Jump to content
  •  

vanhack

Members
  • Posts

    41
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1
  • Carnity Points

    9 [ Donate ]

Everything posted by vanhack

  1. I do my own oil chnages, although recently got the garage to do the major oil change. I wanted a garage to check my car and make sure an expert eye catches any issues that I have missed. I also find re-filling heavy gear oil a messy procedure, and also transmission oil. But I have changed spark plugs, installed a front diff locker, rebuilt a BMW Vanos, brake calipers, as some of my more complex jobs. At times when I pressed for time I will give the car to the garage, but wouldn't mind doing more, but work gets in the way.Nothing more relaxing than a stripped bolt to remove.
  2. Many thanks for the offer to help skumar.
  3. Thanks guys. Yes many tiidas....but most are one man show dealers, and the cars are not registered....so cant test drive....and almost all dont have service history
  4. I know this is old, but I am using ATF/ nail varnish remover, if anyone can tell me where to get 100% acetone then I am interested. I will also experiment with ATF and another solvent like laquer thinner or paint thinner. Only issue with this is, that it is in a pump oil can, so the reach of the liquid is not as good as a pressurized can. But works better than WD40 any day, and much cheaper. I have also used a blow torch, on some 30 year old 02 sensors, took them out easy. Also snapped a bolt in a diff, and then used a reverse bit to remove the remaining bolt...thank god that worked!!!!!
  5. I need to buy a used car for my office, found a good Tiida from Dubizzle. The current owner has bank finance outstanding on it, and does not have the cash to clear the outstanding amount. The only method from what I am told is that I pay him cash, or visit the bank with him and give the bank cash to clear the loan plus any early settlement fees and wait for them to issue a NOC letter, which can take 5 working days. Obviously issue is that the car loan has been cleared with my cash, and owner still has the car in their name, until the letter is issued and he transfers to my name after 5 working days. Any safer method to do this in Dubai? Car is Dubai registered, and I will be putting the vehicle in company name.
  6. Yes looks very dry. Here is an interesting study on various oil brands.... http://www.xs11.com/xs11-info/xs11-info/articles/51-consumer-reportstruth-motor-oils-july-1996.html And some more observations from us company that specialises in oil analysis for industrial and retail customer. ://www.google.ae/amp/amp.timeinc.net/thedrive/the-hammer/12762/10000-sample-study-on-motor-oil-supports-what-consumer-reports-concluded-a-decade-ago%3fsource=dam
  7. I have tried the 315 on my old patrol, and from what I found that any tire in the 16/17" wheel size above 275 is LT, so they are heavier. This I feel saps power from the engine, also puts more stress on the driveline. Another I use my current y61 patrol for dunes and wadi/mountains as far as Oman. Once you leave Dubai/Sharjah/Abu Dhabi to find a replacement in anything above 275 is next to impossible....so you are out in Oman, and have 2 punctures, you can use your spare, if you had the brains to put on the same size tyre, but the 2nd tyre can not be replaced. I do believe that a lighter weight is better than an extra 1-2cm width, note that the 285 have an extra few plys on the sidewalls, so one needs to deflate more, which has it's own issues too. with the 275 I am down to 12 in the front and 10 at the back, and then adjust lower if needed after driving for 30 minutes.
  8. So I did an oil change at Fineway today....price on the 5W-30 gone up!!! Today I had to pay AED294.00 with 8 litres of Enoc 5W-30 and an original filter. They cleaned the air filter and topped up windscreen washer, with water....I will just squirt some dishwasher soap in there later. They are happy for me to bring my own oil/filter and they charge me AED60 for the labour to do so, so not bad....I can do this at home, but I always create a mess and then disposing the oil is another chore by dumping it at the petrol station oil change catches.
  9. I used to change the oil in my patrol myself, then I found Fineway garage in Al Quoz. There price was the same as doing it myself, but less the mess on my driveway and hastle of disposing oil. I always ask for full Synthetic, 5W-40 and original filter. Total cost last time was AED170.00. They also top up all the other fluids, and clean the air filter. Finway garage is in Al Quoz near Trinity Engineering, the oil brands they use are Eppco, Enoc, Castrol, varys every time. I have used Mobile 1, but read the packaging, and said made in UAE.
  10. Good on Gaurav to try this...why not. I have come across bananas being loaded into differentials to stop them leaking from the seals, and it worked! When you are out in the middle of nowhere, and need a solution, bush mechanics gets you to somewhere safe to repair properly. Well done desertdude for suggesting this method, just shows that trying out on older vehicles with high mileage on the engines brings in innovation.
  11. try www.partsouq.com has many brands, and yes you need to even enter the chassis number, but you get all the part numbers, and will be to the spec of your vehicle, right down to paint codes. I usually keep the mulkiya photo or chassis number on my phone, and don't bother with taking the mulkiya copy with me.
  12. Yes I was thinking the same, to try and replicate.
  13. What is your budget? Is this is your daily driver. My recommendation for the desert is higher power to weight ratio is better, but a longer wheelbase is a disadvantage even for the likes of Raptor with all its formidable power. Why do you want a pickup, why not a 4 door wagon shape? Some here will not agree to this, but reliability equals Toyota, Nissan, Isuzu, nothing else comes close. I have not driven the new Turbo diesel engines in the dunes here, but the higher revving petrols have had an advantage before all the turbo diesels that are available now in the world. But note, that many of the local distributors do not bring the larger turbo diesels to this market.
  14. Company out in the states that has a patent on a similar idea. www.truckclaws.com I wonder if this will work in sand?
  15. I have tried polaris, did not find it great, but did not use it extensively. The software only shows maps, when GPS are located, or I did not set it up correctly, so you can't browse on the map offline when signal is not met. I read somewhere that the phone satellite antennas are not as good as the dedicated units. If you are a Apple user, you can perhaps try MotionX, I have heard someone use this with success, and they use the 276c and Montana...wow that is far too many screens on his dashboard for my taste. I will report back on the Montana, so far it's good. Amount of memory it holds is great, and uses standard MicroSD cards, unlike the 276c, also can be used with AAA batteries incase main rechargeable battery dies. Montana screen colours react to polarised sunglasses, a shade of yellow tint is noticed, so orientation in portrait is better, and colours remain as intended.
  16. Just for reference. https://goo.gl/photos/e1z2bLQ7vj7GzYZV6
  17. Rahimbhai, I agree the simplicity of the interface on the 276C is unmatchable, when trying to select waypoints whilst in motion. I have seen a small plane in Zambia's only domestic airline being flown using a 276c, just this March. I also believe that my old eyes and mind find it a slow learning curve to adapt the new tech, but I have been using a Montana 680t, and birdseye imagery is great, and so is the touch screen to enter alphabets via keyboard an advantage...I am keeping the 276 for 1 season, see how this year goes with the 680t. You should see the prices of 276 on ebay these days, still has a good following.
  18. Hi I just camped at the entrance of Wadi Naqab, by accident and not by design. I was hoping to camp up top, around 900m elevation, giving me around 3 degrees cooler temperature. Unfortunately at top are a lot of mountain permanent shelters for prominent emiratis, who have had issues with visitors abusing the their shelters, or probably leaving garbage. The road upto is shared with a quarry operation, who are asked to note down the vehicle details, drivers name and contact number, they advise not to camp upto, and hence I had to camp at the wadi. If your group is small enough and can respect the request of keeping a low profile, i.e. dressing appropriately, no loud music, and not leaving any garbage then I advise the trip leader to head up. You can not get to 900m, but 820m is passable. Recommend 4WD only with low ratio gearbox. Track on top is steep, and wide, also in a good condition. It is too warm to camp in the wadi, but the night sky is clear and very very quiet.
  19. Stop your dealers service advisors from earning commissions on parts they sell, they oversell to the public parts that are within their lifetime based on fear that the brakes or tyres will kill the owners.
  20. I have friend who had a LR3, and as you describe our style of driving was "cruising", this friend cruised around 200km+ in Liwa over a 2 night trip, he did well. He knew how to use the vehicle from multiple trips, which he had learnt about the electronics and the delays in traction aids switching on/off. But once he did mention that his car's suspension had lowered completely, he had this issue occur at his home, and was able to have it towed to the dealer, they ran the fancy computer, and found that one of the rear lights, not sure if brake light or just the rear light bulb had blown. Once replaced, the suspension functioned again. I would consider this an issue, and what has been mentioned before, the reliability is something to consider when going offroad, you want to be able to get back, and if something does go wrong, and Land cruisers and Patrols do breakdown in the desert, but they can limp back and be fixed almost all over the UAE/Oman, which I assume where most of your driving would be. I own a Y61 patrol, and love it, but it is a gas guzzler, and cooling is not great for cabin or engine, also the front axle is too weak for the weight of the engine. My wife drives my older 120 series prado, very very comfortable ride, AC is very good, but there was a fault from factory for the evaporator, which leaked and needed replacement, AED3000 bill, but the only large bill in 170,000kms of motoring, yes a axle boots and modified control arms joints needed replacement, but nothing major. We used to have a V6 fortuner, and I still believe that this a unsung hero, 7 seats, rear difflock, manual shift into locked centre diff, in high and low ratio and does not guzzle fuel, but as weight is low the engine has enough power to outperform the prado and patrol. Only issue is the size of fuel tank in the early models, but your budget I think can get a 2nd generation with larger fuel tank.
  21. Yes Gaurav...stealer for corolla on 5000kms service charges AED 550...so LC maybe 700ish now
  22. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Fineway+Garage+(Al+Quoz)/@25.1365713,55.2314889,19z/data=!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x3e5f696cffffffff:0x40feb92e3b799937!2sFineway+Garage!3b1!8m2!3d25.1344151!4d55.2452567!3m4!1s0x0000000000000000:0x31cb6e30c39211b9!8m2!3d25.1366581!4d55.2318019 note this garage, does not serve expresso, latte, or have high end magazines and staff are not in funky uniforms...so if you are used to the 5 star service from main dealers, then pay the extra, or take your own coffee, and load a movie on the phone and hangout with all the others in the office/shack
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of use