Morning Newbie Desert Drive - Murquab to Solar - The Red Glory - Dubai - 1 Oct 2021

[KKIRAN]

1 hour ago, Gaurav said:

Both cars towed out within 45 mins, more later.

U guys rocks🤩🤩

[Joseph Sebastian]

It was such smooth and flowing ride, till the last moment. At least the mechanical issues with my car happened towards the end of the ride - my apologies nonetheless to all...

Huge thanks to @Kailas, @Gaurav, @Gaurav Soni and @Mukundan Nair for getting me and @Sara EL FANIDI out to the tarmac but also for the excellent support and guidance in the rest of the ride.

Thanks @Sara EL FANIDI for being hawkeyed and prompt to warn me to stop and prevent further damage. Looks like the smoke may have been coolant spilling from a broken hose and vaporizing (I am hoping its this and not the other options- will know better tomorrow - BTW I recovered the vehicle and its at the garage now - thanks guys!)

Special thanks to @Kailas no one would have guessed you were leading your first newbie drive if it hadnt been announced - perfect job! (and thanks for the lift home 😀)

Fellow newbies as well, it was great to get to know you a little better, hope to continue with many more drives. Cheers!

[Sara EL FANIDI]

Huge thanks to all for the great drive… that would have been extremely smooth without the 2 broke cars. @Kailas  @Gaurav@Gaurav Soni @Mukundan Nair @Joseph Sebastian thank you so much for the support and piece of advices! And managing to drive my car to tarmac safely. It was only an issue of faulty battery, that I changed once back to Dubai. @Joseph Sebastian hope nothing major with the car, I’m glad you manage to stop the car timely and safely. 
looking forwards to the next drive ! 

[Joseph Sebastian]

A special message for @Gaurav

1. Immediate and clear instructions as soon as he heard of the issue. Probably saved my car from damage and myself from injury or worse

2. Calm troubleshooting to figure out the best way to resolve the multiple issues with minimum disruption 

3. Full preparedness with equipment and provisions for all eventualities 

4. Masterclass to stuck newbies as well as support teams on setting up the bridle, tow rope and technique of towing /being towed

5. On top of it all keeping calm and a sense of humor always 

Hats off to you sir... learnt a lot from that experience 🙌

[Gaurav]

17 hours ago, Joseph Sebastian said:

Looks like the smoke may have been coolant spilling from a broken hose and vaporizing (I am hoping its this and not the other options- will know better tomorrow - BTW I recovered the vehicle and its at the garage now - thanks guys!)

It wasnt coolant hose surely from the sand I smelled where spillage trail goes back to 50 plus meters.

Secondly you mentioned heat gauge didnt move twice.

My first bet is transmission oil from the ATF smell with burnt crisp. Or second bet i would say engine oil, but that's hard to leak like this and engine still running fine without getting overheat.

Let's see what garage says, as we are not mechanic and we can only do the guesswork after such incident.

[Joseph Sebastian]

You were right @Gaurav, it indeed was transmission oil - so dodged a bullet there!

It seems a small hose (part of the auxiliary transmission oil cooler) got damaged and the oil was leaked out from there. So I will be back after replacing the hose and refilling the ATF4 oil. See you guys soon 🤩

[Gaurav]

5 hours ago, Joseph Sebastian said:

You were right @Gaurav, it indeed was transmission oil - so dodged a bullet there!

It seems a small hose (part of the auxiliary transmission oil cooler) got damaged and the oil was leaked out from there. So I will be back after replacing the hose and refilling the ATF4 oil. See you guys soon 🤩

Good to hear that, it was a small hose and nothing major.

Hope your transmission is saved.

Also ask mechanic to do more thorough checks to avoid such breakdowns, as you were extremely lucky that we were close to exit. If there was a one big dune in between to cross, we wouldn't be able to execute that recovery with stock cars.

Professional desert recoveries like AAA and others cost from 1000 to 3000 dhs depending on the work involved, so making sure your desert toy is always happy and healthy is even more important than our weekday cars.

[Joseph Sebastian]

14 hours ago, Gaurav said:

Good to hear that, it was a small hose and nothing major.

Hope your transmission is saved.

Also ask mechanic to do more thorough checks to avoid such breakdowns, as you were extremely lucky that we were close to exit. If there was a one big dune in between to cross, we wouldn't be able to execute that recovery with stock cars.

Professional desert recoveries like AAA and others cost from 1000 to 3000 dhs depending on the work involved, so making sure your desert toy is always happy and healthy is even more important than our weekday cars.

Yes agreed, once the repair is done have I asked the garage to look at what protections (like metal plates) they can add to prevent soft parts like this hose getting damaged by bushes, rocks an the like.

[GauravSoni]

Congratulation @Kailas for a perfect lead on this newbie drive and many congratulations for the being the youngest marshal!( please correct if i am wrong!)

the drive was beautiful with nice weather on the Friday morning with dew and rain from previous days compacting the sand like a dirt track. we had absolutely no refusal and stuck. well done! @Ramandbx @Anvar Sadath Bekal @Anoop Nair @kiranshinde @Ahmed Wagdy @Daniel Rodas  @Prakash Anoop @sri ganesh @Davie Chase @Melenany @Sara EL FANIDI @Joseph Sebastian  you guys drove beautifully following the right lines with well executed sideys!

Special thanks to @Mukundan Nair for the excellent sweep and @Gaurav for the 2nd lead!:). 

The drive was near perfect until we were about 200 meters from the exit when @Sara EL FANIDIspotted white smoke from @Joseph Sebastian jeep. The convoy stopped and with amazing fast response from @Gaurav the car was turned off and we all brought out shovel and fire extinguishers for eventual fire if any.  To our luck and swift action, there was no fire and it was decided to not touch the car and leave it to be recovered later.  

just as were about to move, @Sara EL FANIDI faced apparent battery issues). Even after multiple attempts of boost charging with three different cars, the car refused to start and we decided to leave it. as the temperature started to rise, the convoy was exited safely. 

At this time , Gaurav, Kailas , Mukundan and myself went back to the two cars with @Gauravleading us back while avoiding churning what would be our track back to tarmac.

We positioned Sara's car to a relative flat area and with meticulous and safe planning by @Gaurav  we tugged both cars within 45 minutes.

i hope your car is fine now @Joseph Sebastian and that you will be joining soon on sand!

With Brilliant team work and guidance of our marshals, we exited the area and had both cars out safely. 

Kudos to the team sprit of @Carnity and all its marshals for making sure safety of all members in such situations time and again.

hope to see you all back in sand soon!

 

 

Edited October 5, 2021 by GauravSoni