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I'm still waiting for my car to emerge from the dark and greasy bowels of hell, or also called UAE workshops...

Hi Guys, based on the response on the drive thread, the level of the drive would be lowered to Newbie+ level. This is not a drive for absolute Newbies as it will be important to read the sand and maintain the right throttle response in certain areas. So @BilalAhmad, @ace1988, @G.huz the field is open for you to join the drive. Please RSVP the calendar event.

Would I pass the test? absolutely!! Would I actually do it again? Not in a million years! it was a nightmare taking the classes and waiting months to do the test (even with the VIP service) just for less than five minutes of test driving.

Hehehe, Right? Doctor said to drive 3 times a day, half hour after food

Welcome to the world of sand addiction

I hope yes, if not been thrown to busy street to test my patience and tolerance level with retard cutting 4 lanes in one go and jumping in front of my car without an indicator or any sign of apology / thank you.

@Barry thank you for your generous comments, but if you haven't been to Liwa, no amount of words or pictures can replace the experience and feel.

Amazing write up once again @Rahimdad bhai. Reading it almost feels as if I was there. Is it time for @Carnity to produce a magazine and make you a senior story writer?

Trip Report: Wow. Amazing. Exciting. I just seem to run out of words. My best Liwa trip ever, well planned, well executed and the best 5 cars for the job. The excitement was so obvious that neither the people who decided to go to Liwa overnight and camp, nor the people who decided to sleep in their beds and drive to Liwa in the early morning hours got more than 3 hours sleep. As we started calling each other, everybody was wide awake and ready to take on Liwa. Everyone met on time, we filled our cars with Petrol and extra cans as well for emergency. We adjusted the fire wood into all the cars and set off. As we approached the area to enter we were awed by the size and formation of the dunes around us. @Gaurav bhai made the best decision to change the entry point from a more approachable dune. As we deflated and got the briefing for the first part of the day and what we need to concentrate on, we also set the convoy numbering which would be crucial in this area. With @Gaurav bhai in the lead, @EmVarlet in second lead, @Asif Hussain right in the middle, and @skumar83 and myself making way for the sweep duties. As we entered and played around for some time, we realized that portions of the dune were very soft and we needed to push our stock cars to get through the terrain. Playing on these dunes was absolutely amazing, but we needed to be cautious as some of these dunes formations were very different than the ones we are used too. The best part of this area is when we have to drive down steep tall dunes and the cracking of breaking the sands with your tires. I had missed this sound for a whole year. As we came close to Friday Prayer time we switched to plan B and drove on road to the Moreeb Hill. After reaching there we were told that they do not have Friday prayers in that area. After playing on the Moreeb hill for some time we settled down to have lunch. After a quick lunch and smiling faces we washed up, packed and headed to offer our Qasr prayers. This bought our journey part 1 to an end. Part 2 was also well planned and we headed from Moreeb to Arada. This was wonderfully planned to give us enough time to play in some of the most gorgeous dunes, find our way through some mazes with the help, patience and understanding of the best team ever and some tracks to cover time. We came across several challenges and the team stood up to take every challenge with a huge smile and enthusiasm. This area is not for everyone as both the formation of the dunes and some very soft patches makes it difficult to drive in this area. We even encountered the tire pressure raising by 4 PSI to make it difficult to climb, so we had to monitor our tire pressure constantly. We were almost through our second phase when I heard a strange sound from my car, it seemed my tire had popped. I came to a flat surface and inspected the tires but there was no pop-out, so what was making that sound? At this point I went back to inspecting my tires when I saw the driver's side from tire pushed back into the fender of my car. Luckily Jalil was at hand to take a quick look and announced that the Lower arm was bent. Now discussions started as to how we can get the car out of the desert, it was definitely not going anywhere on the night, and we were just about 5 kilometers away from the point we were supposed to camp at, so we decided to make that our camping spot. The first suggestion and plan of action was to remove the lower arm and pull it with @Gaurav bhai winch and @skumar83 car. As we tried our best and put the whole thing back in, it had not made a lot of difference. The new course of action was Jalil started removing the mud guard which made little difference, he went on to remove the cover inside the wheel well which made a little more space, but getting the fender off made the space and gave the car a fancy look. We were all hungry by now, so after starting a bonfire, setting up the tents and @skumar83 warming up dinner, we were on the food like a pack of hungry wolves. after dinner we all sat around the fire admiring the weather, the quietness and the beauty of the surroundings. Finally we went to sleep. Upon waking up the next morning, breakfast was served, we all had a good fill. Heading to my car I saw that the wheels were pointing in opposite direction which would have its own set of troubles on hard surface so Jalil adjusted the wheel till i was able to drive it again. After a quick pack-up and thorough check around we were on our way to the last way point and out. Here we saw a lot of black camel farms with a lot of baby camels around. While I called for recovery and due to delay we started off to Birbir Ghost Town, after circling what used to be the Ghost Town, Gaurav Bhai aptly announced on the radio that they have demolished it and we neither were able to see the ghosts or a town. We played around for some time, headed back to my car, started inflating the tires while I waited for the recovery truck. After a episode with the recovery truck we loaded my Pathy onto the truck and headed off for another adventure while others headed back home. The recovery driver told me that he had to leave lunch to come save me, my hero. His room was on the way and if I mind if he would stop for lunch as he is not able to eat out, i agreed. Than he asked me if I was hungry and took me along for a nice home cooked meal. After the meal we set off and thanks to @Asif Hussain who stayed back with his family to make sure I had a helping hand when trying to source the parts and the mechanic to fix it. After a quick fix we inflated my tires and we head back home as well. Wonderful day and night and day out with amazing people and great team work, this is part of the reason the Liwa trip was such a huge success. Other reason was the immaculate planning, back planning. good decisions made at the right time and a capable trip[ leader with all the help he could ask for. Until next time.. Adios Amigos!!!

Your doctor was too excited, once a week with the CARNITY will cure you ☺️

Thanks @skumar83 for lowering the level of ride and allowing us to be the part of this drive. I really appreciate your support and confidence in me driving to newbie+ @Gaurav.

I know that feeling, I am still waiting for mine too, it should be ready on time for this drive.

I can pass my driving test with ease. Hopefully. I would pass my off-road test with flying colours. hahahahaha

Thank you for being brave and venturing out with us @Barry, rest assured we will try our level best to keep you safe.

Will wait to see if lead can lower the level to newbie + as I can vouch for you from your previous drive.

Hope your car will reborn this week so you can attend this Friday’s drive

I’ve been off road with you guys a few times and every time it scares the heck out of me. Im not a real off-roader. I love flat tarmac. Drifting and donuts. I’m a racer, not an off-roader, but I appreciate the heck out of what you guys do. You guys have chromium clangers.

No, that doesn’t sound right at all. You need 2 rocker cover gaskets (maybe, maybe not depending on condition) at around 30 dhs each. I don’t remember the exact cost of the tappets, maybe @Gaurav can remember, I changed some for him. They aren’t expensive but if you change all 24, it will add up a bit. The new ones are a better design than the old ones so probably better to change them all. From what I can tell, it sounds like the mechanic is taking you for a ride and wants to strip the cylinder heads off and build it on a bench. Its half a days work to do it. Inlet manifold off, rocker covers off. You can use a bar to push the compress the valve springs a bit, lift the old tappets out and drop the new ones in. No need to even remove the cams never mind take the heads off. Its not something you need to do right away but it can lead to cam and rocker wear and the car will be down a few horsepower. If the car is a keeper, best to just get it done and out of the way. Make sure the mechanic measures the cam lobes, rockers and clearances so everything is even.

@shadow79 ok solution if you want to butcher something up to sell it again but it’s hiding the problem rather than fixing it. No disrespect intended. If the car is a keeper it’s better to isolate and repair the issue. Who was it on here that put bananas in the rear diff to stop the oil leak? That’s the most ghetto thing I’ve ever read about 😂

The weather gods have been generous and giving us some nice cool breeze with slightly longer days. We also had a fill in Liwa and a cool down session in the white dunes of Lisali it is time to have a drive for the Newbies. Looking forward to an easy relaxing drive for every one with plenty of opportunities to learn and grow, hill climb, and ridge riding. Newbies and Fewbies will have great chance to see and learn the real fun that off-roading offers in a very safe and organized environment. Level Newbie and above When: 8 February 2019 Meeting time: 2:00 pm, convoy will move at sharp 2:15 pm Where: Adnoc Petrol Station Maleha Road GPS Coordinate: https://goo.gl/maps/ye28yTnTSYr Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 10 inches of ground clearance. Plan: Drive, train and enjoy till about 7:00 pm What to bring along: Loads of snacks, plenty of water - whatever you like with little extra to share, water, liquids, smiles, stories, enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Approximate finish time: 7:00 pm Those interested please mark accept on the below calendar.

Hi Amir, this is a Newbie+ drive. Instead I suggest that you join the week after, i.e. on Feb 8th for the Newbies Drive where you would have a proper introduction to offroading

Ooo on my birthday 😁I'm not sure 🤗

Hi Guys, I am not sure what you designate me as as I just went for one Newbie drive. Just wanted to know if I qualify for this drive.

Besides the thermostat you can also invest in a good aux fan to keep things cooler.

Could some one recommend a good reliable jeep service center. Looking for Reliable - someone who won't make you do things not necessary Equipped Experienced - Who knows Jeep inside out Not very expensive ( Off course I know Jeep is expensive) Agrees to buy the parts on our own, ready to provide the right information so that what we buy fits. Also I heard AAA in Rashidiya are good. Any comments ? Highly appreciate your suggestions

I can recommend offroad zone.

I have personally tested vaporub, cats wont go near that smell.

If not included 40 hours driving classes and a lot of procedures seeing now, i will do it but about the patience level as @Gaurav said its difficult ..

hi guys, feels like been a long while already. can i join this one? i still don't know for sure if i can make it, as i need to see plans at home first, but if i can join, i can discuss this with home authority otherwise, no need to discuss it in the first place

when i got it in first try in ajman which is notorious for heap of trys then obviously can do it again....

In UAE. Yes. in Belgium. Most probably not.

Can i be a part of this drive as driver on my RR ???

When are we going back to Liwa ? 😁

Bargain 79 Mk3 Capri 2.0 Pinto for £3,500. These are going up in value and impossible to find something decent for this money. Proper useable everyday RWD retro. Seller says it comes with a free Darkness CD so that swings the deal for me. If I was at home, I’d go pick it up.

Thanks @Barry very informative and helpful as usual. It's becoming clear that finding a trustworthy garage will be a challenge. By any chance, do you know of any garage or have any recommendations where I can get this done the right way?

Ok so I finally found time to actually have this issue checked by a mechanic. He checked and even used a stethoscope like tool to confirm if the ticking/tapping sound was indeed coming from the engine. Long story short, he was confident that this IS a tappet issue, even letting me hear it using the aforementioned tool. Both left and right part of the engine had the tapping sound. So naturally my next question was can they do it (change the tappets) and what would be the approx. cost. The mechanic assured me that this is not an urgent issue that needs to be addressed asap, but asked me to observe if the sound becomes louder over time. I also told him the steps I've done trying to resolve this to which he said it might still yield results after some kms/usage. He suspect that the previous owner did not regularly change oil. So here's hoping for a minor miracle. But this didn't stop me from asking the worst case scenario - what if I do need to change the tappets, how much are we looking at? Understandably, he didn't have any figure yet but was told that the gaskets alone would cost approx. Dhs 1-1.5K. What more when you add the tappets and labour.. And it will take 2-3 days to do the job. Does this sound about right @Barry @shadow79?

Thanks to @Carnity for giving us this platform to share and learn.

Thanks @Rahimdad for creating this wonderful thread and always adding new incidents to discuss and let newbie learn the offroad accident reasons. Hope now newbies realize that we always insist on doing small U-TURN on your first sideys so you can learn how your vehicle reacts on the slope and you can learn to countersteer immediately if car fishtail and about to flip.

@Frederic Nuyttens and @sertac and @shadow79 good observations by all. I like @Frederic Nuyttens and @sertac explanation the best. Very good observation from @skumar83.

Seems like he is driving on two wheel drive mode.

As much as we love to take passengers on other offroad drives, but in Liwa it's different. Cars are usually packed with a lot of stuff for 2 days camping, extra fuel, survival, and recovery gears as Liwa is a very serious terrain. After accepting Bilal and Jalil as a passenger there are no more seats to spare, as overloaded cars can't perform in Liwa.

If it drown the noise means lifter running dry and at high rev comes the high pressure lubricating the lifter If its not lifter, noise will increase more and will be obvious to notice even with engine noise

When you hear that ticking noise after 30 minutes, give more accelartion and notice if that noise goes away at 2,000 - 3,000 rpm or does it increase? If it goes away could be oil / oil pump rel;ated issue if it doesnt go then it could be something big issue inside the engine of valve or tappet or rockers need replacement.

@Gaurav I have the same reservations about "official" agencies here. You tell them something out of the ordinary (anything outside of oil change), they then give you a puzzled look as if your'e crazy... Ok so I managed to take a video of the car during start-up and after 40mins. During cold start-up, just your usual engine noise with high rpm (especially from 0:49 onwards). Bonus points if you spot the faulty fog light (ref: my other thread): But 40 minutes and 45 kms later, the rattling party has ensued: Sound is not heard while inside the car so that's a positive. But dropping off the car for valet in a snobby hotel would probably make heads turn (not in a good way though)...

Sorry to hear about your experience and after spending 400 dhs, noise is still there. I was thinking about your problem, this morning while getting my Pajero oil change at Mobil and thought your problem must have solved and that's why we didn't hear from you back - as that's what 90% people do - hit and run @hAwX how did your lifter noise got sorted, please share your experience. Reading again, this raises a bit of suspicion that previous owner might know this is coming soon. Anyways, Habtoor being a dealer should have answers to all Mitsubishi queries but unfortunately, my experience with them was very robotic and they specialize in scheduled service like machines doing their job. Little left or right leave their boyz scratching their head. It took me 3 visit and 4 specialized technicians at Habtoor with some internal wasta to get refer to sound technician and still in end left with an advise "Sir your car is old, please buy new Pajero". Problem: Minor knocking, pinking and missing resulting in doof doof noise like a tractor. Later on @Barry diagnosed of a bent exhaust valve changed it and fixed the car in 2-3 days times. Now he is no longer working as a mechanic, but still, help people in diagnosing out of goodwill.

Great day, but a little spoiler as I got delayed due to car starting troubles. My sincere thanks to @skumar83 / @Asif Hussain and @EmVarlet for taking the floor and presenting the most important information for anybody joining for the first time. By the time I reach everybody was edging to get into the sands and was looking forward to the drive. After a quick deflation and convoy numbering we were off. A big thanks to @BIG T for being my second lead, he understood the terrain very well and managed teh second lead position with great application of whatever has been thought to him so far. Thanks to @Per A for being an absolute fantastic passenger to @Asif Hussain and was open to discuss about his new ride to be. @srini62 just amazed me with his new form in the desert, I was surprised to see him keep up all the way. Thanks to @g.huz and @yogic for being enthusiastic and willing to learn. Special thanks to @hossein for bringing his family out for some off-road fun. It was a quick 40 minutes ride to Pink Rocks and everybody injoyed climbing the Pink Rocks in one go. Here the level was increased slightly and everybody managed well right until our little corner for snacks and chats. Everybody bought so many food types it was difficult to decide which one to have first. After we packed up Asif bhai hadd to leave, but the rest we still edging to get 30 - 40 minutes more in the desert, except for Taimur and his brother who were ready for another 5 hours drive. So we played around the Big Red. Just at the time we were supposed to exit we saw 3 girls who were struggling with a van, so we all got together and helped them out and on their way back with a generous smile. Loved the day, the drive, the people, the food and everything in between. until next time Adios Amigos.

Never knew topless can be so painful to maintain, I meant for Jeeps too. Nice DIY, once again

Thanks guys for replies and I think I should forget about this little overheating, as it's only under towing load. Have a nice day guys

I just started towing my friend trailer to taste the bike fun, and in both occasions my Jeep temp was running bit higher than usual. Otherwise it has never overheated at all on road and with bbq or camping drives even. Do you have any solution for this little overheating while dragging extra weight, as I stopped going with that friend now after two incidents.

Because you're dragging extra weight and an unaerodynamic mass behind it, the engine has to work harder therefore produces more heat. Has this happened before or have you just started towing the trailer?