The Forbidden Explorer: Tata Safari DiCOR 3.0


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The story of The Forbidden Explorer: Tata Safari DiCOR 3.0

Today I want to narrate the story of the Beast which was abandoned by his owner for 3 years after accident.
Love, Passion and Obsession are interrelated to each other, when you Love someone for long, it becomes your Passion and slowly your Passion turns in your Obsession.

My 'Love' for cars in my childhood, turned into 'Passion' when I started earning. This Passion continued with Willy, Indica, Maruti 800, Estilo and Nano. But something was missing to turn this Passion into 'Obsession', a Big and Powerful SUV may be was the thing which I was looking for, but restricted by limited capabilities to drive and Vitamin 'M'.
In Jan 2016, my friend told me that 2007 Safari is abandoned by owner in Chandigarh and its standing ideal since many years. Most of the external and internal trim was missing, engine was fine, tires was in mint condition. The Black beast which was parked safely in indoor parking needs good servicing and care to set the fire. He forwarded the photos on Whats-app and immediately I noticed that the trim level of the car is VX, with OE alloys. Front bumper, left wheel arch and door moldings was missing, some internal trim parts was also missing.

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I requested to schedule a meeting with the current owner of the car. After many phone calls, the person agreed to meet me on first week of Feb. 2016. With lot of questions in my mind, I rushed to the place where the Beast was parked on set date, the owner was already waiting for me there. Without any hesitation, he told me that the car was met with accident because of failed ABS and front of the car was reconstructed, however the previous owner changed the mind and sold the possession to the current owner of the car, who was actually the partner of the local Garage in Chandigarh.

I inspected the car from Inside-out, the front was re-constructed, and repainted, many trim parts was missing or stolen. We opened the engine bay and I jumped with excitement, it was 3.0 DICOR.... hurrraaa... this is what I was looking for since many days.... We pour the fuel and attached the battery, the engine cranked for few seconds and started immediately. No black or white smoke, fine grunt and smooth enough. My mechanic agreed that the engine is fine, no issues at all and needs some oil change and cleaning. Now it was time to start the negotiations...., we waste almost 10 days to negotiate the correct price of the Beast (I want it in dirt cheap). On 15th Feb 2016, I paid the amount to the owner and after formalities, the paper and key handover was completed.

This is how the Phase-I was completed....

The Forbidden Explorer (Phase-II)
The next challenge was to find the right mechanic and place to restore the Beast after key handover. The previous owner was insisting to free the parking space ASAP. After discussing many Guru's, I decided to handover the Beast to mechanic near my place who was earlier involved in restoration of diesel engines and Army Jeeps. The Beast was loaded on the truck and was transported to the Garage next day (17th Feb. 2016).

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The work was started immediately on the car with replacement of essentials fluids, filters and work on breaks. The real challenge was started now, the car was equipped with ABS and after first test drive we find that the ABS is not working and brakes are non functional.

After many trials, the ABS fails to work and so the mechanic. He was not well versed with latest technologies so after 3 days we decided to handover the car to some other mechanic, who should know about 'Safari' and luckily we find Gulzar in Sector-48 Auto market of Chandigarh. I immediately contacted him and he agreed to work on this car. On same day we transported the car to the garage.

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After initial inspection, Gulzar told me that he worked on this car earlier and he knows the real problem... ABS. The accident was happened because of ABS failure and he suggested me to either replace the ABS or remove the entire thing. Keeping in mind the budget and safety constrains, I decided to remove the faulty ABS system. It took almost 2 days to remove the ABS system and install 'Load sensitive pressure valve'. It was extreamly difficult to find LSPV but somehow we managed one from scrap dealer.

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Initial test after removing ABS was satisfactory and the work on the car moved further. The next Mammoth task was to find the missing trim. I tried TATA, but the trim was too expensive and was not currently available, so again we started searching the scrap dealers, luckily we find one scraped Safari Dicor 3.0 and I purchased all plastic required for my Beast in through away rates.

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The external trim was painted and installed in another 3-4 days and rest of the work was done in almost 7 days time. The beast was ready for test drive. Initial response was good but I was not satisfied with the noise and harshness levels as well as handling. Left pull was also troublesome even after Alignment and Balancing. Next thing was to check the entire suspension for wear-out bushes and other parts. After deep inspection, Gulzar pointed out that the Left side Wishbone was actually Right side one, and because of this reason, the Left pull was heavy. We replace the Left Wishbone with correct one and Left pull was disappeared immediately.
AC was checked and gas topped up, new seat covers installed, and car was washed and cleaned.

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It was time to take the beast on long drive, so we decided to test the car initially on shorter drive and subsequently increase the trips. My cousin took the challenge to test the car for 10 days.

After almost 150 KM trip in mid March, we find 'SERVICE' light started glowing, I immediately contacted the mechanic, he suggested me to take the car for Scanning. DICOR 3.0 software was not available with TATA's Workshop in Mohali and Chandigarh, so someone suggested me to take the car to INDER DIESELS (Injector and Turbo repair specialists). We took the car to Inder Diesels same day and to my surprise after scanning, the owner of the workshop told me that the Injectors are faulty and needs complete replacement. The total cost for replacement of four reconditioned injectors will be 24K. Another option will be to repair the injectors and the cost will be 9K, but the performance will be compromised. I agreed to repair the injectors and same day the injectors was repaired and 'SERVICE' caution was disappeared from instrument cluster.

But my cousin didn't find any difference in handling of the car after repair. The initial pickup was lazy and NVAH levels was high. We spend another 6-7 days in testing and taking long road trips. My mechanic suggested me that I should continue using the Beast and work on the issues whenever they pop-up, instead of resolving all issues at the same time. Safari needs care and love along with lots of Vitamin M, so best option will be continue use and spend money whenever you have. It was Holi time so my Cousin said Bye to me and the Beast and rushed to his home town.

This is how the Phase-II was completed.....

The Forbidden Explorer (Phase-III)

After Holi celebration, the 3rd and most typical phase was started in April. It was time to convert the Car to suit my needs. Break and Clutch in hand and Accelerator at left side. The challenge was quite big, as this needs lots of re-engineering. Earlier we converted the small cars with cable controlled clutch system. Hydraulic controlled clutch system is altogether different and needs entirely new system.

I started working on designs, keeping in mind – Simple function and low budget. Slowly and work on design board started with many concepts, and finally I decided to fabricate a simple design with all control on single stack... 3D System. Pull to dis-engage the Clutch and Press for break.

It took almost 15 days to design and fabricate the 3D System and in First week of May, we decided to install it and test it. Gulzar helped me to install the system and other essential changes in the car. In 2 days time we completed the changeover and it was time for me to take the Beast for first drive.

First Driving Experience

It was really difficult for me handle such a big car and that too with entirely different controls. Took almost 3-4 hours to handle the Beast. I started to drive the car in huge parking bay of Motor market on Sunday night, there was no car parked and the ground was ready for me. After 1 hour of encircling the ground, we decided to take the Beast on road. The road behavior was excellent, sheer power and top of the World feeling... wow.

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It was time to take the Beast to home, around 10:30 PM, we finally hit the road and it was first time for me drive the Beast on such a busy roads. Initially, gear change and breaks was problematic for me as compare to my Estilo.

Very next day, me and my friend decided to take a drive on busy road so that I can understand and experience the behavior of the car, unfortunately after few min. Of starting the car, 'SERVICE' lit started blinking on the console and the speed of the car reduced. The temperature of the car started shooting high. I stopped the car imminently. On phone call, my mechanic warned me not to drive it further as the issue could be because of malfunctioning of sensors and could be major in case I will keep on driving. The car was in LIMP mode. He send the pickup truck and to tow the car to garage.

After initial investigation very next day, he find that the Head gasket is leaked and also there is some issue with Injectors. It was big setback for me, however the mechanic assured me that the issue is small and after replacing the Head gasket, everything will be fine.

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He started working on head and in 2 days time the gasket was removed and new one was fitted. We also find that the Clutch is too hard to operate and also decided to open the Clutch. The pressure plate was badly rusted and was too hard. I decided to replace the entire Clutch unit (Clutch plate + Pressure Plate + Release Bearing + Master and Slave cylinders). It took another 3 days to complete this task. He also the CatCon and cleaned the muffler.

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I was running out the patience and money, so I decided to stop the work there and drive the car back to home. We decided to park the car at my friends apartment for 2 months and after that we will start converting the car with new system for my use and the current system was not working fine and whenever I use to disengage the clutch and also engages the breaks. Also the 3D system was too complicated and further modifications was not possible. A simple and easy to maintain system was required.

This is how the Phase-III was completed.....

More to come... continued...
 
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