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Mahindra Thar diesel AT recall: Radiator replaced & other changes

17th March 2022, 20:40 by Dev Shah

While the current clearance with the radiator is about 1.5 inches (let the angle not fool you), I can make it about 2.5 inches if I worked on the clamp a bit.

BHPian ph03n!x recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I had posted a couple of weeks back on the service actions carried out on my Thar till date (in no specific order) - let me update this list with a few more details and line items that I missed out earlier:

These are the service actions that my Thar has undergone:
Thermal Bypass Valve Replacement (this is for the AT transmission - the valve had a leak) (20-Mar-2021 - Inspected) (28-Sep-2021 - Replaced)
Wiper Motor Breather Cap Addition (20-Mar-2021)
AT Shifter Screw Retighten (20-Mar-2021)
Seat Shoulder Bezel Shaft Replacement (20-Mar-2021)
Remove 4WD Shift Cable from Mounting Clip (20-Mar-2021)
Camshaft Replacement (20-Mar-2021)
Hood Catcher Replacement (20-Mar-2021)
Radiator inlet Hose Clamp Addition (28-Sep-2021)
Instrument Cluster Software Update (28-Sep-2021)
AT Pigtail Replacement (28-Sep-2021)
Hood Latch Assembly Replacement (27-Nov-2021)
E-Disconnect Connector Cap Addition (25-Sep-2021)
Radiator Assembly (29-Jan-2022)

All of these have been carried out proactively - and except for the Thermal Bypass Valve, I never had an issue with any of these.

Service action:

The 13th item in this list of proactive service actions is the primary topic of this post. After driving across all kinds of terrain, freeway speeds, city traffic, and what not - typical use case that any vehicle's cooling system may go through (and then some), I have never encountered any issues with overheating or coolant leaks. So I was actually surprised when I got this call, and the conversation went like this:

Me: I have driven 23,000 KM. 4 Low, rough/ no terrain. Highway speeds. Why do we need this? This is more surprising than when you changed the camshaft of my Thar after 10,000 KM of use!

Tech: I have personally seen 3 other Thars that had minor Radiator leaks sir. M&M has a threshold such that if the same issue occurs in a specific number of vehicles, they issue a recall for all vehicles that has the problematic part from the same batch as a preemptive service action.

Me: <said a silent 'thank you' to M&M for proactive> Sure, let me come over on Saturday please.

Tech: As long as you are not intending to go on any long drives, that is fine...

Me: <wondering about the ~3000 KM round trip I just did in the first week of Jan...> Sure, no such plans - all thanks to the Chinese virus!

Is Mahindra being overtly cautious?

Matter of fact - I had an issue with one of these 3 service actions/ recalls (Thermal Bypass Valve leaking), and even then I was far from being stranded or left in a lurch.

Also matter of fact - the thermal bypass valve dripped AT Oil in my parking 6 months after it was inspected initially, and my service center promptly took me in for a replacement. Yes, had this replacement occurred when they first inspected it earlier, even that might have been preempted.

But that is precisely the point - M&M has a very good proactive action plan in place, and my Thermal Bypass Valve experience goes on to prove the importance of this proactiveness.

So here is the radiator that was replaced, with the new one. There is no visual difference. What is different, though, is in the metallurgy:

Those who are used to the radiators of the CJ/ MM jeeps may not believe how thick (or not!) a modern radiator assembly is:

The job was completed as promised by my dealer (CAI Mahindra), who took plenty of safety precautions. And in spite of being short-staffed owing to the ongoing third wave, they were very efficient - and did not have any compromises in workmanship! Let me touch upon an additional issue too that they fixed, later in this post.

Now, a slightly off-topic subject - the length of the radiator assembly itself.

Anyone who's looked up the 2020 Thar when it was launched knows about the low-hanging fruit.. errrr.. the radiator.

M&M knew it too, and launched a Radiator guard as an accessory. Verdict is out if this should have been added at the factory, and if it is effective for offroad use cases - I have known of at least one Thar which had the assembly knocked out in off-roading conditions.

But why is it so low-hanging in the first place?

This is the breakup of the components that makes the cooling system:

The AC condenser is of the same size of the Radiator, and is mounted behind it (when you see the vehicle from the front).

The transmission cooler is for AT Transmissions, and circulates the transmission oil through the Thermal Bypass Valve to this component - which is mounted in front of the radiator.

The intercooler, which is mounted above the radiator + AC condenser, is as thick as both together! It is about ~6 inches broad too, and occupies as much space up top, pushing the Radiator + AC Condensor down by half a foot.

Can't the intercooler be mounted elsewhere? Maybe. And it would have definitely made space for the Radiator + AC condenser to be placed above the bumper/ front cross-member, safely out of sight/ harm.

M&M might have had their own engineering challenges, and decided to go with the current design, even if they knew the drawback of a low-hanging Radiator in a SWB 4x4 offroading vehicle. Let's see if they are able to improvise on this design eventually...

No More Flapping!

With the service action out of the way, let me show you how I have cut out the flapping noise in my Convertible Soft Top Thar:

I had bought this Faux Sheepskin seat belt shoulder pad - which proved useless in the Thar owing to its length, unless you want to remove it whenever you unbuckle. So one fine day when I was vacuuming the interiors, the bulb lit in my head...

and this is what I did:

And voila! No more flapping noise - the CT will make it noisy in the cabin after 80 kmph, but no more slap slap.. slap slap slap from the rear windows flapping on the collapsible hand of the CT mechanism.

If you look closely, I have also tied a piece of sponge in a velcro tape at the top edge of this hand for the same purpose - this was my original jugaad for this purpose, and have not tried removing it yet.

If you have a convertible top, give it a shot!

That's all for now.

This is how my jeep is taunting me, though. And I will get to increasing that 6% ghat/ off-road usage to something respectable pretty soon:

Here is a better view of the Hella's mounting position - cross-refer this with the details of the connection I had posted earlier please!

The Z clamp is added to one of the bumper's mounting point:

While the current clearance with the radiator is about 1.5 inches (let the angle not fool you), I can make it about 2.5 inches if I worked on the clamp a bit. But if this has to damage the radiator in case of an accident, it would also mean that the front cross-member has been severely damaged, rendering the jeep un-drive-able anyways, especially if you have the underbody protection like I do: