[garrett_t16]

Just got up and man did i sleep like a rock !

yesterday never seemed to end , we started off at 6am from our respective houses and i was back home at 10 , was one of the best sunday's ever , a brilliant otr and a bunch of good exo's is all it takes to make your day !

Breakdown hell because out of the 9 vehicles only 3 were running perfectly fine by the end of the otr !

casualties of the day-

Manan (jeep) - broke front prop shaft , while recovering (i could do the obstacle by myself , one jeep was stuck so badly that 2 jeeps had to pull her out and this is when it broke)
[ATTACH][/ATTACH]

Ibrahim (one litre gypsy) - broke front prop shaft (god knows how) and even after that , attempted the obstacle in 2wd and got stuck badly , well that explains the name 'flying ibrahim'


Paras (one litre gypsy) - was standing with his car when i notice the transfer case resting on the ground


Imran ladak - engine almost took in water (air filter was wet) made a bandanna air filer , let the pictures do the talking , till then he just stuck to his cycle.


Abhi (thar) - she sucked in water , when we checked , the oil was like an off-white cream/foam , so we drained and changed the oil and the oil filter there only , and when we were on our way to the mechanic she overheated and blew the head gasket , she had to be towed . surprisingly when the air filter was opened , it was completely dry. she performed well ifs was not a problem.


Ritesh (green jeep) - engine took up water , had to be towed (here is where my prop shaft broke)


Kishor (jeep) - best performer of the day , no problems ! thats one hell of a jeep !



Prasad (jonga) - even though he did not offroad and it was an engine run in trip for him , she ran beautifully in the morning but had some fuel pump issues while coming back , thats one hell of a job towing the 2.5 tonner


Imran saudagar(gypsy) - performed without any hassles.

[genesis]

See no evil
Hear no evil
Speak no evil
What an evil day with a bunch of Evel Knievels...



Stop says the red light



Go says the green



Get ready says the yellow one



A twinkle in between



@Friends & Mods: Please dont turn this into a Thar thread. This is the 4x4 excursions forum...

[Jaggu]

How did the engine take in water in Thar??? it should be better off compared to our old jeeps. I had same issue in DwArF but water got in through the filler cap which is nowhere close to sealed. Hope the damage and tab is small.

[genesis]

Jack And Jill





Went up the hill



To fetch a pail of water



Jack fell down



And broke his crown



Jill came tumbling after

[King413]

Originally Posted by garrett_t16

.

Surprising to see Gypsy transfer case resting on the ground, Any idea as to how this happened?
And Guys i don't see even one vehicle with a Snorkel? driving in the water is just asking for trouble or testing our luck. Like most, don't go in for a snorkel after busting the engine. Better safe than sorry.

[garrett_t16]

prithvi - first his transfer case got a little jerky and then it got stuck in 4H and couldnt shift to anything else , so then we thought lets see if it is drivable , and it was , for a bit before the whole assembly fell off that is

[genesis]

Humpty Dumpty



Sat on a wall



Humpty Dumpty



Had a great fall



And all the kings horses



And all the kings men



Could not put Humpty Dumpty



Together again

[GTO]

Garrett & Genesis : Superb report man! Tungarli is one of my favourite spots to go 4wheeling. Best part is, you can keep on exploring till as much time as you have...there really is no "dead end" as such.

On the water : I H-A-T-E taking my Classic through water. Even if you have a snorkel, water completely messes up the electrical components of the vehicle. The last time I did was with Allan at Mahape, but never after that.

@ Speedy : Your Thar looks drool-worthy. But get a proper roll cage and steer clear of water!

[genesis]

Jack be nimble



Jack be quick



Jack jump over



The candlestick

[speedy]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

How did the engine take in water in Thar??? it should be better off compared to our old jeeps. I had same issue in DwArF but water got in through the filler cap which is nowhere close to sealed. Hope the damage and tab is small.

The water went in through the exhaust. The engine bay surprisingly was dry and so was the air filters. The oil however had turned white due to the water. We did change the oil filter and the oil at the otr site itself, but due to some overheating issue blew the head ghasket just as she reached lonavala. What baffles me is the garage person in Lonavala said the radiator was running on empty, where as my boys had topped up all fluids on saturday itself and the car was taken on sunday morning. We did not hit anywhere, that could cause a leak in the radiator.

Originally Posted by GTO

@ Speedy : Your Thar looks drool-worthy. But get a proper roll cage and steer clear of water!

Thank you GTO.

This was the second run of the Thar through water and she did the first one beautifuly under the hands of Devang, i am told. I was helping recover Ibrahims Gypsy the first time.

This was the first taste of wilderness that the Thar got and i wanted to gather in the negatives of the car, so that i may improvise on them. I still dont know the Thar as well as i know my Fortuner, so this was more of an introduce yourselves Otr as far as i am concerned. The roll cage is definatly on the cards and since Allan was busy i just brought her in like this itself.

I like taking the car through everything including water. Even though the Ecu was in contact with water, there were no issues with it as it has a water proof covering. I would be making some changes and going in for another shot.

[genesis]

The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout.



Down came the rain, and washed the spider out.



Up came the sun, and dried up all the rain,



and the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by speedy

The water went in through the exhaust.

This would cause seizure and not mix with oil? Talking from experience Unless there is a leak in the turbo lubrication or something. Oil contamination with water is from somewhere else.

Exhaust to Inlet is separate from oil and water line's in an engine.

M&M experts can comment.

My "guess" water went in through one of the breather, but i understand these engines have positive vent, so unless you stall water will not get in so easily. On the other hand, water in exhaust would have resulted in engine getting stalled, and then water would have gone in through the breather??

But one thing! i have been warning about these engines, water proofing them. We have seen scorpio's conking off without warning as soon as they touch water. Nobody gave proper reply to the questions put forward on this or water proofing of Thar. But i think for offroad use either company or the individual owner should address these issues to avoid pain. Right from the sensors, which can give off and stall the engine when wet.

Another scenario, the vehicle already had a blown head gasket and hence water from radiator got mixed with oil? Driver would have seen the coolant level low and would have topped up the radiator previous day?

EDIT: If people remember, last year on the last day of EXAMM many vehicles that participated, including gypsy and jeeps took such deep water baths. None of them had contaminated oil.

EDIT2: Speedy check the radiator for leak first, if not you still stand a chance to prove that head gasket failed much earlier and hence oil contamination.

[mashmash]

Awesome rhymes and lovely pics... Any particular reason for so many shafts breaking? Were there rocks on the water body bed?

[genesis]

Originally Posted by mashmash

Awesome rhymes and lovely pics... Any particular reason for so many shafts breaking? Were there rocks on the water body bed?

The water bed was not rocky. However there was one dry section which was a bed of rocks. The two gypsy's which took hits went through that. The jeeps twisted shaft happened after towing the 550 which was towing the 540. No idea why it twisted like a pretzel though.

[V-16]

IMHO, (dont take this badly) but it was a disaster. Any OTR with so many break downs cannot be fun at all. And by the looks of it it was not a trail that warranted all these break downs. That means that;

1) You guys are not looking after your vehicles
2) There looks to be no chain of comand here
3) No one seems to be listening to anyone

Sorry and before you guys get upset, i have been barking like s dog again and again about the basic rules to be followed.

Speedy, sorry bro but your Thar had no business to break down and swallow water. This means one thing. You either got careless or you got too confident. Thar is not God that will overcome all obstacles and water is a very strong foe. I can imagine that there are always jokers etching you on to get in the water, i have seen it in the past being tried on me too. "Aree darr mat, le le paani mein lele, Kucch nahi hoga:" are some of the terms used. Then one goes in. The engine stalls and one makes the cardinal mistake of cranling the engine. Finished!! Your gasket is cooked. If you are still calous, pop goes your head.

I agree with GTO that one must stay clear of water when it can be avoided, especially muddy, mucky water. Buffaloes and Hippos get into that kind of stuff and by no means any of our 4X4s fall into that group. Besides getting your electricals messed up and your radiator clogged.

Secondly i have seen a lack of co ordination between the participants and the organizers. I dont know when people will learn that this is not some macho show off thing but a sport that needs to be enjoyed carefully, safely and without unnecessarily inviting break downs. Of course breakdowns may happen anytime but that does not mean one invites it.

I have learnt a thing or two from my previous escapades which i will share here (not refering to this otr as i was not there)

Never go in a large group, unless you know each and every driver well. No acquaintance stuff here, i mean really know them well and that is because the newer guys never follow instructions. So better not to attend than go with a bunch of unorganized hooligans.

Make sure rules are followed.

Keep the event strictly "By invitation only" that means no one can bring their vehicle randomly and join in. f there is a guest, he has to be a passenger.

Make sure who are the spotters at the beginning of the event and make sure that no one inexperienced tries his hand at spotting.

Make sure that all vehicles participating adhere to the minimum safety standards like Roll bar/cage and seat belts at the minimum.

Have a proper trail charted out and make sure no one deviates. Especially when seeing water. o one will try a trail unless the lead vehicle goes through and determines it fit to travel for all. If the lead Vehicle says no, it means no. If then someone tries some stunt, let that vehicle be rescued after the trail is finished and let the driver travel as a passenger for the rest of the trail.

I may have been harsh but this is going to get worse if these things are not imposed. If no one wants to follow, why come with us? Go find your own trail and have an OTR experience yourself. I have spoken!!