Barry

It’s got fuck all to do with being in UK mode, more to do with being a good technician who diagnoses a problem correctly rather than guessing like some of the retards here. And if you actually bothered to check, you can order sniff test kits online for under 250 dhs so don’t come spreading your uninformed bullshit on technical threads when you know nothing about the subject. Hence why I also said you can use an exhaust gas analyser as long as you don’t dip it in the coolant. For stupid people like you who can’t use google to order stuff. But sure, you go play it by ear. Skim your heads, strip the block and skim it too. Why not throw in a set of new pistons when you’re at it? Im trying to give informed advice based on experience and knowledge. If all you know about failed head gaskets is a bubbling header tank then STFU and leave it to someone who knows.

Might just be a faulty water pump but sounds like it has overheated and the head gasket is damaged. Next step is to perform a sniff test and check for the presence of hydrocarbons in the coolant reservoir. Can be done by sticking the probe from an exhaust gas analyser into the air space in the tank as long as it doesn’t touch the coolant. If this confirms it, head/heads will need to be removed and inspected for flatness along with the block deck. If you’re lucky, it might just be a split gasket which will be visible upon inspection. Get a sniff test done and post the results and I can offer better advice after that.

I bet that now you know, it’s something you won’t forget in a hurry. It’s either the sort of thing you google every day, or google once and question why humanity exists.

I was in Al Quoz earlier and I spotted what looked like a L200 but it said RAM on the tailgate. I did a bit of research and it turns out it was a Dodge Ram 50 which is based on the Triton/L200. This is one of the things I love about UAE. No matter how much you think you know about cars, most days you’ll see something oddball and ask yourself WTF was that?

We all know rental cars are crap. Share your experiences of the worst rental cars you have driven. I had an accident in a 400 Bhp Subaru, not my fault. They gave me a Hyundai Getz to drive. I’ve had faster kick scooters. I was trying to slide it and get the most out of it. Ended up sliding it into a kerb and bending the rear axle. £100 and an hours work later and I fixed it and handed it back to the rental company and nobody knew. Horrible car. It was like a bicycle with a roof and a heater, optional radio.

I don’t disagree, buy a proper off-road weekend warrior, but the black plastic lips on the front and rear bumpers are removable, it’s a handful of torx screws. Not something I would get into but you can do it. We had a guy from my place out one day, Jason, and he did it, same car. The bumps ended up triggering his SRS system and ruining his seatbelts which need replacement. If you are intent on taking that car off road, which I don’t recommend, it’s a pain in the ass. Said parts need to be removed and you need to disable the ABS and SRS systems by pulling the appropriate fuses/relays. Better to spend 10-15k on a cheap weekend warrior and keep your daily road car good. It isn’t even a good car to drive daily. The 4wd system is wasted. Better just to buy a charger or something and put the extra cash in an off road toy.

Seen that before. Nice looking piece of kit. I imagine it will have buckets of torque which is never a bad thing.

@desertdude is right. It’s a SUV, not a proper 4x4 and it would take a lot of modifications to make it suitable for desert driving. Perfect for snow and ice but not for the desert, sorry. But to answer some of your questions, 1 - You don’t require insurance or even a licence to drive in the desert although insurance would help if you wrecked your car. 2 - Rear tow hitch would be advantageous. If you look on your front bumper, there should be a piece of plastic you can pop out with a screwdriver. In your toolkit beside your spare wheel, there should be a towing eye that screws into this hole. 3 - You will find everything you need in dragon mart. The basics for inflating and deflating are a valve tool, tyre pressure gauge and 12v compressor. When people talk about radio, they are talking about a 2 way radio, like a walkie talkie. Again available in dragon mart. Check the guide on here to make sure you get one that works on compatible frequencies. 4 - Upgraded cold air intake is good for any engine. It will release an extra maybe 5 BHP but it’s not a necessity. And 3k dhs is way too much to pay. You should be looking at under 500 dhs for something suitable.

Spotted this for sale. 205 Rallye. Rarer than finding a chicken with teeth these days. Never modified. Only 38k miles too. Impressive for a 1990 car. https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/peugeot/205/peugeot-205-rallye-euro-spec-38k-mint-3-owners/9060579

I’m sure everyone has heard it, when some VWs change gear, there is a fart noise from the exhaust, especially noticeable on Golfs and Sciroccos. Someone asked me to explain it today, this is the best I could come up with. These cars run a DSG gearbox. This means direct shift gearbox. It runs with 2 clutches but you drive it like an auto. It’s basically a semi auto gearbox with no clutch pedal. During gearchanges, the spark is temporarily retarded but fuel is unaltered. This results in some unburnt fuel getting dumped into the exhaust system where it is ignited by the heat of the exhaust system, causing the fart noise you hear. But isn’t that just a pointless exhaust noise in an attempt to sound cool and down with the kids? Next thing the car will be doing the floss dance from fortnite? No. The ECU is deliberately retarding the timing during gearchanges. Why? Because it cuts torque levels for a split second. This reduces stress levels on the gearbox and twin clutch system which increases reliability. We all know DSG gearboxes are unreliable (mainly due to the mechatronic system) so every little helps. If you have to endure a car with a case of flatulence, just remember it’s the manufacturer trying to save you a gearbox rebuild.

Some basic navigational skills would have helped here. Most phones have a compass, head north west towards the coast and you’ll eventually come across a road. GPS isn’t the be all and end all. If you don’t even have a compass, use your brain. Everyone knows the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, this will help you in the day time. Night time is even easier and more accurate, look for the Ursa Major constellation, make a line from the 2 stars on the edge and follow them towards Polaris, the North Star. I used to hike for days at a time in the mountains at home with no electronics and minimal gear and these 2 simple things always helped me find my way. Relying on GPS for navigation and phones or radios for communication isn’t always a good thing. Batteries die, things break, it’s best to learn the basics like our ancestors did so if things do go wrong, you have a chance of finding your way out. I could go on about survivalism but I feel that would be a whole thread on its own.

Ladies and gentlemen and socially inept Homo sapiens alike, let me introduce to you the Dodge Ram Raider. In the good old United States in America (thanks for that one @slick72), the Mk1 Pajero was sold as the Dodge Ram Raider. It only came with the 3.0 engine but most people fawn over the 3.0 as godly because that’s all they got and they see it as the amazing supra engine without the turbos. Good engine but there are better out there. I bet if they came here and saw @Gaurav 3.5, their minds would explode. Anyways, I digress, Dodge Ram Raider is one of the coolest car names I’ve heard for a long time. It sounds like you’re a gangster who robs banks for a living. Far cooler than saying I drive a Pajero, which is a Spanish slang word for someone who masturbates a lot. This is why the Pajero was called the Shogun in most of Europe. The only cooler thing you could call a car would be the Ford Freddy Mercury or the Chevy Michael Jackson.

So glad I’m not dating in Dubai right now

I like proper drifting, like watching a Mk2 Escort sliding round a rally stage at 90mph. But when you take it to a track with purpose built cars with points being added for how amazing your slide is, it does lose some of the magic.

A lot of hype about this video in the uk now. Hate to say it but I’m not impressed. A few low speed slides here and there, nothing fancy. Nice car but wrong roads and wrong driver. For a once a year video, I feel it should have been more special.

You know you’re getting old when having a hatchback makes sense because you can take all your gardening waste to the recycling centre without having to fold the rear seats down.

You know you’re getting old when a 1.6 Corolla is a reliable, cost effective viable option as a daily driver.

You know when you’re getting old when loud exhausts used to be cool but now the bawwwwwwwww drone when you’re driving down the highway in fifth gear gives you a sore head.

In other words, RAV4 in the desert? 😂 May Allah bless you Saleem bro. Your balls are made of pure chromium.

Just a bit of fun. Complete the sentence. I’ll start you off, You know you’re getting old when... lowered cars were so cool you used to chop your springs with a grinder, now even looking at a lowered car gives you backache.

Trying to travel the 15 minutes from my apartment to the workshop and it takes over an hour

It’s hit and miss finding pinout diagrams through google. Sometimes you get it, sometimes you don’t. Your best bet is to make friends with someone who works in Nissan or a mechanic who has Alldata software. Or, there are plenty of tool shops in Sharjah who will sell you a laptop with a cracked copy of Alldata and loads of other software for 500 dhs. Worthwhile investment, will pay for itself in one job. You can even download cracked software but it will only have information for older cars, which isn’t an issue as you’re working on an old sunny. The easy option is to take the cover off the plug and see where the wires go.

Jeans and band shirts are what I’ve worn for as long as I can remember. Good conversation point too. If you see someone wearing a shirt of a band you like, you know you can walk up to them and have a conversation with them. I was out of my home country for a few months. The day I got back, I was wearing a WASP shirt. Some guy walked up to me and asked me if I was here for the concert. I didn’t even know they were playing but i ended up finding out because some random person walked up to me and asked me because of my shirt.