[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Because this is not old amby.
If you open radiator its dark inside. So the only clue to coolant being there or not is the coolant tank.
Coolant tank was full. Temp guage always stayed slightly below half mark
So no reason was there to suspect overheating.
It took even the TASC guy a while to figure out radiator had no water, He initially changed the temp sensor

Let me correct you, if your radiator is working proper, it will be filled to brim when you open the cap, unless one managed to spill the coolant out while opening hot. Even then you could definitely see the coolant in the tank without any magnifying glass or torch.

EDIT: unless the radiator is sitting far away from the cap, and is connected by a tube! even then ideally it should be filled without much air gap.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

...it will be filled to brim when you open the cap
EDIT: unless the radiator is sitting far away from the cap...

In both cases the green stuff should be visible immediately under the cap. The reason being, the overflow tank compensates for the expansion/contraction of the coolant inside the radiator, and the pressurised system MUST be maintained in an air/vapour-free state. So, by inference, if the overflow tank has got coolant inside it, the radiator is assumed to be fully filled - a leak in the radiator will mean an empty overflow tank also - which is what Tanveer checked. EXCEPT in Tanveer's own case, where the radiator emptied but the overflow tank didn't because of the kinked pipe.

IMHO the kinked pipe could have also caused the leak - with increasing temperature and resultant vaporisation inside the radiator, and the outlet for the vapour (via the overflow tank pipe) blocked, too much pressure built up inside the radiator and made a joint somewhere leak.

[im_srini]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

I had the same query, why the radiator was not checked by you in the second place when you repeatedly stopped to let the car cool down

Originally Posted by Sowmya

I dont know how you forget to check the radiator. From a Good Old Amby days we used to see putting water in Radiator if engine heats up.

I had a similar 'incident' a few months back when the hose to the heater split & my car dumped all of its coolant. I never suspected a thing until the engine quit on me ! Throughout the drive, the temperature gauge stayed where it was supposed to - just around the half-way mark. The coolant tank was full & only on opening the radiator cap did I notice that there wasn't any coolant at all.

I was left scratching my head at 1:00 AM in the morning stranded by the side of the road wondering why my car had stopped without warning. It was a lesson learnt the hard way - but I guess mine wasn't as hard a lesson as tsks'.

Great pics Tanveer

[jaysmokesleaves]

Learning point for me out of all this >
Look under the bonnet once in a while. Something that I have failed to do since ive bought the Safari.
Jai ho > 2.2 !

[tsk1979]

Its past midnight we start from the Dhaba, and I am doing good speed of 80-90kmph.
Soon Panipat also passes by, and I am on a lonely highway, with few airport taxi cabs(Sumo's etc.,) in front and quite a few vehicles behind me.
Traffic is slightly thick, esp trucks who race each other parallel to each other.
Suddenly weird rumbling sounds are heard from the rear, it takes a moment to register what has happened.
I immediately slow down, change lanes, and cost to a stop outside a dhaba.
Get out, and what do I see?
The left rear tire is totally flat.
A tubeless tire normally does not lose air suddenly, unless there is a manufacturing defect, or I hit something.
Considering the way this vehicle has been behaving, I won't be surprised if it was due to a defect in tire. However I have no way of proving that, and it does not matter now, as we have to get going.
The only saving grace is that we are outside a dhaba which means we are relatively safe, as NH1 is not a nice place to be stranded at night.
So I begin the ardous task of lifting the rear seat, extracting jack rod, getting jack out etc., etc.,
Takes a good 20 minutes due to luggage and stuff.
After that I take the spanner, and start loosening the nuts, 3 can be loosened, but no matter what I try, 2 nuts are jammed.
Very very jammed.
A truck is also stopped nearby, and I try to get the help of the truck driver. He and his cleaner try for 5 minutes then give up.

I am wondering what to do.
There is a bus full of pilgrims from WB parked at the dhaba.
I enlist their help.
Could of pundits, the bus driver and their helpers etc., come.
They try and try but the spanner keeps on slipping.
Not even divine intervention can open the nut.
Finally they come with a different spanner, but fail there.
I call up Helpline, its almost 2am.
They promise me someone will be with me in a few minutes.
Meanwhile I keep on trying with no luck, and clock ticks closer to 3.
No helpline, but I do receive a few calls from customer care that help is arriving soon.

But I can't wait here all night.
A truck comes and stops at the dhaba,
Out jump three teenagers
The driver is 18(barelly so), and his assistants are even younger.

I decide to enlist their help.
They first try with the spanner, and fail.
Then one guy comes and put water on the nuts, and brings the ring type spanner from the truck.
It engages and is not slipping,
Then he stands on spanner, and it does not budge.
Then 2 of them stand on the spanner, and slowly nuts revolve!
Quickly all of us change the tire.

I offer them tea, which they refuse, but I anyways force them to have tea with me.
After that its a straight run to Delhi, thankfully without any more adventures, and 18 hours from our start time, we reach home.....

________THE END_______

[deepakhon]

I had to wait till the end of your journey to post here.

You had one hell of a journey, for sure! Good to know you and your family are safe and sound.

Hope you have better luck with your beast in future. All the best.

[SS-Traveller]

Tanveer: 2 am on NH1 with a flat tyre is definitely not nice. It appears that the dhaba you stopped at didn't have a tyre repair shop attached either. Apart from the parts replaced, as listed on your other thread, it seems you've also damaged a tubeless tyre due to sudden deflation at speed (which is obviously not covered under warranty). You've really had far, far more than your fair share of troubles of owning a car, and we hope the gremlins will now be put to rest. Maybe a quick "havan" once your car comes back from the workshop?

You went on a safari
On your 4x4 Tata Safari
Then how much did suffer ye?
May the good Lord now take care,
And rid your car of the gremlins for e'er.
This is all T-BHP members' prayer.

[Rudra Sen]

Gripping thread Tanvir.

Originally Posted by tsk1979

There is a bus full of pilgrims from WB parked at the dhaba.

Was this a huge red bus by any chance?

[tsk1979]

It was a green bus Rudra.

[Torque-ative]

Gosh,...document this and your other soujourns ! Make copies and courier it as Private and Confidential to TATA and whoever else he has hired to run this company of his !!! This is not done in this day and age !!

I also read in the TOI that TATA had to cough up 5.25 lacs for a faulty Indigo sold to a clinet who took them to court.

[Jaggu]

All's well that ends well, an adventure more than a travelogue! and wishing the truck the very best @ delivery from workshop.

[MadRash]

Oops. That was a great narration with a lot of twist and turns. And because of that, I wasn't able pay attention to the pictures you have posted. Happy that you have reached home safely. My only advice: When venturing out, please carry more than one mobile phone with different providers.

[lordofgondor]

The more I go through this thread, the more I get to relive my moments in this beautiful place. Thanks for sharing your experience mate. Now am waiting for a chance to take a long trip to Sangla and explore it a lot more.

OT: Posting couple of pics that really seem to coincide with yours.

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Evening we venture out. There is lot of haze in the air surprisingly, and the kinner kailash is barely visible

Originally Posted by tsk1979

[rjstyles69]

tanveer after reading this whole travelogue and the ordeal you went through, I must say you have oodles of PATIENCE.Hats off !! If it were me, I simply would have abandoned vehicle and gone home.
I know its easy to say, but trust me I would have done this. Hats off again pal.

A vehicle is supposed to endure all the torture , but here it has been vice versa.

[bijuks]

This story reminds me to keep the addresses and phone numbers of all important service stations enroute handy before embarking on a trip.

Tanveer - I can't stop thanking you again and again for sharing these wonderful pics and story. I know you have undergone a lot of tension during the trip.

Hopefully this would help others venturing in to those terrains to take some precautions.