When are we having this pint then?
A whole new redesign of the front axles was called for to get rid of those appalling swivel hubs that dated back to being a rip off of the originals from the Ford/Willys Jeep from 1940, hence the completely new designed hubs on the P38 and the Disco 2. Why they chose to move the drive from one side to the other may be a mystery but it was obviously done for good reason. Possibly, as the entire engine and transmission is offset to one side, it was to even up the weight distribution on the LHD versions if driven with just a driver. That's why the RHD versions have so little clearance on the right side as the engine is offset to that side and all the steering and braking mechanism is on that side too. The same drivetrain was used on the Disco 2 so it isn't as if it is unique to the P38, it's just a later derivative. The L322 has the front driveshaft offset to the left while the rear runs down the centre of the car.
The self levelling on the EAS is, I suspect a safety feature, in case one corner deflates for whatever reason, the diagonally opposite corner could unseat the air spring as it extends but with only limited air volume in it. As for the ride, my experience of comparing it with a Disco 2, having driven one 2 or 3 days a week for around 3 years from the day it was delivered from the dealer, the EAS on the P38 is vastly superior. Choice of tyres may make a difference and the ride won't be as good if it isn't calibrated properly but if everything is correct then it just glides over bumps.
The choice of engines would be what they had at the time, even though the V8 was developed quite substantially due to 'project Iceberg' in collaboration with Perkins to attempt to make a diesel version of the Buick derived V8, hence the cross bolted main bearings and much stronger bottom end that first appeared on the 4.2 version of the engine fitted to the Classic LSE. The P38 was designed at a time when LR were in a dire financial position so they had to use what they had. Being bought by BMW in 1994 would have injected cash, and allowed a lot of BMW bits to start to be used, but it would have been too late to re-engineer it to use something different. They had already done the deal to use the BMW engine in the diesel prior to the takeover but I doubt they had the funds available to attempt to buy in a different engine.
Oh yes, the RF. A subject I have dealt with considerably for the last 35 odd years in the course of my work. It isn't only the P38 that suffers problems, the difference is that on other cars it just means you can't lock or unlock your car and, without the BECM being woken on lesser vehicles, it didn't cause the battery drain. However, you can't blame LR for that. Back in 1994, I was asked to investigate why a brand new BMW 7 series couldn't be unlocked and was immobilised when parked in a certain car park. Having done some testing, I wrote a report pointing out that the receiver performance was so bad it would respond to, and be blocked by, just about any nearby radio transmitter. That report went from the local main dealer to BMW UK, who forwarded it to BMW in Germany, who sent it to the manufacturers of the keyfob and receiver. The response was, "when you pay the equivalent of 9p per receiver, you can't expect quality". Having seen the receiver fitted in that early E38, it appears to be the very same unit, almost certainly supplied by the same manufacturer (a very well known, highly respected, European electronics company), fitted to the early P38. So it is a case of don't blame the manufacturer, blame the sub contractor that are supposedly an expert in the subject.
Alternative for the heater core temp sensor is a straightforward NTC thermistor and a tie wrap. Although the Valeo heater core is NLA, I'd happily fit a Nissens.
Just done it for you. Right click the picture in Imgur and select Copy Link Location, in your post click on the Image icon and paste the link into the little box that pops up, Click OK and that's it.
I've forwarded 2 Direnza radiators to owners in the US, cost of carriage added another £105 to the price so would assume about the same to Oz. I spoke to Direnza to see if there was any way we could avoid them having to pay the 20% VAT (tax) on the purchase price as that only needs to be paid on a sale within the EU so should be sold VAT free if going out of the EU. As they aren't geared up for export sales and the radiators were being dispatched to me in the UK there was no way of doing it.
I raced motocross in the early 1980's, started with a CZ250, then an EMC (oddball built by Mike Eatough with a Sachs 250 motor, Marzocchi forks, Ohlins rear end) and finally a Montessa VB414 Cappra. Scared myself stupid the first time I raced the Cappra, got to the first corner and found nobody in front of me, assumed there'd been a false start so slowed down and everyone else came storming past me!
Looks like it needs calibrating then. I thought you'd already done that but it may have not saved the new settings (you have to do one height at a time) or it never happened as you can't achieve a stable good idle.
And now the truth is out. Replacing the timer relay has a number of effects, some good, or at least useful, some not good.
The Good.
The normal operation is for the timer relay to power up the EAS every few hours and drop 3 corners down to the same height as the lowest one. Normally that is fine except if you have a slight leak on one corner which results in the car sitting on the bumpstops after it's been left overnight. The corner with a leak drops and the others are then lowered to the same height. If you temporarily fit a 4 pin relay (or just remove the timer relay), it doesn't power up periodically so only the corner with a leak drops and you know exactly which one has the problem.
The not so good.
When someone gets out of the car or you take a heavy weight out of the boot, the suspension will obviously rise but when you switch off and close the door normally you hear the tick, tick tick from the solenoids and it self levels. Without the timer relay, the power is removed as soon as you turn off the car so it doesn't self level and will sit on the piss.
Some people have also found that with a 4 pin relay in there it will default to high rather than the height it was left in when parked. It may be something to do with the height it was at when the relay was changed or it might just be showing its displeasure.
Diagnostics won't connect. The diagnostic line is connected to the timer relay so if it isn't there you never will get EASUnlock, Nanocom, Faultmate, Testbook and any other diagnostics to connect.
It was designed the way it was for a reason so quite why people seem to think they know better than the man who designed it is beyond me.....
Totally agree with Marty, the contrasting colours better (doesn't look like it's been dipped in paint). Painting the bit below the actual bumper looks fine and accentuates the contrast but not all of it. This is the Ascot with the two grilles, above and below the bumper, along with the bumper done in bumper black and the area under the bumper in body colour.
You could always paint the bits below the actual bumper but leave the bumpers themselves black. Don't forget though that you can't just use ordinary paint as it will flake off without a plasticiser in it to make it stick and remain flexible. That's why you need to use bumper black on bumpers and not just plain old satin black paint.
Don't know what the actual percentage is but the Direnza has a greater capacity than standard. My car runs at around 90 degrees normally, I've never seen it go above 96 since fitting the alloy rad.
It would invalidate the warranty but the only difference between a GEMS and a Thor is the top hose spigot. If you can weld alloy it shouldn't be too difficult to move the spigot on a Direnza one.
Not the Chinese ones, I've got a Direnza in mine (https://www.direnza.co.uk/range-rover-p38-4-0l-4-6l-v8-94-99-aluminium-radiator) and they do one for the diesel too but not for the Thor unfortunately. Beautifully made, keep the temperature down and with a lifetime warranty.
I've also supplied two to France and a couple to the US too. Direnza won't ship to the US so a couple of owners trusted me enough to buy one, have it sent to me and I then forwarded it on. Even with the carriage they still worked out cheaper than buying one in the US.
Give it a couple of months......
Although if it is only the ARB bushes you've replaced then they may last a bit longer.
Poly bushes???? You've just fitted new shocks and transformed the ride and now you fit poly bushes?
Does it always run for roughly the same length of time before dying? Will it die even if you don't touch the throttle? Fuel pressure maybe? Fuel pump primes when you turn the ignition on but doesn't run once the engine starts? Put a gauge on the Schrader valve and watch what it does. Does it show full pressure when you switch it on and then maintain it while running or does the pressure drop off?
Drove to Screwfix and noticed the village East European hand car wash is open, so dived in there and got it cleaned. With the windows cleaned on the outside noticed the dog nose prints on the inside so got home and cleaned the insides of the windows too. Then, in a fit of sun induced madness, pinched a can of Vanish carpet and upholstery cleaner from the kitchen cupboard and cleaned my (cloth) seats too.
No need to separate the coils to test, just unplug them at the multiplug. MAF is another one that can cause weird things to happen, unplug it and see if there is any difference, if not, that is you likely problem area. Bear in mind that the fuel injectors, MAF and Camshaft sensor are all powered from a common Brown/Orange 12V rail while the coolant temperature sensor, fuel temperature sensor, lambda sensors, intake air sensor and throttle position sensor are all powered from a common 5V rail on a Red/Black supply,
Idling fine but dying when you open the throttle may also point to the TPS as it controls the idle air valve making it open at small throttle openings to raise the revs above idle. TPS voltage can easily be tested with ignition on and engine not running just by moving the throttle while watching the voltage on the Nano.
I was wondering how long it would last before rubbing off (or turning your hands beige) but with a sealer on it, it should be fine. Neither of my cars have got the posh wood and leather steering wheels but definitely of help to those that have, well done.
There's 4 coils but each fires two cylinders so one coil going down would cause you to lose 2 cylinders, but it would be one on each bank. They are paired as 2 and 3, 4 and 7, 5 and 8 and 1 and 6, so to lose a whole bank would mean all coils have gone down (in which case you'd lose the lot). If it was just a case of one bank not firing I would have been looking at the common power feed wire to each fuel injector which would result in no firing on that bank but it wouldn't affect the sparks.