Hell's Angel - Suzuki Zen Estilo LXi - Midnight Black - March 2007

[deville_56]

November 2019

Hits 90k km mark.

Gave for repair to Ajith Automobiles, our usual guy. Took 5 days exact. Delay caused in sourcing the quarter glass. Beading for quarter glass was not available, but ordered by him.

Quality of the job was good for the money spent with minimal orange peel. Painted front bumper and bonnet as well and did a full body buffing and polish. Total cost was ₹ 11,500.00. Reaching home, tried applying a coat of Meguiars sealant, but didn't complete it.

New quarter glass. Atul Tuf brand, but OEM.

The left side quarter glass, Temperlite-LT from AIS, with 10-year-old window tint.

 

[bhvm]

Nice to see beast back in action. Awaiting 1L Kms now,

 

[deville_56]

May 2020 - Lockdown days

Battery dead. I've asked them to specifically start and/or move car weekly. Nowadays, I'd go there, push the car myself and roll down the road and starts and come back and idle for 10-15 minutes. Battery is dead for sure, not holding charge, won't start the very next day. My weekends are now spent push starting and idling. Fortunately, the incline starts just outside the car porch and the road itself is steep incline. If it doesn't start, you are doomed. I remember trying to push start a neighbour's old Amby in my teenage and going all the way till the paddy field at the end and finally getting a 407 to tow it all the way to the main road, quarter mile.

Renewed insurance with New India with the hopes of resuming office commute with lock down expecting to end by May 31st, though it never happened. Premium amount was ₹ 4,801.00, ₹500 more than last time due to bump in third party premium. IDV ₹73,000, same as last time.

Split up
Own Damage - ₹ 489.00
Third party - ₹ 3546.00
GST - ₹ 766.00
Total Premium - ₹ 4801.00

Seems PA cover is now included only upon request. They didn't push either.

Nice to see beast back in action. Awaiting 1L Kms now,

By the current pace and scenario, it would take more than a year or two to hit the lakh mark. Currently, 94253 km in odo. Hardly runs 10 km a month now.

 

[deville_56]

June 2020 - New Battery - Amaron Black

Finally decided to change battery instead of push starting. Popped up the hood.

Removed the dead Hitachi one. Served 3 years and 51 days.

Bought Amaron BLACK BL400LMF from our usual vendor, Laxmi Enterprises. All these years bought only Amaron FLO, but acute shortage due to COVID and only Black was available in Amaron. Exide was available, but somehow not comfortable with the brand. This got 18 months replacement warranty. No useless pro-rata. MRP ₹ 3,753.00. Got for ₹ 3,000.00 after old battery buyback. (Seller actually billed ₹ 3,900.00 - 900.00) Took it home. Cleaned terminals and installed. Sprayed some Rust Off on terminals to prevent oxidation.

March 2020 make.

No charge indicator when compared to FLO.

 

[mayankdixit]

Nice new 35Ah battery!! Always a good feeling. Cranking will be super fast now(as compared to before)
What's the actual difference (other than colour) between green and black one? Both seem to be retailing at the same price.

 

[deville_56]

Nice new battery!! Always a good feeling.
What's the difference between green and black one?

Not much difference from customer's end other than the colour, warranty, a useless battery indicator and of course price. Black comes with 18-month warranty. Green comes with 24+24 warranty. Both maintenance free. Price difference of a thousand bucks. Seller assures same life as well.

 

[bhvm]

warranty, a useless battery indicator and of course price. Black comes with 18-month warranty. Green comes with 24+24 warranty. Both maintenance free

These days mostly warranty behaves as Business Insurance. The brands calculate Product return Percentage in 3rd and 4th year. Adds a Premium to the price and then sells it. I would not be surprised if battery plates are EXACTLY the same.

Think about buying Extended warranty built in !

 

[deville_56]

These days mostly warranty behaves as Business Insurance. The brands calculate Product return Percentage in 3rd and 4th year. Adds a Premium to the price and then sells it. I would not be surprised if battery plates are EXACTLY the same.

Think about buying Extended warranty built in !

Prorata discount rates and normal buyback rates are kind of same too.

 

[deville_56]

May-June 2020: Post-lock down parts hunt

With the expectation of resumption of office and long pending oil change, went out in search of oil. Motul 4100 or Shell Helix HX7 was in mind or else Castrol Start-Stop, but unfortunately all of them were out of stock and kind of settled for the mineral options available there, but this one caught my eyes. Valvoline All Climate Premium 10W40 Fully Synthetic Oil (API SN/CF A3/B4). MRP was ₹ 1,585.00, he gave it for ₹ 1,300.00. Ex-Jawan, Chenthitta. 2018 make. Surprisingly mets VW and Merc specs and only 1/3rd cost of the Mobil 1 and Castrol used by them.

Got Purolator PI-6115 air filter. MRP was ₹ 183.00, got for ₹ 150.00. Kakkassery Automobiles, Karamana.

and Purolator PI-417400 oil filter. MRP ₹ 100.00, got for ₹ 80.00. Again, from Kakkassery Automobiles.

EcStar Coolant - 99000M24120-551 - ₹ 270.00

Oil Drain Plug - 11518-63J10 - ₹ 63.00
SGP part. Made in Japan.

Oil Drain Plug Gasket - 11519-M60M00 - ₹ 6.00

Bought coolant and drain bolt and washer from MGP, Karamana.

 

[mayankdixit]

I like your DIYs but I have a query.
Why do you keep changing different grades of engine oil ,all through the ownership?
Some are plainly not recommended.Some of them are not even meant for a petrol engine.They are plainly diesel engine oils.You seem to love your machines.Then why do you to this ATYACHAAR (for want of a better word,meaning wrongdoing) with your machines??
And they are not cheap either.Why do you seem to go out of the way,and spend money and buy and use NON- recommended grades of engine oils.

So this time you went for 10W40 !!
Quoting my own post of long time back. Sorry for that. But the puzzle is still the same.
Don't tell me your answer is still the same too . I am pulling my hairs out.

 

[deville_56]

So this time you went for 10W40 !!
Quoting my own post of long time back. Sorry for that. But the puzzle is still the same.
Don't tell me your answer is still the same too . I am pulling my hairs out.

Answer is kindo of same

Always open to experimenting and spoiled by Google and YouTube. Know some crazy guys using some particular diesel oils (Delvac and Rimula) long term on petrol cars and some gone to the extreme of using them on bikes. So thought of trying, but I would never recommend or have recommended to anyone

Regarding frequent grade change, even OEMs are not sure of which one to stick with Maruti themselves started off with 20w40, 15W40, now 5W30. When I bought FZ, Yamaha was recommending 20W40. They were okay with 15W50. Suddenly, they switched to 20W50 and now 10W40. Hero and Honda also followed the path. Switched from 20W40 to 10W30 suddenly one midnight . Too much itch to try different grades and brands.

I (suddenly) felt (while browsing through the oils on the rack), it would be better than the 5W30 recommended by Maruti now since it would be too thin for a high-mile engine designed to run on 20W40. Other options available were mostly mineral like Relstar, Castrol CRB, etc. kind of stuffs.

BTB Maruti came with new grade 0W16. Next, would be Vim liquid

 

[mayankdixit]

Answer is kindo of same
BTB Maruti came with new grade 0W16. Next, would be Vim liquid

That was

 

[bhvm]

I can imagine this. W30 Grades are already as thin as Paani. Heck my Handwash is thicker than that.
And It does not take much to guess that Automakers are hell bent on FE rather than Longevity.

 

[deville_56]

Indeed checking the manual for the right grade gave me pushed into the fantasy. Actually, there was no specific grade in the manual and there was only a confusing graph with ambient temperatures.

5W30 -30-10 °C
10w30 -20-30 °C
10w40/10w50 -20-40+ °C
15w40/15w50 -15-40+ °C
20w40/20w50 -10-40+ °C

Record temperatures in Trivandrum
Lowest temperature ~16 °C
Highest temperature ~38 °C

It was in 2013, I had the balls to change oil for the first time. Reading all the above, concluded I needed anything that works flawlessly more than 30°C with that being the average highest temperature. W30s was out of picture. I am safe to use 10/15/20 W 40/50 grades per Maruti themselves. Then I started experimented

Maruti recommended using API SF, SH, SG and all three becoming obsolete and understanding anything after that works well with the older APIs, that opened more room for me.

These are the ones I opted out of line.

Castrol GTX 20W50 (API SL)
My first DIY oil. I had no clue of other brands then. Castrol being popular, picked it.

Shell Rimula R3x 15W40 (API CH-4)
Seen many crazy heads using it. Being a truck oil, there was lots of debates of using it on a gasoline engine. A deep search revealed it met CI-4/CH-4/SL. Being a diesel oil, contains cleansers and detergents, says many keyboard warriors. It was cheap and good, so used for the second time.

Motul 4100 Power 5W30 (API SM/CF)
It was a gasoline and diesel compatible oil. Being a Motul fan, blindly picked it. First time using 5W30 myself, but not sure of the grades used but garages in the interim. Was very skeptical about the watery oils, but it performed decently. It was the time Maruti completely switched to 5W30.

Valvoline All Climate Premium 10W40 (API SN/CF)
Again, a gasoline and diesel compatible one. Picked it due to shortage of other brands during lock down and being fully synthetic and cheap like mineral.

With 5W30s, I see too much vapor leaks around cover.

Never used Mobil Delvac on petrol cars, but on i20. Info I got from Mobil site.
Mobil Delvac 1 (This one is rumoured to be rebranded as Super 3000, not 100% sure)
This product is recommended for use in applications requiring:
API CI-4 PLUS, API CI-4, API CH-4, API SL, API SJ.

Mobil Delvac MX 15W-40
This product is recommended for use in applications requiring:
ACEA B2, API CG-4, API CF-4, API CF
This product meets or exceeds the requirements of:
API CI-4, API CH-4, API SL, API SJ

Mobil Delvac™ 1300 Super 15W-40
This product meets or exceeds the requirements of:
API CH-4, API CI-4, API CI-4 PLUS, API CJ-4, API CK-4, API SN

Mobil Delvac 1™ ESP 5W-40
This product meets or exceeds the requirements of:
API CK-4, API CJ-4, API CI-4 PLUS, API CI-4, API CH-4, API SM, API SN.

Hope this clears the picture, doc. @mayankdixit

 

[Auto_Psycho]

I can imagine this. W30 Grades are already as thin as Paani. Heck my Handwash is thicker than that.
And It does not take much to guess that Automakers are hell bent on FE rather than Longevity.

How a low viscosity oil affects engine life?