I went thru something similar with mine a year or two ago. New motor assembly is too expensive and I had to got through a few used ones before I found a good speed control board.
Next time, I’m taking a gamble with one of these:
New. Possibly OEM Valeo brand, and way cheaper than a new motor assembly. All of the used blower motors I have work great, the bit speed control boards seem to go wonky after a bit...
And, some photos to illustrate some of the design and/or quality issues I’m running into here....
This is the front spring after installation, prior to inflation. It almost seems to me like the top and bottom sections are not quite “clocked” correctly, causing them to mis-align and twist the bladder. I think this is putting stress on the inflated bladder, causing it to blow the lower crimp apart. The second pic shows the lower portion somewhat wrinkled still, after inflation.
The other issue is that they seem to be no longer using the factory style “collet” fittings for the air hoses. They’ve switched to this screw-in style fitting from a company called Voss. And, now that I’m remembering, the rear GenIII springs I purchased were actually missing these parts. The fitting isn’t so bad to work with on the fronts with the fender shield out of the way. The rears.... well... I’d like to know who’s smart idea this was. Installation is easy as you insert the air line just like the factory fitting. It’s very secure. Problem is, i cant see any good way of removing them as there is not much space between body and frame, and getting a wrench or socket in there with the air line in the way is nigh impossible. Instructions appear to state that you can pull the spring out the bottom to access the line and nit that way but there is hardly any room to work it, particularly the left rear as that line is just long enough (on mine anyway). I am not a fan. Especially after this weekend as it greatly limits serviceability in the field or on the trail....
The top sections did eventually settle in place, allowing the air hoses to straighten out....but still not much room for accessing that stupid nut,
Yeah that’s where I’m at Harv. The basic design with the GenIIIs seems like it should/would offer great benefits.... but the application or construction process seems to have grave issues with longevity and consistency. It’s seems they’re either horrible or fantastic.... not in between. I did get my notice of warranty credit on the first spring today. I had a call in to the rep I was working with and left a message. I missed his call this afternoon so I will try tomorrow. I’d really like to know what is going on over there...
And, actually the Jeep guy was a real pleasure to ride with. He was friends with the guy running the Rover crew, so he had no choice but to be on his best behavior!
I’m gonna see what Arnott is going to do for me here and kinda go from there. Still amazing that the Gen2 springs I bought it with are holding up just fine. I thought those were the ones with huge issues. The date code on one is at least 10 years old.
Well..... I made my first attempt at the trails.... and failed. Right as we were staging up at the campsite, I’m sitting there idling at normal height and “Hissssssssssss” and the left rear sits down on the bump stop. No time to fix right then so I wound up riding passenger with another fellow in a Jeep.
I spent several weeks trying to get things prepped just right - up to and including some shiny new Arnott GenIII springs at all four corners. What a debacle that was. First spring on the left front blew the crimp immediately after install right in my garage. Did the whole song and dance with Arnott for a replacement on that. I get that one installed and while I’m out for a test drive the, right front spring blows its crimp. Arnott being in Florida, and the hurricane last week, can’t do much to get in touch with them. I throw the GenIIs that the truck came with back on the front axle and figure I’ll deal with it all later since I can’t trust the front spring I just replaced. The GenIIIs in the rear still seem fine at this point, besides the stupid design change with these Voss air fittings they’re using now. That’s another issue in itself.
So after finishing the trail run yesterday, I brought spare parts and a fair amount of tools.... I get the left rear up and the spring had blown it’s top crimp. So - these springs have only been on the truck a few weeks and I have blown 3 of the 4 I’ve purchased. I can’t really fault the truck too much since it’s been fine up until I started messing with the GenIII springs. At least I was able to put the old air spring back in and drive home. But.... no trail time for me, sadly....
Time to make yet another call to Arnott this week. Kinda sucks....
Once you have the whole console and everything removed, you have the take the top half of the metal shift gate off. Then the solenoid is able to be pulled out from the top. There is a black circular metal tab/spring that you pop out and then it’s free. The two black wires can then either be snipped or if you use a jewelers screwdriver at the connector you can pop the pins and pull them out without cutting things up.
I actually just removed mine completely. Solenoid and all. Of course, that won’t help too much on the side of the road. After getting into mine.... I believe if you remove the window switchpack, the shifter knob, the shifter surround and the plastic gear indicator with the MODE switch, you’ll have access to the solenoid pin with a long rod or thin screwdriver to push it out of the way to engage the gears. Since the pin is not energized by the magnet assembly, there’s only a lightweight spring holding it in position so it doesn’t take much force to push out of the way. Assuming yours is LHD like mine, the pin and solenoid are on the driver’s side of the shifter gate.
Begone!!
As far as I know, yes it is. The drier is pretty much right behind it and the left frame rail. I believe there is a pressure sensor or two to disconnect as well.
A quick and dirty way to see if a particular door latch is having issues may be to open up each door and see if the dome lights come on. If the lights don’t come on, that may point to a problem on that particular door or latch assembly. On mine, the micro switches on 2 of the doors are slightly “lazy” and the dome lights don’t come on right away (or sometimes I have to give the latch a quick smack!). No locking issues to date but I keep watch for any other symptoms.
Thanks for the tips and advice guys. Yes, I plan on making a fuel stop and topping off once I reach the town near the park area. It’s been awhile since I’ve been to southern Ohio, but from what I remember it’s mostly trees, brush, with the occasional heavy foresty area. It will likely be mostly dirt trails with some rocky and muddy areas. I’m guessing not too much wide open space but I could be wrong since I have not been to this park before. I believe there are several shallow water crossings too.
As far as an EKA code, since mine is NAS, it may not have one from what I’ve read. I think I tried looking up once with the Nanocom but didn’t find anything.
If there is an open area where we’re at, I may take some time to mess with the gearing and the ‘manual to see how they interact - if I can find a safe area to do so. I have browned through my owners manual a bit in the section at the end. I will take a second look for some light reading here again haha.
Would you recommend leaving the front sway bar/anti roll bar connected as it is? I don’t know if disconnecting one end of it gives much gains in articulation? Maybe it’s a dumb question, but figured I’d toss it out there since it was on my mind.
I had a similar problem on mine a few months back with the spring rains here. I had pulled up the floor cover for the spare and noticed condensation on the underside of it. Pulled the spare and sure enough, there was some water in the tire well. I decided to look at the hatch seal.... and had stumbled upon a recall item for it. The recall notice was much older and it appeared to have been done at some point. I had noticed after a rain that there was water actually sitting on the mating surface of the hatch opening rubber that frames the entire gate opening. I began pulling it off and noticed there were a few areas where the sheet metal appeared slightly deformed and bent inward. I bent it back out carefully with some pliers and vise grips wrapped in a rag to prevent scratching and put the weatherstrip back on. To date, it appears to be dry in the spare tire well.
My thinking is possibly that with these trucks being as old as they are.... overly “aggressive” shutting of the upper and/or lower gates may deform the sheet metal framing the weatherstrip fits onto. Over time, with the rubber aging it too begins to flatten and becomes less pliable.... potentially creating a small gap, and allowing water to seep in where it shouldn’t.
I didn’t want to hijack the other thread.... but I had mentioned in it that I will be going on my first off-pavement adventure in about a month. I’ve had my truck for about 2 years.... it has 167k miles on it currently. In that time, for general peace of mind (and eventual off road prep), I’ve changed the drive belt, diff fluid, trans filter/Xfer case fluid, rebuilt the EAS compressor and valve block. I’ve also replaced various cooling and vacuum hoses, plus a brake accumulator along the way. As of this past weekend, I have now flushed/bled the brakes, and have now replaced the radiator and thermostat along with fresh coolant. U joints do not appear to exhibit any play or odd movements. Mechanically, I feel the truck is about in as good a shape as it can be in. Granted, it was fairly well kept to begin with.
For spare parts, I will be taking the usual fluids, plus a spare drive belt, water pump, some hoses and the old T stat, a spare ignition coil, crank sensor, and I have spare air springs and spare air compressor, plus spare air spring hardware. Also some spare U joints. I have done the “one wheel” test to confirm the viscous clutch appears to be working. I also have a Nanocom, plus a Bluetooth OBDII scanner that gives me live data on my phone for any diagnostic needs.
For the purposes of taking it off pavement, I’ve added some front recovery points, factory brush and lamp guards, Terrafirma rock sliders, front diff/axle guard, and a rear diff guard. More protection would be nice, but as we know the aftermarket is limited, and my fabrication skills are lacking. I have obtained some 16” alloy wheels with Cooper Discoverer STT Pros (about 31”) for enhanced traction. The truck is currently riding on Bilstein shocks with what I believe to be are Arnott Gen II air springs. I bought it this way. Not sure how I feel about the Bilstein shocks, but the air springs at least appear to be in good shape but of unknown age. I try to wipe the bladders down whenever I’m under the truck to prevent any unwanted abrasions. Over the past few months I have acquired a complete set of new Gen III air springs. Was saving these as spares until one of the current ones decided to pop. But with the upcoming trip, I’m wondering if I would be better served to swap all of the new ones in? I just don’t know how kind the terrain will be to the current air springs.
I guess the point of all of my rambling is.... what else would you folks do? I have a small amount of generic off road experience as a passenger... but I’m interested to see if anyone has any P38 specific tips or driving techniques - both on the trail and anything else that might help me prep for my little adventure here. Fortunately I will be going with a local LR club... but I will likely be the only P38 present.
Cheers!
On mine here in the states it is to the left of the steering wheel. Drop the knee panel, try not to rip the little duct vent off.... it is held with a bracket kind of below/behind where the small wood trim is. One or two 8mm bolts and it and the red inverter relay should drop out the bottom.
Yep, for me the P38 is a third vehicle. The e34 wagon is the daily driver (possibly the best car ever made by BMW - Toyota be damned, haha). And I have converted that one from an auto to a manual. If I need to get somewhere quickly, the e30 with its engine swap does so quite nicely! As someone who’s been DIY wrenching on Euro cars since I could drive (37 now), I figured if I can manage both a trans swap and an engine swap, I can handle a P38. It goes all of the places the other two cars can’t. And towing capacity is a plus!
As another fellow from the US, welcome! I also have a thing for vintage audio gear. Haven’t taken a dive into vinyl yet as that would be yet another hobby to throw money at! Currently running some solid-state Harman/Kardon Citation gear from the 70s plus some JBL L166s. At 150watts a side, it rocks pretty well haha.
In less than a month I am about to try my hand at some proper trails here in Ohio for the first time, courtesy of a local LR club. I’ve had my truck for just over two years and it has not been the nightmare the rest of the Internet would lead one to believe. I just hope, as a noobie to both off roading and the P38.... nothing from next month’s event will upset that! Trying to go around and complete any maintenance and address any potential failure points... also carrying a spare air spring for each axle as a just in case. Compressor and valve block were just serviced by me in the last 6 months. Otherwise, the truck has done everything I’ve asked it to do so far and I couldn’t be more pleased!
Thanks for the help folks. I will inquire for more details next time I head over to the dealer.
Yeah I’ve been “straddling” the two forums here for a few months now, but I think I will be frequenting ‘The Pub’ more often now!
What a shame...
Off to drown my sorrows with a glass of Glendronach.
Hello all,
I had stopped in to the local dealer last week in attempt to have a VIN cut valet key ordered for my rig. Unfortunately the poor fellow behind the keyboard was unable to come up with any number to put the order through. Does anyone know if there is a specific part number associated with the “fob-less” valet key? Or do I simply ask them to “make a key” since the fob versions are supposedly unobtainium here in the States now?
Yep the tie downs have to be drilled out since they’re M8 and the threaded inserts the P38 has are M10. Need about a half dozen fender washers to space them level with the thick floor padding!
Got the spare cover out without incident. Turns out there is a small plastic cylinder at each end that locks into the metal pegs on the body, but allows the cover to pivot up and down. At any rate, I finally got a proper set of cargo tie-downs installed! They are folding ones from an LR3.
