Hi Folks,
Till now I had been a pretty satisfied Indica Turbo owner, having rakd up approx 5000 kms in 4 months. The car consistently gave me 17 KPL in the city with AC and 20 on the h/w.
But my honeymoon with the turbo tourned sour this weekend. I had gone from TVM to Ernakulam for some work on Friday. WHile going, the car behaved impeccably and with speeds of about 90-100 kph, with AC on, it gave me 21 KPL!.
On the way bac on saturday, I was coming back alone.
I had just crossed Alleppey around 10 A.M. and about 20 Ks out of Alleppey, I got an absolute clear stretch of road, so I decided to open the car up a bit, sinc eit was due for its first service upon return to TVM. so the speedo started climbing from 90 and all was fine till 120. when I crossed 120, there was a strange sound, like to coins were rubing together (of course the sound was much loder than that!) I switched of fthe steroe and immediately dropped the speed to 100, the sound went away. then, I was cruising at 100 and came upon a truck. while overtaking the truck (at this stage the turbo was on full boost!) I again heard that sound (Speed about 110-115) and then there was a loud hissing noise. Now I was really worried, a nd the traffic position was such that I could not lift off the throttle rither. SO I floored the accellerator, got clear of the truck and pulled over. All this while the sound got worse and was sickening! I swtched off the car, waited for about 15 minutes before I opened the bonnet. When I opened the bonnet there was a pungent burning smell, and I could see smoke/steam all over. Now I was really worried. I was stranded int he middle of the highway, in an area where I did not know the language! ( I am not from Kerala!).
Anyways, I remembered reading somewhere tha tIndicas have a limp home feature. So I turned on the car and drove back to TVM at a steady 60 KPH, no AC.
As soon as I reached TVM, drove straight to Kulathunkal motors workshop ( The TASC in TVM). It took them about 5 miutes to diagnose the problem. They said that the plumbing for the Turbo had sprung a leak, causing turbo malfunction, and the turbo will have to be replaced! I said WTF!!!! Tis is a brand new car dammit! Anyways, since it is under warranty, I will not have ot pay for anything. He further said that there was some problem with the oil pump and there was premature cylinder corrosion. He could not confirm if the two problems were related. SO as I write this my car is int he workshop, where it will be for a week, and I have decided to sell this car off as soon as I get it back. My confidence in tata is really shaken after this!
(my 3 year old esteem with over 65k has NEVER given me ANY problem till date!)
Cheers
Himanshu