Eventually,
the oil got into the Clutch and I had to change it (Clutch Plate only)
at 22kkm at my cost. Its front wheel bearings became noisy after it got
flooded in a massive downpour - again around 22kkm/3 yrs later.
BUT this one, or for that matter any of my other Cars, never stalled as
such any where so far.
The Possible Remedies
Considering the scenario of their ‘performance capabilities’
as well as the ‘duty cycles’ imposed on them between the ’50s
and ‘90s, where does all this lead to? May be the following ‘Ten
Commandments’, not necessarily in that order, can throw some light
on the issue:
I) There are no good cars or bad cars today anywhere
in the world, amongst comparable specs and prices. It’s by and large
a mis-match of operating and/ or maintenance conditions as against those
prescribed my their Makers, preceded by a wrong choice in the first place
– as to what one needs/expects vs what the car is capable of offering.
II) Do read the Owner’s Manual from ‘cover
to cover’, if not the Workshop Manual too. The latter are hard to
come by nowadays though.
III) Follow the recommended driving technique AND the
preventive maintenance schedule to the T. Here, even the so-called ‘Authorised
Service Centres/Dealerships’ are to blame, as most of them just
‘tick’ against the various recommended checks without bothering
to actually carry them out.
Besides, by and large their ‘Engine Tuning’ Instruments, if
at all working, are pretty out of ‘Calibration’ – leading
to obvious performance related problems.
IV) Keep the insides, including the Engine, and the outsides
of it clean. An ‘all round’ clean Car does ‘seem’
to run better.
V) Try and be sensitive enough to detect any abnormal
sounds/vibrations and have them attended to ASAP – the proverbial
‘stitch in time…’.
VI) For compelling commercial reasons, practically all
of today’s Car designs are ‘edgy’ i.e. very little margins
of safety. So ‘abuse’ of any System of the Car, of any kind,
is totally out.
Content
generated by S. K. Gupta. - 11/’02. |
