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Akbar went to the store. To the owner of the car parts store and of a similar land rover and explained the predicament.

It took him a few minutes to understand.

The first thing we did was replace the slave cylinder assembly for the clutch. This was the easy part. The good thing was that he had the assembly ready, at a minor cost-up over the cost in the UK.

Once the car was road-worthy, the next thing was to sort the overheating.

Before he could see the car Mr P. (from the parts store) had identified the issue with the overheating as a typical failure of the 200TDi.

Akbar came over and explained to me what it was.

Gaadi bimaar ho jaati hai, garam honey par. Jab aadmi ko fever aata hai toh haath pair bhi kharaab ho jaata hai. Gaadi cool chalegi, sab theek chalega.

There is a simple logic in what he says that I must agree with. Any machine that runs over the permissible temperature limit will misbehave. This car has been touching warning limits.

OK. Right, so how do we keep the car cool?

Radiator pankha. Apne pankhe mein clutch hai.
Clutch?
Clutch hai. Woh electric nahi hai, engine pe chalta hai.
But the fan does rotate.
yes, but not proportional to the RPM of the engine.

Meaning?

Akbar goes on to explain that there are 3 fans in the car. 2 electrically operated fans that work on the air conditioning. And one mechanical fan.

In his manner he explains that the fan in the land rover turns yes, but a clutch is engaged, but as the engine gets hotter, the fan clutch causes the engine to turn at full capacity.

Who told you this?

I look it up on wikipedia. Could he be right?

Fan clutch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"A fan clutch is as reliable as any other component on a vehicle, yet sometimes they fail. A common symptom of fan clutch failure is overheating at idle or in heavy traffic. Bad fan clutches can also cause poor performance of the car's air conditioning system because the fan also cools the air conditioner's condenser, which is directly in front of the radiator. A fan clutch can also fail in a stuck on position where engine power is lost even when the fan is not necessary. This type of failure can also decrease fuel economy. Another potential symptom of fan clutch failure (always drawing air at a high rate) in a cold weather climate is that the heating system blows lukewarm air never delivering sufficient hot air. The bearings in the fan clutch can be worn, causing extra grinding sound from the engine area."

I called the store. Mr. P. what do you think is the problem?
I think it is the viscous fan clutch. Please ask your garage to check it.

A visit to the garage confirms Mr. P's fear. The viscous clutch has failed. The fan does not gain speed as the engine gets hotter. hence at lower RPMs, everything seems to be running fine.

Also the aircon failure is related, just as Wiki explained.

Mr. P delivers me a new viscous clutch unit. Akbar picks it up and rushes to the garage.

Main radiator khulvaane waala hoon.
Radiator? Why don't you have it cleaned at the pump.
Nope. We have to remove it.
Why?
We have to remove the radiator. I know it.

The garage guy also tells him not to remove the radiator. The radiator is a multi-chamber complicated affair. 3 or 4 different chambers cool various fluids in the car.

I try to convince Akbar to change the fan and explain to him that this will mostly solve the problem. He is adamant.

Radiator khulvaneka hai. Buss.

Man, try never to let go of Akbar even if it means paying him a salary double the ongoing market rate, such gems are rare to find and he is a keeper for sure! clap:

Radiator khulvana hai buss.

He argues with the garage who has also attempted to convince him that air blown in through the fins will do the job.
The garage has realized one cannot convince adamant Akbar.

Sir?
yes Admiral Ackbar? (Star Wars fans will recognise the private joke. I call him this sometimes.)
Maine bola tha na???

The radiator is completely corroded. Running a finger on the fins results in crumble.
Turns out he was right all along.

But why did no one remove the radiator?
The admiral concludes that it is a pain to dissasemble the radiator on the land rover. So everyone avoided it.

Perhaps he is right.

A new radiator is a daunting prospect. This is a rather large and complicated radiator.

8 alg-alag pipe lagta hai isme maloom?

Hmm.. With great dread I ask him to speak to Mr. P.
30,000 rupees.

Holy moly!!

Akbar convinces me that he knows a radiator specialist. He says I should stay out of this.
With minimal interference from my end and 4 additional days, Akbar gets a new radiator made using the framework of the current radiator.

He ensures that it is made in the same fashion.

Warna power steering ka oil, coolant mein mix ho jayega. He explains why it is important to not make any changes in the way the radiator is built.

Copper ka bananeka radiator. Copper ka fin. Copper best hota hai.

Four days later, the new radiator is given for black spray painting. On the 5th day he picks up the Land Rover. He has had the new viscous clutch assembly installed.
he has had the new radiator installed.
He has purchased coolant. Foreign car wala coolant. Japan ka coolant golden cruiser.
He has replaced the intercooler hose.

He has returned triumphant. Ab gaadi garam hua toh bech dena. Jao poona.

That was indeed the last time the car ever got hot again. Last week I drove from Poona to Bombay in 2.5 hours. I drove at 80-90 miles per hour all the way. 3500 rpm mostly.
The needle hugged the C mark, rising to the first notch once on the ghats.

As I approach 80 miles an hour I am still laughing and Akbar's explanation of miles to the other drivers.

Yeh bahar ka kilometre hai maloom?
India ka gaadi 80 ka speed pe chalta hai toh 80 ka speed hi hota hai.
Baahar ka gaadi 80 ka speed pe chalta hai, toh apna 120 kilometre ke barabar hota hai.

The Land Rover works perfectly, now reliably and beautifully.

When you see a green Land Rover 200TDi next in Mumbai, look inside. The guy on the right, driving is usually me. The guy in the passenger seat is Akbar, enjoying his drive, his music and arguing with me on how engines work.

Thank you for reading my rather long update. VROOOM!!

WOW What a journey and the way you've conveyed it, I feel that I was with you throughout the journey. I had heating issues too in my jeep and I know what one feel, plus the jeep isn't an everyday day vehicle which ones family rides. I could understand the frustration when something goes wrong and we can't seem to figure it out. Good that that phase is now over.
Best of luck. Cheers

So what were the final damages on FABRICATED radiator. Must been way less than 30K, that Mr. P quoted for new radiator.

Raab rakha.

...and that is the secret of long-term enjoyment of ownership for every car. As long as Mr P is in business, you can keep your LR and drive it too. You wouldn't be sharing Mr P's whereabouts here or in the Directory section, would you? :)

INCREDIBLE!!!! I almost had tears in my eyes when I reached the end of the story! I tell you Sam, i was reading this blog like a book! Completely hooked on to it!! And luckily I read it today, so read the whole story in one go! All the ups and downs! There is awesome passion in the writing! I can see how passionate you are about this beautiful Landie!

A special salute to Akbar! Hats off man!

You are one lucky guy! Amazing car, amazing people surrounding it and an amazing story! Cheers! And wishing you many many more trouble-free MILES in it! Enjoy your car!

:uncontrol & clap:... Sam, your driver isn't just a driver, he is a Rover Doctor, sort of MD/ specialist. He will gauge the LR, tell what is wrong with the car, & prescribe the best remedy, if only he would start with an "Rx" in prescriptions.

Marvelous is his love for the imported gaadi, & this is what I can compliment best.


BTW, my father is amused why there is a crazy smile (almost ready to burst into laughter) on my face.

The radiator-wala had quoted between 7 and 9 thousand rupees, depending on the work after he took it apart.
He charged me Rs. 8350/- however he handed over an unpainted radiator.

In order to make a rebuilt radiator run longer and without corrosion, it is necessary to spray paint the entire unit. Akbar had this done at the same garage that dissasembled and reassembled the fan and radiator.

How about badging the LANDI as "AKBAROVER". As a tribute to the real enthusiast.

Raab rakha.

Dear Sam,

I believe you should get akbar into our Technical section, with the user name, Akbar - The Admiral or rename your rangy to Akbarover, as suggested above. Fantastic guy and great assertion of the problem. Great to see another person with so much interest and enthusiasm into vehicles.clap: So, can you give the final pic of the new radiator? Thanks.

Alphakilo.

This thread remains incomplete without the picture of "Mr Akbar".

Gentlemen,

I understand that he is irreplaceable and that I would not have got this far without his help. I am grateful to him. However, you must appreciate one fact:

Akbar cannot read or write. What he lacks for in education, he makes up for in enthusiasm, common sense and intellect (which he possesses in abundance). Petrolhead as he may be, he will be unable to participate in this forum.

A nice write up i read it in one go very interesting hats off.

Akbar is a "padikatha myethai" as in a Tamil saying which means a genius without education (self taught). I hope you will definitely help him to read and write soon. Can you post his picture along with the interiors of your Landy?

KNow what !!! For some reason I feel like meeting Akbar , atleast once in a life time . I know he would have loads and loads of awesome stuff to talk about and jI would not get bored a bit . You're a lucky guy to have a friend like Akbar . I wouldnt wanna refer to him as a driver anymore . :)