To Leh From Kerala in Mahindra Bolero


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smooth rider

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chandra i had only chop suyi at chumathang ( though my pal suresh had a beer )and hence wasn't on the look out for a night halt near by.[lol] jokes apart the place was a small collection of 2 -3 shops and few houses.so i think there wasn't any proper stays available.
 
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Thread Starter #287
smooth rider

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14-06-2013. got up from bed by 6 am after a sleepless night. the cold kept me awake most of the time. the sun was up and it was a bright day. went down to where the storm was parked. removed the news paper with which we had blocked the grill to prevent the cold air getting into the engine bay. cranked up the engine.... it didn't fire. repeated the same to no avail[frustration] cranke in short bursts but the storm didn't fire. all around me all the vehicles had started some have even started leaving.opened the bonnet to let the bright sunlight warm up the engine. some guys from delhi in a toyota fortuner came over and tried to start the engine. while one of them cranked the engine they asked me to manually pump the diesel pump. no response.[confused] will i be stuck here......... then one of them called a local driver over and he continually cranked the engine while i went on pumping. after eternity the engine started and every one applauded by clapping .... [clap] the guys from delhi had been to leh before and hence i had a long discussion with them regarding the route. then the scorpio parked in front of my storm had an almost flat tyre. the guys came over and enquired whether i had a foot pump. i lent them my electric pump and we filled in 30 psi in the Tyre . they too were going to manali.
todays drive was to sarchu/ jispa. felt very sad in leaving the beautiful lake . took some time to take many a snaps. will we ever come back to this land in this life ?
we took snaps with the owner of the camp and his manager. the manager was claiming to be a mountaineer and adventurer. he had gone on bike tours from goa. we started our return leg by 9 am. by this time most of the visitors had left. we were waived and stopped by army men just on the outside of the camp site. they asked us our details and whether we had registerd the previous day. when we said no as no one had stopped us on the road yesterday. they just filled the register marked 13 th with our details and entered our exit on the 14 th.
 

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Chandranath

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smooth rider said:
chandra i had only chop suyi at chumathang ( though my pal suresh had a beer )and hence wasn't on the look out for a night halt near by.[lol] jokes apart the place was a small collection of 2 -3 shops and few houses.so i think there wasn't any proper stays available.
Click to expand...
But what I understand is Suresh never took to the wheels. So he could afford the beer.

BTW a beer in that cold should worsen things. Rather something more warm in Capt. Haddock (Tintin fame) style might have been better.

But great place to have a lunch. Reminds me of Darcha on the Keylong / Bara la Cha route when I had driven up along with my wife in a M800, had a typical this type of tented joint and the lamb meat and plain hot rice was lip smacking under the blue sky and the Bhaga river at its widest by the side.

One more thing.. WHAT ARE THE PRECAUTIONS YOU CAN TAKE TO PREVENT A COLD START?

I understand you papered up the engine grill to prevent cold wind going in.

"ADC" a friend from Kolkata and one of the greatest drivers I consider after HVK used to cover up the bonnet with blankets in his Leh ride. He also used to park it alongside walls to minimise wind effect

I also believe in cranking up once in the late hours of night and keep it on for some time so that the gap between shutting the engine and starting again next morning is not too long.
 
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Thread Starter #291
smooth rider

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We were fully stocked up with captain haddocks tonic and didn't have to depend on the local supply lines. when not driving we had our fill. suresh wanted something different though.......
only at tso moriri did i have to shutter down my storm. in leh and jispa ( where it was really cold ) i had no trouble in starting.
 
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smooth rider

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chadra the precautions that i know are
1) shutter down the grill with gunny bag/ news paper.
2) park the vehicle facing a wall/ tent to prevent cold air from getting in to the engine bay.
3) cover the vehicle with its cover. completely
4)frequent starting of the engine
5) switch on the engine keys, then switch off when the indicator for the glow plug goes off & repeat it several times
6) if your vehicle has has a manual diesel pump go on pumping it while the engine is being cranked.( i got it from my tso moriri experience )
7)if there is sunlight open the bonnet to let the sunlight warm the engine.
8) pour hot water on the engine
 
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Chandranath

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smooth rider said:
chadra the precautions that i know are
1) shutter down the grill with gunny bag/ news paper.
2) park the vehicle facing a wall/ tent to prevent cold air from getting in to the engine bay.
3) cover the vehicle with its cover. completely
4)frequent starting of the engine
5) switch on the engine keys, then switch off when the indicator for the glow plug goes off & repeat it several times
6) if your vehicle has has a manual diesel pump go on pumping it while the engine is being cranked.( i got it from my tso moriri experience )
7)if there is sunlight open the bonnet to let the sunlight warm the engine.
8) pour hot water on the engine
Click to expand...

Point no 5 & 8 are new to me.

How does it serve the purpose by switchin the key on & then off without cranking it? Also where do I pour the hot water. Just over trhe engine or any specific parts.

BTW Pardon my ignorance on this
 
Thread Starter #294
smooth rider

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no 5 was told to me by the delhi guys. they said that it aids in heating up and helps in starting the engine. the hot water is to be poured on the diesel pump.
all this is new to me as never before have i had to do any of these as in the south only in high ranges is the cold too much that diesel engines don't start & i have lived in the planes till date.
 
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Chandranath

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smooth rider said:
no 5 was told to me by the delhi guys. they said that it aids in heating up and helps in starting the engine. the hot water is to be poured on the diesel pump.
all this is new to me as never before have i had to do any of these as in the south only in high ranges is the cold too much that diesel engines don't start & i have lived in the planes till date.
Click to expand...
I have been driving in the Himalayas and at good heights for quite some time but every day is a new learning experience. Will keep these in mind. Thanks.

But to me still the best is to crank it up at the middle of the night and keep it on for some time. Just for information's sake ADC had written in one location in Ladakh he had kept it on from 3 am for a 6 am start. Also when he was stuck up in ZOJILA pass he had it on with his heater for almost 48 hours (not sure about the 48 hours. will need to check his log)
 
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smooth rider

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we rode on and suddenly saw ....a SALT PAN !!!. suresh wouldn't believe it. i stopped the vehicle he went towards it and tasted some of the stuff and confirmed that it was indeed salt[:D] next we saw a yak being sheared . well it was not shearing, they were pulling out hand full of wool from its body by two ale nomads while a female was holding the poor animal by the nose thread and a small little boy was looking on. we got down and took their snaps. they offered to sell us the wool for inr 200/ kg. we didn't know what to do with the stuff and declined the offer. we rode on for ages on grave road with not a soul in sight. if we had a breakdown.......well i couldn't even think about the situation. we reached the top of a pass marked by lot of prayer flags.there was no name board and we consulted the map and it was polokong ka la. We rode on and then saw a lake -tso kar. we reached debring on the leh - manali highway by 2 pm. initillay the the road was very dusty.and it entered the inside of the storm. we stopped, got out and inspected the boot. all our luggage was coverd with lots of dust[frustration]. how did i get in ????.we searched high and low and finaly zeroed in on the air inlet on the side towards the tail enfd of the vehicle. we sealed it off with duct tapes both out side & inside. and lo the dust didn't get inside. but there was dust every where. and my wife started sneezing and got irritated. we couldn't keep the windows open either[frustration]. we drove on and it was the mooreh plains.
 

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AR Ram

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smooth rider said:
chadra the precautions that i know are
1) shutter down the grill with gunny bag/ news paper.
2) park the vehicle facing a wall/ tent to prevent cold air from getting in to the engine bay.
3) cover the vehicle with its cover. completely
4)frequent starting of the engine
5) switch on the engine keys, then switch off when the indicator for the glow plug goes off & repeat it several times
6) if your vehicle has has a manual diesel pump go on pumping it while the engine is being cranked.( i got it from my tso moriri experience )
7)if there is sunlight open the bonnet to let the sunlight warm the engine.
8) pour hot water on the engine
Click to expand...

Beautiful set of pictures SR. Really adventurous.[clap]

Once when I was with my TATA sierra on a hill station long back, I had the same problem of starting in the morning. I poured little petrol on cotton waste and kept near the air filter hose and tried again. In one crank it started. There after I adopted that procedure in such situations for that vehicle. I feel all the points you mentioned are the perfect remedies to protect and start a cold engine.
 
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