Mexican 1000

[Ragman]

We are heading down to Baja in a week to attend the Mexican 1000. We will be driving the Grenadier in the Safari Class, which is for street legal vehicles. This will be our first time doing this so I am not sure what types of vehicles we will see in the class but it is listed as a place where aftermarket suppliers can showcase their wares. Our Grenadier is bone stock other than the items required by NORRA (radios, Stella mounts, etc. that are all non-mechanical) so I am curious (nervous) to see what others are bringing.

After we will put up a video on YT of the event and our experience so will post that when we get back but if anyone has attended this event I would love to hear any insights or tips!

 

[toddz69]

I saw your entry on the list when I last checked it last week. I just counted my fingers and realized I've raced the Mexican 1000 10 times. The last time I did it was in 2022 in the Safari Class with two rigs (one of which we raced in the Pioneer Class for many years before that).

First of all - you'll have a blast! Both of our rigs we ran in Safari were former racing vehicles so they were very open and crude compared to what your Grenadier will be.

The Stella setup works real well and is pretty intuitive. I presume you'll have some sort of a GPS installed for the course maps?

2022 was an interesting year for the Safari Class as it was the first year it swelled in entries. We had some moments intermingling with race traffic on Day 3 that were not good but they've fixed that situation since then by sending the Safari Class to Guerrero Negro on Day 2 instead of Bay of LA.

I think the Safari Class is a great way to "dip your toes" into the NORRA events - it's truly a blast and I have incredible memories that I love to share about the race. Once we get some of our old race vehicles rehabbed we hope to come back and race again. Time and finances are our biggest challenges at the moment.

If we don't chat before then, I'll certainly try and introduce myself at tech/contingency in Ensenada.

Todd Z.

 

[Ragman]

I saw your entry on the list when I last checked it last week. I just counted my fingers and realized I've raced the Mexican 1000 10 times. The last time I did it was in 2022 in the Safari Class with two rigs (one of which we raced in the Pioneer Class for many years before that).

First of all - you'll have a blast! Both of our rigs we ran in Safari were former racing vehicles so they were very open and crude compared to what your Grenadier will be.

The Stella setup works real well and is pretty intuitive. I presume you'll have some sort of a GPS installed for the course maps?

2022 was an interesting year for the Safari Class as it was the first year it swelled in entries. We had some moments intermingling with race traffic on Day 3 that were not good but they've fixed that situation since then by sending the Safari Class to Guerrero Negro on Day 2 instead of Bay of LA.

I think the Safari Class is a great way to "dip your toes" into the NORRA events - it's truly a blast and I have incredible memories that I love to share about the race. Once we get some of our old race vehicles rehabbed we hope to come back and race again. Time and finances are our biggest challenges at the moment.

If we don't chat before then, I'll certainly try and introduce myself at tech/contingency in Ensenada.

Todd Z.

Thanks for the note. I missed you at tech as we went through Friday morning but hope to catch up at some point. Regarding GPS I have the course in my Garmin Overlander as well as LeadNav on phone and Ipad which I am hoping to put up through the Car Play

 

[toddz69]

I’ll look for you today. My white Super Duty was parked right behind your Grenadier at the hotel yesterday.

Todd Z.

 

[Ozarker]

Dang, wish I were there and 50 years younger.
Drive well, best of luck, be safe.

 

[toddz69]

Thanks for the note. I missed you at tech as we went through Friday morning but hope to catch up at some point. Regarding GPS I have the course in my Garmin Overlander as well as LeadNav on phone and Ipad which I am hoping to put up through the Car Play

Saw you at the start line yesterday morning but you were busy chatting with someone. Then you were all gone! Hope you have a great run!

Todd Z.

 

[CanyonLX]

Waiting for the update on this.

 

[Ragman]

The run went great for the most part. The Grenadier did great but could not stop a tube bumper attached to the truck that backed up into me! After some great teamwork to bypass the transfer case cooler to get moving we found a guy that knew a guy and got the cooler back into action.

We finished the course, took the checkered flag and stopped for the party. Sadly when it was time to go the Grenny would not start, bad gas maybe on last fuel up? With more great teamwork we found transport and the truck is currently headed to Mossy INEOS in San Diego for diagnosis. Once it is fixed we will fly out and drive it back to Chicago to get the front end damage repaired.

The course was great, awesome scenery and small towns and a great bunch of people. Everyone drove there own speed and we were the only vehicle in the class on stock suspension so we cruised our pace with no pressure. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to experience Baja.

A photographer working with the Meyers Manx group was also driving a Grenadier.

 

[Ragman]

Here are a couple of photos.

 

[toddz69]

The run went great for the most part. The Grenadier did great but could not stop a tube bumper attached to the truck that backed up into me! After some great teamwork to bypass the transfer case cooler to clear the track for the trophy trucks we found a guy that knew a guy and got the cooler back into action.

We finished the course, took the checkered flag and stopped for the party. Sadly when it was time to go the Grenny would not start, bad gas maybe on last fuel up? With more great teamwork we found transport and the truck is currently headed to Mossy INEOS in San Diego for diagnosis. Once it is fixed we will fly out and drive it back to Chicago to get the front end damage repaired.

The course was great, awesome scenery and small towns and a great bunch of people. Everyone drove there own speed and we were the only vehicle in the class on stock suspension so we cruised our pace with no pressure. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to experience Baja.

A photographer working with the Meyers Manx group was also driving a Grenadier.

Sorry to hear about the crunch and the no-start. That's very frustrating - particularly in a foreign country! Sounds like you have a good attitude about it all, though. Looking forward to hearing what the diagnosis is.

Todd Z.

 

[nickw]

The run went great for the most part. The Grenadier did great but could not stop a tube bumper attached to the truck that backed up into me! After some great teamwork to bypass the transfer case cooler to clear the track for the trophy trucks we found a guy that knew a guy and got the cooler back into action.

We finished the course, took the checkered flag and stopped for the party. Sadly when it was time to go the Grenny would not start, bad gas maybe on last fuel up? With more great teamwork we found transport and the truck is currently headed to Mossy INEOS in San Diego for diagnosis. Once it is fixed we will fly out and drive it back to Chicago to get the front end damage repaired.

The course was great, awesome scenery and small towns and a great bunch of people. Everyone drove there own speed and we were the only vehicle in the class on stock suspension so we cruised our pace with no pressure. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to experience Baja.

A photographer working with the Meyers Manx group was also driving a Grenadier.

Out of curiosity - what were the symptoms around the no start? Sounds like if you are suggesting it was fuel related it was turning over but wouldn't fire? What did you try to get it going again? Just wondering how easy or hard some of the workarounds were, drain tank, fuel filter access, etc.

I think the starter on these is traditional hold to start aka you push/turn with user input vs the "auto" start feature where you push a button once?

Not Starting, engine turning over

Can anyone please help. In Melbourne, 3 weeks and 1800klm from home, my new petrol fieldmaster now won't start but continues to turns over even when the hand is removed from the ignition key . New years day, everything closed, going to see family, what with the aircon stuck on full heat and now...

www.theineosforum.com

 

[Ragman]

Out of curiosity - what were the symptoms around the no start? Sounds like if you are suggesting it was fuel related it was turning over but wouldn't fire? What did you try to get it going again? Just wondering how easy or hard some of the workarounds were, drain tank, fuel filter access, etc.

I think the starter on these is traditional hold to start aka you push/turn with user input vs the "auto" start feature where you push a button once?

Not Starting, engine turning over

Can anyone please help. In Melbourne, 3 weeks and 1800klm from home, my new petrol fieldmaster now won't start but continues to turns over even when the hand is removed from the ignition key . New years day, everything closed, going to see family, what with the aircon stuck on full heat and now...

www.theineosforum.com

We were very limited on efforts to get it restarted as we were parked on a road that was scheduled to reopen and we couldn't start to tear things apart. We were able to find transport leaving the next morning through a connection with the chase truck so took advantage of being able to get it on the truck and moving. Had we had time and space I would have used an easy siphon to get some fuel out to have a look. I expect the fuel filter is inside the fuel tank so not an easy check (although if we had time it would have been feasible) and expectations of finding a new pump/filter were very low. Ya the starter is turning the key, the truck turned over no problem but after the first couple tries didn't even sputter and die, just turned over.

Just to clarify I am not saying what the cause is as I don't know. When speaking with the tech at Mossy in San Diego he commented that it sounded like bad fuel but we won't know until they can have a look.

I will be sure to post up the resolution once we find out the cause and give everyone an idea what it takes. I read elsewhere on the forum that INEOS installs fuel/water separators on ROW models for 2024 model year but not NA models, which will be a bummer if it turns out to be water in the fuel.

I think that this is an example of why the early adopters are disgruntled not having the promised access to shop manuals and diagnostic help from INEOS or an emergency mechanics help line that could be called globally for someone with vehicle issues in areas without dealership support. When I contacted INEOS via the website their recommendation was calling my dealer in CHICAGO to see what they could do from 2-3k miles away.

 

[nickw]

We were very limited on efforts to get it restarted as we were parked on a road that was scheduled to reopen and we couldn't start to tear things apart. We were able to find transport leaving the next morning through a connection with the chase truck so took advantage of being able to get it on the truck and moving. Had we had time and space I would have used an easy siphon to get some fuel out to have a look. I expect the fuel filter is inside the fuel tank so not an easy check (although if we had time it would have been feasible) and expectations of finding a new pump/filter were very low. Ya the starter is turning the key, the truck turned over no problem but after the first couple tries didn't even sputter and die, just turned over.

Just to clarify I am not saying what the cause is as I don't know. When speaking with the tech at Mossy in San Diego he commented that it sounded like bad fuel but we won't know until they can have a look.

I will be sure to post up the resolution once we find out the cause and give everyone an idea what it takes. I read elsewhere on the forum that INEOS installs fuel/water separators on ROW models for 2024 model year but not NA models, which will be a bummer if it turns out to be water in the fuel.

I think that this is an example of why the early adopters are disgruntled not having the promised access to shop manuals and diagnostic help from INEOS or an emergency mechanics help line that could be called globally for someone with vehicle issues in areas without dealership support. When I contacted INEOS via the website their recommendation was calling my dealer in CHICAGO to see what they could do from 2-3k miles away.

Boggles my mind about the shop manuals....are they available yet? Presumably the shops have them.

 

[T-Willy]

We were very limited on efforts to get it restarted as we were parked on a road that was scheduled to reopen and we couldn't start to tear things apart. We were able to find transport leaving the next morning through a connection with the chase truck so took advantage of being able to get it on the truck and moving. Had we had time and space I would have used an easy siphon to get some fuel out to have a look. I expect the fuel filter is inside the fuel tank so not an easy check (although if we had time it would have been feasible) and expectations of finding a new pump/filter were very low. Ya the starter is turning the key, the truck turned over no problem but after the first couple tries didn't even sputter and die, just turned over.

Just to clarify I am not saying what the cause is as I don't know. When speaking with the tech at Mossy in San Diego he commented that it sounded like bad fuel but we won't know until they can have a look.

I will be sure to post up the resolution once we find out the cause and give everyone an idea what it takes. I read elsewhere on the forum that INEOS installs fuel/water separators on ROW models for 2024 model year but not NA models, which will be a bummer if it turns out to be water in the fuel.

I think that this is an example of why the early adopters are disgruntled not having the promised access to shop manuals and diagnostic help from INEOS or an emergency mechanics help line that could be called globally for someone with vehicle issues in areas without dealership support. When I contacted INEOS via the website their recommendation was calling my dealer in CHICAGO to see what they could do from 2-3k miles away.

Thanks for that detailed explanation.

A breakdown in Baja, and then no dealership support even once back stateside, exemplifies the early adopter risks some have articulated on the forum.

I hope and expect that they'll get it ironed out in time; it's such a fantastic platform.

 

[Ragman]

Thanks for that detailed explanation.

A breakdown in Baja, and then no dealership support even once back stateside, exemplifies the early adopter risks some have articulated on the forum.

I hope and expect that they'll get it ironed out in time; it's such a fantastic platform.

I am preparing a YT video about the trip and the Grenadier off-road but spoiler alert in this terrain, which I consider to be pretty representative of global overlandng the Grenny excelled. Comments were made that for appearing to have low ground clearance (rock rails make it look deceptive) it crawled over everything no problem and in the sand I was shocked how little trouble I had.

this is not to say I wouldn’t welcome a few inches of lift as I did drag the rock rails a couple of times but nothing stopped it. Deeper mud might be problematic as for all vehicles and it is not designed as a rock buggy but it was the only totally stock vehicle in our class and, although slower, it did all the same trails as the modified rigs riding on aftermarket suspensions and larger tires.