davew wrote:

Part of the problem is if you don't use the A/C the seals/o-rings can shrink of course (and just re-gassing may not fully resolve that issue). If you have not run the A/C for a while a vacuum test is advised before re-gassing too.

Not advised, mandatory. Process is recover any remaining refrigerant, pressure test with Oxygen Free Nitrogen to 10 bar, vacuum out, then, and only then, as long as the pressure test and vacuum don't show any leaks, regas. That's what the automatic machines do and that's why it takes about an hour as they put the Nitrogen in and wait to see if the pressure drops.

In winter it kicks in automatically if you put the HEVAC on defrost as the AC dehumidifies the air and dry air will demist your screen a lot faster than damp air.

Nobody thinks about it until it gets hot. In the last week I've had over 20 enquires about installing AC in houses and have booked myself up fully from Friday until the 9th Aug. and there was me thinking I'd have a little part time sideline to top up the pension after I retired......

Totally agree, particularly on the P38 (and quite a few other cars) where the system is designed to be on all the time and it regulates the temperature by mixing hot and cold air. When I was working we had a fleet of Astra vans which were replaced after 5 years with Kangoo vans. Both had the manual AC on button and I switched it on and left it on all the time, whereas others only switched it on when it got warm. On both the Astra and the Kangoo, I was the only one that didn't have to get the system re-gassed when summer arrived. It's like everything else on a car, if you keep using it, it keeps on working, if you leave it, chances are it will stop

I'd say one dead blower is most likely. The HEVAC self tests every time you turn on, no feedback from one of the blowers = book symbol. Lack of air would also seem to confirm this as instead of the air from the one working blower going through the heater matrix and out of the vents, it just runs across the car and out the other side where the other one isn't working. To check them you don't need diagnostics, just take the pollen filters out, start it up and look down the hole, you'll soon be able to see if one is turning and the other one isn't.

Yup, that's the one although not in that sort of condition. Fitted with a dog guard, back bumper outer skin had started to lift in the centre so the paint on the bottom of the tailgate was scraped and while not what you would describe as dirty but not clean either. Being driven on the A605 between Thrapston and Peterborough at around 14:45 today.

I followed another P38 today a couple of cars in front of me, S plate but with amber indicators making it a late 98. Got up behind it and as I overtook it, looked at the badge on the tailgate and saw it was a Vogue 50. New one on me, I know of the 50th Anniversary and the Vogue and Vogue SE but not a Vogue 50. Bumpers were body colour but the paint was that sort of green that looks like it could be blue under different light that I think they used on the Holland and Holland. Have I just found a really rare limited edition?

Found out why the inside of the glovebox was cooler than the rest of the car. Ducting to the passenger side vent, the one on the end of the dash, has a sliding joint in it which had slid so the air that should have been going to the vent was filling the underside of the dashboard.....

No, looks like a laser speed camera jammer.

If they both have the Alpine head unit, they will be the same. Steering wheel from a car with the Alpine doesn't work on an earlier car with the Clarion (or it does but the buttons all do different things to what you expect them to....).

Make sure it latches fully and you don't get a spurious tailgate open message on the dash. My spare has been pressed into service shifting building materials and taking the remains of an old kitchen to the dump. It was loaded up on Monday evening and the tailgate closed but it didn't latch fully. Interior lights timed out after 10 minutes so nothing appeared out if the ordinary. Went to it last night and found the battery totally flat. When I put the jump leads on it and turned the ignition on, it immediately came up with tailgate open. Although the interior lights time out and go off, a tailgate open signal stops the BeCM from sleeping. Completely flattened a newly new Hankook MF31-1000 in around 48 hours.

It can be done on the GEMS petrol ECU by the likes of Tornado systems (effectively making it into an ECU for a Morgan or TVR which don't have a BeCM) so I don't see why it can't be done on a diesel one by someone that knows what they are doing.

All the later ones have there weak spots, one reason why I might consider an early (pre-Ford) L322 but only as a second car to be used as a standby. My neighbour is workshop manager at a well known Land Rover overland preparation place but they also do normal servicing and repairs. I mentioned the 2.7 diesel fitted to the Sport and Disco 3 eating turbos and involving a body off job to replace them and he reckons the later 3.0 litre is no better but then added that it isn't as bad as the TDV8 as they break crankshafts......

The 4.4 V8 L322 uses a BMW double overhead cam engine so completely different. It has independent suspension rather than live axles too. As a BMW design it's far closer to the X5 than anything earlier, hence why I've always referred to the P38 as the last proper Range Rover.

They can also eat money far quicker than a P38 too as there are far less aftermarket parts.

Yes, you have the DSP amp if you have the DSP option in the menu on the head unit and not the door amps. Door amps are roughly the size of a fag packet, only slightly smaller than the door outstation. DSP amp is tucked away behind the sound deadening behind the sub on the LH side of the boot. To fit an aftermarket head unit you have to bypass the DSP amp and add two pairs of speaker wires for the rear channels. With the DSP system, only left and right channels are sent to the amp with the fade between front and rear done in the DSP amp. All speakers are wired back to that and not to the head unit. Like the door amps it incorporates crossovers to split each channel between the bass speaker and the mid and high range speakers. You can jumper the left and right front channels from where they arrive at the DSP amp directly to the outputs that go to the speakers but to match the speaker impedances stop the sound quality going 'muddy' you need to put crossovers in those jumpers. That way, taking Left Front as an example, you'll have a pair of wires arriving at the DSP amp from the Front Left output of the head unit and two pairs of wires from the DSP amp to the Left Front door, one pair for Bass and another pair for middle and top.

i did this https://rangerovers.pub/topic/8-info-p38-alpine-dsp-amp-connections-and-wiring?page=1#pid30814 as a result of being asked about it on RR.net (but didn't publish it on there, why let them be the source of useful information after they removed all of what was there before?) and the guy managed to do it himself and got it all working.

On the head unit, if you poke the button for changing the bass, treble, etc levels, do you have a DSP option? If you do, you've got the DSP system making fitting an aftermarket unit not as straightforward as if you have the door amps. Door amps would live lower down the door if they were there.

I'm much the same, 99% road use with the very occasional climb up a mountain where traction isn't a problem but grunt is and also the the odd time on snow. To get to the snow requires a long drive to the in-laws so good road grip, comfort and low noise are my priorities. The Vredestein were really good and the Klebers I'm on now seem to be very similar.

The motor moves less than 360 degrees as it has stops at each end of the travel and switches to tell the ECU what position it is in. As it is on a worm drive you can't turn the output other than by rotating the motor. So no matter what position it was in when taken off, it will stay there and it is the ratio change rod that has to be moved to put the box into the same position. Not sure what the spacer does (item 19) but the manual is very specific in saying to make sure you put it back so that could cause things to get out of alignment if it was missed.

If you are going to be leaving it for a few days, pull the relay and leave it out. If it drops, it's a leak. With the timer relay back in, if it didn't drop with it out it might be a height sensor, but if it was and one corner was being reported as low, it will drop the other 3 to match so you'd find 3 corners had dropped but one hadn't.

I've recently fitted a set of these https://www.mytyres.co.uk/rshop/tyre/Kleber/Citilander/255-65-R16-113H-XL/R-279885 to mine, admittedly in the 235/70 x 16 size that my 7J wheels need and have no complaints and they are an All-Season tyre rather than a summer tyre that the Michelins are. Kleber are actually the budget brand for Michelin anyway. I've had Goodyear Wranglers in the past and they are pretty dire in the wet or anything other than smooth, dry roads. I then went to the Vredestein Quadrac but they are no longer available in my size so went for the Klebers instead.

That's usually a side affect of taking the timer relay out and putting a standard 4 pin one in. I suspect if you swap them back it'll sort itself out. If you've got no leaks and don't park on very uneven ground, it shouldn't adjust when the timer kicks in anyway.

I bought a P38 for that exact purpose, towing car transporter trailers, and there's all sorts of variables that make a difference. Twin axle trailers are worse for it than single axle too. Empty they can be uncomfortable and that varies with the make and model of trailer, Indespension ones are horrible to tow when empty but locking the EAS at motorway height helps (even though the owners manual says to lock into standard height). Trailer tyre pressures make a difference and so do the state of the wheel bearings. Snaking is usually caused by too little noseweight, shifting the load when loaded or dumping your spare wheel on the A frame can help with that. I've found that the best ones to tow are Bryan James trailers, as said, Indespension are horrible with Ifor Williams somewhere in between. If it has got progressively worse, I'd say a bit of maintenance on the trailer might be a good idea. I did own a Bryan James tilting transporter until it got stolen so since then have hired one whenever I need it. The hire place I use regularly replace their hire fleet so I usually get a fairly new trailer with little slop in anything so do tow much better.