The EAS tank is empty (it leaks out if its been parked) and the car decided to empty its airbags as i shut all the doors with it jacked right up.

The engine wont run as its waiting on a new MAF...

Is there any way i can get EAS to fill the tank and lift itself to normal height without starting the engine? I have nanocom, not sure if i can start the compressor and open the appropriate valves with that?

So the car is being awkward as usual.

Started the front axle balljoints this morning and its fought us the whole way. getting the hubs off took what felt like hours of beating, one oil seal is ruined, and i smashed both CV boots so those are also wrecked.

Then started on trying to break the tapers free on the balljoints... The top ones came free easily enough but the bottom one wouldnt shift. I've ended up grinding the balljoint cone off, then taking the knuckle to the bench and smashing it out with a lump hammer.

So finally we're at the worst bit of the whole thing, pressing the balljoints out. I ordered a big G Clamp style balljoint press and it fits well enough, but i cannot get the balljoints to shift. I've tightened it to the point the spanner jaws are spreading and slipping off the hex and theres been no movement at all. I cant get a socket on because the clamp is hard against the arch liner.

Anyone got any pointers to get the balljoints moving? Theres a few guides floating around that seem to cover reinstalling them, but the removal is glossed over...

Well the old bus went for its MOT the other day and failed:

Not entirely surprised, as the front balljoints are knackered. Amusingly, they only picked up one, and it wasnt the one that i'd identified myself. So i've ordered a set of balljoints and a press kit to sort those.

Number plate is easy enough to fix, although the holders are very yellowed. I believe its just a 501 wedge bulb?

Which leads us to emissions...

Last year it was an absolute nightmare getting it thru the emissions test. LPG was broken so it was being tested on petrol, meaning the harsh CAT test with its 0.3% CO limit was being applied. It had a faulty MAF and a missfire (which is why it had been laid up for so long) but eventually i replaced the MAF, Both lambdas, all 8 injectors, spark plugs and a few other bits, and finally got it running nicely, and it passed the full CAT test on petrol.

I've since fixed the LPG system by replacing the injectors and re-calibrating, and for the most part it runs and drives perfectly well on LPG. However it failed the emissions test on LPG this time round, managing 3.87% CO against a limit of 3.5%... Waay over what it managed last year on petrol.

I dont understand why the CO is so high. Its running closed loop, so why is the lambdas/ECU allowing it to end up so rich?!

Anyone got a spare washer pump and can measure the diameter of the spigot that goes into the side of the washer tank?

Cheers

Gave the rangey some TLC at the weekend, and one of the jobs was fixing the rear wiper as it was seized.

Luckily it all came apart, cleaned up and greased the shaft and reassembled and it now works perfectly. Treated it to a new blade while i was there.

However the rear wash doesnt work. Theres not a peep when i press the button, so i guess its a pump issue?

Is there a common fault, or do i just need to get in about it and do some testing to see if its the pump itself or something else?

Since i've had the rangey, i've always been unimpressed by the brakes. I asked on here about it and stripped and greased up all four calipers but it was still rubbish. They did ofcourse work, and if you stood on the pedal HARD it stopped on a dime, but the pedal effort always felt too high for the complexity of the braking system. I had assumed it was simply down to my experience with much newer cars, which tend to have a lot more powerful brakes than stuff from the 90's.

So fast forward a bit, my rear calipers been sticking on and off for a few months. It was winter and the weather is poop, so i've been ignoring it, and it "fixed itself" a few times and wasnt a huge issue. You could drive hundreds of miles and the disk would get hot, but not smoking or completely siezed on level. At the weekend i finally fitted a new caliper, bled up that corner and took it out for a test...

And the first thing i noticed was a MASSIVE reduction in pedal effort, the brakes actually felt good.

Given the rear brakes do so little i cant see how fixing that one caliper can have made a difference, so why has it changed so much?!

So since fixing the radiator, a few times when i've done a short journey i've noticed steam coming from under the bonnet when i stopped. Initially i just marked it down to it being frosty, and the engine melting frost/condesnation away. Its used a small amount of coolant since fixing the rad, but i wasnt entirely sure if the topping up was simply down to small airbubbles or whatever working their way out.. However this afternoon i went to the nursery to pick up the wee man (about a mile away) and when i reversed into the bay noticed steam coming out the sides of the wheel arches and grille, and when i stopped it was whisping out the sides of the bonnet. Clearly not condesation!!

So i popped the hood, and had a look. Offside rocker cover was wet with a puddle of coolant and there was steam pouring off the exhaust manifold. No obvious leak, but the T pieces for the LPG system are directly above where the coolant seemed to be, and the T Pieces looked damp. I fired it back up, and no visible leak. Drove it to the dump, sat in a queue for 10 minutes waiting to get in, parked, drove to Greggs then home, and no more steam appeared.

So i'm presuming the T pieces are the source. They're configured somewhat peculiarly and i'd like to check before i order some new bits.

So whats there just now, is two plastic equal Tees in the heater hoses, right beside the brake modulator. They've then used some VERY stiff hose, to go from those equal tees, round the back of the engine and across towards the LPG vaporiser. About 10-12" before the vaporiser, there is a straight reducer in each pipe, and it drops down to a smaller size which goes to the fittings on the vaporiser. This smaller hose is still too large, and has been crushed a bit where it attaches to the vaporiser. I'm thinking, at a guess, the very stiff hose isnt sealing properly until it warms up and softens a bit.

What i would like to do, is buy two new metal T pieces, which go from whatever size the factory heater hoses are, down to the correct size hose that fits the vapouriser. Then run two new lengths of hose to the vaporiser.

Before i do this, i want to confirm the current odd layout hasnt been done for some reason i've not considered. I'm assuming its just been lashed up by the same moron that installed the rest of the system.

I'd also like to confirm what size the factory hose is? and also if anyone might know where i can find what size pipe my Bigas vapouriser actually needs (short of taking the pipes off and measuring)

Cheers
Kev

Folks, i'm a bit stumped with getting the P38 to accept my radio code.

The radios been showing code in for weeks since i had the battery off. Last week i tried to input the code, but I had misrememberd the code and entered it incorrectly. The radio then ended up stuck with the incorrect code on the screen. Tried everything and it wouldnt clear, so eventually read somewhere that removing fuse 1 and reinserting would clear the code. Did that and it changed to ----, which the internet suggests is wait mode. I faffed about a bit pressing buttons (the internet says press band and man together, which didnt seem to work, but eventually, it popped up CODEIN again. So i punched in what i thaught was the right code, and again, it was incorrect, and the wrong code was stuck on the screen again.

So i drove home got the right code, and yesterday morning i tried to reset it again. Pulled fuse 1, reinserted and now its back showing ----. Tried everything, no joy, just stuck on ----. Did 80odd miles yesterday in it, easily an hour and a half or more, with it sat showing ---- the whole time. Got in this morning, still showing ---- and still wont change back to CodeIn.

Any ideas? Driving it an hour to the mother in laws tomorrow and dont really fancy zero music the whole way!

Swapping the battery with a good spare one at the weekend and was looking at the proper mess of wiring going to the battery. The new battery (which is near brand new and came in a car i was breaking for parts) annoyingly had the terminals the other way round, so i had lots of fiddling to do. I still need to properly re-make the ground wire and tidy up the live.

Cleaned up some old crimps from a spotlight kit that had been cut off at some point. Was left with the power and ground for the LPG kit and a small harness with two fuses.

While there i found two relay modules clipped to the side of the inner wing. One looks like your typical automotive relay. the other is bright yellow and says LANDROVER Voltage Sensitive switch. Its connected to a small harness which goes to the battery + and has two fuses, a 20A and a 15A. The output from the relay disappears off into the foam behind the ABS pump.

Any idea what it could be? I might try to get a small fuse box and mount it on the side rather than the mess thats there just now. But that relay makes the whole area really untidy.

I've mostly ignored the LPG system since i managed to get it working, but i'd like to try and fix some small issues it has.

When i bought the rangey, it would barely run. A new MAF and some new petrol injectors (Rover K-Series 1.4 are a good match and much more modern!) had it running a LOT better and finally got it thru an MOT, and so i set about trying to get the LPG working. It ran, but hopelessly badly. There was no filter present, and the injector rails were quite old and after posting on here it was suggested i replace them, so they got swapped with a pair of Valtek type 30's and i fitted a filter at the same time. Eventually figured out the "autocalibration" menu in the software, ran the calibration and it all started working. Great!

It drives acceptably well, perhaps a little less perky on gas than it is on petrol, but theres no hesitations or missfiring or whatever, it just works.

So the first problem. When running on LPG, if you floor it, maybe half the time or a bit less, and you keep your foot planted to say accellerate from 20 to 70mph (so quite a while), it will stutter really badly after some period of time at full throttle. It'll only usually stutter the once, and most of the time it clears and keeps accellerating with the accellerator still floored. Very occasionally the gauge/switch thing will beep or flash its lights when this happens. Gas level doesnt seem to effect it. I've had it do it with a completely full tank, though it tends to be a bit easier to cause if the gas is on the lower end. Its different symptoms to actually running out, where it switches to petrol and beeps at me. It stays on gas when this happens.

The second issue, i'm not sure if it is an issue or not, but theres a definate performance difference between LPG and petrol, however this seems most noticeable at the lower end of the tank. Recently i was driving it on LPG and i knew it was close to running out, i was heading towards a filling station thru a sequence of roundabouts when it finally cut over to petrol. I immediately noticed it was a LOT more responsive once it switched to petrol accellerating out of the next roundabout. Seemed to need less throttle pressure to make it accellerate and it just felt better. With a full tank of gas the difference doesnt seem as large, but surely the LPG system should be compensating for gas pressure to ensure the systems always injecting the same amount of fuel?!

Missus called this morning to say the P38 was overheating on the dual carriageway, said the gauge was round at "H", but cooled down once she got into town. Her commute is only 5 miles.

The radiator has been a bit weepy since i've had it, but it seems to have started leaking a bit more and i'd noticed a small puddle at the shops one day last week when it wasnt parked on gravel, last few outings i've had to top it up, and unfortunately i didnt check the coolant level this morning before she left, so wishful thinking is that the level has just gone a bit low. Or its all signs of the usual dreaded gasket/block issues. Or worse, it WAS just a leaking radiator, and now shes smoked the head gaskets! :(

Shes going to see how much water it takes at lunch time.

I'm trying to remove the panhard rod.

On the drivers side, theres a nut and bolt. i can get my breaker bar in on the bolt head, but the nut has like a bent wire loop welded over it stopping me getting anything onto it. Before i get medieval on the wire loop, is there something i'm missing?

I've just installed a new front track rod, and am looking for some pointers on aligning the steering box.

the box has a sorta line/nub thing on the side of it, and the input shaft has a smooth collar with a bump on it.

If i line the bump up with the line, the steering wheel is miles out, about a 1/5th of a turn to the right.

the wheels are also steering slightly to the right.

Have i got the right marks, and given the steering wheel error, i presume i need to remove the wheel and centre it? Then if i wind the adjuster on the track rod to lengthen it, that should bring the wheels streight?

ta :)

Anyone happen to have an underbody shot of the P38?

Something like this (i realise its a model):

https://www.megamo.hk/assets/images/LR/org/d90org_006.jpg

I know the old haynes manuals used to include it, but i dont have one for the P38. Had a good google search but cant find anything!

So, first long trip completed and i noticed some real oddness with the LPG filling

The first few times i filled it when the red light came on, but realised it was only taking 45-50L of gas and that the level guage isnt particularly accurate. Pushing it a bit further i got into the 60litre range without issue.

I remembered from the installation certificate that it stated 95L Toroidal tank, and so i expected closer to 70-75L. Imagining 15mpg i guessed 240miles or so should be possible, but thus far i'd stopped way short of that each time due to convenient filling locations.

Once we got down to fareham, I filled the tank, and did about 140miles of driving back and forwards from the hotel and goodwood, lots of heavy traffic etc, and then set off up the motorway and it finally ran out and the gas switched off with 180miles on the dash. Stopped and filled up, and it took 95L?!

I then drove ~200miles up the motorway, and decided it must be needing a fill, but this time it only took 42L?! It worked out an MPG of over 22 so clearly nonsense, i presume it simply didnt fill the tank properly?

Another 200miles up the motorway, stopped again, and this time it took 90L?!

WTF is going on?! For starters a 95L tank should never be taking 90-95L of gas? and why the short fill of 45L?

Anyone got any ideas? Come back to the car after a day out in Watford and it wouldn't fire the central locking

Don't have a working remote

Opened the door and alarm went off.

Now it says engine disabled.

Any ideas? I have a nanocom but can't seem to display the alarm info. It says unable to connect.

Over the past few days, i've seen some electrical weirdness with the P38.

Since i've had it, the dash often beeps "Alternator Fault" when you turn the ignition on, but otherwise seems to work fine.

The other day the wife had the rear door open putting the wee man in his seat, and i'd put the ignition on while waiting (not started the engine) and i heard a relay clicking somewhere in the dash. When i looked at the screen, the "Door Open Left Rear" was flickering on and off in time with the relay, the battery warning light was also flashing on and off. When she shut the door, it stopped.

Its done the same thing a few times when doors are open, but the other day while driving along, i'm sure i heard the same relay clicking a couple of times while driving. There was nothing obvious on the dash, no beeps or warning lights, just the clicking of a relay.

Any ideas?

I noticed this noise the other day while messing with the LPG system, but i sort of dismissed it initially thinking i was just hearing the LPG injectors cycling.

However it was doing it again this morning when i took the wee man to nursery and i realised the LPG wasnt even online yet.

The noise appears to be coming from directly below the shifter assembly, and is a sort of strange rattley clickety noise which occurs in time with engine RPM's, raising the rpm raises the speed of the clacketing. It occurs in all gears and irrespective of engine load. Accellerating doesnt appear to make the noise change, other than it increasing in frequency with the engine rpms. Decelleration usually causes it to fade away, but then the engine drops right down to idle where its harder to hear so thats kinda expected. It also occurs in neutral and park. It is still audible at idle, but it becomes quieter and somewhat more randomised.

I made a video (excuse the wee one shouting in the back):

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0a6zcf99p1zbkl3/2017-06-26%2012.12.08.mp4?dl=0

The video was made while stationary with the car in park. I also got out and had a listen under the bonnet, and TBH i couldnt hear the noise AT ALL from under the hood, despite it being blatant from within the car.

The strange part... I parked for an hour after making that video. When i got back in and drove off, it was silent. I drove several miles to macdonalds with not a peep from it. Got my food and left macdonalds still without a clackety noise anywhere to be heard. Then i gunned it off a roundabout and the noise reappeared and stayed there for the remainder of the journey home (about a mile), albeit less loud than it had been when i made the video.

It looks like we dont have any sort of classified ads section? It might be handy as i'm sure various folks on here are both looking for bits and wanting to sell bits.

Might be needing a new bumper after the wife stoved the bloody fence this morning :(

So we plan to drive the Range Rover to goodwood at the end of the month. I've done a few local trips of around 80 miles and thus far it seems fine. Theres a slight drone on lifting off the throttle, and a bit of vibration at certain road speeds that i'd like to sort out, i guess i'll start with wheel balancing.

Before we go theres some bits i want to get sorted out, like getting the LPG working! and fixing the shonky track rod end, but those are in hand and i mostly know what i'm doing there, hopefully get onto that this weekend.

However the two bits i'm not sure about are the cruise control and aircon. Neither are critical ofcourse, but both will hugely transform comfort levels on a long trip, AC especially if its hot!

Are there any common faults with either that i should look at?

I scanned the HEVAC with nanocom a while back and i'm sure there was a fault code for low pressure, though i cant actually remember (i'll scan again later). I dont think theres any way to scan the Cruise control system though is there?

When i get the alignment sorted i plan to ask the garage to attempt to gas up the AC system. Which i guess will either work, or find a huge leak... The AC condenser behind the grill looks pretty corroded, but i dunno if it will actually be leaking or if it just looks rough!

The cruise control system i've had something similar in an older Audi, and remember they were a pig to diagnose as there was no diagnostics and about a million different things that went wrong with them. The ECU's also packed up, and the P38 ECU looks pretty similar to the one used on the Audi so its probably the same boat. I remember for the Audi someone wrote a bit of a guide showing various things to probe, which attempted to narrow down where the issue was. Is there something similar for the P38?

Cheers
Kev