“The Blue Elephant” My Safari 4x4 Review & Mods


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bhvm

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Hey Guys, I have some Major Updates, So The Post might be Long. Do bear with me.
As you might Remember, The Beast has been Sleeping On & Off since 6 months or More now. Lots Niggling problems cropped up due to lack of Use & repeated Lockdowns.
the AC went First. Then Brakes decided to Act up. With the Relaxations in Covid restrictions I decided to get things worked up at Nearby Service center. Let's begin the Journey-

1. Reached the Service Center early Morning. It was Very easy to drive since my Car has special 2L Mode. With the Low Range Engaged, the control is fantastic. Also Brakes had Enough stopping force to work reliably below 40 Kmph.
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We had Quite a Bit of laugh as the ASC Machine was not able to lift the Safari!!
They barely got it up to have the wheels removed.
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2. Both rear wheel drums opened. It was a task to open them. But once open mechanics made new threads to prevent further problem.
Rear brake shoes were also gone. So got them changed. Wheel works done.
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3 . Time to change master cylinder. Older one came out after some prodding. New installed. Things are easy when you have the right tools, Like a Brake wrench.
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Alas! Brake like threads are slightly different. The brake lines from the car has thinner threads compared to whats on the cylinder.
What a spoil sport.
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New cylinder Not even available in showroom. They were ready to offer me a "Master-Cylinder with Brake booster combo" for 25k (Available on Order only).

4. Made visit around with mechanic Trying to find adapters for the brake cylinder. Finally found brass fitting which should solve all the issues & also salvage the master cylinder.
Got the brass banjo fittings sanded & trimmed to size.
Spent 550 overall. Came back to safari.
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5. The ordeal continues. Even after installing & refitting some thing is always amiss. Finally after a dozen refits, got brake pressure but only in front brakes??
It appears that VX 4x4 has very slightly different brake cylinder compared to the masses. And even if the parts Logically Fit (even had the Mechanics fooled), Brakes never work right unless you have the so called Original.
What a string of bad luck.

These Mechanics must have done atleast a Dozen Installs & Refits on my car, Trying to Make sense of the problem. Tried aligning, Replacing internal washers.
After spending a whole day, 11 Bottles of Brake oil and lots of Agitation, It was finally declared that the Brand new Cylinder I had brought from Boodmo was either Incompatible or has some Unexplained defect. Due to all this experimentation, The cylinder also got ruined & wasted.

6. Decided to drop the Safari at ASC and return home. The Search for Perfect Brake cylinder is ON.

7. Roamed Around the Showroom And found the so called Safari/Gravitas.
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It Took almost a week to source the Original Cylinder,a Friend arranged from a Metro city. I had to ship him my Old Brake cylinder as the Difference was too small to explain.
With new Cylinder (And Hope) In hand, I reached the Safari 4x4 Once again.

Installing The cylinder was a quick half an Hour Job. Bleeding took another Half.

Finally the Beast has Brakes!!!

With that done & Said, It was time to move on to Another major issue, the AC leaks.
So I approached a nearby FNG to get it done.
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The Roof Cooling was diagnosed as leaking. They carefully checked the leaks elsewhere but Roof looks like it.
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Thankfully, A Used Roof AC unit was available from Salvage Safari, So the mechanic brought one in. Transferred the Said coil into my Roof housing.
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Time to check leaks again & fill gas.
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Finally after a year or so, I have fully working Safari!
Let's make your own Roads!

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Thread Starter #333

bhvm

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Posting some updates on the Beast. The use is not much. Just Ambling around.
These are some pics from Bhawali Falls near nashik,
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A Neat Little Panorama-
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The flow of falls was not much. But the view still can be termed, beautiful.
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And a Calm Lake nearby-
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The Beast Loved Standing Near it,
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Thread Starter #337

bhvm

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I have stayed 2 years with HDFC ergo. They were good back then. But suddenly they stopped offering IDV choice. There is some "System decided" IDV which is of Laughable value because the car is old. For the 2nd year I could get IDV increased but on 3rd renewal they denied any accommodation of my needs even on escalated channel.
 
Thread Starter #338

bhvm

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After about a Month of Follow up, I was able to get the corrected Policy today.
Help-desk didn't work.
Escalation / Grievance channel did not even reply.

Social Media? Yup.
Sometimes its nice to be a Youtuber and some grip on these things. I wonder how regular masses will get treated.
They did ask me for an Appreciative tweet, I obliged.
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The 4x4 System has again started acting up. The beast sat around for a month and this happened.
This time around, there is zero activity upon using the 4H 4L selector switch.
No errors, No Codes, No Lights.
Nothing.

Opened the switch and serviced it,
t not Satisfied.
following your instructions i worked out the 4x4 mechanism last time . It worked for like 3-4 times now it's again in safe mode . Happened when changed the mode while car was moving . Have to check what the error code reads this time , last time it was 111.
 
Thread Starter #340

bhvm

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following your instructions i worked out the 4x4 mechanism last time . It worked for like 3-4 times now it's again in safe mode . Happened when changed the mode while car was moving . Have to check what the error code reads this time , last time it was 111.
As I have found out, Safari 4x4 electronics are extremely unreliable and it does not work when utmost needed. I am in the process of Rigging out the ECU and using a simple, Bi-Directional switch to directly engage the motor.

Try disconnecting & reconnecting the battery, it might fix any "Soft" errors. However if the motor has stopped in some awkward location (Sensor not able to detect its position) then motor has to be removed and spun manually until the PCB clock spring tracks align.
 
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As I have found out, Safari 4x4 electronics are extremely unreliable and it does not work when utmost needed. I am in the process of Rigging out the ECU and using a simple, Bi-Directional switch to directly engage the motor.

Try disconnecting & reconnecting the battery, it might fix any "Soft" errors. However if the motor has stopped in some awkward location (Sensor not able to detect its position) then motor has to be removed and spun manually until the PCB clock spring tracks align.
Got rid of the problem.
Got down under the safari , removed the guard plate of 4x4 motor & rotated the sensor by loosing the three screws holding it , rotated the sensor a bit to next location (markings r there ) & there you go . 4x4 started working again .
 
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As I have found out, Safari 4x4 electronics are extremely unreliable and it does not work when utmost needed. I am in the process of Rigging out the ECU and using a simple, Bi-Directional switch to directly engage the motor.

Try disconnecting & reconnecting the battery, it might fix any "Soft" errors. However if the motor has stopped in some awkward location (Sensor not able to detect its position) then motor has to be removed and spun manually until the PCB clock spring tracks align.
As said earlier the problem was solved temporarily , again the system is in safe mode i.e. showing both 4H 4L
So started to trace down the actual problem , so upon inspection with multimeter i found out that the 4x4 shift motor is only getting 10v supply where as battery terminal show full 12.5v . So have to sort out the voltage problem .
Do you know from where the 4x4 system gets positive & negetive supply ?
 
Thread Starter #343

bhvm

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There is a 4x4 ECU below driver seat and a large connector that plugs into it. The connector has a few thick pins, they seem to be voltage pins.
Do not confuse 4x4 ECU with immobilizer ECU which is also below driver seat.
 
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There is a 4x4 ECU below driver seat and a large connector that plugs into it. The connector has a few thick pins, they seem to be voltage pins.
Do not confuse 4x4 ECU with immobilizer ECU which is also below driver seat.
Sir ,is it possible to you to measure if the same voltage ,10v, is shown on your shift motor too ?
 

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