Thread: Hello! And hopefully not goodbye...

Howdy folks, long time lurker first time poster

Bought my '01 P38 about 2 years ago, has 430,xxxkms on the clock, with an engine rebuild done about 70,xxxkms ago by the folks over at Graeme Cooper.
It's not been without its issues, I've pretty much replaced the entire cooling system apart from the water pump. Very recently replaced the radiator AGAIN after the other one I bought about a year ago started leaking (Hopefully because it was cheap and not because of a headgasket-overpressurizing-issue).

The aircon is munted, I only get $SOMETIME of cold air before the ac gas leaks out somewhere. Everything leaks oil, and as I mentioned, the cooling system has needed some love.
I've become a father since owning the P38 and so I don't get as much time to work on it as I used to. My wife is nudging me to sell it for something more reliable (So I don't have to steal her car to tow my boat when the P38 is out of action), but I'm a bit attached.

Took it to Davis Performance Landy's the other day, great bunch of folk, to get the ac regassed so we can try track that down, and also got them to do a full vehicle report and it's quite the list of problems...

- Maybe slight rear main seal leak
- Engine sump oil leak
- Steering damper oil leak
- Front top and bottom ball joints could do with replacing on both sides
- Slight transfer oil leak
- P0135 on the oxy sensor
- Left blend motor issue
- Left and right blower motor issue
- In car temp sensor cooked
- AC condensor fans not working (I'm pretty sure no ac fan works properly on a P38, but the viscous fan is powerful enough for this to not be an issue, I think)


Anyway, I'm not really sure what the point of this post is other than to say hi and hoping you'll talk me out of buying a different car

Hi enjoi, I also have a 2001 and have dealt with most of the items on your list.
We all get attached to our P38's, you are not alone in that department!
I can understand the time factor with a new baby in the family, but if you are able to tackle one job at a time, you will be able to work through your list over serveral sessions.
I tend to do most of the work on mine during the warmer months, (I'm in Melbourne), it's no fun working under cars in the middle of winter.
I find with many of these things, the hard part is actually starting the job, once you are into it. it's not as bad as you were imagining, (most of the time anyway)!

AC is one of those jobs that needs expert attention, I had a leak on mine a few years ago and the AC tech found a leak on one of the hoses.
I got the correct hose and fitted that myself, the AC guy came back and re filled the system, it's been great ever since.

- Maybe slight rear main seal leak
I think I have this as well, have not attempted this repair as yet.
I would give the engine a good clean up with degreaser and have a good look after a couple of days, oil will move downward with gravity, so you can often trace the source of the leak by following it upwards.
Fans can spread oil all over the place, which makes it harder to trace, so if you do a clean up and check, you should be able to pinpoint the leak with a good torch.

- Engine sump oil leak
I did my sump (oil pan) gasket last year, it's not too bad to do, just lots of bolts and a good clean up of the sealing surfaces, along with a new gasket.
This can be a bit of a dirty job.
Make sure you torque the bolts up to the correct specs and apply black RTV in the correct spots as per the rave manual.

- Steering damper oil leak
Probably just a new damper required, 3 bolts, easy job.

- Front top and bottom ball joints could do with replacing on both sides
This is a bigger job time wise, there are kits with the correct tools required to press out the old ball joints.
It is doable as long as you have enough time.
With jobs like this, I always find the first side takes a while, the second side is much quicker, as you have all the tools required on hand and the know how from the first side.

- Slight transfer oil leak
I would give it a clean up and check again after a day or two to try and identify where the leak is coming from.

- P0135 on the oxy sensor
I did my 02 sensors last year, easy job, take it from me, only use genuine Bosch sensors, Thor engines don't like aftermarket 02 sensors.
You will need diagnostic equipment to plug in and reset the adaptive values once the new sensors are installed.

- Left blend motor issue
This job is more fiddly, but very doable. You have to remove the glove box to get to it, then bend the black pipe out of the way, a long phillips head magnetic screw driver is a big help with this.
I cut the wires on the old blendmotor and fitted spade style elecrical connectors, did the same the the new blend motor, that way I can just plug a new blend motor without pulling everything apart next time. And there will be a next time!

- Left and right blower motor issue
I had a right blower motor fault, there are videos on you tube showing how to take the blower out and clean the relay. I did this and it did not solve the issue, so I got a good second hand blower sent from Triumph rover spares in SA. That has been working really well since with no issues.
As you have to remove the glove box to do the left side motor, you may want to do the left blend motor at the same time.

- In car temp sensor cooked
This is pretty easy, it unclips from the heater pipe and and the new one just plugs in.

- AC condensor fans not working
This could be a relay issue, I'd check fuses and relays first.
They only seem to kick in when it's a really hot day, so yours may actually be working.
You could probably apply 12v to the fans to check they spin up.

I hope that is of some help, let us know how you go!
Cheers, Pete.