I have Vista so somewhat similar engine and spec. In my knowledge all QJDs Turbo Kick happens @1750 , So to comeback to your question if in incline with full load don't put it in 3rd unless you have good ramp up speed. 2nd would be optimum if you feel loosing traction and pulling
So this means at 2200rpm the car should easily move forward in 1st gear without much effort but that is not happening at all on the hills, in the plains it does fine at those rpm.
@Blackdiesel
Let me give a detailed description of those 30sec hell of time as detailed as possible.
The car had no problem since morning we started at 5.30am on 6/6/2011 it had good power build up past 2000 & I max drove it in range of 2000-2200 range approx.
We reached haldwani I started feeling some drag and loss of brakes, further up from kathgodam the real hills started & the car was refusing to move in 3rd gear @2200rpm, hence I shifted to 2nd gear to build the momentum @ 3000rpm & then shifted to 3rd gear but the can just got slowing down as if I am in the wrong gear. After 2-3 tries I felt there is something wrong with air filter & will check it at nainital bcoz we were suppose to go to Munshiyari which is much higher & more steep curves will be crossed on way.
We took a break till that time nothing major problem was felt except braking & less power After having ten min break somewhere around jeolikot started again had just gone by few kms we could feel break shoe burning and smelling. Since now the ac was off glasses down we could smell it which means this was happening since much before and was causing break & power loss.
(2 days before I had reported that the brakes shoe is making noise when I apply brake & something is dragging & making noise while running, but Oberai motors Noida after checking said no its not the case)
Now I had no way to stop on upgoing road midway with two families and kids. I decided to drive slowly but reach a spot where I can halt the car. Before I could halt the car worst happened.
On sharp left u bend there were a traffic halt so I had to halt too when I started the car had sudden loss of power & the car failed to move forward and car behind me had trouble understanding the situation.
Knowing from past few kms drive I knew the car is having some power loss hence I did the following.
1.Revved up the engine in 1st gear to 2800-3000rpm
2.handbrake was gently disengaged
3.gently took the left feet off the clutch fully
(handbrake & clutch were let off in opposite direction gradually while maintaining the rpm which according to me was on the higher side owing to the power loss which I was facing while coming up)
As anticipated the car didn't move forward instead the car lost power didn't move forward and started going back as hand brake was disengaged & my right foot was on accelerator , then engine got shut off.
4. Took of the right foot from accelerator & then braked full but the car had sudden brake failure that hand brake didnt work either & In my presence of mind all I could think of in that moment was forget all theories & apply common sense to what can be done now.
Luckily the car behind me after few seconds removed his car from behind & I let the manza move reverse & steered to the left side. The worst was still not over I unlock the car doors but the 2 ladies & 3 kids sitting behind could not open the doors as I had engaged the child lock for safety so had to be opened the gate from outside & then take them out from right door as the left door was not in a position to be opened since car was only 1 feet away from the hill.
I felt so ashamed bcoz of all this, I am not an over confident person/driver but I am sure about my driving skills hence was driving in the hills. Manza shook my confidence or rather should say jolted my confidence.
All passangers got down and then I moved the car few meters and stopped. The left front brake shoe was smelling and rim was too hot to touch.
Called a taxi from the hotel and sent them in taxi. When the taxi came(a pvt swift car) I took the car down & tested swift on the same bend it just responded as a car should respond to the clutch action so it concluded that something is indeed wrong with the brakes or clutch or may be both in my new manza.
I asked the local driver as to what can be the problem, he said it seems to be the clutch plate failure in a NEW MANZA.
Had to wait for the brakes to cool down then drove up slowly to nainital with 3 stops in between to let the brakes cool down they were getting hot with my driving uphill where I am not even needing to apply the brakes. At last when I reached nainital high court u bend the same problem happened & the car refused to move up with a single person no load at all.
So I decided to alter my technique & this time I kept my foot on the clutch (not a recommended method as it will burn the clutch) & kept it pumping & not let it go at one go the car still could not move up at 2000rpm & then I revved up to 3000rpm & that worked to move forward & I then stopped the car at the side of Manu maharani hotel. Left the car to cool down for 1 hour then took it up again the steep hill but with a very sluggish engine power.
I must tell you here that just past new year I have driven on same roads on 30th Dec 2010 with snow fall happening & ice on the roads where tyres are bound to loose traction due to ice formation, but my old Indica V2 2002 model never failed me even at 100,000 kms on odo, climbed the roads without a hitch.
To my knowledge diesel vehicle have zero tolerance with clutch so its important that we don't rev up when foot on paddle as it will not pass on the power to the wheels. Best example I can give is fully loaded trucks on hills moving in 1st gear with full revving up & not using the clutch.
After this descriptive post if you or someone else still feels that my driving method is wrong I am ready to listen & be corrected, after all my life will depend on running this car smoothly both for my professional work & my vacations.
By the way there has been a meeting in CSM gurgaon office where GMs of other Tata workshop were called in to discuss this particular case & I have been asked to take the car to Urmil Motors tomorrow morning.
