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I also want to know more how disabling heater helps in cooling? On the contrary, heater is a blessing while offroading as occasionally when engine temp start rising and doesn't come to previous level, switch on heat and open all windows and within 30 secs engine temperature drops instead of waiting for 10 mins in idle with hood open. Reason behind this is heater uses engine heat to throw out from the blower and help dissipate lot of heat in seconds. In UAE I have only used heater once in last 17 years of driving, but every year used heater in summer at least more than 5-10 times while offroading.

I tried to improve my Pajero AC every summer however after I have changed too many parts in my Pajero AC I still have low cooling AC compares to my other cars however after trying a lot I managed to reach at least double the cooling I had here some important tips: 1- Check your AC gas level, it might be low or lacking. it's very common and very very important. 2- Change your AC fan, it might be working but not full performance/power. 3- Add an extra fan on the AC condenser (could be fixed along with the main AC fan or with a separate switch or directly connected to the power) recommended to be fixed along with the main AC fan. 4- OR add 2 extra fans one fan for the AC condenser and another fan for the transmission cooler (could be fixed with a separate switch or directly connected to the car power) recommended with separate switch. This is mainly good for the transmission cooling, especially while off-roading. However it also helpful for the AC cooling. 5- Disconnect/disable the heater from the car AC system. (it was done to my Pajero by Habtoor). I never used the heater in UAE you might disable it. 6- If you have a LWB you might switch on both AC front and Rear at the same time as they have 2 different evaporators and in the summer it helps a lot if you use them together. 7- Car tinting, if you don't have window tinting do not expect you AC to perform in the summer. Recommended if you use heat Insulation/reduction tinting. 8- Keep your car AC recirculation switch/button ON all the time or at least until you reach the required temperature. I usually keep it on all the time. 9- Keep your car in shaded/covered parking. ***Even if you have done all the above points and your AC gas is leaking or low you will not get any good results.*** Some people might consider the above point are obvious but believe me for some people they are not I thought to share my experience even if it might help one person that would be enough. **DISCLAIMER** I accept no liability for any harm or damage caused by anyone modifying their car. Always read the workshop manual for your car and consult a qualified mechanic before starting any work.

I have an easy solution to that, keep driver grills facing you and passenger grills facing other side pointed towards window. Whenever I need quick engine cool down while driving even, roll down all windows, AC Off, heater on, close my side vent and open passenger vent. Max 30 sec temp drops to normal even while pushing the car in full heat. I This way have never exceed temp above 110 while 90 is ideal, so I keep waiting till it reaches 110 occasionally to do this trick otherwise it keeps dancing between 100 and 105 range while offroading.

I drive to work in flip flops every day, change to my work boots and change back into flip flops to drive home again. I like to drive barefoot sometimes too. Never had a problem. We have a Shelby Cobra at work that I can’t drive unless I’m barefoot, the pedals are too close and my feet are too big. I guess this is to try to control the retards who can’t drive properly no matter what they wear in their feet.

Disabling/bypassing the heater matrix is bad and any professional mechanic who recommends it should be stripped of his qualifications. The heater matrix is part of the cooling system and is required for proper operation as per manufacturer specifications. This is a fix done by lazy and incompetent mechanics who have no idea how to replace a heater matrix or think it’s a magic cure for engine overheating, which it isn’t If you can explain how disabling the heater matrix improves AC cooling then I am all ears although I bet you have never researched this and are going on the advice of someone else who has also not properly researched how automotive HVAC systems work.

Most of the parts and accessories shops stock amaron. They come with 18 month warranty but I have seen them last for between 2-3 years.

i totally agree with @Barry now a days people use mobile while driving and when they steer out of their lane they have no clue

Just for clarification: This is a tow hitch: and this is a tow hook:

Hi @Michael sammy, Totally agree with @Srikumar as his experience with Pajero is an advantage as he owned one for many years, he knows the good and the bad of it ;), As mentioned removing the rear lip should be only a 10min job if you have the right tools or any garage that can do it for you, I was able to manage newbie drive in full stock without breaking anything but from the 2nd onwards it was difficult to manage without any damages so its highly recommended to have those skid plates installed especially the rear ones (Front and rear plates for sale in the UAE paj group, You can check it out). Additionally the lift kit that you are running now should be able to save you from not having any damages to your footstep that I faced over the last Intermediate drive. All the best and enjoy !!

Tyres I can't comment on but for batteries I only use Amaron in the 4 years I've been here and never had an issue with them.

I was suffering from bad AC cooling in traffic since a month now. Checked and refill the original US Freon but still cooling drops significantly in stop and go traffic. Clean the front grill evaporator or condenser whatevr its called, still marginal improvement. Finally while researching this topic I foud that keeping a 2-3 gap distance in traffic is the only way to have nice cooling in Pajero. Idea is if you are too close to car in front then AC will suck hot exhaust air and if you are few meters away then it can get atomospheric air. Try and let me know if it works for you.

I think weve already had this conversation about heaters here. Mostly disconnected when heater core is clogged or keaking. Not worth the money to rip out the dash to fix it in these climates for something you might need once a year for 5 mins. But if its workig fine then no need to bypass it. And rightly pointed out it has nothing to do with AC cooling and a quick cooler for an overheating car. I remeber I had to use the heater on full trickvon my friends overheating maxima while coming back from Al Ain. It worked long enough fir us to reach our shop in sharjah. But was no fun to drive in mid summer in the heat with the heater on full blast. It was a race against time to see which would faint first the car or us!!!!

Doesn’t your windows fog up more now ?

Really , they are most comfortable for driving

Which one to use whena dn which one do you prefer over the other? Appreciate experts advice in best selection. Thanks in advance

Hi @Gaurav i am very sorry for a short notice, something pop up suddenly, i will have to miss the ride this time. Hope very much i can join in nearest future. Sorry again

Install an extra cooling fan that might help to push more air .

unfortunatey cant fix that NATO style hook on most cars. As thats bolted on to the rear crash bar mounted directed to the frame. Put that on todays plastic pigs and see the entire rear end fly off! LOL

Central mounted tow hook is always better than tow hitch for recovery. Hitch are designed for constant load and not strong tugs, although hitch will work fine for soft or medium tugs. Recently friend of mine gave me a tug and and his hitch came off from the bolts, luckily his car was at an angle and I saw hitch flying 50 meters ahead of my car like a catapult. Maybe it was a bad installation of weak hitch but proper rated tow hook is always better. The best in class is the Pintle hook that comes standard in LC and Patrol.

Its a proper tow hook install in the center, I meant vs tow hitch. Not side small hole ones. Its for recovering when stuck in sand or mountain and not pulling boat/load

Sometimes driving back from a night drive I feel sleepy and nothing better than some 😴 by the rad side, but I converse with @Gaurav bhai over the radio which keeps me awake. The rest of the way I'm repeating the events of the drive to write my trip report which keeps me awake too.

Both have 2 different functionalities. Can you elaborate a bit on why you ask this ? * A tow hook is a point that is used to "tow" your vehicle. It is also being used to recover your vehicle. * A tow hitch allows a car to pull a load, like a trailer, or something else. It also makes for a good and strong recovery point. If you are referring to recovery use only, then in both cases it will rely on how it is installed. a decent tow hitch will be connected to the chassis of the car on more than 1 bolting point, while a tow hook is in most cases just bolted onto one side of the car. Hence for recovery the tow hitch would be stronger and better in load distribution.

@Adel Muradov please RSVP on the drive calendar if you are joining tonight. @Michael sammy please confirm from maybe so that we can reach 30 mins early to the meeting point for newbie briefing .

I bought a 2008 3.8 LWB for 18kAED in January. Needed a little bit of TLC but is technically perfect now and just done the 200,000kms major maintenance. Only meant as family car and for some camping and mall crawling. I understand your concern about having a toy car for camping and going offroad. But be aware that cars +15y old will need a lot of TLC and money thrown into it. You could be exposed to a 5-6 kAED bill at any given time. A clean decent 4800 Patrol that hasn't seen much desert is gonna cost you, and the locals are hunting these cars down too. However i love these cars and would love to own one, they are gonna cost you more than your existing Pajero i am afraid. My proposal to you would be to use your Pajero to learn the basic offroading skills and see where it takes you. By that time (5-6 months) you will probably understand more what you are really looking for in that weekend/toy car. The 3.8 is a capable offroader.

1 over the bridge 3 on random dividers and wall 1 straight into the sea we nicknamed him car killer...

Anyone who consistently falls asleep when driving should be lead outside and be shot with a ball of their own dung. If that doesn’t work they should be taken for the “UAE desert safari” where they are dropped in the middle of the desert and forced to follow the mirage until they die of thirst. I hate shitty drivers like this. I try to drive safe and do what I can to stay alive and get home safe but it only takes one of these assholes to ruin the day of many people.

Look only for the VTC 4800 model. Which only comes in a LWB configurations for those early years. The 4500 is like a church mouse in front of the VTC and avoid manual like the plague. Horrible box for offroading in the desert. Youll have to look very carefully as its a favourite car among the shabab and usually played around with quite a bit on and offroad. look for bone stock versions with 0 mods. straight body panels and no repaints, underneath look for bent axel tubes, chains around the drive shaft and petrol tanks and caved in petrol tanks. All signs of a pervious life spent offroading. Diff lock really isnt a requirementIts nice to have but not a must

There is no shortage of stupid people in this world, I know people who think their stuff is worth its weight in gold when selling and others stuff worth less than garbage when buying. I know people who have refused to sell a junker for which there are no customers for less than 500dhs from asking price only to sell it for a few 1000 less 3 to 6 months later. These are unrealistic sellers and Dubizzle is a just a very rough guide. Hardly anyone sells at listed price. And therr are also plenty of types I mentioned earler. Just yesterday I saw this guy post a 97 NAS spec Defender 90 for 250,000k ! Yes they are getting rare but not worth more than 80-100k

How are below 2 GOODYEAR THAILAND - EFFIGRIP DUNLOP JAPAN - TG 35

Ac Delco which is available here in UAE usually comes from a factory in Saudi Arabia they don't have much quality the one from us are really good they last 4 to 5 years but they don't have them here another good brand here which lasts but is limited to some sizes is amron and they age pretty well here even heard the company has raised the warranty period too but the shops here are still stuck with 6 month to a year warranty... For tires if comfort is not much in your book only thinking of cheap then go for Chinese I have been using harmony for last 3 years and most of my movement is on the dirt roads of industrial areas

For tires I am a great fan of Yokohama Geolandars now for both on and off road use, but if it's mostly for highway use I would recommend Nitto Duragrapplers and Kumho Solus KL21 both user reviews available on Carnity. For battery once I have gone for Amaron I never changed to any other brand, costs slightly higher but last over 4 years for me every time.

I had an emergency at home couldn't make it, i didn't have enough time to be online either

Jeez louise! He should be banned from driving alone ! He's lucky he's still alive!!! Really If I knew I had such a severe problem I would not drive in such situations! This happened to one of our Safari Colleges. ended up dead, killing 5 others and one in a severe coma. Fell asleep on the the wheel and rammed dead straight into a signpost at at ;east 120kph. Made the local news.

For the tires you get multiple options. If you are on a budget go for the Koreans like Nexen and Kumho. You would get it at a price of about 300-350 per piece. I have used Nexen upto almost 90k kms and then got them changed. Changing of 2 or 4 tyres depends on the conditions. Ideally advisable to change all 4 at the same time (plus you can rotate the tyres every 10000 km) but it's your call. Regarding battery, stay away from ac Delco. Heard good reviews on Amaron and am currently in my first year of this battery.