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DRIVE PLAN Although I usually like to go without a plan, exceptionally this time and given the massive change in the topology the plan or intention of the drive is to explore the changes to one of my favorite tracks in the Dubai vicinity starting at Faqa and heading towards Qudra. It should be fun to watch and document the changes to the dunes, newly formed river beds and lakes as well as the changes in the eco-system and wild life as a result. There are lots of risks involved in driving after such heavy rain so we will be humble and extra cautious watching out for all kind of unexpected surprises like invisible pockets, trenches, moving sand spots, water flows, wildlife,.....etc. Finally, the colors, depth and clarity of the water is very inviting to jump in and dive into these lakes. GENERAL OVERVIEW We request every member that joins this drive to go through the information below and strictly follow these guidelines, etiquette and responsibilities. MUST READ AND COMPLY Environmental Policy Offroad Flag Guideline Two Way Radio Guideline Off road Driving Etiquettes Emergency details for all off roaders Off Road Driving - Roles & Responsibilities DRIVE DETAILS Level: Fewbie Plus and above When: 28 April 2023, Sunday Meeting time: 6:30 AM - Sharp Meeting Point: https://maps.app.goo.gl/MBRWvN3aDSSsaHRb7 (24.733092, 55.565264) Approximate finish time: 10:30 AM approx. Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 8-10 inches of ground clearance. What to bring along: Loads of water, snacks (for yourself), smiles, enthusiasm, and willingness to learn. RECOMENDED OFF-ROAD GEAR: Tire deflator & Tire pressure gauge Compressor (MANDATORY) Walkie-talkie radio (MANDATORY) Off-road flag (MANDATORY) Shovel, Tow Rope & 2 Shackles First-aid kit Fire extinguisher. Swim shorts (extra charges apply!) 😀 LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE This drive is limited to 10 cars only. If the RSVP is full, you can add your name to the waitlist, once anyone drops, you will be moved to the RSVP list. RSVP will close a day prior to preparing a convoy list. Latecomers will be returned - Without any exceptions. Members without RSVP will be returned - Without any exceptions. Please withdraw your RSVP, if you aren't joining, so your spot can be taken by others. Repeated no-show members after RSVP will have their account suspended for a month. PLEASE RSVP ON THE CALENDAR:

Dear @Mahesh_ @Frans M @Deepak Eswar @Mahmut @Marek @Mahmoud Taha @Stumpy @Ishak @Zulfikhar Naiyar @Aser @msa Due to recent heavy rain in the UAE and waterlogged conditions the desert terrain is currently tricky with muddy conditions, broken ridges, and hidden pockets, which isn't ideal for a safe adventure. Hence, we are canceling this weekend's drives, look forward to seeing you all soon on the next one.

As long as you are able keep it securely fixed on your car - you are good to go. Please make sure that the camera mounting is not obstructive for your sight of the track ahead. I was perplexed once or twice with my bumper mounted action camera mount; but now I am used to it.

@Luke K P might share the real-life views on Ford Ranger Raptor, as he recently got one.

Dear @RiadJL, @Wilfredo Perez, @Andrew John Melvill, @Sandeep Nayar, @DTG and @Abhilash Kottakkal, just to clarify any doubt, today's PM drive IS CANCELLED. I have waited as much as possible before cancelling, but just the length of the drive itself makes it too dangerous to carry it out on surely damaged and uncertain terrain. Most of all I wish you all and your families are safe and have sustained no damages to your health or your properties. See you out there at the earliest opportunity. Stay safe!!

front diff grinding sound can be caused by half-locked solenoid... so he's onto something. Nonetheless the leak is also something to address (and fast) regardless of the root cause of the problem there...

Good find, finally. However front diff grinding due to low oil will be constant and not intermittent. Still double check the wheel bearing, as wheel bearing noise starts with intermittent behaviour then become all time feature if you ignore.

and THAT is something they were not able to identify at al habtoor? I mean - have they even looked under the car? does every driver in this country need to be a mechanic in order to have a reliable car?

This would have caused the engine to overheat instantly, as water and pressure constantly leak. That's the last stage. My views: 6 liter depletion isn't normal and you would have felt it much earlier before this car switching-off episode. Something is leaking through the radiator or its hoses for sure. Car switched off is the last stage and Im afraid and sorry to say that most likely 9 out 10 times with full engine overheat, the head gasket goes instantly. Probably you might be lucky as you were at slow-moving speed and not on highway or off-road. Don't drive the car until you can get hold of a good mechanic available to minimize the extent of damage (if it's done). Get the coolant pressure check. Get compression test of all cyl, that can 100% tell the engine health. If variance of more than 10-15% in any cyl. surely head gasket is gone. All cyl should read above 120 PSI or Google Patrol compression number to cross-check.

Hi @londondxb the fact you had to add about 6litres is indeed a sign you were basically running without any coolant. Using water to refill can be done in emergency cases, but you will need to get it flushed and replaced with coolant asap. Water will cause corrosion inside the cooling circuit, while coolant has corrosion inhibitor inside, and also has a higher boiling point). Another thing to consider is you might have some air bubbles inside the system now which have to be released. In any case i would highly advise to take the car for coolant flushing and replacement (even a nearby Autopro or something can do this). They can also do a basic inspection on leaks. I do hope if you are consuming water somewhere and you don't seem to see where it's going, it might be being burned by the engine which would mean a faulty head gasket. But then again you'd have to see some white smoke coming out of the exhaust.

The noise feels like a rubbing noise or from the wheel bearing. Just check if the mud guards are not scrapping the tyre especially in the front. Do you have a skid plate for the front bumper? Reason I am asking is because the Pajero front bumper without a skid plate does tend to bend inside after a couple of off-road drives. See if you can get someone to sit with you and try to find out from which side of the car the noise is coming from. That might help to identify if it's a wheel bearing issue

Unless the donuts and shawarma are from last week's drive😂!

With donuts, shawarma, and coffee, we can adjust the time and extend the convoy sir @Zed 😅

Hi guys, Does anyone in the club own this or has experience with it ? Been going through some review videos and at first glance it seems to be the “Silver Bullet” vehicle, having everything and anything you would want in a combo daily driver/offroader with 0 need for customizations and the refinement of a sophisticated on-road vehicle. Any owners or experts out there that can share their 2 cents on this please?

Hey mate. Just recently changed from pajero to ranger raptor. It's definately ready to go out of the box. Rated very good on the @Gauravscale of power to weight for desert play. Great clearance. Suspension is unbelievable when off road (and on) My only issues at the moment are trying to find most comfortable driving mode in sand. I find that the baja mode holds the throttle a bit longer than you would expect when you take the foot off (to keep the turbos spooled).... Might just take more getting used to. Rear end can feel a little loose as there is very little weight over the rear wheels. So I've noticed a bit of changes to my driving style. Using Baja suspension mode, 4H, sand mode with full time rear diff lock enaganed, ESC turned off seems to be the sweet spot for me. 'Off-road cruise' set to 2kph with front and rear diff lock engaged will automatically crawl you out of any refusals allowing you to focusing on just getting wheel angles right and turning left right to clear sand. Let the truck handle the blip blip. Spent a weekend just making stucks to play recovery and was greatly impressed. Only upgrades required is a thicker bash plate to cover the engine and trans as the factory one is like 2.5mm aluminium. Price point to power and features I think U get a very compelling package compared to the offerings in other truck brands and the jeeps. let me know if you want more info or anything cheers mate.

Thank you all for joining the drive. I hope you all are doing well. Due to the unprecedented rainfall during the week which was highest in 75 years and was worth 2 years of rainfall; we have decided to cancel all drives for this week. We will post new drive on Monday and you may join them again. I did a drive at 2nd December few days ago after a very heavy rain fall and had a lot of fun, but this is different. Compared to this event the previous rainfall was like watering a garden. Out of abundance of caution we are going to cancel this week’s drive and try our luck next week. Stay safe.

Hello friends, My Mitsubishi Pajero 3.5, LWB, 2017 makes an occasional noise and vibration which usually starts at lower speed, increases when I slow down and completely stops with a shudder when I brake. The sound is like the racing of a high speed car or motorcycle. You can hear the sound in this recorded video: https://youtu.be/a8v9BJ-X8eY?si=mrLyw4T7mBbBf-K3 I intentionally did not come to a complete stop while recording this video so that I can have a longer recording of the noise. At the end of the video, I come to a complete stop and the noise stops. (1:20) I have been to 3 garages including Al Habtoor but all of them ask me to recreate the sound during a test drive which is impossible to do as I have been unable to establish any correlation between the sound and any specific usage of the car. Yesterday I got my timing belt replaced by Al Habtoor and they had told me that maybe the sound would go away after that but lo and behold it occurred within 5 minutes of me taking the car out of their workshop. The following jobs were done on the car as a part of maintenance or service which did not fix the noise: All Disc skimming Front brake pad replacement Engine oil, filter replacement Steering column boot lubrication Brake cleaning All 4 tyres replaced (HT to AT) Wheel balancing and alignment These jobs were done over period of few months. None of these jobs fixed the noise problem. Also I have been on 3 newbie offroad drives but the problem has never occurred during off-roading. Apologies for the long post, I had to make sure I provide all the details because I am at my wit's end here. I will be going back to Al Habtoor but it would great if an experienced Carnity member can guide me in the right direction of what this noise could be. Thank you!

So I visited Al Habtoor today, explained the situation to them. They did a complete inspection (test drive, OBD, etc.) and suggested that the differential is the root cause. They also ruled out wheel bearings as a cause and told me that those would make a consistent noise. Suggested repairs by them includes replacement of solenoid valve, free wheel switch and hoses. If that does not fix the problem then the actuator and all 4x4 switches need replacement. The leak in differential was a false alarm, it was some leftover WD40 from the timing belt replacement job 😅. My personal experience with Al Habtoor was a good one. They were professional and quite helpful. Have to give credit where it's due. My Pajero is still under Al Futtaim warranty (Automall purchase), so I will be visiting them to get the fixes done. I have already visited Al Futtaim Auto Care Centre twice in the past for this particular issue, both times they said "we cannot fix what we cannot observe". So I am under immense pressure of recreating the noise during test drive when I will visit them again. If the noise does not occur during test drive then I will insist on the video being proof of the problem (already tried in the past) and of course diagnosis from the official Mitsubishi Service Center Al Habtoor. @Marek @Frederic I found a post on an off-roading forum about this exact issue where people have (over) analysed this issue. I am pasting the technical explanation from that post to shed some more light on this issue: BTW while driving today I was able to turn off the noise again by switching from 2H to 4H. I will do some more research as well as tinkering and hopefully get the car to make the noise on command. That would make my life much easier when trying to explain this fault at the service centre. Would appreciate any tips to recreate this sound when I want for demonstration purposes. I will keep you guys updated. Thank you!

I was thinking the same about the half-locked solenoid or actuator, but in that case it would keep showing the blinking 4x4 lights on the dash i presume ? Another thing that's bugging me is that in 2H the freewheeling clutch disconnects the front drive shaft, so the diff should not be rotating or causing noises in 2H, or am i also wrong here and there is still some kind of connection on one wheel ?

Hi @rroker..that is good progress. If there is oil leak in the front diff why they didn’t check the oil levels across all transmission system.. must be low and could be also overdue for change which can cause such noise. I would do that before jumping to parts replacement

Before the floods, and during Eid, I was out for a ride and got stuck in some really slow stop/start traffic for about 20 minutes. This was late in the evening when the weather was a bit cooler. For the first time ever the coolant temperature on my dash spiked to max and the check engine light came on (which I've now read to be P1217 - engine over temperature). This is the first time it's happened in my <1 year of ownership; it normally sits dead on the 'min' line. I shut it off and waited an hour or so to cool down before topping it up with I think 6 litres of water before driving it home with no further issues. When I got home I topped everything up to the max again - the radiator and the two supplementary tanks next to each wing - and it was probably another four litres, which is an alarming amount of coolant. So far I've not seen any leaks whilst the car has been parked; it's bone dry. I last had the car serviced about six months ago which was its first service during my ownership. I hope they checked/topped up the coolant, but I guess there's every possibility they didn't and I'd been running low since purchasing the car. When I bought the car I did a PPI on it and there was no mention of coolant leaks/coolant being low, but again I don't remember explicitly seeing that it was checked so there's every possibility it was overlooked again. All my local garages are currently full of flooded cars but I of course have to take it in somewhere to be pressure checked, etc. In the meantime does anyone have any suggestions on what I proactively might be able to check? Could I have an improperly sealing radiator cap for instance? Visually everything looks fine but maybe I have a leak that's causing evaporation under high pressure.

It's 90% wheel bearing and the best part is, it will get worse progressively very soon. Ask a mechanic or DIY, jack up one front tire off the ground and check the wheel for two levels of play: Up and down and then side-by-side. Any play is not acceptable and you need to change that side wheel bearing. Do the same test on other front side and you will find the culprit easily.

Hi @rroker.. I think they need to isoline first if noise is there while car is on “P” and play with engine to get it to higher RPM, if it is still there then this isolates all moving parts on wheels, brakes, suspension, and transmission and focus on engine and other moving parts like belts, rollers, or engine it self. if noise is not coming on that state then with extreme cautions and proper safety preparations they can put the cat on the lift to just barely take the wheels off the ground (few centimeters) and ensure the car is stable and then engage transmission and start accelerating to simulate the issue and identify where it’s coming from.. highest suspects will be wheel bearing, drive shaft, transfer case, or transmission itself. P.S. that last test need to be done by a very experienced person who ensures the car is fully stabilized on the lift before they engage the gear and will not change with vibrations once it’s engaged

We request every member that joins this drive to go through the information below and strictly follow these guidelines, etiquette and responsibilities. MUST READ AND COMPLY Environmental Policy Offroad Flag Guideline Two Way Radio Guideline Off road Driving Etiquettes Emergency details for all off roaders Off Road Driving - Roles & Responsibilities DRIVE DETAILS Level: Fewbie Plus and above When: 27 April 2024, Saturday Meeting time: 6:30 AM - Sharp Meeting Point: https://maps.app.goo.gl/eTX8wtibrfhsXS6D6 Approximate finish time: 10:30 AM Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 8-10 inches of ground clearance. What to bring along: Loads of water, snacks (for yourself), smiles, enthusiasm, and willingness to learn. RECOMENDED OFF-ROAD GEAR: Tire deflator & Tire pressure gauge Compressor (MANDATORY) Walkie-talkie radio (MANDATORY) Off-road flag (MANDATORY) Shovel, Tow Rope & 2 Shackles First-aid kit Fire extinguisher LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE This drive is limited to 10 cars only. RSVP will close on Friday - 12 PM. If the RSVP is full, you can add your name to the waitlist, once anyone drops, you will be moved to the RSVP list. RSVP will close a day prior to preparing a convoy list. Latecomers will be returned - Without any exceptions. Members without RSVP will be returned - Without any exceptions. Please withdraw your RSVP, if you aren't joining, so your spot can be taken by others. Repeated no-show members after RSVP will have their account suspended for a month. PLEASE RSVP ON THE CALENDAR

how did "shwarma" get inserted into this request? If @Ishak & @DP1011 crave shwarma, we'll have to extend the drive from Nahel to Al Ain airport so lunch will be with shwarma 😂

Congratulations @Gurcharan Mehta ! Very well deserving ! Enjoy the pace and passing of knowledge to budding off roaders

Ha! Was only 3 when I typed the above .. gotta be quick on the reservations around here mate 😜

Thank you, @Gaurav! I should have clarified - I have a fixed mount installed on the car already (which I’m happy is secure and safe), just wanted to check there would be no issue to using it on the day!

Hi Chris, all external cameras should have safe and secure mounts for your camera safety and others. @Looper our 360 camera and filming expert can shed some more info (if needed).

Looking forward to attending - fingers crossed for good weather and conditions! @Gaurav - quick question for you - would it be acceptable to mount a 360 camera on the front of the vehicle? I have a fixed mount (screw in to front bumper), very secure, but wanted to check if Carnity had any "rules" on this one. Thanks!

@Zed come do drive 100 out here with us this weekend mate 😎

Congratulations @Mahmut for reaching the Fewbie Plus Level with Carnity Offroad Club. Looking forward to seeing you growing further and helping others to learn the art of offroading in a safe environment. Please make sure your Carnity user profile is always updated with all the latest Emergency contact details. P.S. Trip lead might deny your participation if you don't have required off-road gear. FEWBIE PLUS Drives Attended (Indicative) Minimum 10 Fewbie drives are required within last 6 months for Fewbie Plus promotion. What you'll learn Advance dune and sand reading Advance recovery techniques Rocking and crawling to make path Learn to flatten/compact soft sand patch Self recovery from crest Advance side sloping and long hill climb Advance ridge riding and criss crossing Advance control over technical dunes Slightly faster pace desert driving FULLY control and avoid fishtailing Never fight or challenge gravity Skills required Enthusiastic and positive attitude Willingness to learn and help others Extremely attentive and focused while driving Car Worthiness Any 4x4 vehicle with low range gearing Suitable approach and departure angle Bash plate and skid plate protected Off-road gear required Safety flag, tire deflator, tire pressure gauge, shovel, fire extinguisher, medical kit, radio (walkie-talkie), air compressor. Drive teamwork Manage second lead and sweep positions upon request Intuitive and proactive to support Trip Lead Observe recoveries and offer help, when needed Drive Joining Join Newbie, Fewbie and Fewbie Plus drives Forum participation Active participation on the forum Share drive experience + feedback Share drive pictures in the gallery Post trip report after the drive

Thanks, looking forward more fun drive...

No not yet…. Exploring for now …..I feel like having a new project after building the White Rhino… thinking a pick up truck has more options to build as well. Let’s see whether logic wins or urges win since the car is still under warranty and it is one of the most premium and most pampered Pajeros out there

Congratulations @Zak_.

Congrats @Batuhan Kulac. This quite an achievement. I'll see on IM drives soon.

Congrats @RiadJL on your promotion.

Congrats on your latest achievement @Mahmut.

Well done @Aser. This is quite an achievement. Enjoy a fast and more challenging pace.

Make sense. Thanks.

Hi All, Due to recent heavy rain in the UAE and waterlogged conditions the desert terrain is currently tricky with muddy conditions, broken ridges, and hidden pockets, which isn't ideal for a safe adventure. Hence, I am canceling this weekend's drive, look forward to seeing you all soon on the next one. @Nicolò @Sviatoslav @Vipin M @Pramod B @Sameer D. @TIMMY @Jeevan Koshy @Martin Schwaiger @Giacomo @Benjamin @Andrew John Melvill @RiadJL @DTG Please acknowledge by any emoji.

Welldone and well deserved promotion @Mahmut enjoy the pace

Congratulations @Mahmut has always been great to drive with you, hopefully work will not get in the way too much and I can join you soon.

Congrats 🎉

Congratulations @Mahmut on your promotion to FB+. Enjoy your new level.

Congrates @Mahmut

Congratulations @Mahmut well deserved enjoy the new level 😀

Congrats @Zak_ !! Well done and more learning on your way forward !