Mahindra XUV500 (W201): First Impressions Pg.29 Onwards


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Hi guys thought this would be helpful to all XUV owners in the forum.

"Voluntary recall code notwithstanding, Indian automakers choose to recall their products surreptitiously or covered under the garb of “product improvement” measures. The latest on this front involves the Mahindra XUV500 crossover, which has received a steady stream of upgrades or “product improvements” ever since its launch in 2011. This time around, a single batch of the XUV500 has been called in for clutch replacement, which is happening during routine service".

What’s the latest Mahindra XUV500 recall all about?

Mahindra changed the clutch design of the XUV500 around February 2013. However, the XUV500s that rolled out of the production line with the revised clutch design began to experience issues. Mahindra promptly switched back to the older design, which was relatively trouble free. Also see: Mahindra XUV500 recall to fix 3 issues

After reverting back to the older clutch design, Mahindra began contacting owners of XUV500s with the revised clutch individually in order to replace the clutch and revert to the older design. Mahindra has chosen to keep this recall a quiet affair, without the usual public announcement that precedes a major recall.

Mahindra’s low key XUV500 recall for clutch replacement perhaps has to do with the following factors at play:

The affected XUV500s belonged to a single batch with the affected number of crossovers forming a small number of the 75,000 XUV500s sold in India since 2011.
Mahindra has already reverted to the older clutch design, which has proven to be reliable, but for the slave cylinder failure in certain models of the first batch of XUV500s – a problem that Mahindra has already rectified.
It may be noted that the “zero defect” XUV500 that Mahindra introduced post July 2013 has the original clutch design, which has proven to be reliable. With that, Mahindra continues to roll out regular upgrades for the XUV500, further refining the crossover.

The Mahindra XUV500 crossover is available in 4 variants: W4, W6, W8 and W8 AWD. All four variants of the XUV500 are powered by the 2.2 liter mHawk turbo diesel engine in the 140 Bhp-330 Nm state of tune. A six-speed manual gearbox is standard on all variants and so are safety features such as ABS+EBD and twin airbags.

Source: Mahindra XUV500 SUV Crossover Clutch Recall in India | Cartoq - Honest Car Advice
 
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An XUV of a friend of mine has suffered a major issue. The engine just went dead without any indications in the middle of a drive. Lucky for him he was in the center of a city when that happened.

M&M had arranged for a flat bed to take the vehicle to the nearest SVC. The problem has been diagnosed as mechanical in nature after an open heart surgery of the engine.

The culprits are the hydraulic clamps that pushes down the valves when the grooves of the crank rotates, has broken. For 8 valves there are 16 of these clamps, out of which 3 has broken.

You can follow it on ******** website.

I will post more updates here as and when I get them
 
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The issue was due to a faulty Oil Pump.
Best course of recommended action is to get the entire engine changed.

According to me it should be done under warranty. But lets see what happens.
 
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An oil pump failure will cause catastrophe if not detected immediately - you are basically frying the engine with all the oil lying idle in the sump.

What i am really surprised is he didnt observe any symptoms - no noise or engine heat indicator ? did he miss all of that ?
 
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^^[shock] a engine replacement. Interesting to know how old is the vehicle and what is the ODO reading
ODO reading was 12k. less than an year old.

An oil pump failure will cause catastrophe if not detected immediately - you are basically frying the engine with all the oil lying idle in the sump.

What i am really surprised is he didnt observe any symptoms - no noise or engine heat indicator ? did he miss all of that ?
the problem was it was not a complete failure, the pump was still pumping oil just not enough was reaching the Overhead Cam Case.

Mahindra has agreed to replace the engine. The owner has also asked for a diagnosis of Turbo to prevent any future issue.
The time duration for replacement is 15 days.
 
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ODO reading was 12k. less than an year old.
Oh !! this looks very bad, something happens like this within a year and below 12k kilometers would very annoying and will have serious reliability bad image. Though MnM will attend to this, but poor owner's feeling about this can't be compensated.
 
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The issue was due to a faulty Oil Pump.
Best course of recommended action is to get the entire engine changed.
  • This looks like a rare case [may be a first of this kind] where such a case of engine seizure has been associated with otherwise a proven M-Hawk assembly.
  • Though not at all surprised with the prompt support and attitude shown by Mahindra addressing the issue, I am more interested to know the reason what caused the possible failure of the oil pump, all of a sudden. Especially considering that there wasn't any low oil pressure warning nor any check engine light/warning.
  • Also understands that this incident happened within 60 to 70 km after an oil change exercise.

Oh !! this looks very bad, something happens like this within a year and below 12k kilometers would very annoying and will have serious reliability bad image. Though MnM will attend to this, but poor owner's feeling about this can't be compensated.
For the owner, this incident wouldn't have made him any proud but the support received post-incident would have given him the much needed confidence. These are machines and this sort of unexpected issues can come up in any modern engines, based on which trying to press panic button is unwarranted.

Let's wait for the entire ordeal to unfold.
 
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A little birdie from Mahindra told me that Mahindra has adopted a new manufacturing process/policy named "Project something something"!

Till now, all customer complaints to the XUV call centre or email ID has to be reported by the head of customer care to directly Mr. Anand Mahindra. According to my friend, Mr. Mahindra has expressed deep concern regarding the recurring issues in the XUV. The "zero defect XUV" was his initiative as well. That is the reason he initiated this new process mentioned above.

Anyways, all new M&M products will adopt the above mentioned policy which focuses on 'getting the product right in the first attempt'. I am hoping with this change in the manufacturing process, M&M vehicle will be more and more reliable.
 
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A little birdie from Mahindra told me that Mahindra has adopted a new manufacturing process/policy named "Project something something"!

Till now, all customer complaints to the XUV call centre or email ID has to be reported by the head of customer care to directly Mr. Anand Mahindra. According to my friend, Mr. Mahindra has expressed deep concern regarding the recurring issues in the XUV. The "zero defect XUV" was his initiative as well. That is the reason he initiated this new process mentioned above.

Anyways, all new M&M products will adopt the above mentioned policy which focuses on 'getting the product right in the first attempt'. I am hoping with this change in the manufacturing process, M&M vehicle will be more and more reliable.
I guess XUV has the most gremlins, and in the history of last 20 years on Indian Automobiles, xuv topped in number of issues cropped in a car after its launch...
 

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