That particular issue, albeit in a more minor way, fell off mine when I bled the brakes after changing the rear flexi hoses.

My normal procedure has aways been to wait until the lights are out before moving off but sometime I get impatient. I want to think that the lights were taking longer to go off during the 6 or 12 months of run up to the burst hose. If so it probably had started loosing pressure a bit faster than it should. Remembering that the last bleed was maybe 6 years previous when I changed all the calipers.

Doesn't help that, even pre COVID, mine might stand for a fortnight or more between outings.

Clive

I've always done mine with the car up on four strong axle stands. Easy to get at calipers and the job can be done in a single sequence.

Modulator bleed screws are a bit tricky to get at. I have a brake line type spanner, 6 point ring minus one side, that is a decent shape for access. Williams brand that I've had for maybe 30 years so current version may be different. No need for great torque so heating and bending the shank to adjust a spanner shape will be OK.

As its a two person job I reckon the most useful accessory is a pair of task list sheet sets with each part of the job listed in sequence and a box to be ticked when each part has been done. One sheet for each participant. Use the classic instruction, read back, execute , check off sequence.

If you've not done the job before and are trying to work off the listing in RAVE its very easy to get mixed up, loose your place, or work at cross purposes. Got my version of the sheets as a pdf on the computer "somewhere" so PM me if you think a copy may help.

Despite the number of steps involved brake bleeding on a P38 is an easy "painting by numbers" job. Unless there is an underlying fault it just works! Unlike certain lesser vehicles where brake bleeding can be equivalent to hoisting a banner invitation of the "Gremlin Party Here Today. Free Entry. Free Beer." variety.

Clive

Worrying comment in this months Car Mechanics magazine concerning LED headlights and the MOT test.

Start Quote

"There have been a few revisions made to the MOT inspection manual in January.Problem was , current MOT testers weren't informed in the usuals way (by notification) of these updates . Since the last update in 2019 there are over 50 revisions to take on board.

Section 4 of the manual is lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment- its fair to say this gets a lot of attention. One of the added checks now required on each MOT is

Compliance with requirements

Existing halogen headlamp units should not be converted to be used with high intensity discharge (HID) or light emitting diode (LED) bulbs. If such a conversion has been done you must fail the headlamp.

The tester did, of course, check on conversions to HID before but the new added text is about fitment of LED bulbs into a halogen housing. As far as I'm aware this revision is for the headlamp bulb itself and won't affect any white LED sidelight bulb fitted to a car. However I'm unsure as to insurance companies views on fitting LED sidelights."

End Quote

More bloody stupid rules for the sake of rules. Beam pattern is what matters not technical details of the source. Typical shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. Plenty of decent LED units that give the right beam pattern around now. Bad ones were an automatic fail before anyway.

Looks as if I ever get round to fitting the pair of LED headlamp bulbs I got a while back I shall have to invest in a beam setter, or, more likely "Clives cheap field expedient equivalent", so I can do swopsies before the MOT.

Clive

I like the 16" 5 spoke Lightings on mine but there doesn't seem to be an 18" equivalent. Which is getting in the way of my plans to try Vredesteins. I'm unconvinced by Grabbers in any shape or form despite mine being very good when new.

I know there is similar 18" wheel used on the D2 but that has a large flute down the middle of the spokes instead of the small subtle depression the Lightnings have. A bit too new money brash for my tastes.

Comets just seem flat and most of the other styles try too hard at the "look how stylish / cool I am" thing.

Clive

Never noticed that so I had to go and look!

My Bristol 603 is the same. Allegedly Anthony Crook, long time head honcho of Bristol cars, said that the accelerator pedal should be lower than the brake pedal at full depression to ensure that brake and accelerator cannot be pressed simultaneously. Clearly not a desirable under emergency braking when you have a honking great V8 shoving you along. Bristol footwells are quite cramped due to the engine sitting so far back so its quite feasible to imagine folks with larger feet being able to hit both. Same applies I suppose to driving a Range Rover in wellies.

Of course Mr Crook was well known for both holding strong opinions and complete indifference to the feelings of folk having different views. Hafta say there is a certain charm to the superficially illogical scattering of the 603 electrical controls with different shape knobs so you know by feel which one you have grabbed. The P38 centre console windows, door et al switches look neat but I've been known to minor profanity on hitting the wrong one.

Google pulls up several sources of tyre size - rim size data.

This is the one I used https://www.tyresizecalculator.com/charts/tire-width-for-a-wheel-rim-size-chart as its nice simple list. Hafta assume its right.

Clive

7J rims are supposed to be for 205 or 215 tyres, max 225, so the 235 is oversize on those too. Has to be a reason for the specifications.

Oversize puts more curve into the sidewall which will alter the stiffness and damping. Most likely in yaw or sideslip as when you run along the size of a lorry rut.

Given the known issues of a P38 on inadequate tyres, like the "death wobble" I don't fancy experimenting. I wonder if there is any tyre size link with the death wobble? I can see mine trying that sort of trick in a few thousand more miles.

Probably doesn't help that modern tyres are designed for independent front suspension systems.

Clive

The road manners of mine are definitely not what they should be, especially when well loaded, and have been dropping off over the last couple or three thousand miles. Bump steer and tilt steer effects plus general skittishness. ABS cutting in when it shouldn't too.

I figure the 9 year old Gabber HTS tyres are past their sell by date with around 4.5 mm of tread left despite having covered less than 30,000 miles.

Time for new Vredesteins I thought but they don't do the 255/65 R16 size called for in the book. 235/70 R16 they do do but RAVE says 255/65 are the size despite being 8J rims which, officially, should carry 225 or 235 although a maximum of 245 is permitted. 255 should go on 9J.

Presumably there is a reason why the official fitment is oversize.

Do I go for 235/70 R16 Quatrac 5 as per the Vredestien list, find some 18" wheels so I can use 255/55 Pros or settle for something different.

Gonna be a pain binning the unused spare but I don't trust the Grabbers any more.

Clive

Best to get the slip rings really clean whilst you are in there too.

One gotcha issue with brushes is making sure you get the right composition. Hardness varies considerably between apparently same size brushes initially depending on the voltage and current involved. Wrong composition can either wear the slip rings (or commutator if its a motor or old school dynamo) or jam up in carriers. I've seen some where a DIY fix using "some brushes he had lying around" worked fine for a while then jammed up in the carrier. With witness marks to prove it. Then there was the guy who filed down some oversize ones, but not square.

Yet another reason why I tend to steer clear of real economy range replacements.

The only really nasty gotcha with aged alternators is a poor joint between slip rings and coils. The back joint is usually well buried and a total PIA to deal with. Fortunately its not common but something folk forget to check on an iffy alternator as it should be done at operating current. Had to fix one on a BMW flat twin alternator once. Idiot Germans bolted a near standard car alternator onto the end of the crank so the shaft was different. No exchanges, new price sky high and the local rebuilder wouldn't touch it "they don't come apart mate". Really. Hold my beer!

Clive

Its had a cheapy replacement screen job.

Went to a local independent supplier when my original screen had to be changed due to stone damage as the insurance company I was then with worked on the find your on supplier and we will pay basis. Not the best idea in the world as the "We're super good and know everything technicians" struggled and clearly didn't know what they were doing. Came that close to chucking them off the job halfway through but paying for two screens rather than just the excess on insurance was gonna be painful.

Put the impulse down to standard Clive being unreasonable and sucked it up.

But it never seemed dry inside afterwards.

Three years down the line a stone chip straight in front of me killed that one and Direct Line set everything bar the date up with National Windscreens. The technician knew what he was doing, had the proper gear and put the screen in in a quarter the time. Very uncomplimentary about the previous fitting job. But a lot more polite than I was when I saw how badly it had been done. I'm surprised it didn't fall out! So little sealant so badly applied.

Apparently crap screen change jobs aren't that uncommon on a P38. The National technician said screen changes are actually quick and easy if you have the gear and do it by the book. But if you are short on gear and scratch around bodging it takes longer and rarely lasts. Just like every job on P38 I guess.

Clive

If mine is anything to go by you have about 3 years before it dies.

I'm down to 2 maybe 3 segments about half the time but about 1 in 5 starts, if its not that damp chill cold, they all come up and wave "Hi, I'm still here."

Then go away on the next start. Even if it was an "go to .." morning run and next start to come home was midday or early afternoon so its actually warmer.

Not to mention the occasional few minute to half hour appearance mid drive once the car is nice'n toasty inside.

Frustration may be good for the soul but not blood pressure or vocabulary.

Clive

Thanks for the zebra strip link.

Mine has just decided to go from very occasionally not all there to almost nowt. So its got to be done now rather than waiting for summer.

I expect the zebra will turn up same day as the snow!

Clive

Best to get it properly cleaned out about once a decade.

Had a SAAB 9000 with a non functional air con system due to the fan, duct and sensor being totally closed up by dust bunnies so it basically didn't register any temperature changes. Ex dust bunny is good insulator.

Clive

Yep, mix of speednuts and the expanding square nylon thingies.

If the screws were originally good quality drilling rarely works as the screws spin before the head is fully penetrated but don't get slack enough to lever out through the access holes in the rubber.

Total bastard to shift in one bit as per book. I tried to save mine which were good rubber over corroded steel and, basically, wasted a weekend getting them off in one piece. Binned about a week later under "life is to short to fix 'em" rules.

If there is ever a next time I shall do some careful cutting to remove enough rubber to see WTHIGO before going seriously medieval with added eval. Probably hit the screw heads with a grinder once der rubbered.

Clive

If the kunifer has been run correctly to mate up with the standard lines on the standard brackets there should be adequate room to work.

The original fittings on mine had corroded beyond the point of being undone so I had to cut the kunifer and fit new threaded connectors. All done working under the car with only modest verbal encouragement.

What did miff me is that I had to mix'n match parts from two different toolsets to get the right shape of end. So glad I didn't bin my cheapy "wont hold the brake line securely" device when I upgraded to a proper trade rated kit.

Clive

Problem is that the original Boge quality units don't seem to exist any more. I fitted a set of OEM Boge units with the correct Range Rover part numbers and got maybe 15,000 miles out of them before they clapped out. Rough pull'n push comparisons with the orginal 80,000 odd miles ones off the car, which I'd not got round to binning, revealed a similar lack of damping. In both cases the front end was rolling and pitching around in a scary manner. Bad enough to affect the steering!

I agree that the Bilsteins are a bit on the sporty side and would rather have the originals.

C;ive

Just had look at my "mid-life improvements" spreadsheet which I've been compiling in a rather desultory way to separate running costs spending from replacements.

After subtracting some, in the event misguided, spending that I'd not do next time round I get around £4,000 on parts for the major ticket items viz

Front ball joints & steering arms (Lemfoder), all suspension bushes (factory), all dampers (Bilstien), airbags, EAS compressor and valve block overhaul, height sensors all round (Dunlop, possibly not actually needed), stainless exhaust, new brake callipers all round (TRW), new disks all round, replacement air con condenser and drier, new tyres, new battery and a bunch of smaller stuff.

Obviously the details may be bit different depending on the actual state of the car but, I think my suggestion of being prepared to invest £4,000 to £6,000 in parts if you just want to go out and use it for the next 100,000 miles as if its a decent ex-lease or similar standard 30,000 to 60,000 mile modern car is realistic. The big question being do you invest £2,000 or so in an engine refresh straight out so its done. Assuming its not a well worn mess underneath I'd be unsurprised to cut that investment in half to get 50,000 no worries miles.

Because I got mine with 78,000 or so on the clock doing things as needed with preplanned extra work at service interval time made sense.

Clive

Well I got my costings from what I've spent on mine so far and what it would cost to do what I've not yet done. Basically the engine and an auto transmission refresh, possibly a diff if I'm unlucky, would be left to do if I were shooting for your mileage. Which I'm not.

What I am aiming for is not to have to futz with it as I get older.

Figure I suggested is for setting the lifetime clock back to as close to 20,000 miles as possible in one hit really.

In reality I've done things as and when needed like everyone else.

My spread sheet says around £6,000 in fuel (too many short trips!) and £7,000 for everything else, including tax and insurance, over 9 years and 27,000 odd miles. 20/20 hindsight says chop maybe £500 - £1,000 out of the repair parts list doing it as a one hit wonder fix. Things like going straight to a stainless exhaust rather than an intermediate change to "good brand" steel system and a second centre box. Nanocom is in the list too as well as the shelf queen Lynx & ToughBook. Can't see me hating anybody enough to sell the Lynx to them.

But Chez Clive is an expensive garage. I'm ruthless about changing out whole sub-systems when one part goes. Figure that at 20 years old its mostly age out not wear out so when one thing dies most of the similar things are getting old and cranky too. Getting into anything much beyond routine servicing once in a lifetime is quite enough thank you.

Clive

PS The money the official unofficial kid sister spends (wastes) on getting vehicles fixed makes me look like Scrooge McDuck!

Guide price is fantasy.

Realistically its too leggy to buy and run unless the buyer is in hobby car mode. Run a few miles to show it off, fiddle around every other weekend fixing bits then run a few more miles to show off.

But if its fundamentally sound, basically unmolested and cheap enough it might be a candidate for the "throw £4,000 to £6,000 and a months work at it to fix everything" then do 100,000 miles before a mid life improvement session to get another 100,000 miles on it. With basically no fiddling along the way. Just routine work as per the book. If it goes for a grand or under be looking at maybe £10,000 spend over 200,000 miles. Could well be less. I'd take that.

But if, like me you just want one to run at relatively low annual miles, about 4,000 for me, it's way too leggy when 100,000 mile (ish) ones can still be found.

Clive

Great to hear that your big red beast made it through the MoT so you can enjoy the fruits of all your hard work.

I find it hard to believe that a P38 braking system can get into a state bad enough to fail an MoT whilst still remaining driveable. Even with the seals on one calliper completely blown and those on another being in the process of downing tools in sympathy mine still had plenty of brakes.

Tripped over some very rough notes I made when initially planning to go for braided lines after the calliper failure and subsequent full set replacement with new TRW ones. The brake lines running down the car had previously been replaced with Kunifer so a sensible option seemed to be to replace the frontmost, body mounted, bracket ANR5917 with one holding a through bulkhead fitting set parallel to the chassis and conveniently accessible to both the main Kunifer line and braided hose down to the calliper. A couple or three clips attached to the other bracket mountings would hold the braided hose in a nice smooth, very lazy, S shape run from calliper to bracket. Close to a straight line really.

I don't care for tight clamp supports on braided hoses. Last time I did such a job I found a source of hollow "rubber" sleeve mouldings maybe 3/16" wall thickness about 1 1/4" long with a 1/8" or so ridge at both ends. Bore was nicely sized to take the braided hose with just enough clearance to loosely support it. simple sheet metal bashing to make sone P shape clips to hold the sleeves.

Only significant deviation from straight in my planned pipe run would have been the obligatory anti-vibration curves in the Kunifer as it swung up to the bulkhead connector. Anti vibration curves are probably not needed in Kunifer but are a good idea if your Kunifer turns out to be copper brake pipe. As was supplied to me despite specifying Kunifier. In a practical world either is pretty much as good as the other but copper, even brake pipe copper, can work harden from vibration leading to possible fracture. Eventually.

In the end I decided staying standard was faster and easier. Especially as I wanted the car back quickly.

Clive