Xeta; automatic Engine Raise / Noisy Engine

Oops!
That's not a Vista.

Please address me Pankaj - I'm a member/user like you.

 

The problem sounds to me due to overheating (in any circumstances) - I feel so mainly because earlier Xetas faced this problem (not all, of course).  In any case, take your car to the dealer who has the best workshop - they should be able to diagonise the problem correctly.  Like I have said, as your car is in the warranty period, Tata has to resolve it free of cost.

 

Regarding that photo/avtar, I wish it was the new Vista - it's Indica Turbo (Diesel) I own since June 2006

Dear Pankaj,

Thanks for your replies. I guess you diaganosed it right but the guys at the ASS are totally brain dead. To begin with, they are all imported from Maruti showrooms and know very little apart from washing the cars and that too in the worst and the most paint peeling manner possible.

I took the car to an ASS where the guy examined the car and suggested half a dozen things that involved cleaning the pistons, spark plugs etc. The bill came to a 1500 rupees. I summoned the relationship manager and told him quite plainly that i would not mind paying the amount but would mind beig cheated. I told him that his service advisor had no real idea of what was wrong and if that was so i was really not getting anything done unless I get expert opinion on the car. This guy who looked very constipated then called an older mechanic who had been with Tata for some time. The guy opened the bonnet, raced the engine till the needle came to 90 degrees and then eamined the engine externally. He found a bolt very close to the accelerator wire loose. Now, that was his explanation for the coolant leakage and resultant overheating. So, I got the nut tightened and was told that the sound was quite normal. They wanted to to then wash the car but I had had enough at the workshop that day so I took the car home. They also topped the coolant up the second time for free.

The car makes the same sounds still and takes the same time to heat up. The coolant's level has fallen off again and I am experiencing 'drag' like never before. Also, the upholstery inside makes scary noises, it is as if it is peeling off. Surprisingly the mileage is still quite good and the car's pickup etc is fine. I mean the engine is noisy but willing.

I am scared to take the car to these greasemonkeys again. I dunno what to do now.

Thanks and regards,
Daniel

That's really pitiable - that too in a big city like Hyderabad. 

 

I think you must be having more than 1 dealer, and that, you must have visited the one that has the better workshop.  By the way, did you discuss the problem on the lines we have discussed herein above?

 

How about consulting some local reputed & reliable garage that expertises in Tata cars - I suggest, enquire about it & at least take their opinion first.

Dan a few questions-

1) does the temp needle stay at the same place(90 degree's) once the car is warmed up and throughout its trip?

2) does the rough engine noise increase with the accelerator inputs or does it remain the same?

3)how much coolant is topped up each time?

Dan, here is an excellent website that lists many possible reasons for the engine running rough:

 

http://www.2carpros.com/first_things/why_does_my_engine_run_rough.htm

 

I would like to quote from Step 11 of this site:

 

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Step 11. The head gasket in your engine is used to seal the cylinder head to the engineblock. The cylinder head is fastened to the engine block using head bolts that are tightened to a specific torque. When a head gasket wears it can allow coolant or exhaust to enter the combustion camber causing a cylinder misfire. To test for a blown head gasket.....

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I suspect that your car is running a lean fuel-air mixture, because your mileage appears to be excessive. That would cause the engine to overheat and could eventually lead to a gasket leak, causing the loss of coolant that you observed. If my theory is correct, you are headed for serious engine damage unless you take prompt corrective action. However, I am not an expert in this matter and it is in any case difficult to diagnose problems of this nature without directly examining the car. It could also be something very minor,  but I strongly suggest that you immediately get your car examined and tuned by qualified personnel at a well-equipped authorized service centre..

http://in.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=sradhakr1&p=r

I too was thinking on the lines of Srinivasan thats this could be a lean fuel mix but the possibility is unlikely due to your above statement-the pickup would suffer if that was the case. Moreover the electronics would settle the the air fuel mixture by itself(if the lean air-fuel mix) was the cause of the problem in the first place(also the sound would be of 'sputtering' rather than rough). But this could still be possibility.
The second possibility is a faulty sensor-as the sound became normal after the service only to return after 2K-this might also explain why the mechanics are not able to diagnose the problem that easily. During service they might have connected a management reader and reset all the error codes.

@Binoy, you are right that the pickup should drop if the fuel-air mixture is lean. But it is possible that Dan did not realize that the pickup is low. In fact Dan wrongly concludes in one of his posts that since the mileage is great, the pickup has to be OK too. As you mention, the problem could be due to a faulty sensor. But it would be hard to explain the loss of coolant in that case.

 

Pankaj does mention that there is a history of overheating in the older versions of xeta. And my lean fuel-air mixture theory as the cause of this overheating is backed up by the following thread in a different forum (see Zappo's post):

 

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/23940-indica-xeta-woes.html#post434853

 

Here it is mentioned that the Xeta does run a lean mixture to increase the FE. Apparently the ECU has been programmed accordingly and so the Xeta does not have much tolerance levels if something goes wrong.  What could go wrong in Dan's case? Maybe the ECU is faulty, or maybe (as mentioned in the above thread) the fuel that Dan filled up was adulterated, causing injectors to clog, etc. It is possible that during the service the fuel injectors were cleaned, and the problem disappeared temporarily. But it would have come back again upon running with adulterated fuel. I am wondering why the "check engine" light did not come on in Dan's case;  has the bulb been removed, as is the case for my Santro (I learnt that Hyundai removed the bulb in my model because the "Check Engine" light was coming on frequently due to adulterated fuel).

http://in.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=sradhakr1&p=r

Quite true-in that case the xeta would be running a pre-programmed map(lean mix) ECU-had read the xeta post earlier(TBHP)-the only difference is that here Dan does not mention anything about poor driveability-infact he goes on to say that the pickup is good(has remained same).A overheated car will be almost impossible to drive-almost like a semi seizure.
Moreover his initial complaint is the rough noise and not poor driveability hence i still would consider other causes(like a slightly leaking exhaust manifold ) higher up than the fuel mixture.
If only Dan could give an update.

Yes, Daniel has quite a few clues now.  Hope he's listening & reverts with some update.