Sorting various issues

[4X4V8]

Geez it's quiet in here!

My new MY02 Vogue is slowing getting the once-over. I've painted the Hurricane alloys as the top coat had chipped away a lot revealing ivory-coloured undercoat everywhere. That was quite the job. Very time consuming!

I did the wheels as a priority as I had to replace the tyres. The spare was the original 2001 Michelin and the rest 2011 tyres, and almost at the treadwear indicators. Didn't have to worry about overspray on the old tyres.

I had forgotten how the ride in these things isn't great. It was a lot better with fresh tyres though!

Replaced the most disgusting cabin filters I've ever seen and the centre vent inlet screen (old one had fallen apart). Lots of leaves etc in the plenum; this car has definitely spent quite some time prked under a tree.


I received the RSW Solutions dongle yesterday, downloaded EAS Unlock V4 onto my old WinXP laptop and did a quick scan. The book symbol on the HVAC won't seem to go away even though I have cleared faults on EAS Unlock. The fault appears to be in the RH blend motor.

No EAS faults -- yet!

Last night driving in the traffic I noticed something interesting. The windcreen (original Land Rover) appears to be heated; it has the tell-tale tiny vertical squiggly lines doen the screen. I thought the first heated ones were in L322.

[DiscoMick]

Sounds good.
When doing filters, don't forget the one in the air-con. They are often overlooked, but can make a huge difference to the performance of the air-con. A air-con workshop manager told me that people often come in for a regas, when actually the gas is fine and all they really need is a new filter.
Replacing ours certainly made a big difference.

[TheTree]

Sounds good.
When doing filters, don't forget the one in the air-con. They are often overlooked, but can make a huge difference to the performance of the air-con. A air-con workshop manager told me that people often come in for a regas, when actually the gas is fine and all they really need is a new filter.
Replacing ours certainly made a big difference.

Hi Mate

Where is the one in the air-con ? I have never come across it in my explorations ;)

Regards
Steve

[DiscoMick]

I'm not familiar with your vehicle so can't answer. Sorry.
An air-con workshop did ours.
One of my BILs has just had the same experience with his 80. The air-con stopped cooling, he took it to an air-con workshop which replaced a filter and did a service and now it's working fine.

[DieselLSE]

The windcreen (original Land Rover) appears to be heated; it has the tell-tale tiny vertical squiggly lines doen the screen. I thought the first heated ones were in L322.
No. Heated screens were available in the later Classics. Not sure what year, but definitely 1992 Vogue and Vogue LSE. Optional on P38 and may have been standard on Autobiography. Probably available on various D1 and D2 models, too.

[prelude]

Autobiography had them as standard in europe at least. They do break down often and a lot it seems. I have two vehicles (both p38) with them installed and both miss large chunks of heated windscreen. I am considering a replacement but not sure of I will fork out for the heated one since I am somewhat skeptical they will last long...

Also, I am not aware of any aircon filters in the P38. The air intake filters (or pollen filters) are the only ones I know of.

Cheers,
-P

[4X4V8]

I've been driving the P38 around, not straying too far from home so that I can get a feel for any problems before they become 'left stranded' problems.

The ride is no longer uncomfortable; partly because I'm getting used to it and partly because I dropped tyre pressures to recommended levels (28psi fr/38psi rr). It's more like the magic carpet ride I remember.

There is a problem with the blend doors or motors; I'm not getting heat at my feet on the driver's side, which probably correlates with the RSW Unlock V4 is telling me - RH blend motor circuit fault. The fault won't seem to clear, so I'll have to dig it out and have a look.

Went up to the shops just now and the doors wouldn't readily lock with the remote. By pressing the unlock and then lock buttons a few times it locked fine. You know what's coming next... :) when I arrived back at the car an hour later, the car would not respond to the remote. A flashing red led light on the fob (that went solid red after a few seconds if the button was kept pressed) told me there was some juice in the fob battery at least. Then gave up and used the key to open the driver's door. Turned the ignition on, and of course it is immobilised. With the key in, ign on, I tried the fob buttons and the car unlocked and immobilister was deactivated. Right, so I have some reading up to do on locking/immobilister problems. Funny how you can google all this P38 stuff and be guaranteed of finding a wealth of info!

So much to learn about this car's quirks. Luckily it's a well-worn path and hopefully my P38 won't do anything dodgy beyond what is normal dodgy for a P38.

It is such a lottery buying a used vehicle at the best of times, but more so when it's 20 years old. I feel that I was lucky to get this car. I finally went though the log book properly last night. I'm the 3rd owner; the first in NZ had it for 3 years/18,000km, and the 2nd for all these years since until recently. I don't begrudge anyone letting their car go a bit as it gets on, esp a P38. If you're not an enthusiast working on them yourself, it'd be easy to spend a fortune on these cars. The PO at least kept the basics of servicing covered, didn't seem to abuse it and didn't succumb to modifying it with a new head unit or anything else. A few dents and scrapes, but as far as I can see no repair work done to the body, so I'm not left wondering how big the damage was. Remarkable.

[prelude]

Nice to read about the maintenance mate :)

My dash tells me every day that the alarm is broken. I guess someone bypassed it and I feel I won one there. Not many people are going to try and steal this behemoth so less worries about the alarm system for me!

Since you went through the log; what about the oil intervals and oil type used? This seems to still be open to some debate. My MY98 autobiography had a very easy life the first 140K's but when I took the engine out and replaced it with a stage 3 rebuild one it was as black as tar on the inside. I had the full service history with the vehicle and it got it's oil change by the book but damn.

I started following the advice of my engine builder and have replaced the oil every 5k's in the new one, only using valvoline VR1 20w50. I did use 5w30 twice (because of cold weather) and I have sent samples to an oil lab but no response yet. In any case, I digress. I was just wondering about your engine!

Cheers,
-P

[4X4V8]

Since you went through the log; what about the oil intervals and oil type used? This seems to still be open to some debate. My MY98 autobiography had a very easy life the first 140K's but when I took the engine out and replaced it with a stage 3 rebuild one it was as black as tar on the inside. I had the full service history with the vehicle and it got it's oil change by the book but damn.

I started following the advice of my engine builder and have replaced the oil every 5k's in the new one, only using valvoline VR1 20w50. I did use 5w30 twice (because of cold weather) and I have sent samples to an oil lab but no response yet. In any case, I digress. I was just wondering about your engine!

Cheers,
-P

The service records didn't go into that much detail, just what date and kilometres the service was done on.

I just changed the oil and oil filter yesterday, although it wasn't due until April. The oil was black and smelled of fuel. The car hasn't done many km since that last oil change, and lots of cold starts I think.

So I don't really know the state of my 139,000km engine other that it is relatively quiet and seems to go well. I used Penrite Semi-Synthetic 15W-40 engine oil.

Interesting to note that the engine oil capacity is 6.6 litres in the owner's manual. In Rave, it is 6.6 from 'dry', 5.8 during oil change.

When I changed the oil and filter I put in 5 litres and the dipstick was at the full mark. Well, I guess the engine needed to be burped because I ran it, turned it off and the dipstick read low. Took another 0.8L of oil and all good.

[DiscoMick]

Change the batteries in the fobs. It is a cheap first step and often works.

Go well out of range of the vehicle to change the batteries, so you avoid triggering a reaction from the vehicle. Maybe just change one fob battery, see if that works and if it does, then do the other.
Sometimes the contacts in the fobs also get dirty, so check them while the fob is apart.
Hope that fixes it. It's cheaper than other options.

[4X4V8]

Change the batteries in the fobs. It is a cheap first step and often works.

Go well out of range of the vehicle to change the batteries, so you avoid triggering a reaction from the vehicle. Maybe just change one fob battery, see if that works and if it does, then do the other.
Sometimes the contacts in the fobs also get dirty, so check them while the fob is apart.
Hope that fixes it. It's cheaper than other options.


Thanks for that Mick - I have to go to SuperCheap tomorrow anyway so it's worth a try with new batteries and checking connections while replacing them.

I mucked around locking/unlocking this arvo and of course it behaved perfectly. My second remote has no key blade and is compleltely dead so I'll have to get new batteries for that anyway (new blank key blade/shell on its way too. Should be easy getting it cut I think).

I started to search on this issue the other day but got bogged down with some threads that really didn't describe the fault-finding process for non-operational remotes. One was about fixing the problem by having a new flux capacitor soldered to the key fob circuit board. Okay, it didn't mention a flux capacitor but it was something like that. I have a lot to learn...

Hey, a quick question on the BCM not going to sleep because of RF issues -- would getting something like this
P38 RF Receiver Filter (http://p38webshop.co.uk/index.php?route=product/category&path=84)
potentially sort out key fob issues I'm having too? I'm thinking of getting the RF filter anyway, once they're back in stock.

[4X4V8]

Went to Supercheap but forgot batteries until I got back to the car. It wouldn’t unlock. So back in the shop for new Varta CR2025 batteries. Problem solved! Hopefully it’ll stay that way.
I think the EAS compressor kicks in too often so put the suspension on high and did the soapy water test. A few bubbles on the drier connecton, but then was interrupted. So started again 30min later, moved the suspension down to normal height then back up, waited for the compressor to stop and tried with the soapy water again. No bubbles this time. Hmmm, don’t know what is going on there. Might replace the o-ring(s) on the drier anyway. The airbags looked quite good as far as I could tell, not perished or any cracks. Where they fold in looked like new. Not that means much I suppose.

[DiscoMick]

That's great about the batteries. If only all problems were so easily solved.

We were charged $70 for a genuine Land Rover key when we got a replacement fob after losing one for our Defender - and the genuine key wasn't even cut! When we took it to a locksmith he wanted another $70to cut it, because he said he had to contact Land Rover to get the design. A total of $140.
Humoursly, I had got a $10 copy of the other key made separately which works perfectly.

[TheTree]

At least there are 3rd party keys available now

Range Rover P38 Replacement Key NEW Keys 433mhz Or 315mhz- Inc Key Cutting | eBay (https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Range-Rover-P38-Replacement-Key-NEW-Keys-433mhz-Or-315mhz-Inc-Key-Cutting/153846403790)

Steve

[4X4V8]

At least there are 3rd party keys available now

Range Rover P38 Replacement Key NEW Keys 433mhz Or 315mhz- Inc Key Cutting | eBay (https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Range-Rover-P38-Replacement-Key-NEW-Keys-433mhz-Or-315mhz-Inc-Key-Cutting/153846403790)

Steve
Good stuff - thanks for that Steve!

I've been working on rebuilding my spare key fob, which came in a sorry knocked about state with no keyblade. Bought one of the el-cheapo eBay key fobs, which of course didn't come with the small metal piece required on the battery cover/holder to permit continuity of the circuit.

Fixed that and I've got the LED responding on the fob now, but I wonder if it's the wrong key as I've seen pics of an 'early' and 'late' circuit board online -- they appear different. Mine's a late car but this fob looks like an early one. If I can't get it to synch then it's a new key for me :(