Drove past a P38 4.6 HSE today

Justin, I have one of these terrible vehicles and love using it both on road and in the bush. No way would I own one if all repairs had to be done by others but much can be done by loving owners.
Five years and 110000k's hasn't caused me too much grief but I do practice preventative maintainance.
In the bush, and on club trips, it has always at least kept up with the others. You are probably correct about use by date, due to the complex electricals which can cause problems. The eas shouldn't be the hassle that it is, as mostly it is easily fixed, and problems there can at least be kept at bay with a manual air recovery system fitted. Hopefully mine keeps on for a while yet, its only done 270000. lol

John

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Originally Posted by parasnoop67

Justin, I have one of these terrible vehicles and love using it both on road and in the bush. No way would I own one if all repairs had to be done by others but much can be done by loving owners.
Five years and 110000k's hasn't caused me too much grief but I do practice preventative maintainance.
In the bush, and on club trips, it has always at least kept up with the others. You are probably correct about use by date, due to the complex electricals which can cause problems. The eas shouldn't be the hassle that it is, as mostly it is easily fixed, and problems there can at least be kept at bay with a manual air recovery system fitted. Hopefully mine keeps on for a while yet, its only done 270000. lol

John

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Hey John, hope you are going well, yes YOURS (and your young blokes one too,) are pretty good actually. I think you would agree though if you were to do NOTHING to your vehicle at all and pay me to do it all, the driveway would perhaps look a little empty by now:o

I think that owners like yourself are really embracing the vehicle and its capabilities, (which to anyone who hasn't driven one on and offroad, are amazing), and thats what makes the world go round.

Life is too short to not enjoy the vehicle you have, or we'd all be driving commodores or falcons:(

JC

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Originally Posted by justinc

Hey John, hope you are going well, yes YOURS (and your young blokes one too,) are pretty good actually. I think you would agree though if you were to do NOTHING to your vehicle at all and pay me to do it all, the driveway would perhaps look a little empty by now:o

I think that owners like yourself are really embracing the vehicle and its capabilities, (which to anyone who hasn't driven one on and offroad, are amazing), and thats what makes the world go round.

Life is too short to not enjoy the vehicle you have, or we'd all be driving commodores or falcons:(

JC

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So, is this the point I should confess. I do drive a Commodore. I think it is the best car I have ever had. It is 400,000km plus and still going strong but I am always on the lookout for it's replacement, hence, the questions on the P38.

Just do it Mick, you know you want to. Like the rest of us, we did it and we are just whating to be hanged or shot by the stealers.

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Originally Posted by Aussie

JustinC speaketh the truth, Wonderful 4wd's but way past their expiry date.

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Wrong.

If that were the case, true enthusiasts would not gather here to share their experiences. There are plenty of p38's still going strong and consistently defying the expectations of both their owners and the drivers of lesser marques.

If it were true, they would all just boot off and buy jap crappers and dream about the day they got back into a P38a!

A bit like you hey Aussie!?!

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If it were true, they would all just boot off and buy jap crappers and dream about the day they got back into a P38a!

A bit like you hey Aussie!?!

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LOL I've never had any dreams of owning a P38 again. As I said previously wonderful 4wd's but very unreliable and past their use by date. You still have my number Dave, call me if you need a recovery vehicle one day..lol my guess is it wont be long. I'll bring the triton out and you can bask in its back breaking ride home..hehe

You know deep down you still want one Aussie... that's why you keep hanging around here trying to kill our joy! I think it's some form of RR separation disorder you have... a common issue when one is tragically seperated from their dearly loved and cherished partners/friends/Rangies.

Anyway, FYI we just recently bought us another LR (County V8) to try and dispatch a piece of soul-less jap machinery (Mrs 105 series LC) from out of the driveway. Hoping for the third LR (101 FC) by the end of the year.

And thanks for the offer, if I need recovery I will take it from anyone... the thing is though, I just don't need it!!! And even if I do, there are always plenty of LR's on the tracks I travel and RACV top cover takes care of just about everything else I can think of outside of that.

I know where there's a nice clean low km's late model going cheap for you.

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Originally Posted by Aussie

LOL I've never had any dreams of owning a P38 again. As I said previously wonderful 4wd's but very unreliable and past their use by date. You still have my number Dave, call me if you need a recovery vehicle one day..lol my guess is it wont be long. I'll bring the triton out and you can bask in its back breaking ride home..hehe

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LOL Thanks but no thanks on the Pdirtydate, I would consider a L322 thou :p

Stopped and looked at a really nice looking P30 last night.
It was a 1998 with a 4.0 motor and velour interior that looked in really nice condition.
The bum looked as if it was sagging though.
Should I be looking for a 4.0 or a 4.6 and why?

The 4.0 is generally the "S" model while the 4.6 is the HSE and has "all the fruit" and somewhat more torque/power.

If you can find a good example post mid-1999 however, known as the "Bosch upgrade" -or Thor engine (VIN from XA410482 onwards) try and get that in preference: it gained Bosch motronic EFI and electrics, an upgraded gearbox (ZF4HP24), 4-pins diffs, improved WABCO Brake modulator, 150 AMP Bosch alternator,improved ignition coil setup, improved Crankshaft position sensor design/reliability, and sundry other changes...
cheers

EDIT: It's just an impression I have BUT: the Disco 2 with the V8 option (4.0 litre) is in many ways identical to the P38a in its running gear wrt engine and transmission... yet does not seem to attract the same criticism re. reliability... just an impression as I said .... which raises the issue as to whether the P38 is indeed inherently more unreliable as its reputation implies...or its relability is no worse! I'd welcome some informed comment!!