What's happening with your P38?

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Originally Posted by peter51

I dont have any trouble with orange coolant leaking and I have been using since 2010 and have removed coolant twice due to removing the engine and subsequently installing LOG in that period. I still have genuine hoses - but my experience could be a one off.

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I think it is going back to OAT red from ethol glycol (green) that can cause problems. Keithy here and on the net a few others have had issues with massive coolant leaks following the change. I exchanged the red OAT coolant I bought for ethol glycol (green), as I found out that's what is in the vehicle at present. I always prefer what the factory says to use but I also don't want massive coolant leaks. Yet to drop the coolant; I have the dash-out job to do and will change coolant at that time.

Interesting about washer reservoir... yes I can see how that would easily be a slime repository!

Yes stick with the green coolant - it will be fine.
While you are under there inspect your heater matrix orings.

Some plastic bits that are broken can be rebuilt with thin alloy reinforcement and rapidfix.

Make sure there are no water leaks from plenum or pollen filter housings - test it while you have your dash out - its insidious and can leave the sound deadening mats under carpet completely soaked. Sometimes it drips into connectors and corrodes them - essential requirement to check this.

Ive been everywhere in my vehicle except very remote areas and has been very reliable - except for remotes and a crank sensor- there is a part inside the remote that is the antennae - that fails. The red LED does not confirm that the remote is transmitting RF. The LED just confirms you are pressing the button.You can find my post on Rangerovers.net. Never leave the keys in the car with the windows up and then close all doors. You must have good remotes and master drivers door station ECU otherwise the security system can be problematic - active immobilisation cannot be disabled in the BCM like the D2. Passive can by nanocom. Im pretty good on the alarm system and diagnosis if you ever need help.

The PCM is very good at substituting values for ageing sensors - your CKP can work just fine whilst in the cruise and yet suddenly not supply a strong pattern on crank - they are cheap - get a spare if you are going long distance as its the only sensor where PCM will not allow running unless it can CLEARLY detect firing position. Ampltude is about + or - 10V on a new one and slowly deteriorates with age until at low amplitude on crank the PCM rejects as invalid signal. I can post the cam crank signals if you are jnterested. Symptoms are crank but no spark, check engine light on,(no injection pulse if I recall correctly.)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by peter51

Yes stick with the green coolant - it will be fine.
While you are under there inspect your heater matrix orings.

Some plastic bits that are broken can be rebuilt with thin alloy reinforcement and rapidfix.

Make sure there are no water leaks from plenum or pollen filter housings - test it while you have your dash out - its insidious and can leave the sound deadening mats under carpet completely soaked. Sometimes it drips into connectors and corrodes them - essential requirement to check this.

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I was supposed to have got the dash out by now but keep putting it off. Even though I have plenty of time at the moment it's not a job I'm looking forward to. Funny that.

I want to remove the dash because the RH blend motor has two damaged gears within -- as far as I can see, a set of three pretty new blend motors but the RH gears damaged due to a sticking blend door. I suspect the motors were replaced without investigating the cause of the problem in the first place. I discovered all this when I pulled the cluster and assoc parts a few months ago to get to the RH motor.

It will be a useful exercise in other respects: while not leaking now, I have bought new Viton o-rings to replace on the matrix (although not leaking at the moment). Some plastic parts broken or ill-fitting can be fixed while in there too.

Also have a noisy blower fan or two; I'll see if the bearings can be lubricated -- maybe it's a cracked basket.

My only hesitiation with kicking off the job is that I have about half a set of new coolant hoses (incl just 1 heater hose, because that's all that was in stock at the time). So either I just go ahead with the o-rings, and wait for coolant hose replacement later when I have the full set to replace (but risk disturbing the o-rings when replacing the heater hoses) or hold off and do it all at once.

I found a useful tip on FB: before re-assmbling the dash, just plug in the cluster, connect the battery and fire it up to test that there are no coolant leaks (top-up/bleed first) and the blend doors do their thing. Apparently the Pass airbag won't hard fault if disconnected during this test (obviously I'll disconnect battery to resume dash/airbag reassmbly.)

I have a (LHD, but still) P38 in pieces with the dash out so if anyone needs pics of something I can provide them.

You may not need to run the engine to check for leaks, if you have a way to pressurize the system that could also work.

Cheers,
-P

Ohh good grief.
It's started.

Rosie ('96) has been in semi drydock for a while now. Only used on odd weekends and only to tow trailer with kayak to beach.
I've put off various bits of things that need doing for years, but it started with a just a service since I cant remember the last time I changed the oil!.
The time has come for fix her up!

She is going back Thursday for brakes pads front and back plus 4 rotors (never had any rotors in 340k), a water pump (never had one either) and a serpentine belt.

Then 2 front tyres and then a few of the rubber boots in the suspension are perished so it looks like that's next.

On the list:
Blend motors
Dreaded heater o rings
Roof lining
(I can do those myself)

Re upholster the front seats
Air conditioning

Hell. It's only money right?

MJS

Can't take it with you mate :)

Fortunately doing a lot of it yourself means it'll cost heaps less. Enjoy the fun and keep us posted ;)

-P

I'll tackle most electrical stuff myself, but my bad hands won't let me do the heavier stuff.

Rosie even got a bath! And it's not even Christmas!

MJS

What started as a dash removal to repair sticking blend doors and replace cogs in a blend motor has grown to a much bigger job. Still waiting for a few parts, but am going to replace o-rings, all coolant hoses, thermostat and z-strip on hvac control.

Now thinking I should also install a low coolant alarm too (I have a Scangauge to monitor actual coolant temp readings already).

I've been reading up on low coolant alarm installs and it's doing my head in. BMW E36 coolant reservior seems to need too many mods to be worth it. I'm thinking of buying a kit that I'll drill a hole in the existing (or OEM replacement) reservior to install its sensor... but then where to fit that?

Good to have chat about common ownership experiences. I did a lot of research on coolants after cooking my newly rebuilt GEMS 4.6 by not properly seating a radiator hose clamp under the overflow bottle. The blue silicate vs pink organic acid (OAT) coolant topic discussion is word-wide and cross-marques.
For p38s, Blue is pre-Bosch. The active ingredient added to the glycol mix combines with the water gallery aluminium to passivate it and prevent surface erosion. It is a dynamic process,...once the surface is fully saturated, the passivator cycles out of and back into the gallery surface. The blue coolant becomes ineffective after 2 years, the pink after 5, with associated degradation towards the end of life. This would be a good reason to change GEMS motors over to pink. (Who here has ever changed their coolant/ anti-corrosive because it has 'timed out'? Brake fluid similarly has a 'life' due to atmospheric water absorption). However, the blue and pink ingredients coagulate into clots and blockages when mixed, so the silicates (in blue) must be dissolved from the block surface by driving around on plain water for a few flushes (couldnt find any info on how many) before they can be replaced by those in the pink OAT.
With coolants, 'more' is not better...the maximum rate of heat transfer is into plain water, but into pure glycol, (despite its higher boiling point), it is only 70% of that, which is why coolants are 50/50, as a compromise.
The only chemistry explanation I can think of to explain Keithy's leaks after change-over is that leaky joints were being plugged by evaporating silicates (the mechanism used by StopLeak et al) but which dissolved after the switch.
The above info turned up while I was looking into Evans waterless coolant. Dont do it!...it is expensive...even only 2 or 3% moisture remaining in the system negates it, and in any case, once again,66 the rate of heat transfer at the metal-to-fluid boundary is poor, and the benefit of greater heat capacity is not realised except in very high flow circumstances as in racing or aero engines.
Another tip I picked up from a US custom radiator site was to earth the radiator core to the chassis to prevent galvanic corrosion. Static can build up in rotating metal driveline components that are rubber-isolated, and the galvanic currents across dissimilar metals (e,g, the waterpump impeller) could set up corrosion.

The ETM troubleshooting manual cautions to disconnect both positive And negative battery terminals before disconnecting the intruments. There is a trap for beginners...going in is no problem...I was looking to test my check engine bulb. I later moved on to other diagnostic problems which involved 'ignition on'...DOOOHHH!. The consequences aren't specified but I suppose I'll find out I ever get the car started again. I noticed an empty panel bulb location labelled 'brakes', but I'm not aware that the p38 had a brake pad wear sensor..?