The Don

Whats even funnier is there are Engineering Masters who think they know better than the Toyota Japan trained Engineering Masters working at the Toyota Japan owned workshop in Sri Lanka. And Sir, some of the guys in here won't shout it out, but there are some genuine Engineering Masters in here, some who have even worked for some famous marques in automotive engineering. So before you start barking, hang around a bit. Perhaps you might even learn something.

Seriously man, are you saying Kalubowila is far from Nawala? Probably only 10 minutes away in light traffic. Its a pity you got screwed, and this happened for 2 reasons. 1. You have been on the forum for a while but clearly you have not read enough. All the information you need is in here and actually on this thread itself! 2. A fairly well known and respected technician Mr Fernando has reccomended you a dud electrician. This is sad on multiple levels. I'll have a chat with Mr Fernando if I were you and let him know what happened. He should know what people he reccomend do. I say consider the price of a used alternator the price of the tution for learning a valuable lesson. Believe me, these things have happened to me too, so don't feel too bad. On another note, can somebody reccomend a good auto electrician to sort out some wiring issues please. The issues are numerous and will require some patience and understanding to sort out (the result of various maka bass activity over the years).

I'm not sure of exact figures, but what is your expectation of fuel efficiency? I would hardly expect a big 4WD with a 2500cc engine to be great on fuel. The Santa Fe, Tuscon etc are not bad cars. Certainly the quality has improved a lot and you have multiple sources of spares around. Body parts are not as plentiful, but from what i've heard and please don't hold me to this, they are not difficult cars to live with.

The simple answer is No. Hybrids are not designed to be kept on ice. You will suffer premature battery failure. Renting a car while in the country is the most practical and cost effective option.

Your issue here was equating hearsay to research. You should know better than that. Most people live in this bubble of fuel efficiency above all others, and lie to hide their disappointments. Most fuel efficiency figures quoted are complete bull, and the same applies for maintenance. Some are invented by car sales people to shift their stock.

The so called auto warranties are not worth the paper they are written on, unless it is offered by a main agent. The only way this will become better is for the government to legislate and make auto warranties become insurance products, which will require the said companies to have an insurance company licens, be regulated and come under the insurance ombudsman. Frankly this is how its done everywhere else!

Toyota Lanka is a fully owned entity of the Toyota Motor Corporation. Their reccomendations maybe conservative at times, but it is a bit silly to argue with their service intervals. If anything the problem of late has been manufacturers advicing longer service intervals to keep fleet managers happy and cars suffering medium to long term in the process.

I think those are the usual manufacturer quoted figures in ideal driving conditions. I don't think it can probably only achieve that in a slow city run. They are proving quite popular in the UK due to very low benefit of kind tax. This is the tax you pay if you have a company car. What is the brand new launch price though?

I have not heard of the above way of doing it. To be honest with the backing plate, caliper etc I can't see how you can do a clean good job with the disc still fixed to the hub. Removing the discs and fitting them back is NOT a complicated job. Since its cheaper and the place is reccomended, I say you go and get it done the old fasioned way!

I've not been in a car where this was a feature you can enable and disable. Either it is fitted as part of the central locking, security system or its not from my experience. It can easily be retro fitted. A company like Sun Lanka can do it.

I see, so the ombudsman enquiry is not complete. In that case you need to let that complete before you can expect the insurance company to draw matters to a close. I think the issue here is, by ruling against the insurance company, the ombudsman is effectively accusing the insurer of insurance fraud which is a VERY serious offence. This might be the reason such care is being taken, so as the investigation is comprehensive. The above is so serious it can lead to charges being bought against the insurer by law enforcement and its operating license put under threat. Being a semi government entity the second is unlikely to happen, but some people will have a case to answer. I think we have all jumped up prematurely. To be honest you cannot argue with a ombudsman. If you are not happy with the ombudsman's decision you have other avenues to pursue but you need to wait till the investigation is complete and decision formally anounced in writing. It will usually have a time line under which the insurer is expected to comply.

All topics merged into one. Please do not do this again! I had this done on my car when I first bought it. There are a couple of ways of doing it. In mine I think what they did was break the flap out from the stem so that from the outside it looks like it still has swirl flaps but internally there isn't. You can also buy specially machined blanking plates which will replace the swirl flaps. PMW Ltd and BMW Land sell them and they cost about £20. Swirl flaps were introduced to improve low end torque and fuel economy so you will notice a slight decrease in both. In my car average fuel economy dropped from 45mpg to around 40, and low end grunt is a bit less as well. Some of this you can overcome with a remap of the ECU, but I have not bothered with that, because the changes are not significant enough to warrant it in my case (its a weekend car). Swapping them in is a simple job, and can even be DIY. If the flaps break and fall into the combustion chamber it could be a very expensive repair so best have this looked at quickly. The later cars had the flap stem sizes increases, so they are less likely to break, but there are still reports of failures. Not sure if any have failed in SL. The other way to get around this is to replace the intake manifold for which BMW will give you a 3 year warranty, and should they fail BMW will replace the engine. Its a fairly costly way to ensure peace of mind

There are a couple of different variants of KYB shocks for the Mazda 3. You should select the ones that suit your taste and driving patterns. The most frequent complaint people have are the KYBs sold are too stiff as most people prefer a softer ride. This might have caused the local agents to recommend a different variant which fits. But do your research and you can find other options, but you will have to go to Taas armed with part numbers. I can also honestly say KYB shocks are as good if not better than anything Ford motor company uses. I won't be surprised if it is KYB or another Japanese brand like Tokiko or Showa if the car was made in Japan.

It depends on the reason. Lights tend to dim anyway when headlights come on in older cars due to load. Most of the time the issue is the alternator is not operating at peak capacity and producing enough electricity or there are some lose connection somewhere. If you suspect something just get the charging circuit checked out by a competent electrician.

I think people have unrealistic expectations. I'm not sure who in the right mind would have expected massive change in a matter of 6 months. Its impossible. The old political class is still there and a lot of tears will need to be shed before the onion is cleaned (the layers of corruption). So the 100 day plan was not deliverable, so they surprisingly did manage to achieve some. The most important was the constitutional change which re introduced the clause against the formation of a dictatorship in this country. But this is where perspective matters. I went to a government school, used the national health service etc, and while the roads were not great, we didn't have multiple airports, we did not have draconian censorship, there was generally a free press, and at the higher courts you did get justice. That gave me comfort, and mind you these are not things that anybody can take that for granted. So in my mind I was not willing to trade the above for better infrastructure. Others may differ but thankfully neither of us need to get beaten up and locked up for expressing that any more. There are many subtle changes. I was happy to see the president did not feel the need to close Galle road, because he wanted to take a trip down the road. In fact he was stuck in traffic just like the rest of the cars. Some of the policies introduced by the last budget have been suspended by court pending review. I don't think there is anybody attacking the courts in parliament any more, including the finance minister who is implicated in the complaint. All censorship including sites attacking the current regime have been lifted. There is also a reduction in interference by ministers (I'm sure it happens, not as much any more, and it was funny when a minister tells a friend that he does not want to enquire about something on his behalf due to policies of the current government, but assured him it will be successful as long as correct procedure was followed) Anyway as always my loyalty is to Sri Lanka, not to a certain set of individuals or political parties. Enough people broke ranks last time, and as they keep doing that, we have some hope in hell of making the government whatever it is accountable.

This is an extreme example but: In the good old days, in a village, if you go and harass a girl, the villagers will catch you, tie you to a tree and beat the shit out of you. Even the police once they arrive will beat the guy even more. Needless to say such cases were rare, and people were confident enough to leave their front doors open knowing their neighbours were looking out for them. The situation these days is rather different. This happens a lot in public transport etc but people turn a blind eye, and walk away. 7 The moral of the about is this. You will keep getting scammed if you allow yourself to be scammed, and do not stand up for yourself when you realise it. Turning a blind eye and avoiding the place does not solve the problem. They lose one customers but hundreds of others are scammed still. Personally I would have protested then and there, and had a discussion with the owner and threatened to report the attendants to the police. Thanks for creating exposure, but we do need more guys standing up to these crooks. Then they will think twice about pulling a stunt on people. I now get out of the car and stare at the petrol pump while these guys pump whatever the station. I pump by cash value, not by volume anyway.

There is no issue of hope here. It is the law. You have been persistent up to now. Keep up the pressure on both the ombudsman and the insurance company. Get a lawyer to draft papers threatening to sue them for the cost of repairs, cost of not having use of the vehicle for so long, cost of damage to your reputation through false allegations. Also tell them you will be writing to every single national newspaper with your story and the ombudsman decision. The journalists will have a field day What you might not realise is Insurance is all about reputation. Nobody buys insurance from a company who does not pay up when needed. If they do not capitulate after the above then they are a bunch of idiots and you should pressure the ombudsman to simultaneously take legal action for showing contempt to his judgement. You need to really stand up here rather than using words like "hope"

Sometimes the non dealer diagnostic systems struggle with some tasks. We also can't discount a fault with the part or the rest of the system. You should always match part numbers though, not just the part.

A lot of the country still measures development by roads and buildings. There are a lot of subtle changes that have taken place after the government change. Not all positive, and it depends on perspective. I don't think people wanted the current coalition government, but people will have better choice at an election which is what we should have had months ago.

Sometimes certain parts need to be coded in for it to work. For this you need to plug it in to a diagnostic system with the functionality, like the ones at a dealership

Check here http://forum.autolanka.com/topic/15974-good-mechanics-technicians-workshops/ And if you still have questions ask here http://forum.autolanka.com/topic/16973-request-information-on-a-good-mechanic-workshop-and-discussion/ Mitsubishis don't really need "specialists"

This is a typical problem in SL. This issue is either the condenser is not doing a good enough job cooling, the compressor is not compressing enough or the expansion valve on the evaporator is faulty. Does the situation improve is you spray water on the condenser? Check the condenser fan, another usual culprit. Also check the pressure cut off.

I say keep searching, and prepared to be picky. If you find a good one, buy it. They are fairly reliable, but it depends on who maintains them and how. As you would have probably noted, if you get your hands on MadMMX's car it will probably be ok. And there are many others which have been maintained like that. But there are a LOT of lemons. So just be cautious.

Its obvious that a lot of enquiries in the forum relate to people wanting information on a mechanic or work person for a particular issue. Now I thought the good mechanics workshops thread will offer a good reference, but frankly a lot of people are too lazy to read. So I've created this thread to stop the other thread from filling up with irrelevant conversations, and information becoming hard to find. Please use this for that reason.

As I said above, this is not a request thread. If you read this thread you will find contact details of a lot of mechanics and workshops used by members and they recommend. If you still cannot find a place, post on the request a mechanic workshop thread.