Well, to cut it short, Advy (My 2006, Fiat Palio Adventure Sports 1.6) took off well but landed pretty pathetically as the radiator hose developed a leak during my 4 day 1100 KM road trip covering Salem, Coimbatore & Trichy from Chennai!
I started to Salem on 2nd Oct afternoon by 3.30 PM from Guduvancheri to attend my friend's wedding on the next day. The journey was awesome as you know the roads are pretty good. I reached Salem and checked in to Annapoora lodge at 8.00 PM. The journey was pretty cool and I pushed Advy till 160 - 165 KMPH (According to Speedo, but, actuals should be around 145 - 150 KMPH)
Next day once the wedding was over I started to Coimbatore and reached there by 12 Noon, spent overnight at my FIL's place and started my journey towards Trichy the next day, 4th Morning. I took the Palladam, Kangeyam, Karur, Kulithalai Route. Wasn't that great as the roads were small and dusty without divider.
Upon finishing my work at Trichy by 5th afternoon I started towards Chennai around 5 PM and that's when I discovered the temp mark hovering over the red. I stopped the vehicle immediately and checked for the coolant fluid and it was empty. Thankfully I noticed it immediately and stopped the car. I left the bonnet open and called Anandh (Friend from myfiatworld.in forum), he suspected a leak in one of the hoses and told me to fill water and check how the temp is. Mean time I also called the My TVS 24/7 Road side assistance for help, to be frank they weren't really helpful as the waiting time for our calls to get answered is annoying and they don't share the mechanic's no. with us, everytime we have to call their customer care and request a call back from mechanic.... trust me it was very painful.
I don't know how to call it but just as God's plan as 3 of my friends joined me during the return journey from Trichy as their tickets were not confirmed. They helped with some cold water and we waited for some 30 mins for the engine to cool down. Also the whole drama happened inside Trichy city when the sun light was still there so I was quite comfortable. We filled water in the coolant tank and that's when MyTVS Mechanic was connected to me through a con call and he told me to turn on the engine while pouring water but I had almost completed filling the coolant tank.
We started around 6 PM, the temp needle was well below the half mark and we drove about 125 Kms till Ulundurpet when the Temp mark suddenly increased to red. We stopped for another 20 - 30 mins and repeated the procedure and we had also bought a litre of coolant on the way. But this time the leak was visible so I did not want to waste the coolant & decided to stick to water, we filed the coolant reservoir again and got out water stock also refilled. We took another stop at A2B and topped up water after finishing our dinner. We traveled another 70 KMS when the temperature started to raise from the quarter mark rapidly again. So the next stop at a motel, same procedure and we were good till Mahindra city, Chengalpattu our last stop.
We took a longer break this time as we could not find extra water, we only had some 5 lts. (The area was also shady and I was quite bothered about our safety) but without other options we waited for about 30 mins. Finally we refilled and reached Guduvanchery by around 1 AM. A pretty adventurous trip in Adventure! :P
Glad I did not blow the engine. I parked Advy and took my Wagon R to reach Perumbakkam by around 2 AM. Almost 8 hrs for 300 kms with four stop overs!
But it was a good lesson learnt. We should always be careful while using old cars, it is better to stick to the routine maintenance and change all the rubber parts and tubes. Thanks to God for bringing 5 of us safe and I'm glad to have found friends like Anandh through MFW who help in times of need.
Drive Safe guys! Keep extra essential fluids with you during long drives!
Next day once the wedding was over I started to Coimbatore and reached there by 12 Noon, spent overnight at my FIL's place and started my journey towards Trichy the next day, 4th Morning. I took the Palladam, Kangeyam, Karur, Kulithalai Route. Wasn't that great as the roads were small and dusty without divider.
Upon finishing my work at Trichy by 5th afternoon I started towards Chennai around 5 PM and that's when I discovered the temp mark hovering over the red. I stopped the vehicle immediately and checked for the coolant fluid and it was empty. Thankfully I noticed it immediately and stopped the car. I left the bonnet open and called Anandh (Friend from myfiatworld.in forum), he suspected a leak in one of the hoses and told me to fill water and check how the temp is. Mean time I also called the My TVS 24/7 Road side assistance for help, to be frank they weren't really helpful as the waiting time for our calls to get answered is annoying and they don't share the mechanic's no. with us, everytime we have to call their customer care and request a call back from mechanic.... trust me it was very painful.
I don't know how to call it but just as God's plan as 3 of my friends joined me during the return journey from Trichy as their tickets were not confirmed. They helped with some cold water and we waited for some 30 mins for the engine to cool down. Also the whole drama happened inside Trichy city when the sun light was still there so I was quite comfortable. We filled water in the coolant tank and that's when MyTVS Mechanic was connected to me through a con call and he told me to turn on the engine while pouring water but I had almost completed filling the coolant tank.
We started around 6 PM, the temp needle was well below the half mark and we drove about 125 Kms till Ulundurpet when the Temp mark suddenly increased to red. We stopped for another 20 - 30 mins and repeated the procedure and we had also bought a litre of coolant on the way. But this time the leak was visible so I did not want to waste the coolant & decided to stick to water, we filed the coolant reservoir again and got out water stock also refilled. We took another stop at A2B and topped up water after finishing our dinner. We traveled another 70 KMS when the temperature started to raise from the quarter mark rapidly again. So the next stop at a motel, same procedure and we were good till Mahindra city, Chengalpattu our last stop.
We took a longer break this time as we could not find extra water, we only had some 5 lts. (The area was also shady and I was quite bothered about our safety) but without other options we waited for about 30 mins. Finally we refilled and reached Guduvanchery by around 1 AM. A pretty adventurous trip in Adventure! :P
Glad I did not blow the engine. I parked Advy and took my Wagon R to reach Perumbakkam by around 2 AM. Almost 8 hrs for 300 kms with four stop overs!
But it was a good lesson learnt. We should always be careful while using old cars, it is better to stick to the routine maintenance and change all the rubber parts and tubes. Thanks to God for bringing 5 of us safe and I'm glad to have found friends like Anandh through MFW who help in times of need.
Drive Safe guys! Keep extra essential fluids with you during long drives!