Since 75k service, I have been running majorly on 4WD, makes the car feel more planted, better initial pick up and good to drive.
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Bought the 2012 car in 2017, a 5 year old one with 42k kms on clock. Now reading about 1.17 lakh.
Bought new Momo 17 inch matt black Revenge alloy wheels plus Pirelli Cinturado P7 in 235/55 R17s for 40k and 54k respectively.
First major service at 75k kms that included changing all fluids including transmission oil, brake oil, coolant, engine oil, oil filter, Air filter, ac filter and cvt filter costed about 28k from excel motors in august-September 2020. CVT oil plus CVT filter alone costed over 12-14k.
Before this spark plugs were changed at 60k kms service sometime in 2018 at Asian Motors. Plugs alone costed about 8-9k.
Since 75k service, I have been running majorly on 4WD, makes the car feel more planted, better initial pick up and good to drive. Dont really see any difference in FE. The FE varies from 6-7 in local traffic, 10-11 in city plus small highway drives. Usual highway drives give 11-13 including mountains. Got 15.2 kmpl in december last year from shimla to delhi. Family wedding and all were driving at around 80 kmph, hence the FE.
Last year in May June with OD at 94k kms, I had an issue with misfiring, drop in FE and bad pickup. Turned out to be one BAD Ignition Coil. I now use services from SSM automobies, on Khanjawala Road. The guy, Sanjay, was the senior service technician at Asian Motors running his own workshop. he’s got lift and all the right tools.
So, the OE Ignitian Coil costed 7.2k and the OE 4mm spark plugs costed 8k. Also checked the suspension, and it was on its way. Could have lasted another 10-15k but it was no more Tought and Fun. So went ahead and changed the entire front suspension, Front shocks – KYB, and the other items including suspension arms, link rods, tie rods and ends, jump rod bushes, and strut mount bearings were all OEM. The strut mounts itself were fine. Also, changed the rear shocks with KYB. With all my cars, I always make it a point to change the entire suspension at once, better immediate results = better satisfaction. the struts and arms were definitely shot, while the right side tie rod end was kaput. While sanjay sourced the coil and plugs, I sourced the suspension from Hanuman traders in Guru nanak market, kashmere gate. The entire suspension costed about 40k plus 4k labour.
I was also having a issue with bubbling, and light steering at higher speeds. The normal wheel alignment couldn’t fix it. I was asked to get tyres Road force balanced by a technician at Sanjay’s (he too used to work at Asian Motors). Count find one in Delhi, but found one through an old Team Bhp thread in Faridabad – Haryana Wheels Tyres. They have one fine set up and would definitely recommend them. Though expensive, they have proper equipment including a road force balancer and multiple lifts for alignment. Costed 500 per wheel for balancing and 1k for alignment. The car never drove better at higher speeds.
I also skimmed the brakes – front and rear and got brembo ceramic pads for about 7k from the dealer in goa. All together spent about 10k on brakes. The last ones were Roulunds brake pads that lasted 44k kms. they costed about 4k plus brake skimming.
So, ended up spending about 75k last year but the car was running great again.
Last month, I felt like the CVT was pretty noisy on steeps, I now park in basement, so could easily hear the noisy CVT while coming out. Also felt signigicant lag and slight jerkiness in the car. While I knew that the rear lower engine/ transmission mount was on its way, this jerkiness was different. Also, the FE went from 10-12 to 7-8ish. Figured its time to change the CVT as I have been running last 40k kms on 4WD. So, ordered the CVT oil on industry buying.com, costed 920 per litre for 11 liters. 5 Litres for flushing and 5-6 Litres for refill (since I was not changing the CVT filter, you cant drain out the entire 7.8 Litres.) Got the oil in about a week. Its Motul CVTF.
And then starting this month, things got worse, it felt like the AC compressor was cutting off but coming back on revving again. Also, the car would feel much heavier with AC on. Planned to go to Sanjay’s on weekend (It was earlier a 30-40 mins drive from paschim vihar, where I used to live, but now that I have shifted to Gurgaon, and its a 2 hrs drive). Came wednesday and the car wont cool on idle. The very next day, there was also belt like noise, could feel something with compressor for sure.
Went to Sanjay’s last Sunday and the big news unfolded. The AC compressor was conked off. There was redness all over the compressor clutch, this is because of heating. On opening the compressor, we figured that the clutch alone cannot be changed, as the wear and tear was internal. There was blackness all inside the lines. Hence, a new compressor was needed.
Called Kashmere gate and got 85k – 1 lac quotes for the OE ones. DAMN. The Taiwanese one was costing 16k. Since, I plan to keep the car for good 4 more years (thanks to NGT – not beyond), I wanted to get quality parts and fix the car properly. I also use the car as main car with lot of highway/mountain drives. The condenser also looked flimsy, needed flushing and cleaning.
We also inspected the throttle body and spark plugs before I left. The throttle body needed cleaning and the plugs changing (talk about driving on 4wd – frequent spark plugs and CVT Oil, differential oil and transfer case oil change. Also, there was oil near 2 of the coils because of bad tappet cover gasket.
With too much to be fixed, and the exorbitant prices, I was literally confused. The next upgrade is still a few years away (damn prices of both new and PRE-OWNED cars are sky high and as a thumb rule, I dont buy pre-owned germans over 3yrs /50k kms or japanese over 5yrs /50k kms. So the wait for some personal commitments to finish before I take plunge on the new one. Personally love the 330i M sport as an ideal choice or the new Kodiaq as an outlander upgrade.
Finally on tuesday, sanjay came up with good news. He could source the new OE compressor for 43k. Also, decided to change the Condenser for 17k (kept the old one for emergency purpose). Also sourced, OE tappet cover gasket for 5200, the belt was also old and little worn, got the outerbelt OE for 9100, OE rear lower engine/transmisson mount for 7500, and new OE spark plugs for 8800.
While opening the AC lines to be flushed, the expansion valve also broke. It costed 8800 for new, Sanjay asked to split the cost, but I refused.
Also, changed all the fluids except brake oil, OE air filter – 2800, aftermarket AC filter – Rs.400, and wiper blades.
So, all OE parts plus 6k labour and 2k AC gas costed about 1.15 lacs. plus 10k for transmission oil that I bought online. Total cost 1.25 lakhs.
Whats left, the Brembo pads are also on the way (not finished but gone red/hard because of high speed braking) and the discs are also shot. Significant brake shudder at higher speeds. Since the discs have already been shimmed twice, I would go ahead and replace them. The tyres too are over 5 years and nearly 70k kms old, not finished but gone old. Starting to see cracks on them. Have to go to dalhousie this month end. Will come back and get the brakes and the tyres sorted. Contemplating on getting Michelin Primacy 4. Needed Yokohama Advan V105s, but they are not available due to some import rules on tyres etc. The ones available are 2022 manufacturing.
So looking at another 70k-80k for front discs, front & rear pads and tyres. Thats about Rs. 2 lacs in total this year. Hopefully, it will be a reliable ride for the next few years now.
Keyword: Living with my preowned Mitsubishi Outlander: Updates at 1.17 lakh kms