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


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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.
Checked with the ECU , the voltage is same 10v . What i realised is that the system gets full 12v supply when the engine is started . So basically the 4x4 system need revving of engine till 2000rpm to get going .This is working as of now . Rev , slot into 4H or 4L , it works . On idling rpm the system stuck on safe mode. Battery is new , alterator is serviced . This seems to be a ageing problem with wiring or whole system all together.
 
Thread Starter #347

bhvm

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Checked with the ECU , the voltage is same 10v . What i realised is that the system gets full 12v supply when the engine is started . So basically the 4x4 system need revving of engine till 2000rpm to get going .This is working as of now . Rev , slot into 4H or 4L , it works . On idling rpm the system stuck on safe mode. Battery is new , alterator is serviced . This seems to be a ageing problem with wiring or whole system all together.
Probably due to carbon deposits on relay contacts or aged wiring. This seems to be common in Older Safaris.
I also I am aware of weak or corroded Grounds (negative) links which go from battery to Body, Engine gearbox etc. Hence what I did is made a new thick copper wire, soldered battery rings, and provided additional Ground directly form battery negative post to a significant bolt on engine block. This seems to solve a lot of Ghost issues.

Sometimes my Starter relay gets only 7V and car fails to start. If I connect the relay leg to battery, the car fires up immidiately.
Thankfully the occurrence is rare.
 

mayankdixit

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Arey bhai yeh thread itnaa shaant kyon hai??
This thread has motivated me to maintain my ride with passion. And OP may not even know about it(his threads helping me and many others).
@bhvm please post updates.
Give us latest pics atleast. What did you do for the underbody rusting? Any new treatments?? Did you think about altering the colour scheme??



PS. Already one member has sold off his wonderfully and passionately maintained safari for an easy to repair issue. I am really afraid that you might go his way. I don't want it. Nobody wants it.
So please put my fears to rest and post updates.




Pps. Very few threads I have seen that are catalogued in such a detailed manner in first page itself. This thread is one of them.Nice.
 
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Thread Starter #349

bhvm

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Everything is fine.
Just lack of time to post anything. I have become busier than ever.
Your queries are always welcome.

I have done some repairs in the meanwhile.
1. Accelerator pedal was acting up. Found codes using OBD. Then Opened the pedal and carefully cleaned the contacts (Inside its like a variable resistor with sliding carbon brush like contacts)
2. Had a Puncture. Will be buying new tyre soon.
 
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mayankdixit

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Everything is fine.
I have done some repairs in the meanwhile.
1. Accelerator pedal was acting up. Found codes using OBD. Then Opened the pedal and carefully cleaned the contacts (Inside its like a variable resistor with sliding carbon brush like contacts)
2. Had a Puncture. Will be buying new tyre soon.
Some pics please!



Just lack of time to post anything. I have become busier than ever.
Will be buying new tyre soon.
I don't want to intervene into personal space, but did you mean busier than ever in safari and my other cars or busier in something else?
Which new tyre?
 
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Thread Starter #351

bhvm

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After a really long time,
Both the Blue Beasts are together.
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The Activa Completed 15 years of age so had to apply for Re-registration at new exorbitant Rates.
The Plastics are slightly faded but the humble beast has a lot of life left.
Genuine 23k Kms on the ODO-
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Brought a new Tyre for Safari.
The same good ol' MRF wanderer AT. Got it fixed and balanced.
Rates have gone up (7.5k vs 6.7k) Compared to last year.
Too much Friggin tax on tyres- Over 1.6k is tax!
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Now the beast has all properly new tyres
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Got this puppy from amazon-
Want to make a review if time allows.
Screenshot_20220505-213148_VLC.jpg
 

mayankdixit

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Have a look at MRF wanderers AT. They are good and economical too.
NO need to waste unnecessary money on fancy wheels .You have to use it roughly. They will do. I would have done exactly that. Rest is up-to you.
Best choice.
Can't stop myself from saying I told you already 3 years ago !!
 
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allhyundaicars

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Best choice.
Can't stop myself from saying I told you already 3 years ago !!
Mrf wanderer is a good tyre. My brezza came with it and has covered around 53k kms and I think it will go another 15k easily.
Stock mrf zvtv I got on my verna were pathetic. Don't know why there's so much difference in 2 products from the same company.
@bhvm - please do update how it is. I have 4 pumps available with me. 3 of them are coido and not a single problem I have faced in so many years. My cousin bought myTVS and it has conked off just after a year.
 
Thread Starter #354

bhvm

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Mrf wanderer is a good tyre. My brezza came with it and has covered around 53k kms and I think it will go another 15k easily.
Stock mrf zvtv I got on my verna were pathetic. Don't know why there's so much difference in 2 products from the same company.
@bhvm - please do update how it is. I have 4 pumps available with me. 3 of them are coido and not a single problem I have faced in so many years. My cousin bought myTVS and it has conked off just after a year.
Sure. I will try doing a comparision between bergmann, ResQtech and Windek.
Forget myTVS. It went bad in 15 days.
 
Thread Starter #358

bhvm

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How I repaired my Safari's Accelerator Pedal (Short Guide)

One needs a Long tool with Appropriate bits to open the pedal-
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Its Held in by 3 screws. 2 are easily visible. 3rd one is on the top.
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3 Bolts removed. Will be soaking these in WD40 before refit.
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Pedal finally down.
IMG_20220312_141752.jpg

Connector looks fine. Shall still clean it with WD40
IMG_20220312_141918.jpg

Opening this is tricky and needs time. I Could not shoot all the steps as I was focusing on the Job.
There are these Variable resistor like Contacts and sliding fingers on them.
There are multiple tracks for accuracy & Redundancy. Because the Beast drove fine even with Pedal errors & Service light on OBD.
IMG_20220316_114404.jpg


Cleaned everything using cotton swab soaked in WD40. Works fine and errors are gone.
IMG_20220316_114409.jpg
 
Thread Starter #359

bhvm

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The Elephant suffered another Compression leak. This time it was Injector 3.
The beast hates monsoons & moisture. One or other thing usually fails. Since I had previous experience (2 times) I thought to do this as a quick DIY. It was half a Sunday of job.
Injector Removed-
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Carbon deposit in the bore which causes this issue-
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Injector was very dirty. Lots of thick carbon deposit.
IMG_20220717_100457.jpg

Taped all sensitive parts. Not a speck of dust should enter.
IMG_20220717_100516.jpg

Notice that extremely thick tar like deposits?-
IMG_20220717_100521.jpg

Time for a bath. With diesel.
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Bore cleaned multiple times.
Kept in this screwdriver & Cloth as temporary plug.
IMG_20220717_094818.jpg

Washer had a collar and carbon deposits. Some pitting too.
IMG_20220717_102622.jpg

Sanded.
IMG_20220717_111815.jpg

Like new.
IMG_20220717_111820.jpg


Everything was fixed and beast is ready.
 
Thread Starter #360

bhvm

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The Horns were misbehaving. I thought maybe rain water is Entered one of the Horns or in Wiring connectors.
Upon careful inspection, I found out that one of the horns was dead shorted. Could not find the same original horn so replaced the pair.
The new ones are Roots Wind tone (trumpet style). They have a nice soft pumm sound (like premium cars). The pair costed 720 bucks.

Since the new horns were 2 wire arrangement, I had to make a wiring harness myself. By soldering appropriate connectors & lugs. Stock horns & stock wiring is of single wire type.

Overall a neat little project and the beast has a new voice.
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