Thomas Varghese

Congrats @Rajiv Sam

congrats @munkybizness

Congrats @Ranjan Das. It was due for your performances.

Hi all, I am sad to leave the drive but not that sad. I had brought an engine wiring harness from US for my car and a gallary gasket which is inside the timing cover. The wiring because all my wiring connectors were breaking apart. The gallary gasket because my car VVT was getting starved of oil and it was rattling at low rpm's. Car was in garage and both got fixed. The rattling stopped and engine is super silent after fixing the gallary gasket. The wiring fit like a glove everywhere except at the A/F sensors. The wiring as it was bought from US came with US specifications, not GCC specs. The A/F sensor for GCC spec has 5 wires whereas the US model has 4 wires. After rummaging through the 2nd hand market for a A/F sensor with 4 wires I found out its the same for Armada and Infinity QX 70. Unfortunately I will get the sensor only today afternoon by 12.30 and there is not enough time to fix it and join the drive. Will see you all soon in the sands with a better performing car soon.

@Ale Vallecchi I have to leave the drive as my car has a check engine light and I need to source an A/F sensor.

Really sorry @ASAD.. As @Looper mentioned I was looking at the convoy list too to thank everyone. Thanks for helping me out with the pop out. By the way you had such an uneventful drive. Never heard you on the radio seeking assistance. Well done buddy.

Don't be annoyed @Tom B. You provided us with an opportunity to practice what @Gaurav taught us and pass on to new drivers the skills needed very much. Situations like this happen when you do an extreme sport like desert driving. It could have been anyone in the convoy including me in that situation. The most important thing in these situations is give up all your intuitions on what to do. 1st thing 1st is immediately shut off the engine and wait for instructions from the team lead and others in the convoy without panicking. You did great in all the 3 areas. By the grace of God we tackled the situation with ease and you and your car came down unharmed and we continued our drive.

THE UNEVENTFUL DRIVE - IM LEVEL. Looks like @Shaaz Sha's faqa adventures are uneventful. Of course for a convoy consisting of @Ranjan Das, @Simon Dawood, @Mus_hus78, @Zed, @Tom B, @Mohamad Anwer, evercool @Matt.T, @Anoop Nair, veteran @Ashok chaturvedi, me & the not so looping @Looper this is business as usual. A split tire, a pop out and a non starting wrangler is not going to deter us from pursuing our adventure. Just business as usual. The crowning moment came when @Tom B's car decided to scare him with an angled stop at the slip face of a dune. There were 5 of us who had witnessed almost the same situation in a previous drive at LIWA and how the legend @Gaurav handled the situation to bring the car down to the flats. The lead @Shaaz Sha, @Ashok chaturvedi, @Ranjan Das, @Mus_hus78 & me were the witnesses and students. For us the situation was perfect to sharpen our skills which @Gaurav taught us. @Tom B was level headed to switch off the engine, cool to obey the instructions of the lead, and courageous to stay in the car and execute the necessary maneuvers called for by the lead. End result - A big grin on everybody's face and a sigh of relief to see a successful recovery. With this @Shaaz Sha has proved he is worthy enough to be a lead and to go on to be a marshal. Special thanks to everybody else in the convoy to climb up the dune and slowly shovel out the car to bring it angled perpendicular to the ground down and to let gravity help the car to slide down to safety. Kudos and cheers. Will not bat an eyelid to join a convoy of such strength and comradeship. @Mohamad Anwer had a split tire which was exchanged with his spare tire. I am amazed by the tool kit of @Ashok chaturvedi which had all the box wrenches, extenders and even a clutch ratchet. Got to shop for 1 and keep it in my car. This was soon followed by a rear right pop out from my car. Fixed in no time and we continued the adventure. Soon after @Anoop Nair's wrangler gave him a nail biting moment of not starting. My X had given me some tense moments like this before and I knew what to make the car start. @Anoop Nair please go to a good electrical shop and change the solenoid switch of your starter motor. The solenoid motor is now beginning to fail. All this only added to the excitement of the drive. Then came the tense moments at the slip face of a slide slope of @Tom B's car. Nothing deterred us to stop the drive. Thats why I called it an uneventful drive. This is all now routine to us IM drivers of @Carnity club. We go in as 1 unit and exit as 1 in the same convoy order. SEE YOU ALL SOON IN THE SANDS.