Hi, I'm new here.

I recently opened a thread in this section on choosing rims/tires for my Kenari before I saw this group.

My car is a second-hand 2003 model, and is due for major repairs this month. During my last service, the SA recommended the following parts be replaced:
1. Engine mounting
2. Oil pan
3. Gasket (bottom I think, due to the oil pan)
4. Exhaust mounting (the rubber bits that hold the exhaust to the body have hardened and started cracking)

Additionally, I've been told to replace the following parts:
1. Rims (tire shop boss told me that some of my rims are dented, and that the chambers are damaged)
2. A/C blower (the air conditioning goes "dead" during long distance journeys, for example if I'm traveling from Seremban to KL, the A/C gives out a weird sound and the air comes out slow and warm by the time I reach Kajang)

Last but not least, I have some non-essential repairs that I'd like to do if it's affordable:
1. Rear speakers sometimes display drops in volume
2. CD player no longer works
3. Air purifier (or whatever this thing is called) that's attached to the rear speakers randomly turns on/off (is it possible to just remove this thing?)

I'd appreciate your advice on what I should look out for before I send the car in for repairs. Any experience you guys have had is greatly appreciated.

I was told bottom gasket. When we lifted the car up, he pointed out the seams where the oil pan is, and the areas which need to be patched. Apparently there's a gasket on the bottom half of the engine. As for the rims, I'll look at MyVi rims like you suggested and compare my options.

Thanks for your help.

This post has been edited by v1n0d: Jan 9 2014, 03:45 AM

Hi all, I have a question regarding the choice of engine oil to use for my '05 Kenari.

The P2 service center gives me 5W-30 by default, which almost always needs to be topped up before my next service. Is it true that changing to 10W-30 will fix this?

No white smoke, but fuel consumption has been going up as of late. I don't normally fill the tank up to the maximum, but RM50 gets me about 250km or so. I travel between Seremban and KL on weekends, and I noticed the engine oil level drops after these trips.

I last sent it to P2 to do some major repairs because the engine oil was leaking. Replaced the engine mounting, gaskets, oil pan, and O-ring. Cost me a bomb. I'll try go to an outside mechanic instead, see if they can pinpoint the issue. Thanks for your input.

Nope. The car has been problem-free (mostly) since February. I'm actually very close to my next service (it's due later this week), and the petrol consumption has gone up only in the last couple of weeks.

Hmm, will make a note of that. Yes, I use Petronas 95 only.

Sent my car to the P2 SC over the weekend. This is what they told me:
1. The petrol-gauge o-ring needs replacement.
2. They won't switch to 10-30 or 10-40 oil for me, I'll have to do that myself outside.
3. My exhaust is putting out white smoke. They've recommended I do an overhaul.

The car hasn't even hit the 200k mark and I've already been asked to overhaul the engine. The SA says the cost should only be in the hundreds, but IIRC overhauls can be quite expensive. Having spent close to 2k to do up the car in February, I'm seriously starting to wonder if this car is worth keeping.

Asked. SA said around 1.5k for full overhaul, 2.5k if the block needs to be replaced. FML.

I'll start from the beginning (sorry for the wall of text):
1. After almost a year of driving the car away from the second hand car lot, it began to start leaking black oil. Little drips at first, followed by large spots a couple of months later. I took it for repairs at a local shop, and they replaced some o-rings (can't remember which ones without referring to my receipts.
2. Soon after, the oil leaks started appearing again. I took it back to the shop, where they opened up the top half and noticed that black oil was leaking onto the spark plugs. The top block was replaced and all was well for a while.
3. Half a year later, the car's engine vibration started becoming stronger, and the ride was really unpleasant. I decided to head back to an official service center and get them to do a full inspection. Upon checking, we discovered two things - the engine mountings were damaged (hence the vibration), and the absorber mounting on the front right side was damaged due to the engine oil leak from before (hot oil had hit the rubber/plastic parts and melted some of it). I got the absorber mounting fixed, and left the engine mounting for later, once I had more cash.
4. Later in the year I had a flat tire, and while replacing the flat I discovered that I had dents in my rim. I decided to save up and do up as much as I can at one go.
5. I made an appointment to fix the engine mountings in February of this year. After removing the engine, they discovered that my radiator fan was getting stuck at times, which partially contributes to the air conditioner acting up in traffic jams etc. The SA advised me to get the radiator fan replaced elsewhere as P2's price for it is expensive. I had it replaced at the nearest Denso outlet. In the same week, I switched to a set of new tires and rims as well. This was the last major repair I did for the car up to now.

I called P2 and they said they'd have to take out the engine to overhaul anyway. They'll start with a top overhaul, and if things are bad, move on to a full one. Basically she said set aside roughly 1k-2.5k depending on how bad the situation is.

When you put it like that, I guess so. At the moment, I'm heavily favoring pushing the car off and getting a new one. My only concern is if I pour another couple of thousand into repairs, will it stop giving me problems for the next 2 years at least?

maddrivers? I'll look him up. Thanks for the info.

Waiting for Iriz to be released. I wanna check out both Iriz and Axia before I make my decision. Technically I can afford up to a Civic, but I'm not exactly a hardcore car guy, any car that's halfway decent and gets me from A to B without much hassle is good enough for me already. My main concern in reliability, that's all.

Noted. At the moment, my spouse and I are discussing the cost of repairing the car as opposed to trading in for a new one. Will let you guys know what the plan is once we've made a decision.

Again, thanks to everyone in this thread who helped out. Your input is greatly appreciated.

alexie I've taken a look at a couple of new cars, and after some careful thought I've decided to stick with my Kenari. A list of things I plan to get done, in order of importance:
1. Overhaul engine (and maybe work on the exhaust)
2. Replace absorbers/springs
3. Fix air conditioner
4. Knocking and painting
5. Rewire (and maybe upgrade) stereo

Although the P2 SA said there was white smoke coming from the exhaust, I've not been able to replicate this. Not sure if the overhaul is strictly necessary, but I'm thinking I might as well start from scratch to make sure nothing else creeps up later.

Which area are you at?

Took my car in for a tyre rotation today, and discovered that the left side lower arm needed replacement. Figured I might as well bring forward my year-end repair plans and went all out. Replaced by absorbers + mountings + springs, brake discs + pads, lower arm + bushes, and some other small stuff.

If it's Saturday night around KL/PJ I might be able to join.

Repair cost was around 1900. Not exactly cheap, but the shop is near by current residence, and it's the same one my dad has been sending his cars to over the years. Figured I might as well send it there for the convenience.

Anyone using anti-roll bars? Any significant difference on a Kenari?

Mind sharing the cost and where you got it done? Thinking of getting it installed, there's still some body roll on my car, I think it's because I opted for soft springs.

Oh I understand that bit, my question is if there's any significant difference, specifically on the Kenari. My concern here is to avoid installing it if the improvement is negligible.

Noted. Will look around and see what I can find. Thanks!