Hey guys,

As I posted previously, I bought my P38 rather wrecklessly without driving and with no service history. After a local garage giving it a check over nothing too major was noted, but I would like to do a full service so that I've got a base point to start from going forward. With a list borrowed from another site I believe that the following is failry comprehensive:

Change engine oil & filter
Change power steering fluid
Change brake fluid & bleed
Gearbox ATF flush, renew and new filter
Renew coolant and thermostat
Change diff fluid
Change transfer case oil
Replace spark plugs and leads
Replace air filter
Replace pollen filter
Replace serpentine belt

I'm completely lacking mechanically, but I would like to address this. Does any one know a garage / specialist that I could perform the service alongside so that I can hopefully begin to grasp the skills? I don't want to go down the route of doing it unattended from Haynes / RAVE / YouTube as my worry is that if something is not done quite right I lack the knowledge to notice it. Obviously if anyone is glutton for punishment enough to give me a hand in a trade for £/beer/cuban cigars that'd be great too.

Also, if there anything obvious missing from that list?

Many thanks,

Mark

I'd add to your list:
Brake service, replace pads as req'd, maybe even a full fluid flush
Grease every nipple. Pay particular attention to all propshaft UJs. Any play- replace
I'd replace the water pump as well, but I'm hyper vigilant about coolant circulation
Wheel balance and tracking
Main battery and ground cables- clean connectors and chassis mounting points
EAS compressor rebuild
Don't know anyone in High Wycombe area unfortunately, but by the time you've worked through your list you'll have much more of an idea about what makes your particular Range tick though!

As OB says, we all should be hyper vigilant about cooling circulation. As I ran into a clogged radiator without knowing (circulation was fine) I placed my radiator flat on the ground and filled it with hot water, resulting in a cold spot by the size of the fan in the middle of it. A clogged spot where it may not be, it did not transfer any heat to the fancoupler resulting in a fan not engaging. Simple test with great result.

Tony.

To add to the cooling system, a header tank pressure cap. Now that is something you can do yourself......

BTW, when you buy components, avoid Br!tpart. Go for OEM (not Land Rover) quality and you won't go far wrong

The only thing I'd leave off is the gearbox service, that always seems to precipitate gearbox problems.

Thanks for the feedback. That leaves me with:

Major Service Items
Change engine oil & filter
Change power steering fluid
Renew coolant and thermostat
Replace header tank pressure cap
Change diff fluid
Change transfer case oil
Replace spark plugs and leads
Replace air filter
Replace pollen filter
Replace serpentine belt
Inspect brake pads & discs
Change brake fluid
Grease every nipple
Inspect all propshaft UJs. Any play- replace
Wheel balance and tracking
Main battery and ground cables- clean connectors and chassis mounting points

Preventative Replacements
Replace water pump
EAS compressor rebuild

Possibly
ATF & Filter Change

gordonjcp wrote:

The only thing I'd leave off is the gearbox service, that always seems to precipitate gearbox problems.

Is this a common problem? I read that the advised scheduled fluid change is every 30k. I've got an Lexus and the thinking on that is that a gearbox flush can be problematic, but a drain a refill is normally trouble free

A simple drain and refill shouldn't cause a problem, it's when people decide to flush the system that problems happen. This is the service schedule straight from the workshop manual.