[HillyThar]

I wanted to bring up the Thar hand brake issue again. Its now been close to 15 months since I got the Thar, other niggles aside, the barely functioning/non-functioning hand brake really grinds my gears.

For one to drive a vehicle without a functioning hand brake is embarrassing at best, and stupidly dangerous as worst, and I for one have been driving it in the hills like that, and its not funny anymore to look for a brick/rock when one stalls in the middle of traffic on a steep slope. With just a few feet of clearance behind the vehicle, the Thar tends to roll back a few feet despite the agilest of efforts, and without a functioning handbrake I always feel its a bit dicey when stranded on a steep slope.

I do believe the issue is fairly widespread across the Thar range, the mechanics at the service centres told me so as well. I have got it looked at multiple times at the official service centres in Shimla and Chandigarh, at the most the cable has been tightened up and all it does is makes the handbrake more difficult to pull up, it hasn't made it any more effective.

I want to find out how widespread is the non-functioning hand brake issue amongst the Thar owners represented here, and if they managed to resolve it (to a fully functional hand brake), where/how was it done?

I also want to explore if we can petition Mahindra directly to help resolve the issue, if widespread, by a voluntary product recall and corrective measures. Paging Mr. Dhabhar Behram to chip in and give some valuable suggestions!

[ASVA]

Hello Team.

I am posting on behalf of my friends' father. The gentleman owns a Thar crde which is only 8 months old and has been maintained in immaculate condition. He lives in Uttarakhand and owns and runs a health resort and uses his Thar for his pleasure.

Often, while climbing up the mountains to his resort, he gets a distinct smell of the clutch burning. He has approached Mahindra and they have replaced the entire clutch assembly along with the pressure plates etc but the problem still persists. In fact, at times, the same has been observed in Delhi too, when he visits for work and for the vehicle's service.

The Gentleman knows his vehicles and also drives a Grand Vitara. As explained by him, it is definitely a Clutch smell, and not exhaust gas smell. He is well aware of bad driving manners of Clutch riding and driving with the hand-brake on.

Anyone facing similar problems? Any pointers to what the cause could be?

Appreciate your help.

Regards
ASVA

[starter]

Originally Posted by ASVA

Hello Team.

I am posting on behalf of my friends' father. The gentleman owns a Thar crde which is only 8 months old and has been maintained in immaculate condition. He lives in Uttarakhand and owns and runs a health resort and uses his Thar for his pleasure.

Often, while climbing up the mountains to his resort, he gets a distinct smell of the clutch burning. He has approached Mahindra and they have replaced the entire clutch assembly along with the pressure plates etc but the problem still persists. In fact, at times, the same has been observed in Delhi too, when he visits for work and for the vehicle's service.

The Gentleman knows his vehicles and also drives a Grand Vitara. As explained by him, it is definitely a Clutch smell, and not exhaust gas smell. He is well aware of bad driving manners of Clutch riding and driving with the hand-brake on.

Anyone facing similar problems? Any pointers to what the cause could be?

Appreciate your help.

Regards
ASVA

Dear ASVA,
I had a similar issue in my Gypsy and found the problem to be a gear oil seal failure.
Ask your friend's father to take his Thar to a workshop where it could be hoisted up and check for any oil leakage on the complete exhaust assembly.
There could be a possible oil leak which is dripping on the exhaust and thus resulting in a burning smell.
Cheers,
Deepak

[Firebird]

Hello Folks,

My Thar is well a year old. Last week I went to Ratnagiri and the trail required me to engage 4h to reach the plot I have been developing. To my surprise the the lever kept moving out of 4H. This is the first time I engaged 4H. Not having 4H, I continued in 2H. At a point I had to cross shallow river for a distance of probably 200 or 300 meters. In that adventure I managed to sink the rear wheel in loose sand with wheel spin. The quick solution was to try 4L and it worked well. Moment I took the foot off from clutch paddle, Thar moved and I was back on track.

This shows me that 4L is working, however 4H seems to be not engaging.

I am no expert of 4x4 system. Can someone please suggest me what should be my next step, obvious being take Thar to service center. Am I looking at some adjustments in engaging mechanism or a bad gearbox? Can I ask this to be corrected even if Thar is now out of warranty? I appreciate your response, as I am little disturbed with this issue. Also non of the dash indicator illuminated to suggest 4H and 4L.

The last service I specifically asked to check if my 4x4 system is working and I got to know that it's working correctly, which now doesn't seem to be right.

[Floating Axle]

Originally Posted by Firebird

Hello Folks,

To my surprise the the lever kept moving out of 4H. This is the first time I engaged 4H. Not having 4H, I continued in 2H. At a point I had to cross shallow river for a distance of probably 200 or 300 meters. In that adventure I managed to sink the rear wheel in loose sand with wheel spin. The quick solution was to try 4L and it worked well. Moment I took the foot off from clutch paddle, Thar moved and I was back on track.

This shows me that 4L is working, however 4H seems to be not engaging.

Also non of the dash indicator illuminated to suggest 4H and 4L.

The last service I specifically asked to check if my 4x4 system is working and I got to know that it's working correctly, which now doesn't seem to be right.

Hi,

1. In case 4L is engaging and 4H not means 4x4 not engaging at all. You must have felt 4L engaged because of torque on rear wheel in 4L. (This is one of the probability)

2. There is no 4x4 indications in Thar.

3. Next time you visit ASC, ramp up the vehicle and run in 4x4. You can witness its function.

Regards.

Neelesh

[akshay4587]

What brand of coolant does thar come with from the assembly line?
I have never seen a purple colored coolant in open market.
I need to purchase 1L for top ups.

[sjcherian]

The coolant used by Mahindra is Mahindra Maximile Ultracool.

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by sjcherian

The coolant used by Mahindra is Mahindra Maximile Ultracool.

Yeah,i figured that out from the Manual,but where do i get it?
Its not available in the open market.
And during the last service of our Scorpio,the ASS guys replaced it with the usual green one.

[amolpol]

Originally Posted by akshay4587

Yeah,i figured that out from the Manual,but where do i get it?
Its not available in the open market.
And during the last service of our Scorpio,the ASS guys replaced it with the usual green one.

The maxi ultracool isn't available in the open market as far as I have checked. And to add to the agony, the ASCs aren't supposed to sell it over the counter. But you can arm twist the ASC to buy some bottles to keep as spare, that's how I have gotten it, not the best way but it worked.

And you can add pure water in case the coolant levels go down, so don't fret too much if you don't have it handy.

Btw, I've not needed a coolant top up ever since they fixed the leaks.

[Firebird]

Moderator - Apologies - Wanted to post in Thar, however by mistake did in Scorpio. Can you move this please. Thank you.

I hate to post on this Thread, however I am doing it.

My Thar has been with Mahindra service center from Past 3 weeks. Yes you read it right 3 weeks.

It so happened that my native place visit made me realize that 4H was not engaging and in a tricky river crossing I got stuck, fortunately 4L extended helping hand and vehicle moved ahead.

To get the 4H fixed, I drove to NBS showroom on last Sunday of 2013. They did a good trial with me and acknowledged the issue with 4H to be with link and nothing major. It got fixed too in no time. Perfect Mahindra.

During trial I asked to check a strange noise I been hearing all that year, like a grinding noise. The expert on trial acknowledged the issue and they said they will investigate. NBS came back to me after lot of investigation and said there might be issue with timing pulley, charges quoted 5K as vehicle just went past the warranty date 5 days back then. I flatly refused without spending a single second as that’s not abuse issue. They later came back and said, they took approval and will cover in Warranty.

The events so happened that the issues they were saying and fixing nothing solved the problem. Finally they zeroed down on Oil pump and said it needs replacement as that’s the suspect which is not working to the optimum efficiency

And like a fairy tale, then they lived happily forever, they have been waiting forever for the Oil Pump. Last I spoke with them on Thursday evening when they said they received the spare and would update me.

I do have City which does the daily office job, hence it is not pinching me. However this is making me wonder, what kind of Supply chain model Mahindra follows. None of the dealer had single Oil Pump, nor did the factory release one.

I hate to say, but I feel Mahindra is not worth spending money. My personal opinion. I don’t care whoever wants to say otherwise or defend that they are the best in India or world. By now you would have understood that I am addition to the list of frustrated souls due to Mahindra.

The product design is excellent; however the execution is where it has gaps. Now that I am in, I would try to sail through.

Inventory of Issues I faced till now.
1. Grabby Brakes - Month 1 - resolved
2. Locked Tailgate - Month 4 - Resolved
3. Loose Hand Brake - Always - intermittent issue hence no solution
4. Wipers Stopped working in Rains - started on own after a week. No issue found.
5. Brake Issue (Oh no again!!) - Month 6 - Super sensitivity, touch the paddle and vehicle stops then and there - Resolved
5. Broken inside Door Handle - Month 10 - No Stock
6. 4H not engaging - Resolved - I am yet to Check
7. Grinding noise - Not sure if fixed - I am yet to check

About Mahindra Service Center - I was reading on various posts to stay away from authorized service center, post warranty, however I don’t agree here. Service center has offered me solutions, which I am guessing would have been difficult in so called Jeep expert JUGAD shops. If there are experts available I have not got a single contact from anyone on the forum. Sorry to say guys, but that’s a fact.

Slowly I am learning how to handle jeep tantrums on your own.

[red herring]

I did not expect this issue after 14000+ km of use ( across all types of terrains - good and very bad) but now I find that my Thar tilts towards the right side. The gap between the front wheel and the wheel arch is nearly an inch more on the left side than on the right. I have read about other Thars with the same issue and how the front torsion bar setting has to be aligned on both sides to fix this. But can this 'misalignment' happen even after a prolonged use and without any tinkering or is there something else I need to look for? This tilt happened on its own and I have been using my Thar only for city driving for the last 2-3k kms and I'm very sure it was not there all this while. I also noticed that there is a pronounced steering kick-back which was also missing so far. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[shireeshjacobs]

my goodness!! this is an absolute disaster!!

thank goodness I saw this thread in time. I was almost about to drop some money on a 2nd hand Thar. Logic being that the first owner would have gone through the misery of sorting out these niggles and irritants and I would just smoothly inherit a rectified vehicle.

But reading everyone's posts and seeing the misery they have gone through, it is clear that the only reason that someone is selling a Thar is because it is absolute rubbish and they just want to get rid of a reminder of a shattered dream. This in turn shatters my dream of driving a Thar up to Leh. Never going to happen is it, especially with the inconsistent quality of Thars being churned out.

I am stuck! Would some of you who have travelled down this path please suggest an alternative 4x4 that a 'salaried' person could get hold of for 6 to 7L that will take him from Bangalore to Leh and back in one piece? That was my plan for this year and for the next it was a Bangalore to Bangkok adventure (if that is actually possible, not exactly sure).

Please please help!! I'm hitting mid-life and not able to find a suitable vehicle from my crisis!!

Feathered and THARred
Shireesh

[sjcherian]

Originally Posted by shireeshjacobs

my goodness!! this is an absolute disaster!!

thank goodness I saw this thread in time. I was almost about to drop some money on a 2nd hand Thar. Logic being that the first owner would have gone through the misery of sorting out these niggles and irritants and I would just smoothly inherit a rectified vehicle.

But reading everyone's posts and seeing the misery they have gone through, it is clear that the only reason that someone is selling a Thar is because it is absolute rubbish and they just want to get rid of a reminder of a shattered dream. This in turn shatters my dream of driving a Thar up to Leh. Never going to happen is it, especially with the inconsistent quality of Thars being churned out.

I am stuck! Would some of you who have travelled down this path please suggest an alternative 4x4 that a 'salaried' person could get hold of for 6 to 7L that will take him from Bangalore to Leh and back in one piece? That was my plan for this year and for the next it was a Bangalore to Bangkok adventure (if that is actually possible, not exactly sure).

Please please help!! I'm hitting mid-life and not able to find a suitable vehicle from my crisis!!

Feathered and THARred
Shireesh

Take your time and go find a used Thar at a steal of a price. I did and have now driven it for 1 yr and 8 months now covering over 14K Kms and is my daily drive (do read my review thread for issues I faced).
However its not a head decision but a heart one - if you expect a Thar to be perfect you will never be happy !

[shireeshjacobs]

Hi SJCherian,

I am tempted for sure. Always been. I did read your ownership post also in great detail.

As you say this is something you don't think about too much and you just appreciate the vehicle for what it is and don't focus on what its not.

How much did you spend on your vehicle if you don't mind me asking? Altnernatively, in your opinion how much do you think I should spend on a 2nd hand Thar CRDE 4x4 (say 2011 or 2012)?

Also, what is the mileage you are currently getting in Chennai city traffic? What is your annual maintenance cost like?

Thanks
Shireesh

[TuxDiesel]

Originally Posted by shireeshjacobs

my goodness!! this is an absolute disaster!!


I am stuck! Would some of you who have travelled down this path please suggest an alternative 4x4 that a 'salaried' person could get hold of for 6 to 7L that will take him from Bangalore to Leh and back in one piece? That was my plan for this year and for the next it was a Bangalore to Bangkok adventure (if that is actually possible, not exactly sure).

Please please help!! I'm hitting mid-life and not able to find a suitable vehicle from my crisis!!

Feathered and THARred
Shireesh

One more alternative that you can think of is a second hand pajero. One of my colleague bought a 5 year old second hand 4x4. It does the job. If you read some of the excursions forums, they perform quite well and at times better than the jeeps on off road conditions.

As sjcherian and many others mentioned, it is a choice made not by plain reason. In my humble opinion, Thar as of now seems to be the only jeep that is available which doesn't burn a hole in a salaried person's pocket and a established network of service centres to take care of basic maintenance.