HP thro’ it, which in turn will result in higher ‘degree of assist’. The opposite is true when the effort-differential is low, meaning a higher road speed and therefore, lower the degree of assist.

So as can be seen, the design AND ‘calibration’ of the PVR is crucial in controlling not only the overall degree of assist but also in imparting a ’speed-sensitivity’ to the system. That’s how one keeps reading in professional road test reports of ‘over or under assisted’ systems on a particular vehicle, thereby losing that ‘feel of the road’ or vice-versa. In some HPS’s, the setting of the PVR is ‘service-adjustable’ but in most they’re not.

Coming now to your real question, since I haven’t lived with an Indigo, I really can’t tell, except that there seems to be something amiss with its PVR, either by way of design/calibration or later malfunction. What you can do is to carefully check as to whether the effort required at the steering wheel is nearly the same at crawling as well as cruising speeds. If so, then it means that the PVR is working, as it should. On the other hand, if it gets lighter as the vehicle road speed increases, then the PVR is not ok i.e. it’s not as speed sensitive as it should be - assuming that it’s there in the first place in a cost-cut Vehicle!

For more on HPS/Variable Assist systems, you may like to browse thro’:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/steering4.htm

As it provides detailed graphics, which is not possible in the present format. This will make understanding of the whole concept a lot easier.

Preamble
Last week we had a look as to how Power Steerings appeared in India and the existing divide between ‘Electronic’ and ‘Hydraulic’ Systems. Given its relative simplicity and thus the ease and cost of manufacture, coupled with the fact that it hardly requires any maintenance ever, EPS’ are gaining popularity today.

All out R&D efforts are on towards refining them to give that hitherto missing ‘road feel’ and manufacturers have met with considerable success in the recent past also, to the extent that the world famous Toyota-Lexus switched over to EPS a few years ago.

EPS’ can be basically of two types – one where the power-drive electric motor is steering-column mounted and the other where it’s on the Steering Rack in the engine compartment, in the form of a ‘cassette’ assembly. The former finds favour with smaller cars like the Alto/W-R where it can be easily accommodated under the dashboard. The latter becomes inevitable for heavier cars, like the Swift.

Notwithstanding, even today there’re appreciable high-end car makers like the Merc and BMW who continue with HPS’ in most of their models. Nearer home, while Maruti have more or less switched over to EPS, Hyundai have also made a switch to EPS on their ‘i10’ to begin with.

And like any other complex/belt-driven hydraulic System, one can have problems with an HPS. Sample this real life QnA, for an insight into the matter…

Question
I have Maruti Esteem-vx 1997 model with power steering. Recently I got it serviced from a Maruti Authorised Service Station. In their service report, they’ve mentioned that power steering oil leak needs repairing. They’ve also informed me that tho’ the oil level is not reduced but it needs urgent repair. They have quoted a whopping Rs. 6,500/- for the repair work. They’ve also stated that if it is not repaired now, then later on it will have to be replaced at a cost of Rs. 30,000/-! Should I get the job done? What if I do not get it repaired, whether steering will stop working? Can I get the same repaired from some good workshop at a lower price?

Answer
In Hydraulic Power Steering Systems, there can be such a thing as an ‘Internal Leak’ in the Hydraulic Pump - some thing like excessive ‘blow-by’ in engine cylinders due to worn-out piston/rings, resulting in loss of ‘compression’ and therefore, loss of engine power.

The result of such an internal leak is that the hydraulic pump doesn’t develop enough pressure and therefore, ‘power assist’. Consequently, the steering feels appreciably heavier than what it should. Its other manifestation would be higher than normal noise emanating from the pump.

If neither of these two is happening in your case, then in all probability the Garage is trying to make a fast buck, under the pretext of changing the internal sealing rings of the pump and scaring you further with an imminent/high replacement cost if not heeded to.

Over and above these two symptoms, if you did not mention a ‘heavy steering’ in your schedule of ‘demanded repairs’, then you can ignore their suggestion. At best you can ask them to demonstrate to you on what do they base their diagnosis.

And btw, to get max life out of an HPS, it’s advisable to restore the steering wheel to ‘straight ahead’ position after parking and before switching off the engine. This way, the stress on the Pump is minimal when the engine is started next time. As can be imagined, such a contra doesn’t apply to EPS’s.

To sum-up, it’s unlikely that any Garage would turn up with such a recommendation w/o the owner having complained of a heavy or a noisy steering. Therefore, I feel you should take an independent second opinion, if necessary.

Preamble
Until late ‘90s, Power Steering per se’ was not provided by the carmakers as an OE fitment, at least in their entry-level hatch’s and sedan’s. But slowly things began to change when Hyundai first gave its option in their Santro.

Others naturally followed suit, with Maruti being the first to come out with ‘Electronic’ Power Steering in their smaller cars like the Alto and ‘Hydraulic’ ones in cars like Esteem and Baleno. So here’s an attempt to distinguish between the two systems and their pros and con’s…

A ‘Power-Steering’ is a ‘System’ which minimises the effort required to turn the Steering Wheel of a Car - which becomes more and more as the Cars get heavier and is worst during slow parking manoeuvres. Today they’re basically of two types – ‘Electronic’ and ‘Hydraulic’. Both eventually draw power from the engine - of the order of 3-5% - unlike power brakes.

The degree of ‘power-assist’ is designed to taper off as the car’s road speed increases, to maintain that ‘road feel’ at its steering and is, therefore, it’s designed to be max at standstill. It naturally comes at a price and then becomes another system in the Car to maintain - with attendant costs and vulnerability to failures - like any of its other systems.

An ‘EPS’ is relatively more ‘power-efficient’ than an ‘HPS’ and having lesser moving parts with no high-pressure hydraulics, it’s also less prone to breakdowns and maintenance. However, the flip side of it is that it requires a higher Capacity Battery/Alternator - especially for heavier Cars - thus indirectly adding to the overall cost of the System

On the other hand, an HPS runs off the engine directly. Eventually, both draw their power from the Engine only - which is the sole ‘prime mover on-board’. While HPS’ have been around since WW-II, EPS’ are < 10 yrs old and have yet to reach their full development, by way of providing that ‘feel of the road’ as compared to an EPS.

Here’s a real life QnA:

Question
For a car having low curb weight like Alto, Spark or Santro, is it wise to take a car without power steering? Does it affect the driving comfort significantly? Some people say that power steering makes a car more prone to accidents at high speeds.

Answer
For all practical purposes, cars tipping around 700-750 kgs can do w/o power steering. However, with increasing urban congestion leading to b2b parking and not to mention sissiness amongst men and women, power steering even for such cars is being looked upon more as a necessity than luxury.

As regards PS-Cars being prone to accidents at high speeds, it’s more of a myth since both the electronic and hydraulic ones are ’speed sensitive’, where the degree of ‘power assist’ is designed to go down with road speed. In fact the EPS guys claim that above 40 kph, the ‘degree of assist’ is zero i.e. revert to full manual.

On the other hand, with HPS, coz the system is always pressurised from both sides of the front/steering wheels, it infact resists sudden/involuntary direction changes at high speeds, to the extent that small unbalance in the steering wheels also doesn’t immediately result in a ‘wobble’, even at high speeds.

Preamble
The last two articles (Part 1 | Part 2) on the subject evoked some more, if not grilling, responses from my ‘regulars’.

Here is an interesting one from an Instructor level Marine Engineer – who has been around the world several times – if not ‘80’ - including on super-tankers as their chief engineer.

This is how the QnA went with him…

Question
Sorry to butt-in SKG, but I think the question was: What rpm would give the most mileage.
I don’t know that much about cars, but on ships, it is a simple rule: the faster you go, the more fuel you burn! Although the specific fuel consumption (gm of fuel burnt per unit power per unit time) may be better at higher rpm, the total consumption is directly proportional to the power consumed. The faster you go, the higher the resistance (its a cubic curve), consequently the more the wastage!

Even with my car (an Indigo-D), I’ve found that if I keep a steady speed of 80 kmph (5th gear) on the Expressway to Pune (the recommended speed for best specific fuel consumption), I get an average of 16 km/litre. If, however, I chug along at a sedate 55 - 60 kmph, I have got between 19.5 to 20 km/litre! Of course, it’s really boring driving like this !! VG/Mumbai.

Answer
You’re most welcome any time, as it invariably gives me some more food for thought!

Anyways, what you say is quite right - as it’s elementary physics. However, as far as I know, besides ‘rated’ rpm, there’s a basic difference between automotive, marine and stationary power plant engines - in the sense that the latter have their fuel efficiencies ‘optimised’ for ‘near’ full load coz that’s where they’re expected to operate ‘most’ times.

Whereas an automotive engine is required to operate at different rpm’s ‘all’ the time, for reasons one can very well imagine and appreciate. Therefore, it’s ’specific fuel consumption’ is optimised for an rpm/bhp somewhere around 50-60% of its max ratings, to give it a reasonably exciting cruising speed as well as make it run as relaxed as possible and yet have a sufficient ‘reserve power’ for contingencies.

Another notable difference between automotive and stationary ICE’s is their rated rpm. Since the former have to run at various speeds and yet have weight/volume constraints that come with mounting on a car, the present day trend is towards higher and higher rpm capability - both for petrol and diesel. Where as for the stationary ones, the lower is considered to be better coz it not only results in longer life/in hrs but also, most times they’re burning near asphalt like fuels - as you know very well - that require longer full-burn times.

That given and said, it follows that the speed at which an automotive engine will consume the least amount of fuel is the minimum speed at which it can ‘cruise’ w/o any ‘hiccups’. This, if you’ve observed, is of the order of 30+ kph in the 4th gear and 40+ in the 5th for most present generation cars. In other words, nearly ‘no-throttle’ for an Mpfi/Crdi car!

In fact, the ‘record breaking’ FC’s achieved by various cars like the Ford-1.4D, Logan-1.5D, Verna-D etc. that one keeps hearing about in the media, of the order of 30+ kpl, are achieved under such speeds only! But then, as you’ve yourself said, it’d be awfully boring to be driving on the EW’s at such speeds for hours together. In reality, at such low speeds, at least my adrenalin also drops so low that I tend to doze off at the wheel!!

Preamble
The last week’s article on the above subject evoked some interesting responses from some of my ‘regulars’.

Here’s one from a power systems engineer by ‘training’ (like me!) and this is how the QnA’s went with him…

Question
SKG, what is the rpm that is recommended for the best mileage? I tend to ‘cruise’ at 2K rpm in my Wagon-R - not that one can really ‘cruise’ in a city like Bangalore but I do because I leave home at 5.15/5.20 am for the golf course for teeing off at 5.45 am and so I can actually ‘cruise’ at that hour. I choose the 4th or 5th gear to be able to drive at 2K rpm. Is this OK or should I do a higher or lower rpm while cruising? – NJR/B’lore

Answer
It’s somewhat difficult to answer your question with respect to today’s Mpfi’s, where the engine ‘performance’ can be manipulated at the design stage to a very large extent, by programming its ‘ECU’ accordingly. In the pre-EU-II/carbureted cars of yore, it was believed that an engine was most fuel-efficient at its ‘peak-torque’ rpm - which was generally around 2500-3000 rpm and max/bhp rpm’s were of the order of 5-5,500.

However, to me it appears that this is no longer true. Take the example of a 1600cc car like a Baleno, where its peak torque occurs at 3500 rpm and in its Vth gear at this rpm, it’d do close to 140 kph! Whereas its ‘red-line’ happens to be around 6000 rpm - with a top speed ‘capability’ of 185 kph. The corresponding figs for a W-R, peak-torque and max-bhp rpm-wise, are quite similar to a Baleno’s. I remember my one such ‘92/M800 with an ingeniously designed ‘on-board’ Tacho used to do 80kph in IVth (no Vth gear then) at 3000 rpm.

It may be interesting to know that the present day tendencies of car designers are to have higher and higher peak torque rpm’s, to boost the accelerating capabilities of a car. Whereas for cars basically meant for pottering around town with minimal gear changes, such as a W-R, it’s desirable to have them around 3000 rpm - clearly a clash of interests.

To sum-up, I feel one can get the best out of a present day/petrol car - small or big - by limiting the highway cruise rpm’s to 3000-3500 from engine health/longevity points of view and to get the best ‘overall’ mileage, cruise between 80-90 kph in the Vth. The latter will correspond to 2000-2500 rpm for most petrol cars. For diesels, depending on their max torque and Bhp, these figs could be lower by, say, 500 rpm for the same road speeds.

Preamble
Early in October this year, I’d essayed on the fuel ‘efficiency’ vs fuel ‘consumption’ of a car, giving an example of an old Zen cruising at different speeds.

As a fallout of it, a friend posed me some further questions but this time, talking about the differences in engine rpm as displayed by the Tacho on Dash for different cars. This is how the QnA went…

Question
I was reading the other day an AutoExpress/UK review about a BMW-5 Series which does 100 mph @ 1700 rpm. My question to you is how do these guys make an engine perform at such low rpm’s at such high speeds, considering that my Verna-D though not comparable to the BMW, touches 100 kph only at around 2200 rpm in 5th.

So is there a specific logic to their engine/gearbox design that such cars work leisurely at much lower rpm’s whereas the rest are really pulling more than twice that number. I am foxed and hence this question to you. CM/Hyd.

Answer
Thanks for the teaser CM. After a long time some one has asked me an interesting question that sends my creative juices a-flow. Coming down to think of it, it’s not much of a brainer. So here we go:

We all know that an ICE basically produces a ‘torque’ i.e. a ‘rotary force’, like an electric motor and, therefore, has an Rpm vs Torque ‘Characteristic’. We also know that ‘torque’ is primarily responsible for the accelerating ‘capability’ of a car, of course in tandem with its gearbox/ratios.

Since ‘power/(b)hp’ i.e. ‘rate of doing work’ is a direct multiple of torque and rpm, it follows that - a) the bhp vs rpm ‘characteristic’ of an ICE closely follows the shape of its primary torque vs rpm characteristic and, b) that the ‘max power’ dictates the top-speed ‘capability’ of a car.

Now, the power required to move a car at ‘a’ speed basically depends on - a) its ‘road-rolling resistance’ and, b) the ‘wind resistance’ faced by it. At higher speeds, the latter is predominant and it goes up ‘exponentially’ with road speed.

Coming now to the root of your question. Assume for a moment that (a)+(b) above are the same for a Verna-D and a BMW-5D, for a road speed of 100 mph/160 kph, that a Verna is also quite capable of doing, AND that to move them at this speed, their respective engines must produce the same, say, 100 bhp.

Now comes the crux. Since the Verna can do only ~110 bhp/max, say at 4,000 rpm, to be doing 100 bhp for a 160 Kph speed, it’s engine will have to be spinning at least at 4000×100/110 = 3636 rpm.

On the other hand, the BMW-5 produces 190 bhp at 4,000 rpm. Therefore, for it to produce only 100 bhp to move @ 160 Kph, its engine stands run only at 4000×100/190 = 2105 rpm, or 58% of what the Verna has to do. And eureka, this is more or less what you’ve observed!

Please note that the actual bhp vs rpm figs in real life will vary, depending upon the ’shape’ of their individual bhp/rpm curves but for simplicity’s sake, I’ve taken them to be a straight line @ 45*.

Moral of the story, a high/max bhp engine doesn’t mean it can rocket a car to the moon BUT the ‘reserve’ power it has while cruising at an optimum or recommended road speed, so that - a) it cruises with the engine most ‘relaxed’ and more importantly, b) it has a tiger-in-waiting to literally ‘leap forward’ as and when required - either for over taking or just for the kicks!

It’s with this funda at the back that some of the current models of Rolls’ don’t have a conventional/rpm Tacho on the Dash. Instead, what they have is an rpm meter ‘calibrated’ in terms of ‘remaining’ engine power at a given rpm, showing ‘Percentage Reserve Power’ at any driving speed in any gear!

And coming down to think of it, not so long ago until the world at large started laying due or undue emphasis on max torque and max bhp even for high end cars as their USPs, ‘RR’ used to declare ‘Adequate’ against the Engine/bhp columns of its Specs!!

Preamble
So far, I’ve written about car electrics/batteries on four earlier occasions in these columns but going by the number of queries that I continue to receive on them, I find that they form a good percentage of car owners operating problems across the country.

So here are some recent QnA’s that stand out in my mind and archives – hoping that they’ll be of interest and use to most car owners. Incidentally, the first question was from a gentleman who’d been trying to get an answer to it for quite some time from leading auto magazines and other websites but none responded…

Question
When a car battery has run down, why is it difficult or even impossible to push-start an automatic transmission car as against manual transmission car, which easily starts on pushing? In absence of a jump-switch, how does one start an A/T car anyway?

Answer
An A/T has to have a ‘fluid coupling’ to enable it work the way it does, instead of the conventional clutch in an M/T. As a result, there’s no ‘coupling’ at all between the engine and the GB when the engine is not spinning above its minimum/idling rpm. Consequently, when attempted to push start, the ‘reverse torque’ from the road wheels doesn’t get transmitted to the engine coz of the fluid coupling in between and therefore, the engine doesn’t ‘crank’ the way a starter motor does it.

In other words, a battery-stalled A/T can only be ‘jump-started’ from another car/healthy battery and these days, all OEM ‘on-road-service’ vehicles are equipped to do so. Btw, an M/T Mpfi/Crdi vehicle with a flat battery may not push-start either, depending upon the state of charge on the seemingly dead battery. Therefore, such vehicles are also advised only to be jump-started, like A/T’s, so as not to damage their ‘ECUs’ in the process.

This QnA reminded me of a saying that ‘never buy a car that you can’t push’!

Question
I am a Bullet enthusiast. I want to know what is the use of the ‘Amp’ in my Bullet and why should it be brought to ‘0’ before starting? Why is it not present in other bikes?

Answer
The ‘Amp’ or the ‘Ammeter’ is an old British automotive tradition, like the engine oil pressure gauge, where cars as well as bikes that have a battery/charging system were provided with it on the dash, so as to give an easy indication of the state of the battery and its charging system at a glance. Over a period of time, as the vehicles’ cruising speeds went up, the philosophy of ‘minimum instrumentation on the dash’ took over, so as not to distract a driver’s attention to the extent possible - besides cost cutting of course. So instead, only warning lights are provided nowadays for such purposes.

As far as a Bullet is concerned, it has a battery driven ignition coil, quite like cars, unlike a ‘magneto-driven’ one on most other 2-wheelers AND a powerful headlamp on top of that, though its battery is relatively smaller in capacity due to space constraints. Therefore, to ensure that full battery power is available for the ignition to kick-start, recommending one to bring the ‘Amp’ to ‘0’/zero is a way to tell the rider to ensure that all the lights etc are switched off before attempting to kick-start.

On the other hand in present day cars, the battery is relatively of larger capacity and in any case, their starter motors draw such a heavy current, of the order of a few hundred amps, that even if the head lamps that draw 10-15 amps only are on at the time of cranking the starter motor, it’d make no difference – provided the battery is not already dying of age or whatever other reason.

Preamble
Almost all of us who own a car and care about it have or continue to face this irritant at the hands of insensitive/non-family passengers. Needless to say that the latter already stand rebuked into place.

Some morons do it with such a vigour that it can send a shiver down the spine of even a built-like a-tank Amby - leave alone a feather-weight M800 that could easily turn over in disgust.

So it was, perhaps, inevitable that some time back one of my close friends and a car lover asked me for a possible remedy to save his beloved possession from such recurring assaults. Unfortunately, it’s somewhat like trying to finding a cure for common cold but this is how the dialogue went…

Ailment:
Dear SKG: Have you ever come across any article on how to close car doors effectively and ‘properly’. I wish to forward it to my friends, aiming especially those who slam the doors with all their might. This is one issue which has irritated me since childhood. SB.

Prognosis:
None that I know of SB but I have some thoughts about it, with myself having been a victim all along. There’s no empirical formula that one can make others follow when it comes to closing car doors ‘properly’, coz the ‘basic’ variables are beyond any one’s control, if not comprehension - viz -

a) I guess it’s been the experience of all of us sensitive types that people who bang them the hardest are the ones who either don’t own cars themselves or care about them even if they did, coz they’re insensitive to the hurt it causes to others who own and care about them.

b) No two car/models’ doors’ will ever require the same ‘effort’ to close them ‘properly’ i.e. without a jarring bang. In fact on my new Baleno, from day one, the driver-side door closes harder compared to the rest due to some misalignment that I’ve not bothered to get fixed coz - i) it’s reasonably rattle-free, and ii) I’m at its wheel most times and by now I know how hard to bang it!

c) In my younger days, when pitted against such a lot, I used to leap out of the car before they could and do it myself for them so that they couldn’t over-bang them, making it look like a courtesy gesture at the same time. Telling them to do it softly before letting them do it would have been rather impolite and above all, a waste of breath most times!

d) The cabins of present day cars are quite ‘airtight’ due to AC and other/dust-free requirements. This requires the ‘last’ door a significantly harder bang to close it ‘properly’ when ‘all’ other windows are rolled up including its own - especially with the AC control in ‘re-circ’ mode.

e) Incidentally, the Santro I have has a small/conical rubber piece mounted on the door/body frame, tho’ vulnerable to getting yanked-off when mulled by crude car-cleaners. Hyundai call it ‘bumper-door-anti-slam’! I really don’t know how effective it’s but it’s heartening to note that at least some OEM has given the matter some thought!

f) Btw, some of the higher end Merc’s have had a push button/electric door closing mechanism now for quite some years, designed not so much I reckon as to take the sting out of a possible bang but as an up market luxury feature.

g) However, during my recent visit to France, I saw that a 1.3 lr Peugeot delivery van, somewhat bigger than our Omni, had a push button on the Dash to enable the driver close the rear sliding door electrically after his cargo was picked up, so that i) he didn’t have to get out on a busy street to manually do it himself and hold up the traffic behind him in the process and, ii) there being no ‘chhotu’ to do the needful in their scarce man-power scenario.

To sum-up, till such time the ‘auto door close’ features trickle down to our affordable levels, I guess we’ll have to just grin and bear it. And where does it all leave us the oppressed minority - back to square one - unless one is prepared to get out and do it oneself as a ‘courtesy gesture’ and hold-up the following traffic in the process?!

Preamble
Although the country’s largest car maker has well laid down servicing norms, by way of approved service stations’ layouts, stocking of genuine spares and hourly labour rates, that vary from Metro’s to sub-metro’s to other smaller towns for justifiable reasons, yet some car owners feel that they’re getting fleeced. The following real life QnA attempts to clarify the picture…

Question
My Wagon-R is due for its 4th Service. Although it’s only 15-months old, I have crossed the 20-kkm mark. Regrettably, I have not been able to get a justifiable estimate on the costs of 4th Service and have been further confused by quotes from some of the Maruti authorised service stations in Delhi. ‘Marketing Times’ estimates labour to be Rs: 675/-, whereas ‘Maruti Service Masters’ puts it at a fixed Rs: 1400/-, which is funny because when I’d called them earlier on, I was told that it’d be @ Rs: 190/- an hour.

I’ll appreciate your inputs on this, as don’t mind spending the money but I don’t want to get fleeced at the same time. Further, I was wondering whether a Service is required at all as it’s been only 15 months - as opposed to 24-months at which Maruti recommends the 4th Service be done at.

Lastly, I have been trying to figure out how I can clean the air filter…since that is something I can do. I am yet to go through the service manual but I was not able to find anything on the ‘net either.

My response
I’m not clear as to what your problem really is. The servicing schedules are clearly laid down by Maruti in one’s ‘Owners Handbook’, on time as well as distance basis, whichever is ‘earlier’. Next come the labour charges. All Maruti Dealers, Service Masters & Authorised Service Stations are supposed to strictly follow norm’s in this respect laid down by Maruti and the variation is usually not more than 15~20%, depending on their geo-location and ‘star ranking’, as assessed by Maruti from time to time.

Further, for ‘paid’ Services for a vehicle like the W-R, there’s a fixed labour cost like Rs: 650/- covering most items mentioned in the ‘periodic maintenance schedule’, such as routine washing/valeting, oils/filters’ changes, engine tune etc. But on top of this if the ‘nth’ service schedule from Maruti also prescribes some additional works like brake fluid change, coolant change, all 4-brakes’ service, wheel alignment/balancing, besides material, these are charged extra for labour, based on hourly rates fixed by Maruti in a detailed labour schedule manual available for scrutiny in the front office of all Maruti authorised workshops. For example, one MASS may charge say 1-hr for the brakes service and the other 2-hrs for the same job, depending on how difficult it was to open the assemblies of a particular vehicle.

Over and above all these, the consumable materials costs like oils, filters, and other spares reqd such as spark plugs are billed for extra - as per Maruti’s official spares price list. Most authorised workshops use Maruti approved engine oils at Maruti fixed prices, but next higher grade oils are also available at some workshops, naturally at a higher cost, should a customer so desire.

If you’re still in doubt, I’d suggest you speak with one Mr. Jayesh Desai on his phone +91 9810708000. He runs a chain of 4-premium and oldest MSM Workshops in the NCR/Noida. You can give him my reference and if convenient, even get your vehicle serviced there and see the total transparency in their operations your self. As a special case, they may even offer a free pick up and drop off, depending on how many hours away you’re from their facility nearest to you.

As regards cleaning the Air Filter your self, it’s easy and yet not so, for a good job one requires ample compressed air. I’d suggest you first ask to be allowed to watch the process during your next service and thereafter, say every 2.5 kkm, attempt to do it your self if you have a suitable vacuum cleaner at home, ensuring that you operate it on the dirty/ingress side only and not the other/clean engine side.