Mechanical Problem On My Perodua Kancil 660

In my last article, I wrote about the “Electrical Problem On My Perodua Kancil” I was facing on my 10 year old car.

The problems were caused by a weak battery and a faulty starter. Alas, that was not the end of my predicament. As the Kancil started to act up again, I decided to make a visit to my regular mechanic Raman’s shop at Taman Sentosa.

At Raman’s place, he confirmed the plastic connection of wires from the battery terminal was the problem. A change of battery terminals which cost RM6 seems to solve the problem at the beginning. When night fall came that evening and the headlights of the Kancil then had to be installed, the horn became weak and the head lamps grew dimmer.

Immediately, I became suspicious that something was not correct with the car. Experience told me something was wrong with the alternator this time around. Another visit again to my electrician friend’s shop. This time around, he told me it was indeed the alternator was the cause of the problem.

It was decided by the mechanic that the said Kancil had to be replaced with a new alternator and the cost was another RM170!

With the process of elimination, I was slowly through trial and error, changed the car battery initially. Then a week later, I went on to change the starter, which I felt was the reason why the car failed to start well. And finally, I went on to change my car alternator eventually.

And after all these changes, I am glad to say, the car now behaves beautifully. Will the Kancil run smoothly from now on? Hopefully, it does! After installing a new battery, changing its starter switch and changing a new alternator, it should be able to run along nicely, I hope.

And should any further mechanical problems develop with the Kancil in the future, I can only think of the ignition switch and nothing else as being the source of the problem.

A new ignition switch can easily cost around RM60 – RM70. A Datsun 120Y model which I used for driving tuition, its ignition switch used to cost RM40 in the 1970s. It looks as if the Kancil, even though it’s a small car, its spare parts are indeed quite expensive.

For readers who might be facing starter or ignition problem, do not forget the problems may very likely end up to be:
i) Caused by a weak battery.

ii) Caused by a bad starter unit.

iii) Caused by a faulty alternator.

iv) A bad ignition switch.

Your problems may be due to any one of the above causes or if you’re unlucky like me, it may even be caused by all four factors mentioned above. Using a 2nd hand old car can sometimes cause a lot of money when compared to a new car.

By | 2012-09-21T20:25:47+08:00 December 11th, 2010|Car Maintenance|1 Comment

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One Comment

  1. Parin Jothi January 22, 2013 at 1:56 am - Reply

    Dear Sir, Since you have had electrical problems may I suggest you take a good look at the condition of the battery and electrical contacts for severe oxidation. There is a major defect in the earthing cable on a number of Kancils I have seen. It is plainly undersized and after time the entire electrical system gets overloaded. This leads to other high load components like your battery itself, starter motor, alternator, headlights etc. to fail.

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