Thread: Taking a P38A Rangie for a swim - advice please

Originally Posted by Rangier Rover

YouTube - Range Rover Sibbertoft

Just take a Ipod to listen to for the trip home
Don't be put off by us lot bagging the P38.
I think they are a nice Rangie with a few mods inc coil conversion. Sounds like you are aware off their faults anyway.
They would not put you in any danger when training drivers in 4X4.

We all seem to do the silly things after In my case a long way from home

I wasn't going to post up pics but The 1st is a high tide run at Moton Island. There was a chanel in it that put water partway up the windscreen for a short time. No snorkel We were very lucky the engine bay did not have time to fill with water.
The rest of it is on video.
The second pic is washing salt out.


Don't forget to post pics of yours in the water

Cheers Tony

These are not the pics I wanted to post of my water crossing course between Braidwood and Moruya.

Some better action pics should be coming soon from people standing on the river bank, but I hope the finale does not end up on YouTube.


First pic - P38 Rangie after doing 3 water crossings in depth up to top of wheel arches (on EAS high setting) with:

• Arnott Gen3 air springs and Bilstein shocks;
• Michelle's Sacks Car Bra;
• new diff breathers extended to top of engine bay;
• new front recovery points;
• Silicon spray liberally applied to all electric bits in engine bay;
• new front recovery points with equalising strap and snatch strap attached;
• slight dampness at the edge of the carpet but no significant water ingress.

Second pic - P38 Rangie after 4th (and final) water crossing to just under door handles:

• water sucked in through air filter;
• air box full of water;
• water in cylinders and sump;
• BeCM fried.

Likely cause: the air intake is inside the wheel arch on the LHS. When the front LHS dipped just before stalling, the front LH wheel forced water up behind the bow wave and in to the air box.

When the car stalled, water began to seep in to the cabin. I immediately switched the ignition off, fearing the worst. When water hit the BeCM (approx 1minute), things started to short (wipers on, alarm on, horn on, gearbox faults, sunroof open and rear windows half-down, door speakers crackling, etc).

Worst of all - EAS went in to fault mode and the car lowered itself further in to the water!

Why do Land Rover put the most important bl**dy computer in the car in the worst possible position? No amount of towels or plastic bags was going to save to the BeCM today. It needs to be at the top of the dash or in the roof.

Finally out of the water we disconnected the battery, removed the spark plugs and blew lots of compressed air in and around the BeCM. I punched out one of the drain plugs in the spare wheel well to let it drain out the new wash tub that had formed in there.

We reconnected the battery after about an hour or so and the engine tried to crank without the key in the start position. Still stuffed and making nasty electrical sounds, plus a puff of smoke from the battery terminals!

Fortunately I have an EAS bypass system that lets me manually pump up the air suspension so I was able to raise the vehicle to a good height above the bump stops. A Land Cruiser with air lockers was then able to tow me up out of the river area back to the main track where a tow truck could bring me home. Despite no power, brakes and steering were very good.

Got it home tonight - drained the sump (first 2 secs was mostly water??) and began to remove the carpets. Need a Torx to remove the driver's seat so I can reomve the BeCM. Off to SuperCheap in the morning for a Torx, an oil filter remover and a some boxes to keep all the nuts, bolts and upholstery clips organised...

Despite this showstopper I am totally convinced that if the P38 had a snorkel this would not have happened. It was brilliant on the previous crossings - traction control and a steady bow wave kept it moving forward down/up the river.

IF I can get the car going again, I am definately getting a snorkel made for it, and some new door seals.

Finally, I am very grateful to the instructors and my fellow trainees at the Southern Tablelands 4 Wheel Drive Club for helping out today when all this sh*t went down.

I'll be back - hopefully in my Rangie, but maybe in a Defender or if common/commercial sense prevails in a 80/100 series Land Cruiser just 'coz they are so much simpler... maybe that's just the red wine and depression talking?...

Opps You were warned You want to dry it all out or ECUs will all fry. I hope for your sake not to much damage to the donk

Looking forward to action pics

I have to say that the driver trainer of your club should have more brains than to expect a non snorkled vehicle to ford about 80CM.
Unfortunately you are now up for hundreds or maybe thousands of dollars in repairs, although you were warned.

You will also have to drain both axles, and I would also do the transfer. Your front unitary bearings will now probably die as there is no way to clean and regrease them. I am not sure whether you can repack the rear axle bearings. Maybe even the Auto trans fluid shhould be changed.

The ECU is actually sealed with an O ring, but beware that when you undo the screws a fluid will be released. This is an anti theft measure.

You also know I hope that ECUs are specific to the VIN of the car. I think that you will have to get a new ECU if yours is damaged, but not sure of this. At a minimum it will need coding by a dealer. My understanding is that the ECU of another car will not work and you will need a new one.
The above is stuff I have gleaned from reading references and mags so may not be accurate , but I think it is.
It's pretty serious stuff to drown a 38A
Regards Philip A

Bad luck, having said that if the water was just under the door handles, thats pretty deep and I wouldnt put any 4wd through that without a snorkle I dont think.

80cm is deeper than any current std 4wd can wade as far as I can remember. (manufacturer specs)

With regard to the ecu positions, they cant really do anything else due to the wiring looms. They may be able to seal them up, but then you get condensation in them which casues other issues. (you think yours is bad, on a td5 defender the engine ecu is in the seatbox under the drivers seat, and they had to lift it up on a small plate to ensure that it would run in 500mm when left stationary.

Good luck sorting it out.

You arent the first person on this forum to drown a p38. His also lowered itself when it happened.

Sorry to hear that it all went pear shaped Paul but I would never have expected driver training to involve over a metre of water, especially when they know the car doesn't have a snorkel.
Were they trying to see what would stop your car deliberately ?

If you went through insurance with this repair, it'd be a write off IMO.

Any Insurance?