The Grey Skid – Chevy Beat TCDi LS (December 2012)

deville_56 · Dec 2, 2022

TY. It's the shadow of the spoiler playing the trick. There is about a centimetre or two gap on the top. Because of this minute gap, I didn't risk going for the i10 wiper without testing. It had better shape and angle.

deville_56 · Dec 17, 2022

April 2022 - LT Combination Switch

Ordered LH combination switch from Boodmo after searching regular spare shops. Right and left sides were available separately. One of the spare guys argued it came as a single assembly.

Wiper Switch Assembly (LT) - J42566822 - ₹ 689.00 + ₹ 50.00 Shipping

Daewoo branding and made in Korea.

Installation. Removing the steering column covers. Just three screws and the bottom will come off. Top will be loose, but can't be removed with the speedometer assembly sitting on the top. Complete disassembly not required, can be done by removing the bottom half only. Just for the sake of exploring further.

Removing speedo - one nut underneath.

Another one behind.

The assembly would come off.

Pry open the rear cover

and unplug the connectors. Ensure the battery is disconnected beforehand.

Now the top cover would be free.

Now, acres of working space.

Removing the stalk is pretty easy. Press the locks on both sides

and pull out.

Unplug the connector. Found a smaller connector, which should be for steering controls, I guess.

Lower variant vs LT stalks.

Both had 9 pins. I presume a surgical tab breaking procedure would've enabled all the functions.

The connector

and it's pin out.

Installing the new stalk assembly. Just push it into the slot, and it locks in.

Make sure to plug in the connector before slotting it in.

Covers are made by Tata Autocomp

Need hell lot of wire, two wires till the boot.

Used a bicycle cable wire to draw the wires.

Finally, the connector.

Red - Positive.
Yellow - Negative/ground.
Green - Park.

Connection complete.

Working late.

Pending work - rear washer.

deville_56 · Jan 6, 2023

April 2022 - Hacking into Stock Fog Lamp Wiring

Found two years back that the car had all necessary hardware for plug-and-play addition of fog lamp, but failed to activate it and left it alone. Thought only adding an OE RH stalk from LT variant would activate it. While wiring the rear wiper, gave a second attempt, which failed as well. Always tried with the couple disconnected. In Shikkari Shambu mode, plugged the coupler back while the pins were shorted and the fog lamp indicator lit up on the console. Checked the connections in the fusebox and there was +12 V, first ray of hope.

The RH side stalk coupler. Three wires on the switch side and five on the mating connector. Shorting the missing two would activate the fog lamp (only) when the park light is turned ON.

I had no matching connectors, and the only possibility was splicing the stock harness. The connector had close resemblance to an ATX connector, and dug up the scrap to find a 20-pin connector from an old SMPS.

Scavenged two female clips with wire.

Slotted perfectly in the connector. Plugged the connector back.

My Esteem fog lamp switch.

Swapped the input and output with the newly found connections.

Needed relay and fuse to complete the circuit.

The fog lamp was previously wired with a right-size relay, the only slim relays I had.

Plugged them in.

Blew the fuse during previous attempts. Bought a couple of them. Low profile fuses.

Plugged them in.

The old to-be-removed hardwiring.

and the unused stock wiring.

Direct plug and play for H27 bulb.

Successful.

Windscreen washer tank.

Space for rear washer motor.

Installed back. LH park light holder got cracked over time and bulb won't fit properly causing loose contact.

I'm not liking the Chevy clips. Replaced them with Maruti clips, as I had plenty of them.

This flat head screw installed by the dealer has been irking my OCD for quite some time.

Replaced with Honda OE star screw, which was restocked for the Dio.

Signs of alien invasion.

Voila. The fog lamp indicator.

OE fog would stay on like in Marutis when the key is out when we forget to turn off the fog lamp switch and leave the park lights on, not to my liking. Added back the ACC connection to the fog lamp switch.

and used a cube relay to control the stock fog lamp wiring. Now fog lamp works only with park light + key on + fog lamp switch. Perfect okay.

With his predecessor.

deville_56 · Jan 20, 2023

May 2022 - Oil Change with Flush

New tenant under hood. Kids call her Liza.

Cozy nap.

Only thing that brings her out.

Went to Chevrolet SVC in search of a drain bolt, but no stock and needed ordering. Current OE oil for Beat, Total Quartz 7000 Future GF5 5W30 API SN. Manual says ACEA A3/B4.

Bought Wurth Synthetic 5W30 from Capital Automobiles when I checked in for the drain plug. Met the OEM specifics than the OE provided oil [gun]

. MRP ₹ 2,115.00, got 10% off, with a retail price of ₹ 1,900.00.

Got rest of the parts from Kakkassery Automobiles.

Oil Filter - Purolator PI-5384 - MRP ₹ 200.00. Got for ₹ 180.00.

Also, got the rare drain bolt from there. ₹ 80.00 compared to ₹ 254.00 for OE bolt. Apparently, Americans don't like crush washers.

Size 15 mm.

Also bought oil flush since it has never been flushed. Abro Motor Flush ₹ 330.00 (MRP ₹ 345.00)

The bent bolt that prevented from DIY oil change.

The sump protector.

Managed to pull it down to make enough room and my first DIY oil change on Skids commenced.

Made sure the drain bolt can be removed before adding the flush.

Scars on the sump. The guard was a later recall/FOC addition.

Very cute if I post on Insta or FB, but was really annoying when working under the car.

Dumped in the flush.

Idled for 3 minutes as instructed and drained.

Accessing the oil filter. Windscreen washer tank neck can/needs (to) be removed.

AC plumbing also needs to be removed.

Ratchet fits in with the shorted extension. A universal joint could save these steps. Socket size is 32 mm.

Oil filter comes off.

Quite some oil in there. Soaked and squeezed out with a rag.

Muck!

No oil goes wasted.

New filter.

New vs. old.

Comes with O-ring, which was promptly replaced.

Cleaned up.

and installed new filter.

Waited for the (presumably) last drop.

New drain plug installed. Applied some gasket sealant on the thread to prevent any leak.

Replaced the rusty nuts and bolts of the sump guard. The bent bolt remained untouched.

Wurth watermark inside out.

Poured fresh oil and waited till max output.

Idled and cooled and perfect oil level.

Oil was sticky, refusing to flow.

Previous oil was Shell Helix HX8, just 200 ml depleted in a year with around 4000 km usage.

mayankdixit · Jan 20, 2023

Nice DIY.
Looks like everything is very tight fit with dearth of space to remove oil filter.
Are you sure there is no other way than removing AC plumbing in order to reach the filter??

deville_56 · Jan 21, 2023

mayankdixit said:

Can be done without removing the AC plumbing, but ratchet keeps hitting and very little arc of movement. Freeing up makes it a lot easier. Can be solved with a universal joint or a flexible extension.

deville_56 · Jan 31, 2023

May 2022 - Rear Wheel Bearing Replaced

LH rear wheel bearing conked off making woo-woo noise on moderate speeds. RH was replaced back in 2017. As usual, took it to the FNG.

Removed the bearing from the hub. OE bearing (Made in Korea) was ₹3,557 and no one stocked due to the high price. For rough comparison, Swift bearing priced around ₹700 and Polo ₹2000. Tried cross-matching with other OE parts, but nothing suited.

Ended up replacing the hub assembly. Paid total ₹ 3,800.00, part plus labour.

Aux Bearings Rear Hub Unit - 96471775/96471776 ABS - MRP ₹ 2,884.00.

mayankdixit · Jan 31, 2023

deville_56 said:

Looks like its failing because of wide aftermarket tyres.

deville_56 · Jan 31, 2023

mayankdixit said:

RH failed on stock tyres, that too 5 years before LH. Just wear and tear parts.

deville_56 · Feb 10, 2023

May-June 2022 - Updates

Quick rain run.

New DIY LEDs for number plate illumination.

Number plate light housing of not so great quality. Cracked due to heat of the incandescent bulb. Part number J95217398 and comes as full set with two housings, holder, and Y cable with connector, priced at ₹308.00.

Manufactured by Neolite.

Old temp setup, when the car wasn't mine [lol]

Paint spray.

Cleaned up the best possible with thinner and finished with 3M FinishIt Compound.

Trial.

Set to install.

Done.

Fixed the issue with cracked front park light holder.

Reverse parking voice assist was acting up again.

Voice enable/disable switch was gone.

Removing it was tricky with double-sided soldering and the display blocking the other side.

Osram Korea brake light bulb lasted 9 years.

Replaced with Philips bulb.

deville_56 · Feb 24, 2023

June 2022 - (At last) Added Rear Windscreen Washer

Got a generic windscreen washer pump, costed ₹ 200.00

Searched for rear washer nozzles, but no one stocked any. All available was Maruti ones. Needed one with long neck and a right/acute angle trajectory. Bolero had a comparatively longer neck, while most of the others were flat/flush. Omni nozzle was available, but doubted fit in the tight space. Managed to get Bolero nozzle from a Mahindra pickup spare shop. No right angle, only jugaad will work. Would be replaced with OE nozzle.

Other pieces of hardware - 6 mm tube x 6 M and a couple of I-connectors.

Accessing the washer tank. Removed the RH headlamp and then the reservoir mouth. Can skip this, but gets more room to work around, especially with wiring and plumbing.

Then removed the RH fender liner.

Three 10-mm nuts and the tank is all yours.

Remove the connector and hose, or simply pull out the motor itself.

Hole for front motor and location for rear motor sits on RH and front respectively.

Tank part numbers for reference.

Spot the location.

Circular saw bit

and grinding bit

and you get the perfect hole.

Motor fits in perfectly without leak (tested).

Part 2 - plumbing. Searching for hole to get the tube inside the cabin.

Popped the smaller rubber grommet and there was a lot of room.

Removed the sill panels to draw the tubes to the rear, but ended up cleaning inside out.

The grommet hack.

The tricky part was getting the tube inside the boot lid.

Removing the spoiler.

Remove the high mounter stop light and two 10-mm nuts on either side.

Two more 10-mm nuts under there. Nozzle should sit here.

Two nuts each on either side.

Spoiler comes out.

Without the spoiler.

There is a small plastic lid covering (blocking) the nozzle on the spoiler. Just one screw to remove it.

Tube out at the end.

Drilled the hole

Installed the nozzle.

Installed motor and connected, but 6 M hose wasn't enough. Managed with a foot of petrol hose.

Last leg, the wiring

Stalk connections for reference.

Done.

After final adjustment [sad]

. OE nozzle is the way out. Let it be for the time being.

Backflow. This caused great delay in pumping, causing the wiper to run dry a cycle before it's fed.

Solution, check valve. Bought these from Boodmo for Estilo sometime back, but never installed. Bought 2 of them, so had one spare. Hyundai part - 98886-34000, shared with every Hyundai model sold here with rear wiper starting from the Santro to Santa Fe and the KIAs. Costs ₹ 95. Mahindra part was available at ₹24 on recent search.

Looks similar to normal connector.

Result - instant jet without reverse flow.

Rear washer in action. Stream looked weird, but checked with Beat OE and Santro and they both had similar flow. Switching to OE nozzle might improve a bit.

deville_56 · Mar 20, 2023

July 2022 - Misc Updates

Ordered number plates. Just missed getting challan'd, which would've been ₹3000. Got from Sagar, Chennai as usual. Paid ₹ 450.00 including shipping and delivered in 2 days via Delhivery. Packing was nice.

Tried the XL-6 Harmon HU on Beat too, but SQ wasn't close to Pioneer with this one being designed for lower powered 25W OE speakers. Would fit with slight, but precise trimming of the trim.

Installed back the Pioneer HU, but the itch for Android Auto remains.

Back to aunt's home again.

Some off roading.

77777 km

Meets S-Presso for the first time.

Hill run, Ponmudi after a long time. Skids' second time.

deville_56 · Apr 15, 2023

August 2022 - Updates

Running around as usual.

Slight fungus build-up from a recent threw-up. Missed cleaning a spot under the seat.

Dairy Milk art by niece.

Cleaned up with VW interior cleaner and STP Tuff Stuff

Replaced cabin filter,

Purolator PI-2307 - ₹ 328.00

New vs. old

Installed

Got moisture absorber from Flipkart. Worked well previously. Absorb-IT rebranded to CZ-IT. Still have 5 kg pellet left with me, but misplaced the can.

CZ-IT Refillable Moisture Absorber - ₹ 253.00

Good during monsoons and long-term parking. Reduces moisture and prevents fungus build ups.

deville_56 · Apr 23, 2023

September 2022 - Updates

Hood Weatherstrip - J95954061 - ₹ 305.00

Lost these foam ends, causing seepage of leaf and debris under the hood.

Perks of parking under the tree.

and the bonus of the faulty strip.

Cleaned the mess. See the missing end.

Hard pull will leave these clips.

Have to pluck them manually. Or have to remove with a prying tool or patient, gentle hands.

New strip installed.

The foam end restricting access.

Next problem was seepage of water during rain drives and found to be through the retention clip hole. Clips were missing.

Bought two of them.

Floor Carpet Retention Clip - J94525660 - ₹ 31.00

Point-blank wash [sad]

Managed to remove maximum black paint (and gold and unknown number of layers)

Seven or eight coats/colours of paint. Freakan owned wheels.

Even had some sticker work in between.

It was easily peelable and satisfactory,

until my BIL and his friend showed up and they took it over from there. Applied paint stripper,

and made a mess and left after 4 hours of screwup, leaving me with this [frustration]

Managed to strip it down to bare metal over 2-3 days of 30 min stripping. Both white and silver looked better.

deville_56 · May 14, 2023

November 2022 - Updates

AC suddenly packed up like last time. I have been recommending this place to many, but never tried, so thought of going there. Checked gas pressure and there wasn't any left. Filled nitrogen to check for leak and there wasn't any leak either. Filled up gas and oil with guaranteed freezer effect [lol]

. Charged ₹ 1,800.00.

Gave a wash to the condenser. Till date, cools fast even under scorching sun.

Next issue, recurrent service lights, but nothing on scans, all glow plugs fine, only remaining part to be checked being the glow plug controller. Couldn't get one to swap and check.