What's happening with your P38?

4X4V8 · 21st April 2020, 09:14 AM

It's very quiet in this section of AULRO. I suppose that P38s are dying off a bit generally now they're all at least 18 years old. Still seems to be a lot of enthusiasm in Facebook groups, though mostly UK-based it seems.

I'm probably posting this for just about no-one to read or respond to but what the heck, why not. I'm bored. Maybe it'll get some interest and discussion going on P38s again.

I wish there were half the cars being wrecked here as there is in the UK, because getting good used trim parts at a reasonable cost is hard in Oz. I actually bought a used parcel shelf in good nick out of the UK on eBay. eBay seems to subsidise postage on some international items, so the whole thing landed was about $150 cheaper than I could buy here. There is a certain yard in the south of Australia that has plenty of used P38 parts but quoted me some really high prices.

I've been keeping fairly busy working on my MY02 Vogue. The roof liner seemed to take me a long time to do, I think because I had so many interruptions and stopped work to allow time for glue to set on the broken trims I had to repair, and the sunroof cassette had me foxed for a while. Don't you love it when you assemble stuff the wrong way (like seatbelt bolts before the trim that goes around it

) because you're pushing on trying to finish something after a long day at it already?Anyway, a great result and now the interior looks very good. I was lucky with my car that by some miracle the leather seats came up really well with a clean, almost look new, even the driver's seat.

I had a noisy engine pulley and discovered that they all have some play when new to allow for heat expansion. So while I replaced the tensioner/idler assy and the idler under the alternator, still not sure which was the culprit. I'm keeping the old units in case I need to reuse with fresh bearings. Only discovered you can replace just bearings alone too late.

I drove a 600km round trip for work last week and the P38 went well. It averaged 12.5L/100km on the highway, overall average of 13.2L/100km including some off-roading. The steering started to kick a lot more than usual when off-road, and of course later found the steering damper leaking. It was the original one, I think, with "LAND ROVER' and MADE IN SPAIN" stamped on it. I suppose 19 years is a good run for a steering damper.

Main jobs to go are to pull the dash to repair sticking blend flaps (and replace one blend motor with gear damage as a result) and probably replace heater o-rings while I'm there. In two minds with going for OEM o-rings or Viton o-rings. Viton are apparently much more durable? Also have a noisy fan motor or two: plenty of leaves and disintegrated plenum foam in there, I think I've cleaned all up when replacing the foam and pollen filters, but it sounds like the motor bearings are shot.

I replaced rear rotors and pads and fronts look okay but I wonder if the accumulator is on the way out. The servo motor doesn't power up excessively often -- I think - but brake pwr assist could be a little stronger. The brake fluid reservoir sits at the top mark when the car has been driven, but when left for a while fluid is maybe 5mm over the full mark. Not sure what that means -- failing accumulator or just normal.

The cooling system is behaving so I'm loathe to go in there to disturb it yet. It has green coolant in it, should be red/pink OAT. Just before my work took a nosedive a month ago I bought new coolant and as many of the coolant hoses, thermostat etc I could, but some hoses were out of stock. Not sure if I can justify the $ to buy the hoses I don't have just yet and get stuck into it.

I love the colour combination of my car -- Oslo blue with the lightstone beige interior -- but the paint has seen better days, esp on the roof and bonnet. There are many stains from tree sap and bird poo and the clear is coming off here and there. I'm going to rub back the serviceable bits with 2000-grit wet and dry and buff. It'll come up well overall, but really it needs fresh paint here and there to get to the standard I want. That's not happening for now though.

Well that's all from me. Hope your P38s are going well at the moment, and that that continues for at least a few trouble-free days

**Keithy P38** · 22nd April 2020, 05:10 AM

G’day mate,

It sounds like you’ve been a busy lad! Perfect circumstances to catch up on those odd jobs on the P38 though. The roof lining is a fun job, I feel for you there. I remember it well.

Theres still a heap floating around here. I’ve noticed since the Facebook groups started that traffic has slowed in here. I dabble in both, although I don’t have a lot of time on technology myself so I’m quiet in both areas.

My P38 had 6 months of rest over summer and is in fine form for the camping season now. Once the virus restrictions disappear I’ll be out bush for sure! Heaps of maintenance has been done to my P38 while I had it off the road, not least a big tinker job which will be up on my YouTube in the next two or three weeks.

If you’re running green coolant and it’s ok, I don’t recommend changing to red. I did this with my blue P38 and ended up with leaks everywhere in the cooling system. I’m using green in mine now and it’s been fine for 5+ years (and however long Rob had green coolant in it while he owned it).

Stay safe mate!

Cheers
Keithy

4X4V8 · 22nd April 2020, 09:38 AM

Originally Posted by Keithy P38

If you’re running green coolant and it’s ok, I don’t recommend changing to red. I did this with my blue P38 and ended up with leaks everywhere in the cooling system.

I wonder why... did you flush out the system including the block? I have already bought the red stuff, not sure I can take it back. I want to replace all hoses and possibly the water pump while I'm at it so I should be right. This is not going to happen for a while anyway. Need to be careful with the $ for now.

Oh did I mention I have a fuel leak at the top of the tank? Pours out when filled to the top. Took out about 5-10 litres and it stopped. So dropping the tan to see what's going on is on the list, but will prob have to wait a while in case it's a cracked fuel pump assy (have seen this online, don't know how common it is though). The short-term solution is not to fill the tank.. not that I'm using the P38 much ATM anyway.

**Saulman1010** · 22nd April 2020, 12:09 PM

Ive plenty of things to do on Rosie, but she keeps plodding on.
No intentions of trading or upgrading or whatever. Goes out about twice a week to give it a run and when towing but a good unit in my mind.
I'd like to solve the random seld raising to entended+ but its when I get time and inclination to tinker.
I plan on taking it off the road properly and get into a few items.
Rosie seems to be the exception rather than the rule in p38 terms, only been towed twice in the 17 years ive had it. Once for a crank angle sensor and for a fuel pump (that i ignored the warning signs)

I like having the last of the "proper" full chassis British owned Range Rovers.

Mjs

4X4V8 · 22nd April 2020, 04:42 PM

Originally Posted by Saulman1010

I like having the last of the "proper" full chassis British owned Range Rovers.

Mjs

Yours must be a very early model then! Mine's a September 2001-build, so that's the last of the American-owned LR full-chassis Range Rovers shortly after LR was German-owned, and of course well before it was Indian-owned.

I visited Solihull in about 2002 as part of the L322 launch. What an eye opener that was. Ford was trying to introduce better quality standards after BMW tried to introduce better quality standards, but well before Tata tried to introduce better quality standards.

I'm just joking -- seriously, there is something about the P38 that, as you say, speaks of a time when British vehicles mostly were British. There is little other direct influence on design or engineering (okay, ignoring the Buick V8 but surely by then it had become a naturalised Pom? I suppose I'm ignoring Mr Bosch too).

I think the P38 is on the rise for re-sale values (although I don't care about that) and collectability. I have always liked them since first driving one not long after they came out in Oz in 1995. There wasn't anything close for the combination of refinement and ability. I think the '98 Lexus LX470 came close though, but not a patch on the P38 for dynamics. It was a barge, albeit a beautifully built one. Geez, I just remembered I did a comparo between them in around 1998. Must find that info one day...

**Saulman1010** · 22nd April 2020, 07:20 PM

Most kids growing up had pictures of supercars etc on their bedroom walls....I had Range Rover cuttings from magazines.
I remember when LR were at the motor show in Melbourne. Must have been 97-98? And they made a short 4x4 track around the fountain. I was watching the show of the 4 main LR product's do circuits.
I was stood next to some random old guy when the sales person came over and he asked if he (the old guy) and your son (me) wanted to go for a ride. I looked at my fellow spectator and he said we would be in that! It was a blue p38 and the driver put it through its paces for a couple of laps.
LR didn't know it but they sold a car that day.....it actually took me a few more years a a lot of hard work before I actually had one of my own.
Moral of story.....sales guys, dont underestimate the young guys who drool over cars.

Ive had 2 classics now, a p38a and a L322. But my favorite is still the p38.

Rosie (Rosie the red Range Rover) is certainly quirky (or neurotic) and needs lots of love but I'd be lost without it.

Ive read somewhere that if LR hadn't been brought by BMW there were plans for a phase 2 p38. Hmmm love one of those.

Mjs

**Keithy P38** · 22nd April 2020, 08:46 PM

Originally Posted by 4X4V8

I wonder why... did you flush out the system including the block? I have already bought the red stuff, not sure I can take it back. I want to replace all hoses and possibly the water pump while I'm at it so I should be right. This is not going to happen for a while anyway. Need to be careful with the $ for now.

Oh did I mention I have a fuel leak at the top of the tank? Pours out when filled to the top. Took out about 5-10 litres and it stopped. So dropping the tan to see what's going on is on the list, but will prob have to wait a while in case it's a cracked fuel pump assy (have seen this online, don't know how common it is though). The short-term solution is not to fill the tank.. not that I'm using the P38 much ATM anyway.

G’day mate,

You’re spot on. I gave it a massive flush to get rid of all the green gear before changing to red. The only reason I changed to red was because I had read (as you did) that the red stuff was the correct one for a P38. It turns out that the red gear is good at finding ways out of the engine! I had it coming out of Welch plugs and all. That was a nightmare! Once patched up I vowed never to use the red stuff again :-)

Cheers
Keithy

**prelude** · 24th April 2020, 06:32 PM

It has been my experience as well mate

I bought mine in 2015 and there seemed to be a lot more chatter on both here and other forums. Having always been a car enthusiast myself my experience had been that for a car to end up in the hands of tinkerers that communicate over the internet it needs to be old/cheap. I never would have though that an expensive product like the range rover would already be well into hobbyist hands at 10 years of age! Anyway, I digress. It is "good" to hear that facebook groups are still very active but I don't have and won't have facebook so that is no use to me. I happily pay my subscription to this forum

Anyway, regarding parts and prices. We live in this wonderful world where you guys down under have trouble getting cheap parts and the uk is miles away, I live next door but I can't use most rhd stuff

Regarding prices, it has been a while since I bought second hand stuff since I bought a wrecker back in 2016 and it has been good for most of my needs so I can't say much about parts but I have noticed that I bought my P38 at the utmost bottom of the curve. I own a MY98 autobiography 4.6 with that weird dualtone green/blue paint (love it though) etc. which had done 140K's when I bought it and paid only 3k euro's for it. A similar vehicle in the same near perfect state demands around 10K euro's at least these days. I guess people have recognized that this might be the next classic, although I personally kinda doubt that.

A small interlude; I think a lot about my vehicle and the car hobby in general. The relentless pursuit on speed, Co2 and other crap makes this an uncertain hobby to say the least. Once the dust has settled I am fairly confident fuel guzzlers will be accepted once again as driving heritage but until then we fend on our own. With that in mind I often think about how I am going to keep my hobby driving and although the rover V8 has been built in large numbers and there are many after market parts available, some (most?) other parts are not. The air suspension can be largely rebuilt with COTS parts, compressors are common and a radiator and hoses can be custom made. The ABS/TCS valve blocks, the pump and especially the computers controlling them are an entirely different story. If I were to venture a guess the vehicle most likely to be repaired for the unforeseeable future would be the defender?

Back to your post

12,5 per 100 sounds about right. What speed were you traveling? I could only ever get my range to do that at around 80kph. Now with bigger wheels, tornado chip, tuned cam, ported inlets, etc. I'd be lucky to get 16 per 100.

Regarding the accumulator: I have refurbished mine since I had one with the plastic washer so I ordered a kit from .au to fix that. I have noticed that since I did that job, although I was very careful in doing so, the brakes need to charge more often and loose pressure after driving a bit quicker. Most people think when that happens the pumps are on their way out but I have fitted a manometer directly to the outlet of both of my pumps and they will go up to 160bar with ease and stay there for a week or so. So, I guess that any leakage is internally to the accumulator indeed. The brake fluid will be exactly on level when the vehicle is running and the brake pump has stopped. Once you turn everything off though, the pressure might bleed back into the reservoir again and sits quite a bit higher. I guess that's why there is so much free space in the tank above the high mark. I would not be worried unless your pump runs too often and too long. In general it should kick in every 4th time you press the brake pedal and not run for more than 30 seconds when you power up the car. The smallish brake rotors (what allows us to have 16" wheels) are not exactly big for a car this heavy. Since I lifted mine I replaced the front brake lines with steel braided ones and that did help a bit in returning a bit a hardness to the padel.

I heard about green vs red/pink as well and I am not sure what to think about that. I can't recall what color the car came in when I got it but I filled it with coolant that can handle -40 since I drove it to the north cape and needed that type of stuff. It was yellow when I poured it in but it is slowly turning pink-ish. Since I lost a little bit as well (and I have top liners so it should not be the block) I am considering replacing it all together. Dropping the radiator would be good too since it is fairly stuffed from a few hard tracks I did. I am not sure what the difference is in those colors but I believe it has something to do with the type of glycol that is used and the aluminium our blocks are made of. Other people have already commented and it seems red is a leak finder

Keep on enjoying your car and the work!

Cheers,
-P

4X4V8 · 26th April 2020, 10:56 AM

Originally Posted by prelude

I heard about green vs red/pink as well and I am not sure what to think about that. I can't recall what color the car came in when I got it but I filled it with coolant that can handle -40 since I drove it to the north cape and needed that type of stuff. It was yellow when I poured it in but it is slowly turning pink-ish. Since I lost a little bit as well (and I have top liners so it should not be the block) I am considering replacing it all together. Dropping the radiator would be good too since it is fairly stuffed from a few hard tracks I did. I am not sure what the difference is in those colors but I believe it has something to do with the type of glycol that is used and the aluminium our blocks are made of. Other people have already commented and it seems red is a leak finder

-P

It's interesting... I googled the green/red coolant issue and boy oh boy what a rabbit hole that was. I am not sure whether to use the OAT or not given Keithy's experience but am leaning towards taking it back in exchange for green stuff. I will try the mechanic that looked after the car for the PO to see if he remembers what they used. As it could actually be green OAT in there... I also wonder if a Ph test strip will tell me. More research to do now...

**peter51** · 8th May 2020, 06:43 AM

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.
Im using it as it has better dissimilar metal corrosion properties, however green should be fine as well.
More importantly check your windscreen wash bottle for anything growing in there - I noticed one blocked front washer jet and the rear totally blocked . On pulling the hose from the front squirter and operating the front washer pump into a bucket I noticed soft black flecks being regularly pumped out.
I pulled the washer bottle - easy job as LR actually thought about ease of access - and found it has a copious slimy growth inside - like seaweed.
Apparently its called bioslime and I have been regularly using commercial wash additive.
I washed it out with mild chlorine solution with vigorous sloshing which removed it all and destroyed my shorts where it was splatterred. I blew out the lines and rear line was badly clogged - you can access the non return valve for that line at the rear left hand side pillar - behind the subwoofer. You have to clear it and the line before and after. The squirter holes can be cleared with a guitar string.
So check yours - big job. Dont try and remove your front squirters as the plastic is very fragile and the hose tail and retainers break instantly. If you need to replace them I measured D2 squirters and they are the same even though P38 part number is DNJ100750 and D2 is DNJ500090. D2 part is significantly cheaper.

Thread: What's happening with your P38?

Thread Tools

What's happening with your P38?

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions