Quick Service For a Forgotten Fiat Palio

[ss80]

His only question & worry is - Will spending on this car at one shot solve all problems in it? As we all know the answer is NO. He is in a dilemma, moreover I too cant insist him on getting the repairs done, since his usage is so little, the bill definately sounds large.

 

[ss80]

I have just sealed off the leaking area (Cowl Panel) completely using plastic cover & silicone glue. A few pics of the same. Hope this holds on for a while till something is done about the rusting.







The tail lamp is yet to arrive, the leak in exhaust pipe (that mesh sort of thing whish Varun installed recently in his car) is growing bigger, all of a sudden today the car started to jerk continously, as if spark plugs are missing in the car. Could not drive the car even say 1 kilometer. I know that this will also be another bill producing issue with the car, so just stopped worrying about it for today & fixed back everything, polished interiors with 3M wax & trying to polish the bonnet using 3m rubbing compound. cleaned the sidewalls with a rough plastic brush & concentrated soap solution. Removed a lot of brake dust from the front wheels. I could not tolerate the muddy engine bay so went ahead & started a DIY engine bay cleaning.

If I give the car to a water wash shop the car might not start as this was the case last 2 times, with my friend. So bought a simple small paint brush worth Rs.20/- & started to clean all the items in engine bay with a little bit of diesel. It took almost an hour to do this task. Then waited for a few minutes & repeated cleaning everything again with soap water & same brush. Finally to end the ritual, sprayed water from a hand pumping thing. Results are not that great but definitely better than before. Here are a few pics of the same.

 

[jarpickle]

About the jerking issue, it could be the fuel.Have you changed the fuel filter?

Just take out the spark plugs and clean them with sand paper for the time being.It would be a good idea to change them out later.

 

[ss80]

Thanks Keith, I have not changed the fuel filter. Where would it be located?, usually in M800 it would be near rear suspension. Any clues will be helpful.

The spark plugs are below the inlet manifold, even the fuel injectors are above the spark plugs, getting them out will surely be a cumbersome task, I scared of damaging the threads for the plug mounting. Moreover with everyday passing I am just being greeted with new problems. I had no answer this morning when my friend asked me about the source of jerking issue & how it started all of a sudden.

Some times when dealing with such cars, I just feel how simple, humble & DIY friendly our lovely M800 is. No comparisons in other areas though. This Palio seems more like a mechanic's nightmare, I felt this when I asked a local mechanic shop to clean fuel injectors & change handbrake cable, I was the first customer yesterday morning & he replied that a spring & a locking nut is required which usually gets worn out in Palio, if that is not replaced then the handbrake wont work smoothly, he cant write the name of the part, spares shops dont have those stocks, the willingness itself is very little with mechanics when it comes to Palio, Petra, Siena, Cielo, Astra, Corsa etc.

Still waiting for the tail lamp.

 

[jarpickle]

Have you checked under the car close to the fuel tank.It will have a cover over it.

If you can't find it, then it means it could be in the tank as a part of the fuel pump itself.The mesh kind or something.

 

[ss80]

Keith I am yet to check the fuel filter, in the meantime, my friend (Owner of Palio) came back to have a look at the car & I suggested him to sell it off to avoid spending more & more. Not everybody loves to spend on their rides like me.

However I was surprised that he insisted to repair it as far as possible & asked me to accompany him to a few tinker shops around our area to find out best prices. So tomorrow morning we are going for a visit to about 3 shops in & around our area & will get quotes for the same.

Here is a new problem with the car, the car has started to drip oil (small drops) within last 12hours. I am just wondering what else is going to come next. Hope this one doesn't drain everything in his pocket.

 

[jarpickle]

Cars tend to do that.I have taken the car to the mechanic for one problem only to find another bag of unrelated problems.

Get the car on a ramp and check where the oil is coming from.

 

[ss80]

Good News!
The Palio is with a Tinker now & he is working on the rust in cowl panel area. Dashboard, blower, steering wheel etc has been removed & work has started. However I am yet to source the wiper motor's link rod. Yesterday's visit to the JC Road was a waste of time. I could get only a local item which costs Rs.1650/- As usual once more I need to visit the shops tomorrow & try to get hold of the original part.

Quote given by the tinker:
1. Tinker work (rusting, welding, wiper motor & mount installation) - 2000/-
2. Dashboard removal & fitting back - 1000/-
3. Mechanic labour - for checking & fixing the handbrake issue & jerking issue - not yet quoted.

Hopefully the AC gas wont be touched, if anything is done to the AC lines then AC service will add up again to the whole bill. My friend is ready to spend about 6 - 7k now & start using the car regularly. I still cant believe why all of a sudden he has fallen in love with his car so much, but anyway I am happy to see the car being taken care of.

 

[shashikanth]

hi anand,

for jerking issue please check with the ignition coil may be one of the coil should be bad in this case. and how about the idling.

Regards,
SK

 

[ss80]

Shashikanth:
Thanks for the suggestion, Cars like our M800 come with a large single ignition coil which is easy to identify & replace. However almost all new MPFi cars like Palio, Alto, Swift etc come with a different technology. Which is not only costly, but a bit difficult to identify (issues with coil) as well.

Maruti names this technology as - DDLi (Dual coil Distributor Less Ignition) where in there are no mechanical distributors between the coil & the spark plugs. I did clean the parts around the places where the Plug chords connect, but I was not sure that it was the coil which is the issue.

Update:
Today I went to JC Road once again, visited about 5 shops & waited at each shop for the part to arrive, which most of them dint have. I thought of settling for the local item available at one of the shops. I saved myself from another big problem, I had taken the motor, wiper link road, bolts etc in a bag. To my surprise the local link rod doesn't fit on the motor, there is major difference in the mounting hole locations. Showed the same to the shop keeper & waited for another 45mins before I could get the original item (TVS LUCAS make) for the same price.

Checked the new item with the old motor & the fitting was perfect. Called up the tinker, delivered the new item to him & he assured that car will be ready by tomorrow afternoon. Will post a few pics of the new item by tomorrow.

 

[jarpickle]

Great job Anand.

Hope to see the car getting back to good health soon.

 

[ss80]

Thanks Keith,
Here are the photos of the old & the new linkage.





Also today I visited the garage & found that the work done was superb, he has hammered the area around the rusted hole & cut a little bit of good metal, then welded 2 big patches - neat & clean work. Now he has applied some black paint on that area & says that it will prevent rust for sure. I will have to collect the car by say in half hour. They were busy fixing dashboard back when I met them at about 12pm today. Hope the AC still works.

 

[jarpickle]

Have you water tested the area before fixing back the cowl panel.Pour water into the cowl panel and check the cabin for leakages.

 

[ss80]

Yes the Tinker poured about a litre of water directly on the welded area & showed us that there is no leak into the cabin. The tinker has welded a total 4 pieces/patches. 2 for each rusted hole. One patch is from inside of the cabin & the other patch from the inner side of the cowl panel. The guy has done a neat job, even in a area which is hardly seen by anyone. More importantly he delivered the car 24hrs from the time I gave him the wiper link rod (basically, he sticks to his word).

The mechanic had adjusted the handbrake (he says existing cable is really good & not to replace it). The jerking issue is due to a dead spark plug & the real good news is the AC is still a chiller!

The car has been taken by my friend & I will try to get pics of it by next week & will post here a few shots of the welded area for sure. As mentioned by my regular shopping point at J.C.Road (JK Auto owner) the wiper blade has a shuddering feel at the bottom most part of it (on driver side), which means the wiper blade life is reduced for sure. But then, this is best we can from an non-authorized service center.

Once the car was delivered, I took it for a spin, touched 80kmph in 3rd gear, braked hard, checked AC cooling, handbrake effect in inclined surface, wiped the dashboard, dusted the carpets, checked for everything in the boot, wiper functions & then when everything was fine, gave a green signal to vroom.

The car is back in action, still waiting for the tail lamp to arrive
I will post pics of all the bills now. Waiting for my camera batteries to charge now.

 

[jarpickle]

Good Job

Good thing you tested it.Welded panels are always should be leak tested.