29 March - 09 April 2018 Botswana Explorer's Route

[Alex Roux]

Hi Chris

There were two 4.8 autos there.
One pre-face lift 2004/2005 (Tommie) and a face lift 2006 (Philip).

They were among the few that had virtually no issues.
Except that their break pads were also kaput. But that seems to be par-for-course on that terrain.

The clutch issues is a matter of age, and whether the clutch had been replaced before and properly sealed afterwards or not - to avoid that "grinding paste" from getting in.
The newer cars (referring to the two 4.8s) most likely had not replaced their clutches before yet.

[Peter Connan]

Aex

Hulle het nie clutches nie. Hulle het torque converters...

Thus, any auto would be immune to that particular problem. The problem auto's have instead is overheating the transfer case oil while working hard, typically in thick sand.

But the Patrol is pretty good in this respect.

[SJC]

Is al die voertuie wat clutch probleme ondervind het GQ's? Met ander woorde ouer as 20 jaar+...?

[Michael]

Cedric, yes its weird but there is a small difference between working the engine hard and driving normal.
Worst I got on the trip was when I towed Alex and for that stretch I got around 4km/l and it was low range 2nd gear most of the time.

Fanus, nee ek dink nie dis hoofsaaklik n GQ, GU of ouderdom ding nie. Daar was plek waar die modder in kon kom by die clutch en dis wat die marakas gemaak het. Daar was ook n GU wat se clutch gegaan het.

[Alex Roux]

Cedric, yes its weird but there is a small difference between working the engine hard and driving normal.
Worst I got on the trip was when I towed Alex and for that stretch I got around 4km/l and it was low range 2nd gear most of the time.

Fanus, nee ek dink nie dis hoofsaaklik n GQ, GU of ouderdom ding nie. Daar was plek waar die modder in kon kom by die clutch en dis wat die marakas gemaak het. Daar was ook n GU wat se clutch gegaan het.

Ja ek dink Michael en David se karre is min of meer dieselfde ouderdom as die GU wat ook clutch probleme gegee het, ook ongeveer 20 jaar.

[Peter Connan]

But on the other hand, both the cars that eventually had to be recovered due to clutch issues had pretty high mileages on those clutches...

Cedric, the manual petrol cars often also show little difference in fuel consumption under tough conditions. I know we start at a 30% (wishful thinking) disadvantage, but my own consumption in sand, and even towing a trailer, is often better than my consumption in town, as long as I behave myself...

On the Auto cars this is most definitely not true though. And I am convinced shifting them to low range as soon as you see you are staying in the lower three ratios helps somewhat.

[Peter Connan]

Some random non-4x4 photos.

ZebraODP.jpg (440.41 KiB) Viewed 5915 times

ToeraODP.jpg (499.8 KiB) Viewed 5915 times

StoeleODP.jpg (364.81 KiB) Viewed 5915 times

SaadODP.jpg (336.15 KiB) Viewed 5915 times

OlietandODP.jpg (345.73 KiB) Viewed 5915 times

Olieoog2ODP.jpg (488.92 KiB) Viewed 5915 times

Olieoog1ODP.jpg (449.83 KiB) Viewed 5915 times

[Wilkie]

Brilliant foto's
Thx Peter

[Peter Connan]

Dankie Errol

[Anthony Forgey]

Hey Peter,... you are a gifted photographer... somehow you find beauty in the most ordinary things... very good pics