Zed

Good morning @Vanessa8580 , FYI I've added myself to WaitList for 2nd drive (although technically my 1st drive will happen the day after this on Sunday with Sri)  

Congrats @Rizwanm2 , wohoo soon we're gonna have Extreme Drives again 👍👍👍

2 minutes ago, Hisham Masaad said:

Doc??🤣🤣

Seems I had too many coffees and was thinking of Seidam when replying without double-checking 😂

20 hours ago, Hisham Masaad said:

Bottle jack did well today 

I have this exact configuration in my Y62 cargo: jack plate from Ace Hardware + 10 Tons bottle jack from Speedex. I wasn't sure if this will do well as I have the crocodile jack in my LandCruiser but was too lazy to move it everytime I change cars.... but now thanks to Doc @Hisham Masaad I have confirmation that this configuration is good enough for sand recovery 👍

1 minute ago, Andrew McCarthy said:

@Gaurav Soni @Frederic @Zed - check out the gallery now. I think the incident is somewhat exaggerated. Just a bit of an amusing stuck in some very soft sand. Dealt with quite easily and in good humour.

Of course it has to be exaggerated, how else are we going to attract more people to join the Abu Dhabi drives? 😁

46 minutes ago, GauravSoni said:

Poor pajero??? @Frederic 🤨 

From my view as sweeper, it was an "almost-flipped" Pajero and what poor fate could have befallen today. Alas, calm-headed and coolness prevails over panick and once again Fred saved the day 😁  But the graphics of the event is best described over some apple juice & other drinks 😅

4 hours ago, Frederic said:

 

I have been out of the sand for a while, but looking forward to getting stuck and to getting my feet sandy again  

So this will be a newbie drive? 😂 *kidding

Thanks for the update @Thomas Varghese! Is it fixed now by replacing the battery? Else you may need to visit an electrician to fully inspect cablings, fusebox, power draining and short-circuits...

Thanks @GauravSoni for the drive, it was definitely more technical than Ale's previous drive. I've landed safely in Indonesia, so appreciate your wisdom in winching strategies along with @Ashok chaturvedi @Pacific bhais teamwork to get me out of a pickle bowl situation, else I may not be able to catch the flight 😂

As for @Thomas Varghese's car, I suspect it's the Alternator/Generator. The battery is only an energy storage, used to spin the Starter Motor to start the car as it requires a high voltage jump to start it. When the engine starts, through timing belt/chain it will power the Alternator/Generator which powers all electronics when the car is running. Additionally the Alternator also charges the Battery so it can start the car after stopping next time. Since Thomas's car constantly stopped while the engine is running, f seems the Alternator is not fully-functional at 100%, this also explains why the battery is dead (it's not being charged by the alternator).

One of the first things I replace when I bought the 20-year old LandCruiser are: Starter Motor, Alternator, all Belts & Pulleys that power alternator, water pump, clutch fan 🙂

On 8/4/2022 at 10:28 AM, M.Seidam said:

If you have time try watch it all . 

Thanks Dr. @M.Seidam, I have to split it over 2 sessions to watch the whole thing   This reminds me of similar "lifetime ATF concept" that I first hear from my friend who owns a Dodge. When I first hear this, I was surprised since most mechanics recommend changing Automatic Transmission Fluid every 40,000kms or if used just for going to office maybe can extend to 80,000kms. And to add more salt, these "modern lifetime transmissions" don't come with dipstick to check ATF level or quality  

After some discussions, I realize that what dealers nowadays mean is "lifetime of your car loan / car ownership" which is usually 4 years and people usually sell their cars before reaching 100,000 kms. After this 4-5 years/100,000kms the dealers are hoping you'll get their latest version under-warranty and repeat the cycle again  

Now back to the Engine Oil topic, hmm if what he says is true that "Dealers put the cheapest oil to save cost, even Toyota dealers" (since he's ex-Dealer mechanic), then we need to worry about our 10,000km oil change. There is no such thing as 5,000km vs 10,000km oil, there is oil with different viscosity level (e.g. 0W-40), liter size or quarts, and Mineral, Semi-synthetic and Fully-synthetic. Usually when mechanics refer to 10,000km oil it means the Fully-synthetic as "it can last more" and slower to degrade over time and usage. And so, if dealers pick the cheapest, that would not be the most expensive fully-synthetic, which means you're not getting that "10,000kms oil" 😂

Ok now as to when best to change oil... 5000kms is a better interval 10,000 for sure. But as regular offroaders who may go once-a-week (or twice a week!), we should learn what a drop of engine oil on paper means 👇 (use the dipstick to get a good drop and let it absorb on paper for a while)

Once it gets Dark and "Middle-condition" quality, time for an engine oil change, even though you've just reached 4,000kms! Even worse, if the shape is not round, means you have some water contamination there 😦

As for the Viscosity, usually best to refer to Owner's Manual, most will refer to 5W-30. But with the knowledge that higher load + higher temperature will make the oil thinner, and that owner manual is written for "general usage of cars" + "one average setting that can accommodate worldwide situation", we can opt for something thicker like 40 or higher.

The reason is we're trying to avoid this boundary lubrication, where the oil is too thin that the metal to metal starts touching and causing wear & tear. There's an oil film between bearings and crankshaft, and if the oil is too thin too often, causing metal-to-metal friction will certainly lead to Engine Rebuild like in the shared Youtube  

So my personal opinion is to get 5W-40, 10W-40, 15W-40.  If you have a supercharger and climbing Sweihan every week may want to try 20W-50 for staying thick at high load + high temp  

1 hour ago, Wade Pat2 said:

Small update to above performance. As I fine tune ECU and also upgraded exhaust the HP is now 330+ hp to wheels at 5k rpm and 365 wheel torque at 4k rpm. 

We have to test it in Iftar Bowl from the middle straight-up instead of from the sides to see if the 300hp is enough or need to boost more  

20 minutes ago, Hisham Masaad said:

 Unfortunately the coconut water idea prevented @Zed to tell us how to fix the pop out 🤣

yeah sorry for that,  i got told off by Waqas too after the drive 😂 so after my toilet break, i went out of the car without my radio 🙈 Next time i'll keep the radio in my pocket in case i've got some tips from previous drives 🙏🏻 

19 hours ago, ASAD. said:

Car is fine and all fixed now but theres definitely some research needed on how to fix poputs on these beadgrips

Hi @ASAD. compressing using a ratchet is one way of getting that extra force to re-seat the bead... see this thread where last year we saw a similar situation >> 

5 minutes ago, Vaibhav said:

@Zed badayer and @Hisham Masaad means its yalla push cant miss that. Seems like your taking the benefit of Premier Inn rate and Wife not being in town. thought you would be heading to Sweihan. 

Touché there 😄  gonna check hotel prices now and hopefully get the same 100dhs rate for a Friday night (last week was Sat. night rate) 🙂

@Vaibhav why are you always the 1st registered in every Intermediate drives 😅 And I thought you'll be in Sweihan 😁 From now on these Usual Suspects will be called... the Intermediaries!

Thank you @Islam Soliman for leading the drive. Quick Recap: We started with some warm-up dunes while waiting for another Big Convoy (~50 cars) to disappear into the desert. But seems they were having a nice Big Breakfast, so we entered into more technical dunes. I'm always anxious with these kinds of dunes cos my Y62 is on stock suspension, not lifted, long-wheel & heavy...basically higher chance of getting crested 😬 But being no. 4 in the convoy helps to anticipate some terrain challenges and when extra pedal power is required 😊 Continuing the drive, as soon as the Big Convoy approached our play area, we moved across the Sabkha for a better, more technical and quieter area. Weather was awesome with 3hours of cloudiness accompanying our drive, maybe we could have done a breakfast & karak party too there! 😁

@JeromeFJ  congrats on your 100th drive. You inspired me to do 45 more drives, which at this rate (1 drive per week) probably gonna take 1 year to catch-up 😂  Also thanks for the Pitted Dates 👍🏻 since it's seed-less I can easily eat 5 of them 😁

@Chris Wing great 2nd-leading, you showed us where the tricky terrains were, so the rest of convoy can navigate freely. Your sacrifice is greatly appreciated bro 👍🏻 Maybe FJ's next mod is 3" lift to match the bigger tires? 😁

@Simon Dawood was awesome with his Pajero. There were many moments we could see from the back (hopefully verified by @Vaibhav's 360° videos) that the Pajero's slipping, but amazingly you pushed through 👍🏻

@Vaibhav great to drive behind you buddy, appreciate the many heads-up. Terrain was tricky as there were some bushes stuck in my skid plate during the car wash 😂

@Fabien Monleau nice meeting you and I hope when my LC100 is fix, we can meet in more Intermediate drives. I find it fascinating to see someone drive real manual-manual (not automatic-triptonic) in technical dunes 👍🏻

@Thomas Varghese always nice having you in the convoy and listening to your stories buddy

@Ranjan Das great sweeping, bold move to tackle the left-side and not get crested while the rest of us take the easy way 😅

See you all in the next Intermediate drives 👋🏻

@ASAD. removing battery terminal is like formatting computer, it resets the ECU into learning mode again and zeroing all previous sensors' values. Car may run "rough" for a while as it relearns. This may work depending on car maker and codes. Error code like O2 sensors can only be cleared with a "Clear command" of scanner and not by resetting ECU (remove battery). 

@ASAD. try clearing the code with OBD2 scanner. If there's no issue with the car & clearing the code doesn't bring the code back, it's just a temporary glitch due to 4L to 2WD switching too fast (happened yesterday with a friend's Fortuner 4.0).  If no OBD2 scanner available, come to the meeting point and we'll clear the CEL for you 😊 

@Simon Dawood your Pajero vid conquering Iftar Bowl 👇🏻

@Mario Cornejo looks bumpy while going up, and also down when riding the ridge... i know @GauravSoni did say take a better line, but maybe your shocks are tuned for highway (comfort / soft damper) instead of max firmness 😅

well done bro @munkybizness . Well-deserved promotion and even more after your performance & support last night 👍🏻 Go further & higher 👏🏻

39 minutes ago, Chaitanya D said:

Zeddy jinxed at start and the drive ends all well. We had fun 

Yeah with easy starting into the dunes, I noticed the 2 Nissans are like bodyguards guarding the 3 VIP Jeeps. And then just like in a warzone, it's the first car and the last car who "took the hits" for the team 😂😂😂 while the VIP Jeeps are happily smoking and chatting away 😅

The Fewbie Level Track finished at 11:30pm and Doc Marshal asked my opinion if we should switch track to a FB+ level. Seeing the 3 VIP Jeeps drove so well without any stuck, I had no objection going to FB+ (or mini Intermediate since this is Sweihan). 

The Team handled it well until we reach higher and higher and finally hit a pocket high up. Great teamwork up there, with everyone shovelling every possible side to make channel and try to give room for the wheels to sway front & back, rock-a-baby style and try to get out. Alas after some brainstorming, it was decided a traction board would help the rear tyre gain traction for getting out of the pocket. It was a good call, as the car managed to get out safely. Not many times in Carnity we get to use Traction Boards / Sand Ladders ☺️

Guess who was there last night with Traction Boards? (and yes to entertain @Srikumar it was those cheap traction boards from DragonMart, not the 1000dhs+ MaxTrax 😁)

Great second lead by @Amr Aydin always listening closely to Doc Marshal when to stop and wait. 

Amazing skills for someone who just finished a MasterClass and first Fewbie Night Drive @Brett Eicher. Wonder if the teacher is that Marshal with a similar XJ Jeep Manual? 😀

@Haitham Khattab i feel is due for promotion soon. I noticed at times he picks alternative sand, a bit to the right, a bit to th left, cos they are just easier and flatter. Not bad for terrain-reading at night 👍🏻

Always happy to support Doc Marshal @Chaitanya D everytime he's in Sweihan 👍🏻

Till next time Team!

5 minutes ago, Srikumar said:

Its about time to up the challenge for our Pajero drivers....hopefully they will have some portion of the dune remaining after your boat goes through.

the 2 earthquake tremors last night happened after my boat hit hard on the Sweihan dunes 😂 at Doc @Chaitanya D's Fewbie turned almost IM drive 😄

1 hour ago, Srikumar said:

Convoy Numbering

1. Srikumar - XJ

2. Waqas - Prado

3. Vaibhav - Wrangler

4. Zed - Y62

5. Mayank - Y61

6. Mustafa - Pajero

7. Simon - Pajero

8. Asad - Prado

9. Daniel - Y61

10. Matt - Wrangler

11. Ranjan - Wrangler

 

We shall be using Carnity Channel 3. See you at the meeting point tonight at 10 PM sharp. 

Interesting dynamics here... the Pajeros @Mus_hus78 @Simon Dawood are behind the Patrols 😅 Good CenterForward for the recently promoted support @munkybizness and of course the 2nd most experienced @Ranjan Das as Sweeper closes the team tight. 

*lemme take off my rear mudflaps now 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️

Congrats @Gerrit Bus 👍🏻 see you next time in Sweihan 😊

15 minutes ago, Srikumar said:

@Zed I take serious offence to this statement. Now, one should not blame me if they bring Fake Patrols from Dragon Marts. @munkybizness thankfully drives the real deal... 😂

Duly-noted and I apologize... I'll bring extra tape for the fake Patrol bumpers, seeing these fake bumpers weren't as strong last time we were in Sweihan in your night drive 😄