So we bought a cheap P38....

So we bought a cheap P38....

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interloper

Original Poster:

2,747 posts

254 months

Tuesday 30th December 2014
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Earlier in the year, Mrs Interloper decided that as we live in the remote wilderness of Hampshire and having to navigate a drive with at least two small pot holes, we must get a 4x4 especially for winter. Brilliant an excuse to purchase another motor!

Personally I fancied a series landy or even better a forward control but as it wasn't my money, a more sensible vehicle needed to be found. The classifieds turned upa few diesel Discoveries but they didn't look greatly appealing. I then pointed out that as it was an occasional vehicle fuel economy shouldn't be a concern...

So we ended up looking over a 97 Range Rover HSE 4.6, advertised for £1300. It had a peeling bonnet, sagging roof lining and recalcitrant door locks but everything else appeared to work.



Mrs Interloper neatly fixed the roof lining with pins straight out of her sowing kit! Its not a perfect repair but its effective and the roof no longer sags.

I fixed the drivers door handle, the main cable had popped out but the passenger door requires a new solenoid, so that will wait.

Driving it is interesting to say the least, I really like it. It has a laid back feel but the slighlty revy nature of the 4.6 is a little bit at odds with the experience. The engine wants you to cane it, the chassis doesn't really!
Also the air suspension is fab and works well, the idea of putting it on normal springs seems pretty sacrilegious

After a few weeks of short trips pootling about we took the beasty on a longer run and discoverd a slight over heating issue. I pressure tested the coolant system and that didn't show up much so I decided to take the radiator to an expert. He checked it over, declared it blocked and I fitted a new one.

More drivel and a dashboard strip out to come!




Cfnteabag

1,195 posts

195 months

Tuesday 30th December 2014
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Watching with interest!

I keep looking at p38's at the price they are and thinking about getting one. I think a lot of the reliability problems there are with them can be negated by above and beyond maintenance and replacing parts as they become worn rather than waiting for them to fail and wear other parts, air springs for example killing the compressor!

interloper

Original Poster:

2,747 posts

254 months

Thursday 1st January 2015
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After replacing the rad, I kept a sharp eye on the coolant level and noticed that it kept dropping but still no noticeable leeks?

Anyway a few weeks back we started to notice how fogged up it got, now to be fair its not immune from water leaks into the cab but this seemed excessive. I checked around the dash and found a damp patch just on the transmission tunnel below the matrix on the drivers side.
After a bit of research I figured it could be the matrix O rings as this is pretty common.

I found a guide to replacing the O rings with out taking the whole dashboard off, I found I just couldn't get past the air vent ducting, so bit the bullet and stripped the entire dash...

Dun dun dah!



I then brought the dash inside



Old joke warning.... so I could have it Cat scanned....


The real target was the matrix O rings, which no surprise were easy to sort once you had everything off.



Now all I need to do is to get the dash back in.....


paintman

7,669 posts

189 months

Thursday 1st January 2015
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Which guide did you try?

interloper

Original Poster:

2,747 posts

254 months

Thursday 1st January 2015
quotequote all
I started by following this guide but got stuck at the point were you need to move the air ducting.

http://www.rangerovers.net/repairdetails/heaterori...

Then used this as a guide to dash removal.

http://paulp38a.com/range-rover-p38/dash-removal/

The dash guide is very good.

Piersman2

6,596 posts

198 months

Thursday 1st January 2015
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Haha, I could see which way this was going as soon as you mentioned coolant loss! laugh

I had a 2001 P38 4.6 Vogue before upgrading to a L322. The P38 was a real experience to drive, always fun in a bouncy castle kind of way.

Anyways, it exhibited all the standard issues the P38 can, however, if you're happy to spanner, as it appears you are, then there's nothing you can't relatively easily sort yourself.

For the record, I did the o-rings on mine without removing the complete dash, however it was a bd of a job with zero access and visibility to what you were trying to get to. I did manage it but they still leaked slightly, maybe I pinched the o-ring or didn't tighten up enough. Either ways I didn't bother going back and doing it again! smile

It was by far the worst of many jobs I did on that car so if you've got this far you can sort anything else that will crop up. smile


Zelda Pinwheel

500 posts

197 months

Friday 2nd January 2015
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i bet the 'bong' still works

'bong' your door is open
'bong' your door is open

'bong' your seatbelt is off
'bong' your seatbelt is on

'bong' the front left window needs resetting

'bong' the tailgate is open'

'bong' the bonnet is open'

'bong' the handbrake is on
'bong' the handbrake is off

'bong' you're turning right
'bong' you're turning left.

when my OH and a friend scrapped a P38 last year, they dismantled pretty much the entire vehicle trying to find the source of the infernal 'bong'. it went off on a trailer, merrily 'bonging' away to itself.

interloper

Original Poster:

2,747 posts

254 months

Saturday 3rd January 2015
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First casualty of the dash rebuild, I managed to break one of the A pillar trims on re fitting. The guide actually recommends carefully removing them both to avoid damaging them when taking the dash out, doesn't say anything about carelessly re fitting, Doh!



Not very invisible repair until I can pick up a replacement...



Anyway, dash back in...



I have to say the under dash bolts are a complete sod to line up and get back in. I would be curious to know how it all went in at the factory?

Bolts done, air bag, dials and centre control unit thing-a-me re fitted, especially shot in a blur...



I should have it all done tomorrow morning, touch wood.


interloper

Original Poster:

2,747 posts

254 months

Monday 5th January 2015
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Sunday was not exactly fun, I realised I had forgotten the alarm sensor in the middle of the dash (the one that sits in the middle of the centre air vent. So I had to undo most of my hard work and free the dash back off, so out came the dials, out came trhe air bag and then the awkward dash bolts. I then fished out the and then had another fight lining up the dash to get the bolts back in.

I managed to get everything back together except the glove box which needS some adjustment as it wont stay shut.

Then I re connected the battery, had to go through the EKA ritual to fire the engine and discovered the key fob buttons have stopped working!

The key itself works, there is no battery low warning but the little red LED no longer flashes, any idea if this is just knackered buttons or do I need a new key?

The Wookie

13,909 posts

227 months

Tuesday 6th January 2015
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My parents had two P38's, those bloody keys were the bain of ownership. Must have gone through 3 or 4 of them just packing up at random. Usually in a busy petrol station with the wretched key code in the glove box, and getting locked out 2 or 3 times because you didn't get the obscure sequence correct!

Other than that the second one (a 2000 Vogue 4.6) was a lovely car... I wont go into too much detail about the 96 4.6 HSE, but it was a less positive experience... To coin a Red Dwarf quote, 'as reliable as a plumber's estimate'.

jacckk

35 posts

145 months

Wednesday 7th January 2015
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interloper said:
Sunday was not exactly fun, I realised I had forgotten the alarm sensor in the middle of the dash (the one that sits in the middle of the centre air vent. So I had to undo most of my hard work and free the dash back off, so out came the dials, out came trhe air bag and then the awkward dash bolts. I then fished out the and then had another fight lining up the dash to get the bolts back in.

I managed to get everything back together except the glove box which needS some adjustment as it wont stay shut.

Then I re connected the battery, had to go through the EKA ritual to fire the engine and discovered the key fob buttons have stopped working!

The key itself works, there is no battery low warning but the little red LED no longer flashes, any idea if this is just knackered buttons or do I need a new key?
If you have disconnected the battery have you re-synced the key? This isn't the same as using the EKA code. The procedure is simply to lock the car with the button (I usually hold the button for a second just to make sure it receives the signal, nothing will happen when you do this) and then lock with the key. If the procedure worked the horn should beep twice/indicators should flash. Then try the key.

V8 Fettler

7,019 posts

131 months

Wednesday 7th January 2015
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As the P38 approaches the bottom of the value curve, it must make more financial sense to resolve the nonsensical security arrangements with some wire strippers, a terminal screwdriver and some choccy block?

interloper

Original Poster:

2,747 posts

254 months

Wednesday 7th January 2015
quotequote all
Jacckk I tried the reset but holding the key buttons seems to do nothing. Hence I suspect I need to replace the buttons or the key. Fettler I like the idea of simplifying the security but I think that would be hugely involved due to the way the dash, ecu, becm, srs and air suspension communicate.

jacckk

35 posts

145 months

Thursday 8th January 2015
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interloper said:
Jacckk I tried the reset but holding the key buttons seems to do nothing. Hence I suspect I need to replace the buttons or the key. Fettler I like the idea of simplifying the security but I think that would be hugely involved due to the way the dash, ecu, becm, srs and air suspension communicate.
Does the light flash on the remote when you press the button? If it does then it's likely the problem isn't with the remote. So starting with the car unlocked you pressed the lock button on the key and then turn the key towards the lock position in the door? When you turned the key in the lock did the central locking activate?

V8 Fettler

7,019 posts

131 months

Thursday 8th January 2015
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interloper said:
Fettler I like the idea of simplifying the security but I think that would be hugely involved due to the way the dash, ecu, becm, srs and air suspension communicate.
I'm sure this will have been resolved by the more enthusiastic offroaderists, but whether the result is insurable and what is does to resale values is unknown to me. Factory-fitted does appear to be a user unfriendly system when faults occur!

interloper

Original Poster:

2,747 posts

254 months

Thursday 8th January 2015
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Jacckk the key has stopped flashing, I noticed that fairly quickly. The batteries in it are fresh And it works in the ignition, hence I think the fault is in the key. Also only the drivers door seemed to unlock/lock with the key in the door, I didn't really think about that at the time but now you ask the question yes the central locking stopped I think!

Edited by interloper on Thursday 8th January 21:51

K50 DEL

9,227 posts

227 months

Sunday 11th January 2015
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interloper said:
I started by following this guide but got stuck at the point were you need to move the air ducting.

http://www.rangerovers.net/repairdetails/heaterori...
When I had my P38 I had to have this job done as well, I forwarded that guide to my friendly mechanic who was doing the job.
When I mailed him to ask how he got on, this was his reply..

Evening,

Just finishing the o ring job, its 1.30 in the morning now, I started it at 10.30 am. I had to go to casualty a couple of times with lacerated wrists and the fire brigade had to extract my head from behind the brake pedal, other than that it was quite straightforward. What an absolute ****************** (insert strongest word) even with the holes cut out.!!!!!!!!
I will charge you 4 hours as the link suggests (plus medical bills, chiropractor and post traumatic stress counselling!) if thats ok?

Regards

Sounds to me like removing the dash might actually be slightly less stressful lol

interloper

Original Poster:

2,747 posts

254 months

Saturday 24th January 2015
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Captain's log star date errr were was I? Ah yes, right since the dash re fit I have had the key tested and its not emitting so, we are almost about to by a new key but...

Small bomb shell, Mrs Interloper discovered the MOT was very, very nearly due. Anyway I booked it in at my work (a Mercedes truck and van garage) and it promptly failed.

It failed mainly on emissions, possibly caused by a missfire. Although I must come clean here and say I hadn't realised I thought the engine was supposed to woofle in a slightly off beat manner, turns out I had been driving a V7!

Anyway I this morning I followed some advice and disconnected the fuel injectors one at a time (disconnecting the HT leads in the same manner can damage the engine ecu on a Gems car) with the engine running and found cylinder one didn't mind having its fuel supply cut. Inspected the spark plug and couldn't beleive how clean it was...



Almost as if it had never fired!

The ceramic material on the coil pack is breaking up in places...



Possibly not a good sign? Personally I suspect the coil pack is shot. Just need a way to test my theory!

V8 Fettler

7,019 posts

131 months

Monday 26th January 2015
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Get a laser thermometer to measure exhaust header temps to verify if a cylinder is firing (or spit on the header!). I've used the LED HT lead indicators, but not on a GEMS RV8.

interloper

Original Poster:

2,747 posts

254 months

Monday 26th January 2015
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Oh an excuse to buy a lazer thermometer, gah can't really justify that on a finiancial level at the mo!

I am going to change the grotty coil pack and then see if things have improved.