If it's reading like any other NTC temperature sensor, a very low reading, often -40 degrees, means the sensor is open circuit and a very high reading means it is closed circuit. Maybe it defaults to 125 degrees when shorted?

FTDI just work, Prolific might work sometimes but are well known for dropping the connection when they feel like it. In Device manager, under Ports, you should be able to look at the driver manufacturer which should tell you. I've never actually tried to use any serial comms under Win 10 I'm afraid, I know they work faultlessly under Win XP but normally I just use a very old laptop with a serial port running Win 2000.

I agree that the 1/2" breaker bars flex so you're not applying all the force to the nuts. That's the advantage with the one I use, no flex at all.

What computer are you using, what operating system and are you using a USB adapter. If so, does it have the FTDI chipset or Prolific?

I've got a Clark impact wrench and it's useless. I just use one of these https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/13202-teng-tools-wheel-wrench-17x19mm-12/ and a 27mm socket.

Go into Comm Port advanced properties in device manager and change the maximum data rate to 4800 baud. That should sort it.

StrangeRover wrote:

The HSE and Vogue have it as standard, the Oxford leather option is connolly also...

The Armrests are PVC on the DSE - SE - and Base these have the cheaper leather...

Dunno where you get your info from but my Ascot HSE has PU leather and the interior is identical to that on the SE I used to have. The base models didn't have leather at all, they had cloth the same as in my ex-plod (which doesn't look as pretty but is far more comfortable). The Oxford almost certainly is Connolly but I'm not even sure about the Vogue, I'll have a proper look at my mates next time I'm round there.

I think only a few of the special editions used Connolly, the others are a mix of ordinary leather and PU. If you look carefully at the very edges of the side bolsters you can see the cloth backing under the PU leather coating.

Seems we're mostly a bunch of masochists. I ran Citroens for years, a Bijou, an ID19 Safari, two DS21 Pallas, a DS21 basic (that was converted to Pallas with the trim out of one of the others), a DS23 EFi a CX2200 and a CX2400 Estate. The D series were mechanically bulletproof, although the hydraulic suspension gave some interesting times. A rusted through pipe filled the boot with LHM fluid and a snapped pushrod on the rear caused the suspension piston to overtake me down the road and the motorcyclist I'd just overtaken to go bright green from the cloud of vapourised LHM. However, after finding that the CX rusted just as badly as the DSs did, I moved away from them to something completely different for a while.

I've never owned anything simple, always going for things that have a reputation for either unreliability, incredibly complex or being a pig to work on. I once told someone I owned a P38 and a Maserati Biturbo. He asked how I had sex, standing up in a hammock maybe?

It's a proper windscreen sealant (Polyurethane I think, definitely not silicon) and the only way of getting a screen out is with a cheese wire. I've never done it but seen it done and making sure you get all the way round and don't leave any parts still attached is the secret. Start with a Stanley knife to cut through it at a convenient point, thread the wire through and start.

Low fuel pressure? One lambda sensor not working just means one bank will run open loop fuelling but it will still run fine.

I'd go with TPS too. Easy enough to check with a multimeter.

Don't know what model it was but a few years ago my neighbour was buying a caravan and asked me what I thought he should buy to tow it. As it was at the time we had the TD5 Disco at work I told him to get one of those. So he went out and came back with a Jeep Cherokee of some description. Went away with the caravan for a weekend and came back with a howling rear diff so he went back to the dealers that he'd got it from, a specialist 4x4 dealers. They agreed that the diff was shot and asked if he'd been towing with it. When he said he had, the response was that while they look like they should be good for towing they aren't really up to it. They refunded his money, he added a bit to it and came away with a TD5 Disco.......

When? With the boat on the back? Probably because the EAS kept it nice and level and it didn't look out of the ordinary. The boat was only as heavy as it was as it was made of teak and mahogany rather that the usual fibreglass with a damn great cast iron American V8 mounted inside. It was a copy of a Riva built by a bunch of ex-Riva employees that had set up in competition. I'd seen it numerous times, even been towed behind it on water skis but boats always look smaller in the water than out. It was advertised for sale expecting it to be bought by someone local in France but it was bought by a guy that lives about 20 miles from me so I was asked if I could bring it back and deliver it. When I saw it out of the water sitting on the twin axle trailer it looked about twice the size as I thought it was. We Googled it to find out what it weighed and it was only then that we realised that the trailer was intended for launching and had no over run brakes. By then it was a bit too late, everything was booked, the new owner had paid for the boat and delivery so it was a bit late to bottle out. From where I was picking it up to Calais involved 2 roundabouts, 800 miles of Autoroute and 8 toll booths so hardly any need to apply the brakes. From Dover to home there's 3 roundabouts, the A2, M2, M25, Dartford crossing, M11 and A1(M), so again, pretty straight through. The only time it get any attention was at Dover where Customs lifted one corner of the cover and put a Spaniel in to have a sniff around, other than that, nobody gave it a second glance.

The nice thing about driving on the Continent is that the speed limit is 130 kph most of the time and the only restriction on trailers is towing anything over 750kgs means you can't use lane 3 but there's no lower speed limit. I just wish someone would tell a few of the trilby wearing, caravan towing, Brits that daren't go any faster than 50 mph so the middle lane gets clogged with trucks overtaking them and I have to sit behind them.

We had a 51 plate Disco 11 TD5 at work and while it was a vast improvement over the 200TDi Disco 1 it replaced, I would never have described it as great thing to drive. Not in the same league as the P38 even when it was straight out of the showroom. It was the ES spec too as all our company vehicles had to have air con, central locking, etc and it was cheaper to get the ES spec than a base model and have them fitted as options.

My other toy is about as far removed from the two P38s as could be, it's this:

Built in 1988 according to the VIN plate, but not registered until 1990 (so sat around in a field or in a dealers for a very long time). 2.8 litre, twin turbo V6 with overhead camshafts and 3 valves per cylinder (two inlet and one exhaust) and produces something in the region of 260 bhp. Not that much by modern standards but weighing only 1150 kgs, with a 60/40 weight distribution biased to the front and fitted with a Limited Slip Diff but none of this traction control or ABS nonsense. That makes it very tail happy so needs treating with a great deal of respect in anything other than ideal conditions. Turbo lag caused by the length of the pipes between the turbos mounted low down on either side of the engine blowing up to the top middle mounted throttle body via two intercoolers in front of the radiator and an auto box means it creeps up and bites you about a second after you hit the throttle. Turbo lag and kickdown are an interesting combination.... The auto box is the ZF 4HP22 identical to that fitted to the Range Rover Classic and the non-electronic version of the gearbox in the 4.0 litre and diesel P38. Turbos are Japanese IHI watercooled units. It also costs a fortune to run, averaging 20mpg on Super Unleaded.

I bought it 13 years ago with the intention of running it for a while, sorting out the wonderful Italian electrics so things worked when you wanted them to all the time rather than as and when they felt like it and selling it on in the spring when people wanted a convertible. Although I sorted the electrics (13 dry solder joints in the fusebox alone wasn't helping), I never got around to doing much more other than taking it for an MoT every so often and using it. Recently decided I needed to do something with it, as it's pretty surplus. We've got Dina's Merc SLK when we need an open top sports car and I've got a 600cc Yamaha for when I want to scare myself to death. I've fully overhauled the brakes, replaced the steel pipes with Kunifer, tried (and failed) to buy a pair of front brake hoses (no longer available from Maserati) so bought Goodridge braided hose and fittings and made them up. About a fiver cheaper than original rubber ones would have been too.

There's a leak from the power steering rack so that has got to come off and I'll need to source some suitably sized seals to replace the ones that are obviously worn out. The interior, all wood, leather and suede is a bit tired but should clean up pretty well while the hood has a couple of splits and could do with replacing. Hood is available from a company in the US but I'll likely leave that for a new owner to deal with. There's the odd scabby bit under the paint as can be seen on the bottom of the front wing (the other side is the same but on the rear wing too) but it was Dinitrol treated when new so is far better than you would expect from an Italian car.

A nice little project to keep me busy during lockdown......

I bought mine because I had need to tow 1950s and 1960s American cars to the South of France, so that is what it does more often that not. Heaviest was towing a 3.5 tonne boat on a 1 tonne unbraked trailer from the south of France back to home (953 miles). Somewhat bum clenching at times, looking well ahead was the order of the day and brakes could only be used when travelling in a straight line. Cruising speed was about 50 mph on the flat but a bit less going up hill. The 50 limit was self imposed knowing that stopping it was going to be more of a problem. As long as the trailer is loaded correctly, I can cruise at anything between 60 and 75 mph depending on how much weight I've got on it. Bought a Mini Cooper (proper one, not one of these BMW fakes) back from France and took an Audi A2 to Latvia and it didn't even know the trailer was there, would sit at 75 mph all day long (saw just over 80 at one point through Germany). Get too much noseweight on the trailer and it'll hit resonance and start to shudder at anything over 60 mph, too little and the tail starts to wag the dog at anything over 60 mph so loading it right is more important than the weight.

I've taken plastic Tees off that have been used on LPG installs and every one has distorted so is no longer round. Maybe because they've had Jubilee clips on them, but it doesn't instil confidence when I've pulled on one hose and the Tee has cracked. I make them up using 22 and 15mm copper and Yorkshire fittings.

I don't like plastic Tees or joiners, they will always leak after a while. I'd be included to swap it for something like this https://www.merlinmotorsport.co.uk/p/32mm-aluminium-t-piece-with-16mm-spout-mhj-t32-16 or if you can't find one of the correct size, one of these https://www.merlinmotorsport.co.uk/s/cooling/aluminium-hose-adaptor with the correct size stub https://www.merlinmotorsport.co.uk/s/cooling/hose-adaptor-take-offs. Although with your fabricating skills Clive, I'd expect you to make something.

I bleed the coolant before starting the engine. Take the overflow pipe off the radiator, fill the header tank then squeeze the top hose and plug the overflow with a finger when releasing the hose so it sucks coolant in and blows air out when you squeeze the hose. Keep doing that until coolant comes out of the overflow (it'll take a while and you'll need to top the header up a few times). Then put the pipe back on and carry on only this time plug the hole in the top of the header where the jet of coolant comes back into the header. Eventually, you'll no longer be able to hear bubbles in the system and at that point you know you've got the air out. Only then start the engine and give it some revs.

One was stolen and never seen again years ago and the others are all out there but registered simply as 4.6 HSEs.