I spoke about my pre-owned SUV’s problem with the lead mechanic at the authorised service centre in Bangalore. He said that this doesn’t usually happen unless you rev the engine high.
BHPian karthikd21 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
Hi Guys,
I have been facing a problem with my Gurkha (2016, BS3 model) during off-roading.
It first happened during the very first OTR I went for after purchasing the pre-owned Gurkha. Had been to Crazy Drivez in Bangalore with a few friends. There were all kinds of obstacles, water wading etc and Gurkha performed reasonably well on the HT tires. While driving back from OTR, I noticed the engine temperature shooting up after around 10 kms into the drive. Stopped and found that there was a leakage in the radiator. Got it towed to the FNG near my house and rested for the day. Next day, we could see the problem.
Radiator fan was damaged.
The damaged blade in-turn had damaged the radiator.
The radiator had extensive damage and the fan, well, was not repairable. So, the FNG sourced both and fitted them back.
Post this, had been on many more OTRs and there were no issues. Thoroughly enjoyed the way Gurkha was able to handle anything thrown at it.
Fast forward to last weekend. Same problem reoccurred. This time the radiator fan lost all the blades and the radiator incurred minor damage and is being fixed. We were initially clueless. But, one of the more experienced buddies pointed out the only commonality between the two incidents. It was water wading!
It looked like in waters deep enough to submerge the Radiator Fan, it’s just not able to take the pressure. In the First OTR, I do remember driving it fast in water as it was the very first time and I was super excited. At the last weekend’s OTR, however, it was not fast. But, I had to rev the engine high since I had to reverse in the water and the car was not moving.
I spoke to the Lead Mechanic at Force Bangalore service and he says this doesn’t usually happen unless you rev the engine high.
We are clueless as to what exactly is happening:
- If revving high is a problem, how do we do it if it’s stuck in water. i.e. Stuck here means, not like needing recovery. But, needing a bit of momentum which makes us push the accelerator pedal.
- Mechanic says, you should be slow while water wading. I think I did this mistake the very first time.
- Force says water wading depth is 700 mm. I am sure, I was well under this limit the first time. But, I cant remember the 2nd time. It might have been a bit more than 2 ft.
- Does the theory of not revving high make sense? If so, I have seen Gypsies speeding in rallies even through water. How do they handle it?
- The fan that I had replaced the first time this happened was an aftermarket one. Could that be a reason? Perhaps, the previous owner had done the same as well?
I was reading through some of the Australian 4×4 forums where people have experienced similar issues on older Defenders and Nissan Patrols and they recommend disconnecting the Radiator fan/Fan belt during water wading. This sounds sensible, but not a permanent solution.
Can knowledgeable members bring forward their thoughts? Is this an engineering flaw or am I doing something wrong?
I had even planned to buy MT tires and a relative of mine (dealer) had sourced them. But, I had to put this on hold for wanting to understand the problem better before investing further.
Here’s what BHPian Kosfactor had to say about the matter:
700mm is ~2 Ft, will 2 ft standing water hit the blades? I doubt that.
Check your engine mounts once, at full load it may not be holding the engine in place properly.
Here’s what BHPian Shubhendra had to say about the matter:
Was the land flat when these incidents happened? This generally happens in offroad vehicles while articulation because of vehicle flex.
It would be good to check radiator mounts, engine mounts to rule out this cause. Also did the fan hit shroud during this process? There might be a possibility of the fan hitting the shroud and in turn damaging the radiator.
Here’s what BHPian Jaggu had to say about the matter:
Check engine and gearbox mounts, and how is the clearance between fan and radiator.
Yes, going in fast can cause such issues, one can always use a water blanket arrangement in front of the radiator to avoid that. But not sure if that will help if the issue is due to water at blade level and while the vehicle is submerged. If it is poor quality plastic of the blade then a metal blade is the solution.
But I guess there would be an auto clutch at the blade which will stop it in case it faces stopping force against it.
Keyword: Radiator fan issue on a 2016 Force Gurkha while off-roading