"new" P38, the questions begin

[finallyrangie]

hello People,

well I have finally gone and done it, there is a P38 parked next to the house and I am a very happy man, but, of course, there are questions.

the first thing is the heater has been disconnected in the engine bay, I am going to assume that the O rings need changing, it is easy or me to say that as I have no idea what that entails other than a lot of effort to get to them before a quick job, anything else I need to do whilst I'm there, I understand there is a chunk of dash board that needs to come out to get to them, all suggestions, hints and clues gratefully received.

thanks in advance, I'm sure this will not be the last question, loving the air suspension

[johnyrover]

I had to pull my blend motors off and put manual controls in for my heater. I have one suggestion that saved me a heap of time and heartache. Cut that stupid duct that runs down in front of everything and feeds the rear foot vents. Cut it as high as you can. A hacksaw blade does a nice job. Also cut it where it joins to the lower part of the ducting at the driveshaft hump level. Cut it just to the forward part of the flange. You can use Gorilla tape to join it really well when reassembling. Also when accessing that area unscrew the small plastic formed moulding that runs down the left side of the steering wheel beside the centre console, then put a long screw from the panel under the steering wheel in the hole after you have pulled that small plastic form to the right side. This keeps it out of the way and gives heaps (subjective term) of room to work. It will seem like it should break but it is really flexible. Pulling only the instrument bindle out will allow you to slip the side vent duct out of its feed and reinsert it when you are done. I have not done my O rings yet but it is not far away (slight drip occasionally at this stage), but it looks like it wont be too hard with the access that cutting the duct allows. Theres a really cool youtube video of some true trooper having a crack at this too. He used a hole saw on the moulding I mentioned, and left the stupid duct intact. Each to their own, and he is a true modern hero for filming it. Here is the link. Range Rover P38 O Rings Replacement Procedure Heater Core Exchanger Part 1 - YouTube Its in three parts and well worth a watch.
Have fun. :D
John

P.S. Congrats on the P38 plunge. They are Awesome!

[TheTree]

Hi

There is also the rr.net page on this, and some forum posts as well

Heater Core O-Ring Replacement (http://www.rangerovers.net/repairdetails/heateroring.html)

I did mine, and the :censored: blend motors a couple of weeks ago, not a nice job but not impossible !

Best of luck and welcome to the fun of P38 land :p

Steve

[finallyrangie]

Would I be best off changing the blend motors at the same time or shall I just leave them alone if they are working?

Where is the best place to download rave, let's face it, I'm going to need it

Thanks for any and all help

[TheTree]

HI

My blend motors were faulty so i replaced them, if they are OK it's probably best to leave them, it adds a few hours to the job !

I would consider replacing the heater core temperature sensor (STC3256) while you are in there.

This thread has a copy of RAVE attached

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/p38a-range-rover/179500-onboard-technical-info_-help-supplier-files.html

Regards,
Steve

[PeterH]

That video is exacly how I did mine, how good of that guy to go to the trouble of videoing it!
A long philips head screwdriver is essential, with a magnetic tip.
I did not need to cut any ducting, you can swivel it out of the way once it is disconnected at the top as shown in the rangerovers.net guide.
The duct has a join about half way along, (you can see it in the video), which can be flexed out of the way, with a bit of force it will come apart and saves cutting anything.
One tip I would add is once you have the o rings in, before reassembling everything, refill the coolant,start the car up and let it come up to temperature, then check the o rings for leaks.
I was a bit careful not to do them up too tight, as that can cause cracks in the heater core plastic where the screws go in. When I tested mine, it was still leaking, so I did them up tighter and that fixed the problem.
You may or may not need to bleed the cooling system of air since you have had it apart. Not hard to do, but if it overheats quickly you will know it is just air in the system.
A good small torch or maybe one of those head band torches would be a big help to see what you are doing under there.
Good luck with it!
Cheers, Pete.

[benji]

You can also get viton orings instead of the rubber ones.

Whatever you do , do not turn the ignition on with the instrument cluster disconnected.

You'll really value the air suspension when you load it up for a trip or tow something heavy - its amazing then!

[finallyrangie]

I have seen mentions of the viton rings but I have no idea what they are or if or why they are better, if anyone can enlighten me I would be very grateful.

Looking forward to towing the van, and that's a weird thing to say!

[glenhendry]

Hey there, nice to see another Brisbane local with a P38.

If you are doing any jobs and want two heads on it instead of one, then I am available and willing to help most weekend mornings very early, shoot me a text or PM. I am in Carindale though, but have lots of parts and tools etc. 0414 678 888.

I also have a (vin locked) faultmate xtreme and a good ODBII scanner etc.

Where's the pics?
What model?
What engine? :)

[TheTree]

I have seen mentions of the viton rings but I have no idea what they are or if or why they are better, if anyone can enlighten me I would be very grateful.

Looking forward to towing the van, and that's a weird thing to say!

Hi,

Check out PaulP38A (ex hard range) on this forum , he recently mentioned he had a stack of those o-rings still available

Steve

[finallyrangie]

Thanks for the offer GlenHenry, I may well give you a call to pick your brains, car is a 1995 4.6 HSE with 260000 on the clock, it was taken in part x by a' private trader' who then found he couldn't shift it, so it's literally been sat in the paddock for 6 months, still trying to work out the message center, got all the windows and sunroof set now so on to the next message!

Suspension goes down at the back in about 24 hours so valve block will get new seals, and the trip computer recons 46 litres to 100 kms, I'm hoping that will improve, 200 kms out of a tank full seems a bit thirsty!