I'd go for number 3, the starter is failing. It needs more current to turn the engine over, hence the dimming lights, so the increased current demand coupled with a battery that isn't at its best, is most likely to cause the problem. A few months ago I went to rescue one owner from a car park where his starter had failed completely. Fitted a new starter and he reckoned it spun the engine over far faster than the old one had done suggesting the old one had been getting slower over a long period.

I can put it in a Jiffy bag and send it by post.

Dry the interior of the car out with a dehumidifier.

And don't add Russian links to posts (now edited out) unless you want a permanent ban.

Or do you mean the cover that goes on the back to stop it filling with water? If you do, yes, I've got one.

Round cover? Do you mean the later fog lights with the clear centre rather than the ones with vertical stripes on earlier cars?

Not doing too bad. As we didn't really get a summer this year I haven't been inundated with people wanting air con so have had more time for other stuff. The Rioja Red '98 4.0SE that I picked up and Dina immediately claimed because it's pretty, has kept me busy and got a hectic week coming up but there'll be more on that when the time comes.

They are bolted to a couple of brackets attached to the chassis rails on Rivnuts, so just take them off. The holes are there in the chassis rails anyway so the rivnuts can be fitted if needed but you are unlikely to see them unless you are laying under the car. The red one I've recently bought had a (aftermarket) sidestep on one side and a couple of nasty looking lumps of metal sticking out on the other side, so I just removed the lot. I admit I had to resort to the angle grinder on most of the bolts into the rivnuts though.

P1171 Oxygen Sensor System Too Lean Fault Banks A & B

So that is also pointing towards lambda sensor(s). A lean mixture gives 0V (rich gives 1V), so a dead or disconnected sensor will also show as a lean mixture. What readings did it give on emissions at the MoT? On petrol it should fail the test with a dead or disconnected sensor.

I means what it says. It adapts the mixture to keep it within pre-set limits but if it exceeds those limits it brings up the fault. If it was there all the time I'd say the bank 1 lambda sensor is dead but as it appears to be intermittent, I suspect you are looking at a dodgy connection or a sticking fuel injector. If a sticking injector I would expect to also see a P030x code to identify which cylinder.

Pete12345 wrote:

In case it helps someone in future . . . . (not me cos I will not buy a diseasel.)

That's two of us then......

This one was really strange and I expected there to be an equivalent to the adaptive value reset in the menu items. But, I admit, I know naff all about diesels, I mean, for an engine to run it needs compression, fuel and a spark and as a diesel doesn't have a spark then theory says it should never run in the first place.

A replacement MAF was fitted and it still showed an intake air temperature reading of -38.88 degrees C. Checked the wiring between the MAF and ECU and no problems, full continuity on all wires. Out of desperation the owner got a replacement used ECU and the intake air temperature reading became sensible. That was a month ago and he has had no problems since.

I use one of the thin spanners but have a lump of 1" steel bar with a hole drilled in the end. Put that over one of the pulley bolt heads and belt the spanner with a hammer. It comes undone 9 times out of 10 (for the 10th leave it in place and struggle as you did).

But there's no adjustment on either of the Panhard rods? The Panhard rods cause the axles to move from side to side slightly as the car rises and falls on the suspension but they both move by the same amount relative to the chassis so always remain parallel with one another.

Yes it is, and I may have found all sorts of bodgery that has been done to this car but I can't see an axle being bent, particularly not that much!

Hmm, a bit of a diversion (although I have driven to Bulgaria once in the past).

The cheap one I have is normally used to measure the size of a room when working out what size AC unit it needs (volume of room in cubic feet x 5 = Btu of the unit required, the same calculation is used for heating) so it doesn't need to be perfectly accurate. Same with checking the wheel alignment, you aren't looking for an absolute dimension, just the difference between the measurement at the front of the wheel rim and the back.

I suspect the tyre centre systems are as accurate as the man that attaches the sensors to the wheels. They gave me a printout of what it thought mine was. It showed 2.1mm of toe IN on the front, when my measurement showed it was toeing OUT but more interesting it showed my LH rear wheel having 8.1mm of toe in and the RH one having 2.9mm toe in. Quite how you can have a total of 11mm of toe in on a solid axle I've no idea and suspect the sensors weren't properly seated on the wheels. The phrase 'all the gear and no idea' springs to mind.

Whenever the tie rod or any ball joints are replaced, the alignment will need to be set and that is where you may need to throw yourself at the mercy of a professional.

The steering on the recently bought red car didn't feel right and I decided it felt like it had too much toe out. The self centring was vague and it wouldn't stay in a straight line with hands off the steering, it would pull to one side of the other. Took it into a place I've used before and told them they didn't need to worry about the steering wheel alignment as I could do that myself, it was purely the adjustment of the tie rod that needed doing. Unfortunately they have a newer alignment system than they previously had and a technician who wasn't familiar with the steering box type system on the P38. Firstly he wanted to adjust the alignment on on the rear which, as I pointed out, will be correct unless I have a bent axle. Both wheels are going to be pointing the same way obviously. Once he had got his head around how it worked, he realised what he needed to do. Only to find the adjuster was rusted solid. After struggling with it for almost an hour, he gave up and told me that if I could get it freed off, I could bring it back and he could adjust it.

But, as I was about to leave, an older member of staff suggested an alternative method. If I was to use a laser tape measure and measure the distance between the rear and fronts rims of the front wheels that would tell me how much toe in or out I had. As it happens, I've got one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/Measurement-131ft-40M-Rechargeable-Pythagorean/dp/B0D7PYSRQT/ref=sr_1_22_sspa, so tried it. The front wheels should toe out by 0.6 - 1.8mm. Checked it and found they were toeing out by 4mm! Checked my car, which tracks perfectly, and found it appeared that the wheels had neither toe in or out, but the laser tape measure only goes down to a millimetre so I wasn't able to see if they really were parallel or slightly toeing out as they should but it gave me a target to aim for.

Freed off the adjuster (Plus Gas, heat and a 24" pair of Stilsons), took it right out, cleaned up and greased everything then started. By measuring the difference between the rear and front of the front wheels, I got it so the distance was the same, then gave the adjuster a 1/8th turn in to give it a bit of toe out. That gave me a difference of 1mm, smack in the middle of the setting.

A quick road test showed that the steering wheel wasn't central when going straight ahead. Checked the centre marks on the steering box and that wasn't centralised when steering straight ahead so adjusted the drag link. With the steering lock off and the wheel in the position where it was when going straight, as you adjust the drag link, the steering wheel will move so once it is straight, the job should be done. If the steering box is centralised but the wheel isn't, then it needs the steering wheel moving on the column so they are both central.

A proper road test showed that now the wheel is central when going straight ahead, it self centres properly when straightening up and drives in a straight line with hands off the wheel so that's another job ticked off the list.

Transport is likely to be interesting, Leo is in Bulgaria.....

Took it for MoT. 517,249 miles on the clock and a pass with no advisories. Not a bad result considering I've done 100,000 miles since August 2020.

Having done mine and had it re-gassed so the AC is now working perfectly, I suspect I have found the reason for the water dripping onto the passengers feet. I've just taken my car in for MoT and while it was on the ramp, water was dripping from the AC drains. But NOT from the passenger side but from the drivers side. I didn't notice if the bottom of the evaporator housing was sloped or not but my driver's side drain was clogged solid. I suspect if that is clogged, all the condensate has to get out of the passenger side and it can't get out fast enough. So while the passenger side drain may be clear, if the driver's side is clogged, the passenger one can't cope with the quantity it has to drain.