It's been a long time since the last update ... I haven't used the P38 much lately, sold the trailer so no heavy towing, for family there is other, ditto for the city, so is left only load and dirt work, a few trips... maybe 5,000 km in the last year, so, with great sadness... time to find another destiny, and make room for a new toy.
So ... it will go to a friend of mine, he really likes it, we went to see a couple of Discos but he prefers the look and ride of the P38, he wants the V8 and ... I'll get back to the subject later! I'm happy anyway, honestly, in 10 years I don't have much to complain about, even though it's the black sheep of the RR models, it's performed more than decently. And it will continue in the family, in a certain sense...
BUT
As usual, every time you make plans, something unexpected happens ... last week I was driving to another friend's house (early, it was 6:30 AM) to do some work together ... I went out, starts up fine, I go from the highway position (it's in a garage that's not very high), immediately onto the ring road, and after a few kilometers I entered the city. I saw the light in the raise flashing more than usual and thought, "Surely some sensor isn't finding the right height." At that moment, I heard the compressor rattling strangely, so I go "Well, it's time." So I continued driving in the "low" position.
A small digression: when I got the vehicle in 2016, I immediately bought a new compressor (Dunlop) and left the old one as a spare, not knowing how much use it had received. The "new" one was dated '14', the existing one '08'. The new one lasted until last year, when it started making ominous noises, so I replaced it with the "old" one. I had already planned to retire the P38, so it was enough to survive until the sale. But as usual, the timeframes are extended, and so ... seeing the four lights flashing, I already knew I was to get the overhaul kit ... ugh.
I arrive at my friend's house, park, jump in his ML, and we go with the trailer to pick up another ML that he's taken as an organ donor for an engine transplant, as well as spare parts.
Once the job was done, we say goodbye, kisses, and hugs, and I head back to the car. It had stopped at "highway" level. I wasn't worried; I knew what was waiting for me. I get in, put the key in, turn the ignition, and... nothing. The starter doesn't turn.
Ignition is on, there's power, I hear the click in the BeCM, but nothing, no sound. It was late, dark, and below freezing (we're in the usual winter ice age, in the Balkans). Shit... what to do?

I call my friend back and explain, laughs of course (he also has a D2 Td5, so it's a knowing laugh, especially since every time he thinks of the P38, Rick Astley comes to mind!) ... we analyze the options ... we have no tools, no diagnostics (I left the nano at home), the trailer is occupied by the ML, which we should take to his workshop, unload, then come back, re-load (with the winch), go there ... I don't feel like it. I leave the vehicle in the parking lot and sadly return home by bus.
The next day, Sunday, after taking a few hours off from home, I take the bus again with the nanocom, a few meters of cable, some tools ... usual tests, no engine errors on the nano, EAS says "compressor faulty" which I expected, but also "ECU cannot detect road speed" which seemed strange to me, I check with a multimeter, look here look there ... Siberian freezing cold and with a wind that blows you away ... cold ... I say let's cut it short, I take a jack and raise the vehicle a bit, friend throws himself under it (he’s slimmer ah ah), I pass a 12V cable straight to the engine, the V8 starts without hesitation ... I decide then to go home, put it in the garage and I'll check it out there with more calm and plus degrees temperature ...
I returned home without exceeding 30 km/h so as not to trigger the EAS error and bring me down to the bumpstops, took all the small streets so as not to be too much of a pain in the ass in the traffic, in any case a couple of times I went over 30 and I saw it start flashing to rise, which means perhaps the speed error was something random – in fact it never recurred.
I raise the Range on the axle stands, start checking under the starter, see the small cable connector soaked in oil — I've had a pressure sensor leak that needs fixing for months, what a drag — but oh well, I clean it well and put it back in its place, check here and there... blown fuse ... I replace it, start it, no problems and I'm already happy, so now it's time to look at the EAS compressor.
I open the box, unplug the connector and give it 12V to exclude the compressor itself from the car, nothing, sparks but it's dead. I check continuity at the thermal sensor, knocked out, I tell myself, oh well, it must be that one, I disassemble it and in the meantime I start to think where the hell I left the other compressor ... somewhere, in some box. I used to keep it on board ... oh well. Last start-up test before leaving... tac tac... everything dead. Back to the beginning!
Ahh... what a drag! The circus starts again, here and there, touch here, try there... in the end I only find the blown starter fuse ... I think strange ... I look closely, see the table on the fuse box and read the labels and …. and I get nervous ... I ask myself: of all the stupid things that the dimwitted who designed this car did, who in their right mind decided to put the EAS compressor and starter motor in the same line—fuse and relay? So if the compressor blows and shorts—like in my case — the line for the starter motor will also go down, preventing the car from starting? Idiocy, if you ask me ... it's one thing when you are dealing with secondary systems, but, it's another thing to not even be able to start the engine...
Well, in the meantime, I don't have any other 40 fuses, and I have to find the other compressor. I put this off to another time.

A few days later, in a moment of enlightenment, I find the other compressor, the one I bought "new" in 2016 and used for at least eight years ... and a couple of 40 fuses.
Time to get back to work ... first I test the compressor on the workbench; it makes noise, but it works, fine ... I put it in the car, it doesn't work ...
Oh well, I say, stop mess around, I take both of them, put them on the bench, and make a... Franken compressor! If I can, of course. Another day. But in the meantime, I have to stop by my auto electrician friend, and while I'm at it, I'll bring him the compressor that's not working, to see if it's an electrical problem — like worn brushes — or something else.
I stop by, we check it out, the electrical parts are fine, the brushes are perfect, but... there's a terrible burning smell inside....

https://1drv.ms/i/c/05b738b1c4563d88/IQDv2if7vfAKSqLWzwkL88KFAeSLD90zDzr0-oz-Ot-A-ec?e=PlOanP

...in short, the bearing seems to have disintegrated, locking the motor ... it turns by hand but in a certain point "tightens", thus blocking the compressor. Curiously, piston and cylinder seem fine, a bit worn the "ring" if you pass me the term, but not destroyed.

Then I open the other one, which was the one I bought new back then, and that worked fine until it made some strange noises, and i replaced in a hurry ... I open the head and I see the piston is damaged, and the bore is scored, but especially ....
…. the magnet (? dont' know the technical term) is literally destroyed, sending pieces everywhere, and probably shifting the axle - the end after the brushes was dislogded from its seat - maybe the reason why the piston was scored?

https://1drv.ms/i/c/05b738b1c4563d88/IQB2B_O2SwPHSrcX4p0p1vl-AXS7zUAGuEYF9UE87z9FmEU?e=NODhXA

https://1drv.ms/i/c/05b738b1c4563d88/IQByByiLXdniR6BH5XsFhuCQAXIV1dBYdf2zk5NP4GnD9Xw?e=J6aA2I

Well, I made of the two one alive, mixing the motor and electrical parts, at least it works ... barely, but I managed to lift the car enough to be usable.
I obviously made a short and burned the thermalswitch, but I made a bypass sending to ground the small orange wire in the connector, at least it has to make it until my friend selects a suitable lift kit - he will go on coils, EAS too much of a liability for a primary off-road vehicle.

Well, this concludes - for now - the saga, curiously on my last days owning the P38 ... I recommend to all with a working EAS to take a couple of hours and openup the compressor and check it, especially if it is got a few years of operation, check the brushes, grease the bearings if possible, and in general clean well the head, cylinder and piston, there are two valves - reed valve is called? - that on both I opened were very dirty, lots of "metallic dust" and deposits, very fine dust, and one breathing hole in the head was clogged...

I know I slept on it, but once again, preventative maintenance gives a clue, or two, about the condition of this component before it goes south and leaves you ... with you butt on the ground, literally!

I got now the task to seatch for a lift kit, any experiences with the Terrafirma one? Or to go Britpart?
My mate wants to run 32s or 33s for now, bumpers and winch.

I will stick around aynway, this pub is always a nice place to be!

If I was selling a P38 and the buyer said he was going to lift it and fit coils, I'd tell him I was no longer selling and he should buy himself a Discovery (or better still, a Jeep)......

I knew I would come within the wrath of the air gods, but have mercy on me! :-)
He is a very good friend and will take good care of it, and he is mechanically inclined as well, but in our latitudes incurring in an EAS failure out in the fields means a very complicated way back. And I will have to keep an eye on this - and him and the car - and this is another worry in my mind.

To make it clear with a more graphic example, you go ski in the Dolomites, make a bad fall and break a leg, you got either either Mountain Rescue with the motorized sleds with a stretcher or you could be airlifted to the nearest med center - I have seen this live, it was amazing.
Here where I am, you do the same fall and break a leg, you will be reliving the story of Leo DiCaprio in 'The Revenant' ...
Same goes with the EAS.

Actually, I have been thinking long and hard to keep the P38 and make her do a "third" lease of life as an off-road toy, and in my list would be anyway to remove the air - as much as I like it - to remove a liability, and by extension replace front and rear bumpers with reinforced metal ones, the original ones are now very rare to find here in good condition, and are expensive, put at least a rear locker, and some nice muds .... not else needed really.
But, chance has sent my way (finally!) what I have been craving since a long time ... and could not resist, and I cannot afford two toys, I am now fitting a Def 90 Td5 and I am overly happy with the way things are turning out :-)

What an epic saga of adversity and perseverance!
Thanks for the yarn.
You might be going, but with a Defender, at least not too far.......
For your friend, possibly he should think about fitting one of psidoc (Simon's) ecu mobilisers.
That way, if the becm gets annoyed for some reason, he will not have to worry about being immobilized
In the middle of nowhere!
I use them and it just eliminates one major potential problem.
As for coils? I'm going with Gilbert on that one.
Having said that, I totally understand why he would do that.
Having reverted 2 P38s from coils back to air. Thus, having removed 2 sets of springs.
I think that Old Man Emu were a better quality than the Terra firma springs I removed.
Britpart, as always, is a crap shoot.
Have fun with the Def-90!

Hmmmm,
On re reading that, I meant that with a Defender, you were not going too far from the family, not
that you would not be going far in the Def.......
(Others might disagree)
Cheers!

ahhaaha ... thanks! I also noted the possible irony of the tone, but no harm done lol!
I did not know OME had springs applicable to the P38, or probably are adapted from some other vehicle ... would be interesting to know what number (code) are they.

I actually did not mature much in the rest of the activities, here it has been freezing cold and therefore minimum work outside ....