that's good, i have a front cover with a bad oil pump, i can see cracks in the retainer for the pump, the motor also seized. not sure whether the case is ok but i kept it just in case i or someone needs it.

thats good news Richard

Got a front cover on the way from East Coast Range Rovers, an uprated oil pump from Turners and the rest of the bits from Island 4x4. Big ends are at +10 thou and all are slightly worn but no damage to the crank. So it'll be new bearing shells, new front cover and oil pump and a cam chain as the one on it is a bit floppy (can't find a spec anywhere of how much slack there should be in it, but it just looks like too much to me), I've got a brand new water pump I bought ages ago just in case so I'll fit that too. Front cover and oil pump will be here tomorrow, just got to hope Island are on the ball so I can get on with putting it all back together.

What I've found with island is if the order qualifies for free postage it takes longer to come. 3 days if I pay and 5 if I don't.

Recent stuff I've ordered from them has come in a couple of days. Unlike most of the other suppliers they don't send an email saying it has been dispatched, all I get is an email from the courier saying it will be delivered today. The oil pump from Turners and front cover from east coast range rovers will both be here today so I can fit the new oil pump and then just wait for the rest to arrive. As long as the bits are here by Saturday I'll have a weekend of joy putting it all back together and then it will be back to installing the LPG system.

https://www.nk4x4.com/
@Gilbertd I also use this chap he based near you don't know if you've used him before

As for timing chain slop, I think anytime you have the front cover off you should change the chain, unless you were just in there recently. I read somewhere that if it’s apart and the chain has over 30,000 miles on it, it should be replaced. My P38 had about 95,000 miles when I replaced mine and the power difference was noticeable.

The air-conditioning service guy rolled up after lunch to find out why my system had stopped working so soon after the condenser was replaced in December. Turned out there was a small leak at the compressor drive shaft seal and a leak in the dryer to evaporator pipe AWR3277.

The compressor is merely going to be expensive but the pipe is officially discontinued and no longer available. Air conditioning guy suggested E-Bay was the only hope and showed me the only one currently listed. Google found several listings of the pipe from the usual sources but only Craddock implied they might have stock. Phone call revealed one left. I grabbed it!

I was surprised when the air-conditioner guy said that there is no one offering a service making air-conditioner pipes to pattern. When manufacturer stocks are exhausted thats it. Whatever the make. Seems odd to me. How difficult can it be to bend and flare alloy pipes.

Worrying.

At least I'll be sorted in early June.

Clive

Or replace them with copper. Copper is used on domestic and industrial AC systems and it is easier to flare and braze than aluminium.

Is your car GEMS or Thor? I've got a spare GEMS compressor if it would help you.

I did wonder if copper would have been OK on a car air-conditioning system. So if I got totally stuck rolling up my sleeves and making one from copper or, preferably, one of the more vibration resistant alloys like kunifer would be quite acceptable. Seems strange that nobody does such things. I imagine that brass would be fine for the threaded joiners. Surely to god they are standard. If brass won't do one of the bronzes ought to be fine.

Something to think about if Land Rover are not going to restock such things.

Actually Mrs Google finds a few firms who can make pipes to pattern so my air-con guy was wrong.

Thanks for the compressor offer but mine is a Thor. I'd be buying a new one anyway to be sure of seal life. The experiences of folk I meet round here with used compressors has been ahem mixed. Anyway with the big 70 due in July (they've finally forced me to get a photocard driving licence) I have to come to terms with it being OK to spend some of the money I've been saving for my old age!

Clive

I install domestic AC systems and they run with 0.8mm wall thickness copper tube (in 1/4 and 3/8 inch for liquid and vapour) and run at 27 bar. The regulations say I have to leak test with Nitrogen at 42 bar and that is just using 45 degree flare joints with no sealing compound just a smear of silicone oil. Any joins in pipework are supposed to be brazed but I avoid that, it's one thing brazing two bits of pipe together on a bench when doing the training course but a completely different thing on an install. Compare that with an R134a car system that only runs at a feeble 10 bar. The pipes are fixed rigidly, it is only the connections to and from the compressor that flex which is why they are hose rather than tube. You'll probably know better than me but I would have thought copper would be better at withstanding a fatigue fracture than aluminium if the pipes did flex. I can't see anything wrong with using brass, all the fittings on a domestic system are brass anyway.

When I picked up the new to me red P38 recently, the AC compressor bearing was howling like a good 'un. There was a spare in the boot so I fitted that (even though I had a spare on the shelf anyway), bunged some Nitrogen in at 10 bar and it was leaking at one of the O rings into the compressor. Domestic systems don't use O rings so it isn't something I have but my mate who does mobile AC does so he dropped around and we put new O rings on it and did another pressure test. At 10 bar it showed zero pressure drop over 30 minutes so we declared it good. So not all used compressors are worn out.

had my L320 sport mot'd Friday and passed after having few bits done took her for a long drive to Birmingham and back drove like a dream and didn't miss a beat

An update. Received all the bits I needed for the red one (now named Cherry by the other half) and started putting it together. Removed the oil pump that was in it and fitted the new one from Turners, swapped the cam sensor over and fitted a new front oil seal. Put it all in and fitted a brand new Airtex water pump I bought some time ago in case I ever needed one in a hurry even though the one that was on it seemed OK but why not. Got it almost finished and tried to connect the oil cooler hose only to find that the thread was damaged on the one that goes into the bottom and even with PTFE tape I couldn't get it to bite tight enough to be happy with it. By then it was late last Friday evening so called Dave at East Coast Range Rovers on Saturday morning and left him a message on the off-chance as he doesn't normally open on Saturdays.

Got a call from him Monday morning but he was on holiday in France for a week (school half term so away with the kids) but would send me a replacement as soon as he got back bank holiday weekend. Tuesday DHL sent me an email telling me they had it and it would be delivered on Wednesday. Wednesday came and went and now when I check the DHL tracking it says it has been delayed and will be delivered next working day. So when it will arrive is anyone's guess......

In other news, the Ascot goes to its new owner later today, so I'll be back down to only 2 P38s, even if one of them currently has bits of the front of the engine missing and is parked in a really awkward place.

It lives again! Despite the label on the front cover saying 28/5/24 Next Day, it didn't turn up until Friday afternoon but I was out allday Friday so didn't get chance to do much. Fitted the new oil pump, another front oil seal (courtesy of a quick run over to V8Developments and blag one from their stock) and cam sensor in it and that was it. Had to go out today too but was back by about 2pm so got stuck into it. Front cover on, water pump on, sump on, oil filter filled with oil and fitted, filled the oil pump by pumping oil in through the side cooler hose hole then fitted the hose and filled the sump. Resisted the temptation to fire it up at that point so then it was serpentine belt on, radiator in, viscous fan on and filled the cooling system and it was time for the moment of truth.

Ignition on and the oil pressure light on the dash came on, turned the key and nothing happened.... Then remembered I'd taken the starter relay out just in case I accidentally turned the key while it was in bits. Fitted that, turned it over and it fired up immediately. Oil light stayed on for about 3 seconds then went out. Let it idle for a couple of minutes then switched off. No nasty noises, no oil or coolant pouring out of anywhere I'd forgotten to connect or tighten up, all seemed fine. On a second start, as by now the oil had been circulated and all the galleries filled, the oil light went out almost instantly so I let it run up to normal operating temperature. A few air bubbles into the coolant header tank and they then stopped and a nice constant stream from the bleed hole just inside the neck.

However, it did throw up an ABS fault on the dash (when I thought I'd dealt with them) and the Nanocom says it is a faulty pressure switch. As the pump doesn't seem to run, that's probably correct but that can wait for another day.....

It’s always satisfying when it fires up and runs like a top after a big job.

Unlike the other project I've been working on while waiting for the front cover, refitting the rebuilt engine in my boat. The engine is a 4.3 litre V6 Mercruiser which is basically 3/4 of a 5.7 small block Chevy (I know people rave about them but in my opinion possibly the worst designed engine on the planet). It was removed from the boat for a rebuild last year but multiple delays meant it wasn't ready until about December and has sat there waiting to be put back in its home ever since. Problem is that as it is all cast iron, it weighs the best part of 150kg and as the boat is on a trailer the sides of the boat are about 6 feet above ground level and it has to be lifted over that and lowered into place. Ended up taking it to a mate's farm where we attached a chain hoist to the forks of a telehandler and lifted it in using that. Spent a day and a half bolting it in properly and attaching all the ancillaries and, with a hosepipe stuffed into the coolant intake at the back, tried to start it.
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Starter spun it over nicely, accelerator pump in the carb squirted fuel but the best it could manage was a couple of pops out of the exhaust and a flame out of the carb. Decided that it must be ignition timing. I bought the boat with a blown engine (it had been run out of the water and had melted 2 of the pistons amongst other things) and when taking it out, it became apparent that someone had been in there before me. I had been very careful and dot punched the distributor so it could be put back on in the same place as it was before I took it off. Unfortunately, my neighbours timing light (I've got one somewhere but it is so long since I used it I have no idea where it is) showed it to be at about 50 degrees BTDC rather than the 10 it should have been. Set it and it still refused to start, it was even worse, no pops out of the exhaust just a flame out the top of the carb. Checked the firing order, the plug leads in the dizzy cap and they were correct so what else? The only thing now is could it possibly be 180 degrees out? Swapped the HT leads around on the distributor cap and sure enough, it started. Seems that whoever had been in there before had just bunged it on anywhere and I had assumed it was correct.

Too many projects, too little time.....

Not what I have done today but what I did the week before last when I visited @Gilbertd to collect the working DSP amplifier that I had bought from @MartyUK.

Richard did most of the work but while there was access I fitted new speakers in the subwoofer as the old cones had disintegrated. Fitting the new amp was straightforward if a bit fiddly with all the trim, CD charger & subwoofer that need to be removed to get at the amp. Sound was restored to the car although I found there was an irritating intermittent crackle from the passenger door speaker. I was contemplating swapping speakers from the driver's door to see if it was the speaker or the wiring causing the crackly noise. Today I was trying to tune the radio & discovered that it's only when I am using my FM-Bluetooth dongle tuned to 108MHz that I get the noise. Regular radio stations are clear as a bell. It's annoying as otherwise the dongle lets me play content from my iPhone with decent sound quality (apart from the intermittent crackle). Now that I am reassured that it's the FM-Bluetooth dongle at fault I can confidently get one of those GROM Bluetooth modules that plugs in to the back of the radio instead of the CD changer.

The A/C hasn't been working for a few months. I have owned the car for 13 years & every year or two the A/C needs to be re-gassed. I had the A/C recharged at Kwik-Fit but it still wasn't working. Richard checked the system with his A/C gauges & confirmed that it was full of gas but then noticed that the A/C compressor had been unplugged. I hadn't done it so it can only have been the guys at Kwik-Fit but plugging it back in the A/C sprung to life.

I have been plagued for some years by water in the passenger footwell that comes from condensation on the A/C evaporator. I have many times cleared the drains but it always seems to return. Richard had the panel off under the. glove box & confirmed that the top end of the rubber drain was connected to the pipe that projects down from the gutter under the evaporator that catches the condensation. There was a bit of a twist or kink in the drain which he attempted untwist.

I drove home with the A/C on full blast as I set the cabin temperature to 16C. The passenger footwell was bone dry when I arrived home after my 90 mile drive back from Richard's place. Unfortunately when it was particularly warm & humid a few days later I once more found icy water dripping down over & through the OBD socket. I squeezed the air duct joint & icy water poured out. I again cleared the drains with a piece of wire & confirmed that the drains are connected to the gutter. I can only conclude that perhaps there is still something obstructing the drain & when it's particularly hot & humid producing maximum condensation that the water can't drain out fast enough. If I could figure out how to do it I would replace both drains.

What I did yesterday was a job that I have been promising myself to do for about a year. At least that's how long ago I bought the zebra strip to fix the HEVAC display. Doing the job is straightforward following directions on YouTube.

I hadn't appreciated how the zebra strip worked to replace the wonky ribbon cable & the first time I put the HEVAC back the display was completely dead as I hadn't got the zebra strip properly compressed between the LCD screen & the circuit board. I re-did the installation & the second time it worked fine so I now have a fully functioning HEVAC display so that's one more job ticked off on the list.

For my therapy and your entertainment: Task, remove rocker covers and paint them...simple enough you would think... Took the covers off and the gasket lost one of those little embedded spacers. Convinced it had fallen somewhere into the rocker assembly i started fishing inside with a magnetic pick up...the end section came out and i had a magnet stuck right inside the head assembly next to one of the lifters... Took the rocker arm off, push rods out... accidentally dislodged a couple of the lifters... managed to lift those back into place, against the odds...removed the magnet... Found the spacer on the ground between a couple of paving stones... I was feeling pretty good for 15 mins until I started to torque up the rocker arm to 10, 20 and then 28 pound foot, slow and cautious...Before i made it to 28 on the final bolt the bugger snapped... and of course the break is at the same level as the head... so that will be a drill out job i guess. :(

The Land Rover gods smiled on me today... I was making slow progress drilling into the stuck thread of the rocker arm bolt, and then suddenly it seemed to give way but actually, it had turned......then i put a left handed drill bit on it and it came out!! Ok, so it was a coarse and oily thread, but even so, i never really believed in left handed drill bits, but now I am a believer. Anyway, I've chucked the other bolts and ordered new as they clearly can't be trusted. I'm back on course...