Thread Starter
#1
This is my second review of Tata Safari. Earlier, I owned a TCIC version and now I recently purchased a 3.0L Dicor motor. My journey with the TCIC was till 2,30,000 kms and it was very satisfying, peaceful. But, there is something I need to share before writing my experience with current Dicor motor. This car was owned by one of my relatives, and one day (a few days before I bought it) suddenly due to some electrical fault (I will share this later) whole of sudden the engine bay caught fire and in 5 mins every plastic and rubber part (which are plenty) melted. The Insurance company declared the car as total-loss (as the TASC gave them an estimate of 9 Lakhs for repairs) and decided to give the owner a sum of 3.75 Lakhs (when on the paper the value of car was 5 Lakhs, but as per rules the market value or paper value whichever is lower is given). Now, I came into the story and asked the owner (as being my relative) to talk with insurance company that he wants to keep the vehicle too. The insurance company said that they have a customer of the car for 2 Lakhs Rs. So if he is ready to deduct 2 Lakhs from his claim they will give him the vehicle too. He agreed and finally I bought the vehicle by paying the owner 2 Lakhs which he gave to Insurance company (deducted from his claim). The car was 200 kms from my hometown so I bought her by towing with another Safari 2.2L owned by one of my friend.
Now, starts the real review, the most tricky part. I had asked my mechanic who works specifically on Safaris (and other Tata cars) to evaluate the cost of rebuilding the car. He gave me a rough estimate of 80-90K Rs. I told him to proceed, first he took-off all the parts and there were 36-40 things which needed tobe replaced (almost everything excluding engine and other metallic parts). The list is as follows:
1) Power steering belt
2) Power steering container
3) E.G.R Valve
4) E.G.R Solenoid
5) Power steering main pipe\return pipe
6) Diesel Filter
7) Diesel Hood Primer
8) Brake oil container
9) Clutch oil container
10) Wiring loom engine compartment
11) Overflow pipe
12) Radiator pipe
13) Radiator Top
14) Thermostat Hosing
15) Coolant bottle
16) Wiper bottle
17) Battery
18) Engine oil cap
19) Bonnet hood
20) Hood clips
21) Vaccum tube
22) RHS liner cover
23) Main line diesel
24) Return line diesel
25) Boost pressure sensor
26) MAF Sensor
27) Oil pressure switch
28) Bonnet roof light
29) Bonnet channel (2 pieces)
30) Bonnet balancer
31) Oil separator bottle
32) Pump switch
33) Clutch container hose
34) Oil separator pipe
...The list contained some more parts which I will add-on later.
Probably, the more difficult work was to procure these parts. Since the 3.0L is discontinued and we needed some parts which were very rare tobe found in any of the TASC, it got me concerned. I enquired all the TASC in my city about the availability of parts and unfortunately very very few of the parts were in stock. I took a list from them which included the cost of spares (initially they denied to give me the cost as I was not doing repairs in a TASC) but after some threatening they did so. The total cost incurred a little less than 1 Lakh. I asked my mechanic if he could source the parts from scrap market, he told that he needs to look for them in Mayapuri Delhi. And it was decided that he would go there and search for the essentials. Almost 90% of the spares were found there and cost was some 25K Rs. The parts those were not sourced are:
1) Engine wiring loom (15K Rs)
2) MAF sensor (10K Rs)
I again enquired the TASC’s about the availability of the parts they said none of them are available and they need to order them which will take approx.. 15-20 days to arrive. It was already 30 days since the car was with me in RIP condition. I talked to the area manager of Tata and asked him to about the fast availability of parts, he said he couldn’t do anything, I lost my control and thrashed him (aap kya bartan dhone baithe ho area manager ki post par? And so so….) I don’t know if I should post every talk on a respected public forum, but I am trying tobe as expressive as possible. He gave me the number of Pune warehouse (SPARES) and told me not to tell those guys that he gave me the number. I agreed happily! Talked to the spares warehouse guy Pune and the first thing he asked me was where did I get his number from? I replied I just got it! Asked him if he has the parts, he replied that he has both the engine wiring loom and MAF sensor 1 qty each. I was like Hurrah! Got a new life! He told me to order from the local TASC, I told him that as soon as you get the order I need the spare within the next 2 days. He agreed. I ordered the same through TASC and the parts arrived the next evening. The TASC people were surprised.
Finally, all the parts were assembled and the here comes the first crank:
Whoa relief! Everything was normal, there was no smoke and the engine was sounding like a 407. I was too excited but the mechanic told me not tobe. As the reality of the engine will be known after it gets warmed-up. And he was true as soon as the engine got a little warmed-up there was heavy knocking, it was night and we decided to check the car with laptop in morning. Came the morning and we connected the laptop errors popped out:
1) Manifold pressure fault
2) Rail pressure control error
3) Cylinder balancing fault (injector 1 is struck closed)
4) ECU watchdog fault (injector unlock during start-up)
5) Fuel temperature sensor fault
Called-up the injector guy and gave him the injectors for service. Got the injectors next day evening and started the car again, no hesitation the car started at first crank. We waited till warm-up and the car was normal. Came relief!! Finally, victory has been achieved. But, the smoke was still there (this time it was less but one can easily tell that the smoke is more than normal). Mechanic told me not to worry as this is normal for a car started after almost 2 months and the last night it emitted thick black smoke which might have accumulated lot of carbon in the cat-con hence this noticeable smoke. He was correct the smoke did went away after some driving. Although I did’nt took delivery of my car at this time as there were some more issues tobe fixed. Some of the desi stuff we have to do were:
1) D.I.Y fuel, return, fuel pump pipes.
2) New mounting for ECU.
All other electricals were working fine, even the AC was intact and it cooled the cabin in 5 mins. I asked him to do a thorough electrical check-up and try to find the cause of Fire accident. The electrician checked all the electricals and mentioned two causes:
1) Main earthing wire was tore-off from a few places and it was loose too.
2) The self-starter wire was shockingly very loose.
These two might have sent car to flames in no minutes. Replaced the earthing wire to a thick one and tightened the starter wire. Every other thing was good now. Changed a few more things and took the delivery of the car:
1) Engine oil (Shell Rimula 6.5 ltrs)
2) Differential oil (2 ltrs)
3) Clutch oil (bleeded, DOT 3)
4) Brake oil (bleeded, DOT3)
5) Power steering oil
6) Horn
Thanks.:)
Now, starts the real review, the most tricky part. I had asked my mechanic who works specifically on Safaris (and other Tata cars) to evaluate the cost of rebuilding the car. He gave me a rough estimate of 80-90K Rs. I told him to proceed, first he took-off all the parts and there were 36-40 things which needed tobe replaced (almost everything excluding engine and other metallic parts). The list is as follows:
1) Power steering belt
2) Power steering container
3) E.G.R Valve
4) E.G.R Solenoid
5) Power steering main pipe\return pipe
6) Diesel Filter
7) Diesel Hood Primer
8) Brake oil container
9) Clutch oil container
10) Wiring loom engine compartment
11) Overflow pipe
12) Radiator pipe
13) Radiator Top
14) Thermostat Hosing
15) Coolant bottle
16) Wiper bottle
17) Battery
18) Engine oil cap
19) Bonnet hood
20) Hood clips
21) Vaccum tube
22) RHS liner cover
23) Main line diesel
24) Return line diesel
25) Boost pressure sensor
26) MAF Sensor
27) Oil pressure switch
28) Bonnet roof light
29) Bonnet channel (2 pieces)
30) Bonnet balancer
31) Oil separator bottle
32) Pump switch
33) Clutch container hose
34) Oil separator pipe
...The list contained some more parts which I will add-on later.
Probably, the more difficult work was to procure these parts. Since the 3.0L is discontinued and we needed some parts which were very rare tobe found in any of the TASC, it got me concerned. I enquired all the TASC in my city about the availability of parts and unfortunately very very few of the parts were in stock. I took a list from them which included the cost of spares (initially they denied to give me the cost as I was not doing repairs in a TASC) but after some threatening they did so. The total cost incurred a little less than 1 Lakh. I asked my mechanic if he could source the parts from scrap market, he told that he needs to look for them in Mayapuri Delhi. And it was decided that he would go there and search for the essentials. Almost 90% of the spares were found there and cost was some 25K Rs. The parts those were not sourced are:
1) Engine wiring loom (15K Rs)
2) MAF sensor (10K Rs)
I again enquired the TASC’s about the availability of the parts they said none of them are available and they need to order them which will take approx.. 15-20 days to arrive. It was already 30 days since the car was with me in RIP condition. I talked to the area manager of Tata and asked him to about the fast availability of parts, he said he couldn’t do anything, I lost my control and thrashed him (aap kya bartan dhone baithe ho area manager ki post par? And so so….) I don’t know if I should post every talk on a respected public forum, but I am trying tobe as expressive as possible. He gave me the number of Pune warehouse (SPARES) and told me not to tell those guys that he gave me the number. I agreed happily! Talked to the spares warehouse guy Pune and the first thing he asked me was where did I get his number from? I replied I just got it! Asked him if he has the parts, he replied that he has both the engine wiring loom and MAF sensor 1 qty each. I was like Hurrah! Got a new life! He told me to order from the local TASC, I told him that as soon as you get the order I need the spare within the next 2 days. He agreed. I ordered the same through TASC and the parts arrived the next evening. The TASC people were surprised.
Finally, all the parts were assembled and the here comes the first crank:“Twist the key, starter makes the engine alive in 2 secs at 10 O’clock in the dark.”
1) Manifold pressure fault
2) Rail pressure control error
3) Cylinder balancing fault (injector 1 is struck closed)
4) ECU watchdog fault (injector unlock during start-up)
5) Fuel temperature sensor fault
Called-up the injector guy and gave him the injectors for service. Got the injectors next day evening and started the car again, no hesitation the car started at first crank. We waited till warm-up and the car was normal. Came relief!! Finally, victory has been achieved. But, the smoke was still there (this time it was less but one can easily tell that the smoke is more than normal). Mechanic told me not to worry as this is normal for a car started after almost 2 months and the last night it emitted thick black smoke which might have accumulated lot of carbon in the cat-con hence this noticeable smoke. He was correct the smoke did went away after some driving. Although I did’nt took delivery of my car at this time as there were some more issues tobe fixed. Some of the desi stuff we have to do were:
1) D.I.Y fuel, return, fuel pump pipes.
2) New mounting for ECU.
All other electricals were working fine, even the AC was intact and it cooled the cabin in 5 mins. I asked him to do a thorough electrical check-up and try to find the cause of Fire accident. The electrician checked all the electricals and mentioned two causes:
1) Main earthing wire was tore-off from a few places and it was loose too.
2) The self-starter wire was shockingly very loose.
These two might have sent car to flames in no minutes. Replaced the earthing wire to a thick one and tightened the starter wire. Every other thing was good now. Changed a few more things and took the delivery of the car:
1) Engine oil (Shell Rimula 6.5 ltrs)
2) Differential oil (2 ltrs)
3) Clutch oil (bleeded, DOT 3)
4) Brake oil (bleeded, DOT3)
5) Power steering oil
6) Horn
Thanks.:)
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very good review . did you steal my alloy :P hehe those alloy match safari very well . my suggestion get out lip of alloy black . any plan of painting bumper![[;)]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Wink.gif "Wink [;)]")
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