“The Blue Elephant” My Safari 4x4 Review & Mods

[bhvm]

When was the last time brake fluid replaced( flushing + bleeding)?

I guess that would be 2018 or 19.

Nothing is Leaking externally. Pedal feels soft all the way to floor once engine is cranked.
Braking is Extremely Poor.

Are the master cylinder and rear wheel cylinder both leaking?

The chap broke that Bleeding port since it was seized shut. ( I had given him WD40) Another useless & Stupid expense for me.

 

[mayankdixit]

I guess that would be 2018 or 19.

Nothing is Leaking externally. Pedal feels soft all the way to floor once engine is cranked.
Braking is Extremely Poor.
.

Air bleeding may not sort out your issues.
Somehow the vacuum is not forming/leaking. Check the brake booster too.
It either of the two viz. Master cylinder with old and degenerated oil seals not working properly,. Or the Brake booster causing vacuum leak.

 

[mayankdixit]

Brought New Tyres for the Beast. MRF Wanderers AT at 6.7k a piece (With bill)

View attachment 285231

Have a look at MRF wanderers AT. They are good and economical too.
NO need to waste unnecessary money on fancy wheels .You have to use it roughly. They will do. I would have done exactly that. Rest is up-to you.
.

Happy for your new tyres. Looking badass !
I already advised you so. Few years back.

 

[bhvm]

Happy for your new tyres. Looking badass !
I already advised you so. Few years back.

Yes. The beast Has hardly seen any use since 2019 and more so following lockdowns.
The Lockdowns have been very hard on my Cars. The whole spirit of a Long Family Tour has gone for a Toss. State borders are being locked again.

Apart from Faulty AC (Leak somewhere), Brake Failure makes it very difficult to use.
I am trying to locate the Parts on Boodmo-
https://oriparts.com/3/210/673/337204

The ones from TATA are super expensive. There are OEM parts from TVS-Girling. But there are 3 variants. The site shows all of them are Compatible with my car. Prices are different and Photos are absent. Not sure which one to order.
https://boodmo.com/catalog/part-tandem_master_cylinder_assembly-38916957/

 

[bhvm]

Important video for all Safari Owners.

 

[mayankdixit]

The Expense continues.

The Brake pedal sank to the Floor.
So now the Expense looks like new Master cylinder + Wheel cylinder + Fitting.

What happened to this issue?
How were you able to solve it?

 

[bhvm]

What happened to this issue?
How were you able to solve it?

The issue is still pending.
Reasons mostly being Lack of time & Lack of Parts. Repeated Lockdowns are worsening the issue.
Thinking to tow it to ASC, which would be roughly 100kms, since no Service is available in my area.

In the Midst a lot did happen, Most of it is Useless though.
The Courier Boy stole the Parcel of Spare parts which was Shipped from Boodmo. I was able to recover it though.
Then I saw that Boodmo broke the order in 2 shipments, Making the parts useless until everything is delivered as a set.
The entire hullabaloo is just causing a major waste of time.

 

[mayankdixit]

sorry for the misery undergone by you,cortesy boodmo!
I ordered few hose -clips.+ some clamps from boodmo for XUV. I ordered on 19th december. The order is still showing as processing!! They have postponed the date of delivery at least 10 times.
Since its a very small amount, I am waiting and avoiding cancelling the order.It might be that they are not paying attention,because of the small amount,dont know.

 

[Suryaputhra]

What kind of AC problem or leak?

 

[bhvm]

So I got the Brake Cylinders Delivered. The Delivery dates were such that all parts missed the return window waiting for each other.
Physically they to look OK from what i can see.

Apart from this, I have an Update.
Tried installing the cylinder myself. Its just 4 bolts. 3 are stuck. Any force will just round the bolts. WD40 was applied since March 1 st week atleast 5 times. So that's not an issue. But Brake lines are stuck on solid. Bolts appear made of Aluminium or some soft metal, And they round very easily. I also brought New wrenches for them but no avail.

Well, I do not usually believe in bad luck. But lockdown 2020 and beyond has been killing my cars with one or other small-issue-turned-big fiasco...
Keeping Fingers crossed.

sorry for the misery undergone by you,cortesy boodmo!
I ordered few hose -clips.+ some clamps from boodmo for XUV. I ordered on 19th december. The order is still showing as processing!! They have postponed the date of delivery at least 10 times.
Since its a very small amount, I am waiting and avoiding cancelling the order.It might be that they are not paying attention,because of the small amount,dont know.

This is The usual Boodmo Method.
My Brake parts order was placed in Late Feb. Now its April. More than 30 days.

They did the same when I wanted Certain washers for Safari. The Expected date went on Extending, After 2 months they cancelled the order and Refunded the amount.
Looks like they don't Check the stock before taking orders. And work on Reverse procurement pipeline. That is, Orders are placed at suppliers only after confirmed & paid orders from Customers.

What kind of AC problem or leak?

The Refrigerant Gas has escaped through some unknown path. Doubts are on AC lines in Engine bay or Roof AC unit.

 

[Suryaputhra]

So I got the Brake Cylinders Delivered. The Delivery dates were such that all parts missed the return window waiting for each other.
Physically they to look OK from what i can see.

Apart from this, I have an Update.
Tried installing the cylinder myself. Its just 4 bolts. 3 are stuck. Any force will just round the bolts. WD40 was applied since March 1 st week atleast 5 times. So that's not an issue. But Brake lines are stuck on solid. Bolts appear made of Aluminium or some soft metal, And they round very easily. I also brought New wrenches for them but no avail.

Well, I do not usually believe in bad luck. But lockdown 2020 and beyond has been killing my cars with one or other small-issue-turned-big fiasco...
Keeping Fingers crossed.


This is The usual Boodmo Method.
My Brake parts order was placed in Late Feb. Now its April. More than 30 days.

They did the same when I wanted Certain washers for Safari. The Expected date went on Extending, After 2 months they cancelled the order and Refunded the amount.
Looks like they don't Check the stock before taking orders. And work on Reverse procurement pipeline. That is, Orders are placed at suppliers only after confirmed & paid orders from Customers.


The Refrigerant Gas has escaped through some unknown path. Doubts are on AC lines in Engine bay or Roof AC unit.

Buy electronic refrigerant leak testers online in Amazon. If leak is in cooling coil it is difficult need to remove dash, but there are some other ideas to stop leak, just find out the exact location of leak.

So I got the Brake Cylinders Delivered. The Delivery dates were such that all parts missed the return window waiting for each other.
Physically they to look OK from what i can see.

Apart from this, I have an Update.
Tried installing the cylinder myself. Its just 4 bolts. 3 are stuck. Any force will just round the bolts. WD40 was applied since March 1 st week atleast 5 times. So that's not an issue. But Brake lines are stuck on solid. Bolts appear made of Aluminium or some soft metal, And they round very easily. I also brought New wrenches for them but no avail.

Well, I do not usually believe in bad luck. But lockdown 2020 and beyond has been killing my cars with one or other small-issue-turned-big fiasco...
Keeping Fingers crossed.


This is The usual Boodmo Method.
My Brake parts order was placed in Late Feb. Now its April. More than 30 days.

They did the same when I wanted Certain washers for Safari. The Expected date went on Extending, After 2 months they cancelled the order and Refunded the amount.
Looks like they don't Check the stock before taking orders. And work on Reverse procurement pipeline. That is, Orders are placed at suppliers only after confirmed & paid orders from Customers.


The Refrigerant Gas has escaped through some unknown path. Doubts are on AC lines in Engine bay or Roof AC unit.

Buy cost effective model because all are same working principle.

 

[bhvm]

Buy electronic refrigerant leak testers online in Amazon. If leak is in cooling coil it is difficult need to remove dash, but there are some other ideas to stop leak, just find out the exact location of leak.

Wow! These Things are expensive. 10 to 20k
For that Price I will just install a new coil and have a peace of Mind.

 

[Suryaputhra]

You get around 2K to 3K pls search amazon.

 

[The SUV guy]

Hello Mr. Bhvm, hope you are doing great!

I just joined TAI and landed in your thread. First of all I'm amazed to see such a enthusiastic safari enthusiast. My dad too owns a 2007 Tata Safari DiCOR LX 2.2 4x2. I was 5 years old when we bought her. I still remember going to 2nd row and then 3rd row without stepping out of the SUV in the showroom it took us whole day as net banking was not available and cash payment requires counting, the dealer also showed a 3.0L DiCOR 4x4 but it was returned by the previous owner after a month of purchase due to some technical issues. Though the dealer was giving heavy discount on the 3.0L safari, but my dad then went for the 2.2L safari, which I certainly agree that buying a new safari was a better idea than going for a used 3.0L just for a little discount. Soon after 1 year the spare wheel cover got stolen.

My dad wasn't in a mood to buy a new one, he then used a lock to safeguard the spare wheel from getting stolen. Now fast forward to 2018 after reclaiming our life's and going to every possible town or city, driven close to 1.4 lakhs KMs the big boom appeared! Yes, the timing belt broke suddenly. We (we refers to my dad, mom, me and my younger sister) were in rajkot for a night Hault. Next day when the vallet staff was starting the safari, it wasn't starting. Eventually TASC guys came in with a hexa to tow my safari. The timing belt broke which also broke the water pump. After getting it fixed from a Bosch center, not from TASC because of their pathetic behaviour and service. We returned to our hometown.

Now fast forwarding to December 2020. When my dad, mom and my sister were on their way to goa. Near Satara the safari stalled in between the highway. Luckily they found a towing tata 207. After the problem was rectified, it was caused due to breaking of HLA! 2.2 L safari has a problem of HLA breaking after certain KMs. Now after 14 years and being a diesel SUV my dad is going to bid adieu it soon. He told me that till we sell it you can practice on how to drive on busy road and public road as I turned 18 on May 2020. Now I may sound a bit old school, but I'm proudly one. I can buy a safari dicor or storme, if tata motors starts manufacturing it again. No fancy features, no gimmicks just pure driving pleasure and sheer engine grunt. In the times when my generation are going for connected tech or sunroof, I would be extremely happy with a performance oriented engine rather than those gimmick.

I've been mocked out by my relatives due to this thinking quite a lot of time. They make fun of me because I like Gurkha, safari, gypsy, thar etc. But I simply don't care . I extremely fell in love with the Safari's driving feel and performance after driving it extensively. I love the heavy hydraulic steering, clutch and gearbox of the safari as I even landed my safari in jam packed road without a navigator, all alone! Didn't feel anything heavy or not driveable. But I can proudly say that I learnt how to drive a car in public in a true SUV. Attaching a picture of my buddy, my best friend reclaiming our life together. View attachment 286309

 

[bhvm]

@
The SUV guy
Hello.
Thats Quite a Story.
I have been using Safari since 98 (the 1.9L TCIC Model) And I can certainly relate to your Experience. Thankfully we never had Major Breakdowns and Never Needed any towing.
The only major Letdown I remember is bad clutch on my 3.0L Dicor which caused some discomfort in the ghats. Otherwise, Safari always brought us home, Be it with a few Niggles here and there, but we always came home.

And about Being Oldschool, No You certainly not alone!