I finally did it. New MY02 Vogue owner

Welcome to the club mate!

Apart from some niggles I have been very happy with my P38. I See some people have already put up a list of things to do / check in order.

Parts are indeed cheap but I find that they are starting to dry up a bit in my neck of the woods. For instance a proper wheel bearing (from skf) has more than doubled in price in a years time so I guess stock is getting low and no new production is planned. Also the VCU is no longer available.

What kind of driving are you going to do with the car? 18" wheels I read so I reckon no heavy bush bashing?

Anyway, keep us posted :)

Cheers,
-P

Quote:

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Originally Posted by prelude

Welcome to the club mate!

Apart from some niggles I have been very happy with my P38. I See some people have already put up a list of things to do / check in order.

Parts are indeed cheap but I find that they are starting to dry up a bit in my neck of the woods. For instance a proper wheel bearing (from skf) has more than doubled in price in a years time so I guess stock is getting low and no new production is planned. Also the VCU is no longer available.

What kind of driving are you going to do with the car? 18" wheels I read so I reckon no heavy bush bashing?

Anyway, keep us posted :)

Cheers,
-P

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When I said parts are cheap, what I meant was maybe some of them are too cheap. Things like $150 radiators and $70 airbags... well maybe they are just fantastic quality but I have my doubts. I don't mean I will not buy anything but genuine OEM LR parts, but there must be a middle ground. I will be asking for recommendations when I get to items such as the above.

I think this RR is too good to modify. No hard-core off-roading for this RR, only some light trail work and some towing.

Off to pick it up this morning, then probably to TR spares with a shopping list of parts. Assume Mahle filters are either OEM or OEM quaity? A brand I've heard of for many years anyway.

A bittersweet day. Went and picked up and registered the Vogue, it's a good one, I think. Plenty of relatively small stuff to do though to bring it back.

Got home to the news that my oldest friend passed away a couple days ago. Knew him for 48 years.
This vehicle might end up being a good distraction for me. Feeling pretty bloody sad.

Mate, I am sorry to hear that...

Perhaps the P38 will distract, or it will give you a lot of time to think.

I wish you well.
-P

Hi

Welcome to the madness, great that it's a good one

My condolences on the death of your friend :(

Steve

Thank-you gentlemen. I didn't mean to blab that, I guess I was in a bit of shock.

Had to do a fair bit of running around today but got a start with job 1 on the P38 - replacing the horns.

Discovered they didn't work after getting rego done at a Service NSW on the northern beaches. A woman reversed out of her park without even a glance. I was madly thumping at the steering wheel. It was close. I got a nasty glare from the touch-parking sensors woman as she drove away. She mustn't like Range Rovers...

I am not the best at electrics but I think I did okay troubleshooting. I could hear the horn relay clicking while pressing the horn pad. When trying to confirm 12v was getting to the horns without a helper, I blew the horn fuse. Not the way it should be done, I know, but it was a test result!. Also checked for resistance on the horn pins, both are open circuits

The driver's side horn is a pain to remove but it can be done by unbolting it from the bracket and wriggling it out next to the washer bottle tube, after having removed the battery cover. No good if you've got dinner-plate size hands though...

I thought I'd try to get it out via the grille but of course, no access there. At least I know how the grille comes off now :) I also know I really want to get rid of the RR accessory 'bull bar'; aside from being quite sun-damaged on top and bent from a PO's touch parking effort (I assume) it makes getting the grille out almost impossible, and I don't think the headlights are going anywhere untill the bullbar is off. Not that I plan to rip parts off the front for the hell of it, just it'll be easier without the tired-looking old bar on there.

I have read a thread on here about fitting a dual exhaust system on the P38 (std in the UK for later models) and I see that the mild steel aftermarket rear dual pipes/mufflers are fairly cheap out of the UK (about $300 landed). I'm tempted to give it a try, as I would like a bit of a note from the 4.6 without it being too noisy and while still looking factory (well, it is, in a sense). The LH exhaust hanger tang is already in place so it looks like an easy fitment (I'd need an extra hanger of course). Then again, I could spend $300 more wisely. Anyone here given this a go?

iirc the grill needs to come out to remove the headlights. It is a very easy job but not sure how the bar would get in the way but I guess it should be possible to reach the lower screws (on the sides) with on of those stubby screwdrivers?

Anyway, removing the bar mean you need a new bumper I should think. I never saw one up close but the mounting of the A bar has to go through the bumper somewhere.

About the exhaust: Mine has the entire system replaced by a stainless steel version from behind the Y pipe. It makes for a nice deep tone which is hardly noticeable inside the vehicle and is not a loud screamer on the outside (unless you floor it to the rev limiter). I like how it never needs replacing again. It would be sligthly more than $300 I think, not sure what they charge you for that over there.
If you are bent on having the original exhaust you might find a second muffler and fix up a piece of piping yourself. Should be no more than an afternoons fabrication :)

The "fuse" detector is a tried and tested method! [bigwhistle]

Cheers,
-P

Quote:

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Originally Posted by prelude

iirc the grill needs to come out to remove the headlights. It is a very easy job but not sure how the bar would get in the way but I guess it should be possible to reach the lower screws (on the sides) with on of those stubby screwdrivers?
-P

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I tried that, but the screws are recessed too much for the stubby screwdriver I have and the verticals of the centre section of the bullbar are right in the way of the screws for anything longer. I ended up using a long philips head bit and a 8mm ring spanner.

Fun and games today as I continued re-spraying the Hurricane alloys, which look like they have been done before, as the paint was flaking off. I've discovered the rear pads were down to the backing plate on one of the pads, the rest not far behind. Also found that one of the caliper slider pins' thread was stripped, so hopefully Graeme Coopers will have a replacement tomorrow (or a kit). A bit slack that a mechanic just shoved a fine thread bolt in there hope it'd hold. It did, but a bit bodgy. I hope that's not a continuing theme in this car, but I'm glad I decided to go though everything before driving it.

The dual exhaust was only done to reduce the noise levels - it is quieter than the local spec as it has 2 resonators fitted.
My German spec diesel had one fitted but I replaced it with a normal single tailpipe. The old pipe/s are still floating around here somewhere. Before forking out big $, try replacing the current rear resonator with a straight through pipe section. It makes the V8 a bit throatier without becoming too noisy.

The nudge bar is bolted to the bumper. The whole assembly comes off in 2min.


Add water leaks to your list too. Water leaks from the cabin filter area & can drip into various electrical parts.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Scouse

The dual exhaust was only done to reduce the noise levels - it is quieter than the local spec as it has 2 resonators fitted.
My German spec diesel had one fitted but I replaced it with a normal single tailpipe. The old pipe/s are still floating around here somewhere. Before forking out big $, try replacing the current rear resonator with a straight through pipe section. It makes the V8 a bit throatier without becoming too noisy.

The nudge bar is bolted to the bumper. The whole assembly comes off in 2min.


Add water leaks to your list too. Water leaks from the cabin filter area & can drip into various electrical parts.

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That makes sense re: the dual exhuast set up - thanks Scouse. And therefore makes no sense me doing it. Exhaust is for later really anyway. I should really focus on the basic stuff first.

I will take off the nudge bar wings to start with and see how it looks. It seems the bolts for the wings are hidden behind finsihing caps on the nudge bar, so should look okay with them off. I suspect Land Rover offered both nudgebar and bullbar in the acessories catelogue back in the day. A kind-of modular approach. Certainly cheaper to make than two distinct bars.

Funny you should mention water leaks -- water was pooling in the left footwell on the way home from picking it up (in dry weather). Turning off the a/c helped. I blew some compressed air though the drain tubes from inside the car and that seems to have fixed it. Perhaps I should have siliconed around all the retaining clips when I removed the plenum cover. Anyway, I'll see if it leaks when wet and go from there.

So many P38 haters out there -- or at least those who think it is an incredibly difficult car to keep on the road. Maybe I am being too much of an optimist, but it seems once I have got al the basic maintenance in order and worked though the known fault points (EAS, HVAC) then hopefully it'll be smooth sailing with this car.