My Glistening Grey Maruti Suzuki Swift Reborn ZXi (2015) AKA Grey Beast

[Kumar_CarFreak]

Nice review Vishnu
2nd Gen Swifts were awesome pieces.

However 2018 3rd gen sucks in all departments, be it braking (BA assisted ones), and build quality as well.

In the jugaad of showing mileage numbers, they've started playing with passenger / customers' lives. A small cycle hit / bike hit causes the Ciaz / Baleno front bumper fall down apart. I have seen these two incidents live.

Anyways, have safe miles and happy drives.

 

[Kimi Raikkonen]

Dead pedal is a serious ommision in all Maruti Vehicles , even Hyundai Santro had it earlier (xing) .Dead pedal is a simple thing which adds to a drivers comfort . 120kmph in Hatch , I also won't agree sir , I normally coast in 80-100's . It was during the first long drive , I tried to test its potential.

How many hatch with manual had dead pedals ? I din't know old model santra had it. Hyundai are know to lure customers with features. I know few model of i10 also had something like sunroof. I know what you mean but I am not sure many hatch are stable at high speed unless road is super smooth. May be Figo, Freestyle or Polo ? Though I read one of the Vento TSI owner was also disappointed with rear end not stable at those speed. He said his Punto diesel was better which is little crazy. I think rear suspension is the main problem

 

[VISHNUCARCRAZY]

Hyundai's earlier used to give proper dead pedal (Nowadays lacking, only providing it in AT)
Pre 2015 Ford figo had .

Stability depends on various factors , and one crucial aspect is tyres , and vento lacks that .

 

[bhvm]

I know few model of i10 also had something like sunroof.

I guess you are talking about my Blue Boy-
My "Blue Boy" Hyundai i10 Magna Detailed Review
It does not have a dead pedal. But has sunroof, Airbags and ABS.
The Airbags have 2 sensors and are not suffering from cost cutting.

 

[VISHNUCARCRAZY]

Its been 1 month since my last Periodic Maintenance Service .
Grey Beast has clocked 900kms since same . Overall FE has improved , and also ride is better after the service .

 

[VISHNUCARCRAZY]

For past few days , during cold start itself , although the car starts on the first crank itself (As the start stop button is pressed , the cranking motor noise comes in action), I guessed it well that something is a miss , as there was a very feeble lag (Usually say it starts without any lag , but a very faint lag was there ). The same issue was pondering on me , whenever I start , there was a lag (The lag increased quite more ).

I think experts would have guessed by now - "Its the battery".
Even I guessed it earlier itself , but some things really didn't confirm -
1. In Jan 2019 , I had given it for PMS , and then the battery check up was performed , with their portable battery scan device , which clearly comments if at all there is any issue . It clearly said , battery in good condition . So how the issue ?
2. Yesterday , I took it to my trusted Battery centre , and he first uncapped the cell cover , and checked for fluid level , fluid level was found to be higher on one side , so the difference he adjusted , then he showed me the difference in clarity of solution . While one side was appearing clear(Like water) , other side was having suspension (Like lime juice) , and he told plate shedding has started (If at all anyone wants to know plate shedding , I will detail out later on ). He then plugged his scan device .
As i couldn't take video or snaps I will explain the features of scan -
1. Device asks : Battery type - Class of vehicle - Car.Bike or Others
2. DA: Whether inside or outside ?
3.DA: Battery specification - The battery number - for me it is 34B-------.
4.DA: Cold or Warm
5. Result displayed , and can be printed (It says , good or needs replacing , voltage )

And as we had entered warm (As vehicle had run for about 30min ) , it shows needs replacing , volt 11.8V . He again showed , if entered cold , it displays condition as good .

And hence I concluded , where the mistake had occured , the technicians at ASS , might have entered this . (My battery centre technician , had told this device predicts health of battery like say maybe some months before issues starts )

Second conclusion (By my Battery technician)- The specification of battery is 34B ____, the actual power output of such batteries generally will be nearly 32 only , and thereby the life of battery is reduced , by the additional load. The correct specification is 35 ____, dealerships generally stock batteries according to lowest quotes these days and thereby the mismatch .

He told let it run for some more , once you feel there's crank delay (Maybe a sec or more ) , replace it .
I thought of replacing it sooner .

 

[Kumar_CarFreak]

Vishnu -

I had a similar experience. My March 2013 Santro Xing, which was not a daily driver, but a weekend-only driver, say for 10-20 kms a week, and of course my highway cruiser, thus having done 33k on Odo in 5 years 10 months as on 26th Jan 2019, a Saturday when the battery had died.

I will explain.

I am sure I never had issues with the battery, though the car would be cranked / run / used only once a week, and very rarely twice or thrice a week (Remember I am taking about stock battery from Hyundai, the Amaron - white color).

4-5 months ago, I started experiencing a small lag, say for 1 to 2 seconds in cranking. But this didn't happen on every crank. I would say 2 times out of every 10 times I cranked / started the engine. I got it checked from a local battery shop guy here in Avadi, who inspected and said the battery is in shape, charge is not an issue, acids and water levels are up to the mark, however, the cell plates have started corroding, and he advised me to be on the safer side by replacing battery ASAP.

I managed running, since very occasionally I had this cranking lag, and not every time.

26th January 2019 Saturday - We had well planned to visit our honourable Divine, Dhanwanthri Temple, near Ranipet / Walaja. We packed our breakfast, and lunch, came to my parking for loading the car.

My shock - my remote key failed to unlock the car, and this was unusual. I was stunned, and slowly I started realising the culprit. The indicator light in the remote key was not glowing at all, which again was unusual. I manualy opened the car with key, and inserted the key and twisted.

Voila - no dashboard lights, no response. I confirmed that the battery had run out of charge.

I called by neighbouring battery dealer for Amaron. He was a nice person, and offered a service battery once I said I had planned for a temple trip. 15 minutes, and the battery guy came with spare, and started the car with the service battery. He checked all possible faults and couldn't find any fault.

He said he'll try to charge my battery and try to have it rectified, even though the hope was very less.

And to cut a long story to short, the battery was dead, and two of the cell plates had conked off, and hence the battery had to be replaced. Replaced with a new Amaron FLO 48 months warranty battery, and had to cough out Rs. 4,100.00 totally.

Cost of the battery : Rs. 4716, less my battery taken for Rs. 750.00, plus Rs. 150.00 for the service battery I had used for the temple trip.

And trust me the temple trip ended very pleasant with the service battery.

5 years 10 months, and around 34000 kms should ideally be a good life out of a stock battery, which as per the technician, has an average life of 18 months - 24 months only, since car manufacturers contract the battery manufacturers and procure for very less cost, ending up in procuring very less reliable battery with not so good quality, and that has given such a good life. So I believe my new battery would live for around 8 years, or till life of the car

 

[VISHNUCARCRAZY]

What a coincidence , Kumar sir .
I also don't wanna get stranded so will replace the battery ASAP.

 

[VISHNUCARCRAZY]

Update -
32k km
As car was with my dad for a week , with his commute and one long drive of 150km , the ride reached 32k (As I wasn't there couldn't snap pic of odo reading).
Issues-
1.Battery (As mentioned above)
2.Clutch play , there's a small difference (It needs very mild throttle input these days in ascends , earlier it was required only in steep ascends ), I need to adjust the nut and check with the cable also , thing clutch will last for 40-50k km (Considering traffic snarls , and mixed driving styles , of me , my dad , our driver )

 

[GNaveen]

How many hatch with manual had dead pedals ? I din't know old model santra had it. Hyundai are know to lure customers with features. I know few model of i10 also had something like sunroof. I know what you mean but I am not sure many hatch are stable at high speed unless road is super smooth. May be Figo, Freestyle or Polo ? Though I read one of the Vento TSI owner was also disappointed with rear end not stable at those speed. He said his Punto diesel was better which is little crazy. I think rear suspension is the main problem

We can see dead pedal available in Elite i20. I doubt if Baleno has dead pedal.

Running board dent on October 10 2018

Dent occured as a result of divider - I was taking a U turn while , a biker was too close on my left side , so I had a closed the right end , but the rear running board had suffered (Perfectly my mistake ) - First dent from my side .

Taken to outside dent shop then itself . The dent was pulled , and stretched back , then with minimum putty work , repainted , a point to be noted is the running board chipped finish was redone beautifully .

Note- The scratch in door had occured earlier (Maybe within a year of delivery) , as it had just taken the first coat of paint , and it isn't a major dent , didn't repaint this , as only option is to repaint the entire side .

View attachment 255683 View attachment 255684

I had similar dent on the running board in the initial days of ownership of my Swift ZXI 2015, which happened at McDonald's take away. I have got the work done from ASS, then i didn't see the color difference but after an year i could see that.

View attachment 254124

One of the snaps in plain avatar taken during 2015

I liked the front grille from earlier batch than the 2015 Model.

 

[VISHNUCARCRAZY]

Body shops in ASS , are mostly contract based these days , and workers lack experience on the same .

 

[VISHNUCARCRAZY]

Update : 32.5k km
Had taken my car to Alleppey , for a friend's marriage function , total distance of about 310km had been clocked vai tripmeter.
Vehicle performed great by God's grace . The battery didn't give me any trouble too . WIll change battery this month end , once the first crank delay starts . Clutch had hardened very mildly (only me and ones who handles my ride , can get the difference ) . Will lube the clutch , also replace clutch cable . Think it will go till 45kkm .

 

[VISHNUCARCRAZY]

Update : 32.8k km
Yesterday onwards gear slotting issue started , especially 1st and 2nd gear .
Tried , shifting in higher RPM's still issue persisted .
As no issue with clutch play , and vehicle doesn't show any difference in behaviour by clutch release (the pedal bite is same as before , vehicle moves freely without any throttle inputs even in inclines)
Took to ASS, my usual relation there , had checked with shifting in vehicle off position as well as ignition on .Then we took it for a test drive -
(Note- I had just reported to him , shift is not smooth , not that its not at all shifting , occurs even when shifted in higher RPM)
We drove for just a KM , he stooped , and shifted to N , and again proceeded from stationary mode , in Gear1.
He ruled out another point - The issue is with gear 1 and 2. (I confirmed it later on when I drove ).
He diagnosed it as - Slip with synchroniser or synchroniser associated components .
And he told , to wait for some more time , if the issue shows more severe symptoms , he told , we will do a gearbox overhaul .

He added , synchroniser slip is common in Diesel Swifts , but with Petrol one its rare.
He told no issue with Clutch , and the pedal hardness is normal with usage in city traffic conditions. He told clutch will last till 50k km , with my driving style and usage .

 

[GNaveen]

Update : 32.8k km
Yesterday onwards gear slotting issue started , especially 1st and 2nd gear .
Tried , shifting in higher RPM's still issue persisted .
As no issue with clutch play , and vehicle doesn't show any difference in behaviour by clutch release (the pedal bite is same as before , vehicle moves freely without any throttle inputs even in inclines)
Took to ASS, my usual relation there , had checked with shifting in vehicle off position as well as ignition on .Then we took it for a test drive -
(Note- I had just reported to him , shift is not smooth , not that its not at all shifting , occurs even when shifted in higher RPM)
We drove for just a KM , he stooped , and shifted to N , and again proceeded from stationary mode , in Gear1.
He ruled out another point - The issue is with gear 1 and 2. (I confirmed it later on when I drove ).
He diagnosed it as - Slip with synchroniser or synchroniser associated components .
And he told , to wait for some more time , if the issue shows more severe symptoms , he told , we will do a gearbox overhaul .

He added , synchroniser slip is common in Diesel Swifts , but with Petrol one its rare.
He told no issue with Clutch , and the pedal hardness is normal with usage in city traffic conditions. He told clutch will last till 50k km , with my driving style and usage .

I had the similar issue when i was returning from Hyderabad to Chennai.All the way from Hyderabad i didn't face the hardness in Gear slotting especially in 1st and 2nd gear. Only after reaching in to city limits all of a sudden i was not being allowed to slot in to 1st and 2nd gear in stop and go traffic. When this has happened my car was doing 29K kms which means it is due for 30K kms service.
And i also remember on the day when Vardah cyclone hit Chennai, i wanted to full the tank in order to escape from City in worst case. When i started the car and tried to slot in to 1st gear it didnt allow me. Then i force fully tried to engage in to 1st gear i heard loud clang sound and thought the problem would be because of the clutch plates.

As you pointed out ,most of Diesel Swift's have the Synchronizer problem which starts usuaully from 30k kms and i too doubted it could be beacuse of Snychronizer problem.

When i took it for 30K kms service, i pointed out the issue to serivce advisor. He took test drive for 2kms and concluded that "No issues with Gear box or Clutch Plates Sir". Don't understand why these ASS now a days are not having a knowledgeable guys in SA team.
Even till today i face problem which will not allow me to slot in to 1st and 2nd gear smoothly.

Another problem which you pointed out on Clutch pedal hardness, i feel that this is a common problem in all Petrol Swift's but not in Diesel ones.

Please keep us updated on how the ASS is going to solve the gear slotting issue.

In the initial days after our car purchase i complained to Maruti about reverse gear slotting issue doubting that there is an alarming problem with gear box. Immediately the mechanics from ASS has reached our home. After checking they advised there is no problem with gear box and they also warned me its not all good to open gear box unless they diagnose it as an gear box problem.

Please take advise from any FNG or other ASS before they try hands on Gear box of your Grey Beast.

Cheers.

 

[THE_DRIFTER]

Diesel Swift and my Tata Manza has same engine and same problems!!!
Even i face this issue and i cant ever put 1st, 2nd or even Reverse gear smoothly, i have to show my 6-packs to the gearbox for the gear to slot in.!! Dont know whats wrong here.