Fiat Linea 1.4 FIRE Emotion Pack

I tried hard to change PetrolPrice in ecoDrive but not successful as yet. :anyone

Tried to explore Gear change data. In ecoDrive master file, there are values, ID's mentioned for almost everything. For my car, Engine ID is 396 (Linea 1.4 77HP), Gearbox ID is 3 (means Manual 5G), Engine ID is 64 (means FIRE 1368 2V_MPI_EVO_2_I/CE_E5 77CV 110Nm )No.ofDoors ID is 3 (means 5 doors).

Gear Change RPM specifications are as below:

[attachment=0:11l235zj]eco-17.JPG[/attachment:11l235zj]

This shows that 1 means changing gear from 1st to 2nd. 2 means 2nd to 3rd & so on.

 

If TASC applies mind to some very small items, it still can make huge difference to the the perception or the customer experience.

After I got the car back from TASC post Headlight change, AC upgrade, new CSC (steel) & replacement of Elastic pads & struts (for steering hardness issue), I was feeling that steering is pulling to the right. Also, on Bandra-Worli sea-link at high-speed, the handling was not to its legendary great. Another issue I was observing is that when Steering is turned to the right, the reverse pressure by which it automatically comes back is lesser than earlier. There were 2 things I wanted to check - 1) Tyre air pressure & 2) Wheel Alignment (as this was done by TASC after changing Elastic pads & struts).

2 thing happened today - First, I noticed that the tyre which was earlier in left rear is now on Front Right ::OO (TASC would have rotated the tyres though I never asked). The issue is they rotated it in "X" pattern which I never do in my Linea (should be front to rear on the same side). Secondly, I could find time to check air. There was such a huge difference. Front right & rear right were still alright at around 30 psi. However, front left was at 38 psi & rear left was at 21 psi ::OO No wonder, I was not getting the handling that I'm so used to. It looks ok in my office to home journey today evening, even steering pulling to right was not felt. However, shall have to observe this tomorrow.

Tomorrow, I'm driving to Surat for a quick visit. : Have been longing for a drive since long.

 

I want to share something I observed just today morning & ask 1.4 Linea owners to check & let me know.

When I left Surat today early morning, I noticed that there is a tone sound everytime I change gear. The tone sound is like "chuk", exactly the tone you hear when you press a key on your cellphone keypad or casio digital diary keypad. The sound emanate from right side of steering &its clearly system (computer?) sound.

Incidentally, my right side of area on steering where you pressed it to honk stopped working slowly during the drive itself (it went from alright to limping & then stopped). The left side portion still works as usual. I then tried hard on right side & realised that now I've to climb on steering to honk :mrgreen:

I don't know if these 2 are related. But kindly check the 1st one in your 1.4 Linea & let me know.

 

Did a quick drive to Surat. Left on Saturday morning around 7.45 am. The entire Mumbai - Surat Road is being under construction with diversions every few kms. there were some 30 - 40 diversions till I reached Surat ::OO

My affection to Linea keeps on increasing the more I drive her What a steering !! Was driving sedately till Maharashtra - Gujarat Border. But was getting late & then came back to my usual self of heavy footed driving & wow ! That is what I enjoy. Thats where I feel more in control compared to sedate driving :mischievous To hell with FE, to hell with ecoIndex :bye

Left on Monday early morning at 5 am & reached Mumbai at 10.30 am. Wifey said leave the car & go in Meru cab as you must have been tired driving non-stop. I dropped them home & straight away driven to office for 1.5 hours drive thro' Mumbai traffic. No tiredness, nothing !! :drinks

I've yet not found the reason for that tone "chuk" while changing gear. It surely is system tone exactly similar to cell phone keypad or Casio Digital Diary key pad tone. It's audible sometimes & the other times its not. It's a distinct sound & mostly is coming from the Fusebox or somewhere near. Also, it seems the horn sensor has been pressed inwards under the right side portion of the steering to honk. I've to really climb on it to honk, can't use it while driving. Have to show both to TASC.

Am yet not able to use Com-Paint on those bonnet scratches. :cry:

 

• FE while going to Surat was 15.4 kmpl till half way sedate driving. Thereafter spirited driving resulted FE to dive down to 14.4 kmpl[/*:m:3bqriqhx]
• On the way back to Mumbai, FE was 14.5 kmpl[/*:m:3bqriqhx]

Though I give a damn to FE, still I'm also curious to track it somehow, may be for academic interest. High FE gives mental satisfaction : In a Petrol C segment Sedan the above FE is absolutely wonderful. My earlier car Ford Ikon (one level below Linea in positioning) used to give me 8-9 kmpl in city & 12 kmpl on highways.

Coming back to the issues, both the issues I mentioned earlier are down & dusted now : .

Went to Wasan Motors, Kandivali today as the Horn issue was bugging me. Right side portion of steering wheel needed me to climb on it to honk ::OO And I've a habit of honking with right hand thumb while Left hand changes gears or rests on armrest or steering. Forcefully pressing left hand thumb was making me uncomfortable. I dropped in at Wasan without informing them at 4 p.m. Got excellent reception though the recptionist was a bit doubtful & gave me surprised look for dropping in without informing. While she was calling SA on phone, the Works Manager just walked in. We just chatted & he asked me about the issue & asked receptionist to immediately call SA & Electrician.

Electrician came immediately & started the job. I was curious to see how he removes the horn pad from steering as Airbag is lying within. Asked him to be careful & not make any scratches on steering. He took out a big screwdriver & my heart sank that is he going to use this on delicate plastic of steering? On both side of steering column, there is a small opening (not visible thro' naked eyes). Only when he inserted screwdriver there, one realises that there is a small cut & the soft plastic parts way. He removed the horn. there is a ring inside on which there are 4 copper pressure plates. One of these copper plates was broken. He started looking for the broken part of the plate & when not found he was shocked as to what to do. I could see his predicament. That means that part - the ring - needs to be replaced & he was doubtful if it was in stock :mrgreen: . Then Eureka !!! He suddenly exclaimed that Sir, ho gaya. there is a Linea which came for accidental Insurance repair where airbags have been deployed & the dash, steering parts etc are being changed. While the other parts have become useless, the ring would definitely would be intact & alright. He went & brought the ring. It was as good as a fresh new ring. That Linea was also new. He refitted the horn with that ring & the horn is restored : . All done in almost 10 minutes. Following is the pic of the ring & the broken copper clip.

[attachment=1:3bqriqhx]2011-03-05-BB-003.jpg[/attachment:3bqriqhx]
[attachment=0:3bqriqhx]2011-03-05-BB-002.jpg[/attachment:3bqriqhx]

For that tone while changing gear, electrician said he'll have to ask someone from "Quality" (?) to come & check. Well, someone came & I took him for test drive & shown the "tone" sound. He went inside & brought someone senior. I explained them the issue & said the sound comes when I suddenly release the clutch (that 1.2 Punto brake thread made me analyse my own driving thro' microscope :A ). I was thinking of a possibility that the horn issue could be related to this issue. We went for long test drive again & again. After many trials, the guy seems to be nearing diagnosis. After trying everything, he leaned back on seat, reclined it 5-6 times & said its seat squeaking noise. I was slightly doubtful, He tried pressing clutch & releasing it in quick succession & voila !! The quick release of the clutch was producing the sound. He said nothing to worry - spray of some liquid would remove it & he did that with WD-40 like some liquid.

Now, the only thing which is bugging me to tinkling me that I'm driving an old car is those scratches on Bonnet. Lemme try Com-Paint tomorrow under the hood or under the boot first & see the effect for a week & then next Sunday try it on bonnet. Hopefully, Next Sunday, I'll be back to driving my Like-New Linea :mrgreen:

 

72 ecoIndex !! My maximum after the 1st 2 days of installing it when I got 76 & 73 for very short drives.

Tried Com-paint on rear running board hidden behind the door on some scratches. My initial observation is 50%-50%. While it does the job well, the spray however I tried from distance of 12-13 inches leaves impressions of spray-drops on the surrounding area. Com-merge reduces the effect but does not completely remove it. I think one has to wipe it off from unwanted areas. Am afraid of using it on bonnet, I don't want irregularities of paint on the bonnet.

Then I tried the paste tube Com-cut which seems to be a rubbing compound on another scratch. It reduces the scratch to a great effect & the white of the scratch is removed & filled with paint but the cut of the scratch is still there.

I'll observe this for a week. I'll also wax it after a week to see how it shapes up & thereafter take a decision to use Com-Paint or Com-cut of QUIXX or some other rubbing compund.

 

Tried Com-Paint again. this 2nd trial making me more familiar resulted in better result than y'day but still not 100%. The scratches are disappearing completely but the surface finish is not smooth. Also, multiple small small drops impressions are visible. The issue is the spray button of com-paint bottle is hard, so when you spray & even if you try a stroking motion (horizontal/ vertical), a bout of spray is sprayed on a spot as the button can't be pressed uniformly while stroking as its hard. If you can continue the button pressed with the same pressure with spray emanating uniformly & you give stroking motion, then it would result in even & uniform spray. Same thing for Com-merge. The spray outflow is quite strong. I've to see if the application of Com-cut rubbing compound advised after 72 hours makes the surface smoother.

Another thing I noticed is use of sand paper seems to reduce the effect of these small small drops impressions a bit. However, if you use sand paper, the surface / clear coat seems to be affected so much that the surface looks "scrubbed" or "rubbed" with the shine/ gloss completely gone. That means once you use sand paper, you HAVE TO use Com-Paint mandatorily.

Alternatively, I tried Com-cut rubbing compound only on a few scratches again. Its removing scratches but the cut in paint is visible (its turning that cut from White to Flamenco Red).

Some pics:

(One possibility - May be If I reduce the application area with more masking limiting application to only very small area of the scratch only, the drop effect may reduce)

[attachment=4:1tet555a]2011-03-07-BB-001.jpg[/attachment:1tet555a]
[attachment=3:1tet555a]2011-03-07-BB-004.jpg[/attachment:1tet555a]
[attachment=2:1tet555a]2011-03-07-BB-005.jpg[/attachment:1tet555a]
[attachment=1:1tet555a]2011-03-07-BB-006.jpg[/attachment:1tet555a]
[attachment=0:1tet555a]2011-03-07-BB-007.jpg[/attachment:1tet555a]