Gilbertd wrote:

I put one of these https://www.gravityperformance.co.uk/product/exhaust/cat-back-exhaust-system-range-rover-p38-mk2-v8-td-94-02/ on mine but with a standard mild steel centre box. Not that much more expensive than a mild steel aftermarket and after going through one every couple of years, figured it should be fit and forget. They also do at mid box delete pipe https://www.gravityperformance.co.uk/product/exhaust/centre-sections-resonator-deletes/exhaust-centre-section-range-rover-mk2-p38-4-0-4-6-v8-94-02/ but not sure if that would make it too noisy and drone on a long run like you do. I know it would drive me bonkers.....

That is a great find. It's half the price of a stainless system from all the usual suspects.

I really cannot see the point in a noisier exhaust for a P38. It's a powerful luxury vehicle with extensive sound dampening applied so why undo all that work? It would drive me bonkers too!

nigelbb wrote:

I forgot to mention that annoyingly on the way to the CT station the sound system packed up with just an annoying clicking in the rear speakers. It's a 2001 Vogue with the fancy HiFi so it seems likely that it's the DSP amp in the boot that has packed up. As I recall these cannot be repaired & fitting one from a breaker could just see the same problem recur. I'd just been thinking on the drive down what a nice sounding system it is but perhaps this is my opportunity to upgrade to a modern head unit?

I've quickly looked at prices. A used amp from a breaker is over £400 with only a 30 day warranty. JLR list a new amp at over £1,200 but out of stock.

Apparently the stereo amp out of a Discovery 2 is plug compatible but only operates with the radio & cassette (not the CD so no chance of using a GROM Bluetooth widget) with the front speakers. I'm tempted to get a used one from a breaker for about £45 with 3 month warranty just as a quick running repair although I also found a brand new one for £249.

nigelbb wrote:

nigelbb wrote:

I forgot to mention that annoyingly on the way to the CT station the sound system packed up with just an annoying clicking in the rear speakers. It's a 2001 Vogue with the fancy HiFi so it seems likely that it's the DSP amp in the boot that has packed up. As I recall these cannot be repaired & fitting one from a breaker could just see the same problem recur. I'd just been thinking on the drive down what a nice sounding system it is but perhaps this is my opportunity to upgrade to a modern head unit?

I've quickly looked at prices. A used amp from a breaker is over £400 with only a 30 day warranty. JLR list a new amp at over £1,200 but out of stock.

Apparently the stereo amp out of a Discovery 2 is plug compatible but only operates with the radio & cassette (not the CD so no chance of using a GROM Bluetooth widget) with the front speakers. I'm tempted to get a used one from a breaker for about £45 with 3 month warranty just as a quick running repair although I also found a brand new one for £249.

Quick update. On eBay I just found a brand new Disco 2 amp XQK100210 for £49.95 local to my UK address so bought it & will collect it when I am back in the UK in the latter half of May.

Marty did a kit of parts that allowed 4 door amps from an earlier P38 to be bolted to an alloy plate and wired in place of the DSP amp. However I fitted one and sitting in the boot for hours soldering the 40 odd wires isn't a particularly fun way of spending an afternoon. It did set me thinking though and figured I could use standard Class D amps and crossovers but fitting them inside the original DSP amp case and wiring them to the original socket I should be able to put together a plug and play DSP amp alternative. I've got a dead DSP amp, the class D amps and crossovers, I just need to put it all together (just....). It would probably need the input levels adjusting to match that coming out of the head unit and would need an extra pair of outputs from the rear speaker feeds from the head unit to the amp, but should work. Just need a suitable DSP amp equipped car to plug it in and try it, sounds like I might have just found one......

Gilbertd wrote:

Marty did a kit of parts that allowed 4 door amps from an earlier P38 to be bolted to an alloy plate and wired in place of the DSP amp. However I fitted one and sitting in the boot for hours soldering the 40 odd wires isn't a particularly fun way of spending an afternoon. It did set me thinking though and figured I could use standard Class D amps and crossovers but fitting them inside the original DSP amp case and wiring them to the original socket I should be able to put together a plug and play DSP amp alternative. I've got a dead DSP amp, the class D amps and crossovers, I just need to put it all together (just....). It would probably need the input levels adjusting to match that coming out of the head unit and would need an extra pair of outputs from the rear speaker feeds from the head unit to the amp, but should work. Just need a suitable DSP amp equipped car to plug it in and try it, sounds like I might have just found one......

Somebody must be doing something with the dead DSP amps as there are plenty on eBay selling for £50 for spares or repair. If working used units over 20 years old that could fail in 31 days with no recourse are selling for £400 there has to be a nice little market for a modern reliable replacement that fits in the old DSP amp housing.

TBH unless you are someone who wants to keep the car 100% original I suspect that the best longterm solution if you are going to put some effort into it is replacing the original head unit & 'Etch-a-sketch' satnav with a decent modern system with a nice big colour touch screen plus inbuilt Bluetooth etc

If going aftermarket you can use the original wiring from the head unit to where the DSP amp lived and link the wiring from the head unit to the wiring that goes to the speakers. See the latter part of this here https://rangerovers.pub/topic/8-info-p38-alpine-dsp-amp-connections-and-wiring?page=1#pid30814

Gilbertd wrote:

Marty did a kit of parts that allowed 4 door amps from an earlier P38 to be bolted to an alloy plate and wired in place of the DSP amp. However I fitted one and sitting in the boot for hours soldering the 40 odd wires isn't a particularly fun way of spending an afternoon. It did set me thinking though and figured I could use standard Class D amps and crossovers but fitting them inside the original DSP amp case and wiring them to the original socket I should be able to put together a plug and play DSP amp alternative. I've got a dead DSP amp, the class D amps and crossovers, I just need to put it all together (just....). It would probably need the input levels adjusting to match that coming out of the head unit and would need an extra pair of outputs from the rear speaker feeds from the head unit to the amp, but should work. Just need a suitable DSP amp equipped car to plug it in and try it, sounds like I might have just found one......

For the moment I'm going to see how I get on with radio driving the front speakers using the new Disco 2 amp. I have a Bluetooth widget plugged into the cigarette lighter socket then tuned to 108.0 MHz to get the sound from my iPhone. Generally I just use it for running TomTom. Sound isn't perfect as you do get interference. I was going to get a GROM-BT3 but that plugs into the CD socket & requires a working DSP amp.

If you could create a new amp in a DSP amp case that would be perfect I would certainly be in the market for one. If you wanted to use my car as a test bed you are very welcome.

Finally I gave the lady a long overdue service ...

• engine oil (Mobil 1 5W-50) plus this ProTec nano "magic potion" (will see), oil was dirty but it looked reasonable, been in for 10K km (Comma 10W-40). Might see how darkish this one gets and might accelerate its replacement.
• gearbox was quite pinkish after 40K km, very satisfactory. Changed also filter and it was okay, some gunk on the magnet but not pieces of metal ... good. Mobil 1ATF, but did not manage to change more than perhaps half the capacity
• transfer box was brownish, cappuccino like. I guess no good, but will see. For now, it runs!
• front diff golden perfect for again 40K km, no surprises. Motul 75W-90
• rear diff brownish, I guess it works harder (?) ... the towing perhaps?
  All in all it was good.

With the car in the lift you can hear a kind of flapping/slapping noise in the torque converter area, which I guess must be the flexplate starting to complain ... I hope it decides to disintegrate close to home and not on the summer holidays!

Next: PAS fluid, which I've replaced partially last month but keeps coming out very brownish, and for now I will take it easy and try to only fix the music, and other minor items ...

Gilbertd wrote:

I put one of these https://www.gravityperformance.co.uk/product/exhaust/cat-back-exhaust-system-range-rover-p38-mk2-v8-td-94-02/ on mine but with a standard mild steel centre box. Not that much more expensive than a mild steel aftermarket and after going through one every couple of years, figured it should be fit and forget. They also do at mid box delete pipe https://www.gravityperformance.co.uk/product/exhaust/centre-sections-resonator-deletes/exhaust-centre-section-range-rover-mk2-p38-4-0-4-6-v8-94-02/ but not sure if that would make it too noisy and drone on a long run like you do. I know it would drive me bonkers.....

I just purchased one of these systems & was well impressed by the rapid delivery as I ordered yesterday just before 1pm & the exhaust system was delivered this morning just after 10am. It looks like very nice quality & was well packed. It has a lifetime warranty (not sure whether that's my lifetime or the lifetime of the car.😀)

Sadly I couldn't find any stainless steel intermediate/central silencer (Land Rover part number ESR3195) at a reasonable cost. In all cases the single central silencer was more expensive than the twin silencers that I just bought. I also couldn't find a parts supplier with stock of a mild steel intermediate/central silencer. Island 4x4 don't even have a number to call now. Rimmer Bros were out of stock for stainless steel systems until the end of the month. In the end I ordered a Britpart front box with a 2 year warranty from LR Direct who told me that if I ordered yesterday (Tuesday) they should get it from their supplier but this evening & ship it to me tomorrow for 1-3 day delivery so possibly the end of this week but more likely the beginning of next week.

Before you come to fit it, one thing I remembered from fitting mine was that the clamp supplied to join the left and right half's together was fractionally too big. They have a sort of spacer which I took out on mine so they would clamp up tightly. Getting both hangers on the silencers into the rubbers is a really fun job.....

leolito wrote:

• transfer box was brownish, cappuccino like.

Mine looked like a combination of old engine oil and mercury when I first drained it, 2x half drain and refills and a couple of years later and it probably still does tbh. Currently got the front propshaft off to replace the universal joints (front grease nipple fell off between greasings/checks) but need to re-check the transfer fluid next. The coolant looked a lot like screenwash when I got it as well actually, which makes the not-so-bad state of the old prop joints seem a bit weird. Somebody had a random approach to maintenance at some point.

It's not happy going backwards at the moment, which could be a number of things but I might be back inside the gearbox /TC sooner rather than later.

Did a bit of maintenance to mine today. A few days ago when summer arrived for a day or so, the AC seemed intermittent and would work better when it wasn't needed than when it was. Clutch failing to engage in warmer weather is usually a sign of the air gap being too big, and it was. A test for this is to put the HEVAC on Lo and look to see if the clutch has engaged. If it hasn't, a tap with a screwdriver handle will cause it to pull in. If it is only slightly too large, there's a shim behind the cover that can be taken out to get the gap back to where it should be. Tried the screwdriver tap. It pulled in but wobbled around all over the place. The air gap, which should be between 16 and 31 thou, was considerably larger than that and, pulling the front off showed it was so badly worn that while the gap looking at it from the outside was around 50 thou, it was so badly worn it was near double that at the mating faces. A quick look on eBay found a complete compressor for £35 so bought that and it arrived this morning.

Took the front cover off the replacement and it was fine, so was the face of the pulley where it engages. So out with the circlip and off with the pulley. Doing the same with the compressor still on the car isn't quite as easy as there's things like the PAS reservoir and a radiator in the way. PAS reservoir is easy enough but didn't fancy taking the radiator out or degassing and regassing the AC system (even though I've got the kit for doing it) so I could get the compressor off, so struggled a bit with the circlip. But once that was out, the pulley came off, replacement fitted and, even with the shim, measured the air gap at 22 thou so all good. Put the AC on Lo, and stuck my AC installers calibrated thermometer in the dash vent and ran it for a couple of minutes. Air out of the vents at 0.9 degrees C says to me that it's working as it should again......

I had the AC recharged yesterday & now have icy air blowing out of the vents. I have owned the car for twelve years & it seems that every year I need to get the AC recharged but at least it then works well until the next year. I'm not sure whether this means that I have a microscopic pinhole somewhere in the system or just that the system is a bit porous. Does anyone have experience using this product which is claimed to fix slow leaks in AC systems? https://stp-aircon.eu/product/stp-super-seal-air-con-stop-leak-kit/

I used the ATS Groupon deal to get the AC recharged at the bargain price of £41.99. https://www.groupon.co.uk/deals/ats-euromaster-6

Yes it does work. A friend does mobile AC recharging and he has suggested it to a few customers that were in a similar situation to you and it has cured very small leaks. In fact, there's a can of it in Dina's Merc which had a very small leak from the evaporator and I think Merc started there and built the rest of the car around it making replacing it more than just a PITA. That was losing charge after a couple of months so if it can seal that it should do yours without a problem. Follow the instructions to the letter though or you'll end up getting covered in it.

Usual place for leaks on a P38 is the top corner of the condenser but with a leak as slow as yours, even putting tracer gas in and using an electronic sniffer it would be difficult to detect.

Gilbertd wrote:

Yes it does work. A friend does mobile AC recharging and he has suggested it to a few customers that were in a similar situation to you and it has cured very small leaks. In fact, there's a can of it in Dina's Merc which had a very small leak from the evaporator and I think Merc started there and built the rest of the car around it making replacing it more than just a PITA. That was losing charge after a couple of months so if it can seal that it should do yours without a problem. Follow the instructions to the letter though or you'll end up getting covered in it.

Usual place for leaks on a P38 is the top corner of the condenser but with a leak as slow as yours, even putting tracer gas in and using an electronic sniffer it would be difficult to detect.

Thanks. It's worth a punt at £19.99. I've been reading the instructions & you need to squirt in refrigerant immediately after squirting the product in. It actually warns you that you may clog up the inlet port as the product sets if you don't immediately follow with refrigerant. Now I understand why Halfords sell cans of R134. It had always seemed daft to me that people would pay more for cans of refrigerant for a DIY recharge than what they would pay to get the AC system recharged properly.

Just noticed that I posted this in the wrong thread last week:-

This morning I dropped my P38 off at a new place that I have found that specialises in P38s & seems very knowledgeable. Importantly he was happy for me to supply the parts (stainless steel exhaust & lambda sensor) & he will just charge labour for fitting them. I don't have a pit or lift & am getting too old to be scrabbling about in the dirt under the car so this was ideal. He had three other P38s in the yard plus a few other makes.
He dropped me off at the station for a short rail journey home & took the opportunity to drive my car. The reconditioned engine of course runs beautifully but steering & suspension was all pronounced as up to normal P38 standards. I asked about the stiff gear change. He said that the other identical Vogue that he had in the yard is exactly the same. He is going to check over the car for me while it's on the hoist. He mentioned that for example corrosion on the rear brake pipes is often overlooked even by MOT testers.
I hope that I have found what I am looking for ie a reliable mechanic who knows P38s & can undertake work that is beyond me. I'm picking up the car next Wednesday.

nigelbb wrote:

Just noticed that I posted this in the wrong thread last week:-

This morning I dropped my P38 off at a new place that I have found that specialises in P38s & seems very knowledgeable. Importantly he was happy for me to supply the parts (stainless steel exhaust & lambda sensor) & he will just charge labour for fitting them. I don't have a pit or lift & am getting too old to be scrabbling about in the dirt under the car so this was ideal. He had three other P38s in the yard plus a few other makes.
He dropped me off at the station for a short rail journey home & took the opportunity to drive my car. The reconditioned engine of course runs beautifully but steering & suspension was all pronounced as up to normal P38 standards. I asked about the stiff gear change. He said that the other identical Vogue that he had in the yard is exactly the same. He is going to check over the car for me while it's on the hoist. He mentioned that for example corrosion on the rear brake pipes is often overlooked even by MOT testers.
I hope that I have found what I am looking for ie a reliable mechanic who knows P38s & can undertake work that is beyond me. I'm picking up the car next Wednesday.

I collected the car a couple of days ago. It now sports two new Bosch lambda sensors & a very shiny stainless steel exhaust system. It was a shame that I couldn't find a stainless steel centre silencer at either a decent price or for rapid delivery but hopefully the Britpart silencer will be good for a couple of years which will give me time to save up. The old system had some noticeable holes in it so no wonder that it failed the CT. It is back to the normal (not excessive) V8 sound. I took it to Jamie at the Auto Barn near Sudbury. He runs a P38 himself on LPG & had three in the yard under repair. He had a good look underneath & amongst other things put plenty of grease in the prop shaft UJs etc

We are back to France next week when I shall take it in for a repeat CT. The only thing that I have to attend to now is the headlamp dipped beam. Two years ago I managed to adjust the stickers so that the tester was satisfied so fingers crossed it will be OK again. Unfortunately new LHD headlamps cost over £300 each while the only used ones I could find on eBay are in not so great condition & cost £290 for the pair delivered from Lithuania.

As I do more long distance driving on the wrong side of the road than over here, I've masked my lights to give a flat cut off on dip. I've painted mine as tape gets pulled off by the headlamp wipers but tape will work just as well if you put it in the correct place.

RH lamp

LH lamp

If you look, you'll see the lens has the sections marked that need to be masked.

I have a Nanocom but I prefer the interface of Storey Wilson's EAS Unlock which runs on Windows. I purchased a licence for the V4 version of the software. It does most everything that the Nanocom can do but is easier to use. I have been running EAS Unlock in a virtual machine on my MacBook Pro but I noticed that pretty decent Windows tablets are very cheap used on eBay. I just got a HP ElitePad PRO G2-1000 running Windows 11 for £74.99. It runs EAS Unlock perfectly. It came with an OTG USB adapter & works with the cable that Storey sent me when I bought the V4 licence. It didn't work with a couple of other cables that I have that were purchased on eBay as there was a comms error. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325644071523

Gilbertd wrote:

As I do more long distance driving on the wrong side of the road than over here, I've masked my lights to give a flat cut off on dip. I've painted mine as tape gets pulled off by the headlamp wipers but tape will work just as well if you put it in the correct place.

RH lamp

LH lamp

If you look, you'll see the lens has the sections marked that need to be masked.

What paint did you use? It looks like you applied it with a palette knife.😀 It needs to be opaque, not run & stick to glass so perhaps it was very thick?

I've just ordered a roll of matt black sticky back plastic so will experiment.