[14000rpm]

Originally Posted by Guderian

.

PS- Who's Harish ?

Exactly my point. who is Harish? @guderian, you may want to change location to Bangalore now..and btw, welcome to Bangalore. Love the TLC the Admiral gets. You will have a lot of action in the off roading scene in bangalore as well. i'm sure you are already in touch with the kingpins !

[AlphaKilo]

Originally Posted by 14000rpm

Exactly my point. who is Harish?

Originally Posted by ghodlur

@Harish,

Originally Posted by Guderian

PS- Who's Harish ?

Hail General,

Superb adventure! Finally admiral saw some action. Great photos and nice adventure. By the way, it would have been an nice experience to do some experiments with different fortuners, all driving at grandma's pace, to see whether everyone gets the same mile-age.

OT: Ghodlur, its just for fun! dont take it seriously. Harish, if i remember correctly, probably owner of admiral twin brother? The black sheep in "Die Wehrmacht" is caught now. He is probably a spy from some similar TFort channel and by mistake spilled out his Commander's name!!

[nilanjanray]

What's the deal with Bangalore? Guderian, are you doing a Bangalore trip now?

[Guderian]

Originally Posted by 14000rpm

Exactly my point. who is Harish? @guderian, you may want to change location to Bangalore now..and btw, welcome to Bangalore. Love the TLC the Admiral gets. You will have a lot of action in the off roading scene in bangalore as well. i'm sure you are already in touch with the kingpins !

Hi 14000rpm - Welcome to Togo Channel and thanks for being around.
And thanks for the kind words.
Though I am terribly confused about the Bangalore reference but yeah the words of welcome anywhere is welcome ! And yes may be running across to Bangalore once in a way anyway. Or perhaps you refer to an earlier reference to a trip to Blr that never happened.

Originally Posted by AlphaKilo

Hail General,

Superb adventure! Finally admiral saw some action. Great photos and nice adventure. By the way, it would have been an nice experience to do some experiments with different fortuners, all driving at grandma's pace, to see whether everyone gets the same mile-age...

Come in AK...Thanks. Yeah after almost a year Admiral saw some action in the HL & LL range - thought the LL range was first time ever. Yes nice experience.

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

What's the deal with Bangalore? Guderian, are you doing a Bangalore trip now?

Nein, nein Nilanjan. Might be an old point. Though there could be a Bangalore dash sometime in the near future !

[Guderian]

Admiral spotted in action today, while sailing past a lake by enemy spies...
Chap looks good eh ? Even at the end of a tiring day !
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifti...ml#post2854146

[Guderian]

A Quick Sunday chotta OTR...

Having nothing better to do on a Sunday and with some wonderful weather to drive around - that is what I did - a mild off road chukker trying to discover something.
Had read something about an old fort off Ghodbunder Road in Thane called Nagla Bunder Fort near Nagla village. Meant to guard the Naglabunder Port. Dates back from 1730s and built by the Portugese.
So after a particularly heavy Sunday lunch drove off to explore its whereabouts. Drove about Ghodbunder Road, found the trail leading to the village which is 10 minutes off the main road. The trail is a short run in semi off road conditions - used HL range couple of times thanks to the slush.
Ultimately spotted a church and no trace of the fort which seems to have crumbled away thanks to all the quarrying. Drove about a bit in the slush and came back.
There were a couple of spots on the way which was full of slush and rocks and Admiral's underbelly was scraped on the way up. But the steel plates took it. Checked on return and found that the steel plates held out well and there was evidence of the rock scrape and sticky muck all over. On the way back avoided the rocks at that point by avoiding the ruts on one side and having the left side tyres go over the rocks and in HL range with Admiral at a great incline to the right.
A short but fun filled drive on a soporific Sunday afternoon.
Pity about that fort which seemed to have vanished.
Did anyone whisper - snaps ?
Here you go.

At Nagla Bunder on the creek NB/Ulhas creek



Where's the fort eh ?


The White structure seen in the distance (in the snaps above) is the Shiv Mandir off Ghodbunder near Gowmukh.

Quarrying is killing the place, which is otherwise a nice scenic spot.




Admiral surveys the scene after an enjoyable run.

(Are the shrubs behind covering the part of the old fort walls ? I'll never know I guess.)




And time to head back - Slushmita and more !


Tally ho !

[Guderian]

Ha ha...Thanks Off Roadie !
Have been trying to locate some exciting trails nearby - with so many hills and tracts around I am sure there should exist a few. Till now have drawn a blank. Even yesterday's trail turned out to be a damp squib but for the thrill of going up a slippery, rutted path and the view. Would have been good if it were to be longer and included some place to do some low range off roading activities and best of all if the fort could have been spotted. I am sure some day I'll spot one where we then can have a day long event.
Next - shall try and go across and check the Gowmukh and Ghodbunder Forts, let's see if there is half a decent OTR trail.

Shall be grateful to the Mumbai/Thane folks for some leads and information.

Till then - cheerio !

[nilanjanray]

The bug has caught you Guderian! Same bug that makes me roam around in the jungle tracks around Bangalore on some Sunday afternoons.

Interested in a Kumoan trip during Dushera? After 21st Oct?

[Off Roadie]

Good luck sir, maybe we could do some joint exploration when I am back. Cheers

[Guderian]

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

The bug has caught you Guderian!
Interested in a Kumoan trip during Dushera? After 21st Oct?

Hi Nilanjan,
Well it's a long standing bug...been doing it off and on. But yeah, of late, it has been on the rise !
Not sure of my plans during that period - will chat up with you sometime. Trust you have located some interesting trails in and around Bangalore. Might drop in sometime.

Originally Posted by Off Roadie

Good luck sir, maybe we could do some joint exploration when I am back. Cheers

That's for sure Off Roadie. Hopefully, when you are back, we can pick a day and go trail hopping for a change. Appear to be plenty of small trails in and around Thane. So if you can have pub & pandal hopping - then why not trail hoppin' !

[aveoman19]

The Great Admiral San is giving stiff competition to the Gigantic JCB extractor/earth mover in terms of presence, though the later is put to environmentally degrading purpose, which the admiral vehemently opposes.

[Guderian]

And So...

With Admiral's odo reading 29,675 KMs and I had nothing better to do today I decided to dry dock Admiral for his VII or 30K KMs service.

As usual spent the time on the shopfloor and had to loose my cool to be allowed to stand on the floor as some new Johnny come lately Works Manager decided that I shouldn't be on the floor - but then nothing works like loosing your cool and then quickly finding it and then all was fine with me firmly staying put out there where the bright lights and actions abound.

The 30K KMs service in the life of a Toyota Fortuner is a big one and so it was in the case of Admiral as well.

Oil, oil filter, air filter, A/C filter were changed.
Wheel alignment, tyre rotation, and as usual a thunk on the head of the Service Advisor for - propeller shaft greasing, brake/s cleaning, thorough inspection and check, oil topping, electrical checks, U/C nut bolt torquing etc. and road trials after the wheel alignment.

Snappy job as usual - was in at 0915 Hrs and out at 1330 Hrs.


Time for snaps.

Up in the air is Admiral.


The usual underbelly check and snaps of mine.
Aft:

Fore:


The greasing drill. They never learn. Have to be told and be insisted for. They attempt to throw everything to fob you off. But you need to stand resolute. And akin to the boy on the burning deck. And then follows the munificence:







The mighty tough front wheels:



And the region in between, the steel plates showing scrape marks from the chhota OTR two weeks ago. But no harm done. Plates mighty intact.


The nice little front differential - still has the OE sticker (!):

And its mooring:


Looking up into the radiator area:


And generally pottering around here and there:



Up and high up:



Spoils of war ? The seat cover, the express service marker:


The AC filter cover:


The old AC filter:


And the new one:


And it goes in here - in a slot/chamber behind the glove box:


The old air filter:


It's a Denso:


I begged my way out of the washing, vacuuming etc drill - waster of time and money, better done outside.

And finally all set to go:




The presentation of the bill and what followed was a scene straight out of a Groucho Marx movie.
First the Service Advisor approaches me with a wide grin and presents me a bill of Rs 8100.00...only. My eyes go wide and round. Recover my senses and ask for explanations.
Among other things I notice an amount for cleaning the brakes. I look at the SA in the eye and start laughing - pointing at the item. And slap my knees. And bob my head up and down. And vigorously. The SA takes a pen and strikes out the charge of some 600 odd bucks. Very odd indeed. And then I notice a charge of some 400 odd bucks for a tub of grease.Again very odd (bucks) indeed. I begin to laugh again wagging my finger. SA also laughs wagging his finger but strikes it out. Final amount Rs 6900. Bill printed afresh and I scamper with it as fast as I can to the cashier with the SA hot behind me to get a signature on some insignificant scrap of paper. Knock down a tea boy carrying, what else, but of course, tea for the staff....
Anyway the bill details (inclusive of taxes):
1. Air filter - 1244.88.
2. A/C filter - 1415.70.
3. Oil pan gasket - 35.10.
4. Oil filter - 377.91.
5. Engine Oil - 2035.20.
6. Wheel alignment - 512.36.
7. Inspection/service Charges - 1280.

Total - Rs. 6902.00. Paid Rs 6900.00.
Was given a Rs 2 special discount as the dumpy lil' cashier lady cheerfully looked at me and mentioned that she had no change - siiigh - and large corporations spend so much of moolah trying to drill into senior management finer aspects of change management !

So another service dispensed with.
And on the drive back felt Admiral super smooth with all the greasing and oil change and whatnot. Was particularly happy with the wheel alignment. The WA Mech did a thorough job as I watched him do it and rechecked with the WA report he gave me.

And Admiral is all ready to face the rough and tumble of another few thousand miles !

Originally Posted by aveoman19

The Great Admiral San is giving stiff competition to the Gigantic JCB extractor/earth mover in terms of presence, though the later is put to environmentally degrading purpose, which the admiral vehemently opposes.

So true aveoman. If one were to see the denuded and stripped mountains around - as some of the snaps show - can chill your senses in an unpleasant manner.

[dkaile]

^
Great report as always Herr' Generale'. I still have to teach my ASC what Propellor Shaft Greasing means. The buggers don't even have a grease gun yet even though its a ginormous workshop. One of these days I will have to replicate the task of slapping knees and bobbing heads to get the job done.

[Guderian]

Originally Posted by dkaile

^
Great report as always Herr' Generale'. I still have to teach my ASC what Propellor Shaft Greasing means. The buggers don't even have a grease gun yet even though its a ginormous workshop. One of these days I will have to replicate the task of slapping knees and bobbing heads to get the job done.

Hi dkaile,
Thanks for the kind words.
Believe you me when I tell you that I have the same experience every 7/9 months when I land up at the ASC for service with the prop shaft greasing action (frequency every 10K KMs - for those who came in late !) - as the crews keep changing. ASCs too are hit by attrition I guess - and not just IT/ ITES companies. And so they have to be educated all over again.
Then begins the same old story - them telling first that there is no need for the greasing as it is a 'sealed' unit, there are no nipples anywhere on the shaft and then the ultimate gambit - no grease gun, 'kharab' grease gun etc. Of course as explained earlier one has to essentially wade through all this crap and call for close air support and ask chaps like the SM to step in or else the gentle threat of a 'well written' mail to TKML in Namma Bengaluru works just as well. But yeah all carried out in good humour really. And bear stoically all trash handed out.
But then I haven't still figured out as to what the Toyota ASCs have against the act of greasing prop shafts in general, for such resolute resistance and attempts at repulsing all attacks on their belief that it shouldn't be greased.
Probably they are also so deeply impacted by Team Anna's anti graft movement and to such an extent that, forget greasing palms, they believe nothing on earth should be greased !

[aveoman19]

General saheb!

The underbelly of your beast looks awesome!

I'll soon book the new 'chromosomed' black fortuner in two months. The sheer machoness has been lost in the newer ones, though the saving grace for me atleast is that in black, the new fortuner looks more like a scaled down version of a land cruiser 200 VX from the front!

As soon as I get my hands on the new black kid, I'll drive straight to Aamchi Mumbai to salute you and seek blessings from Admiral san.