Harv is spot on, it shouldn't drop at all. My Ascot hasn't been run in at least 4 weeks now and is still sitting at high where I left it. If you pull the timer relay from under the passenger seat when you are going to be leaving it for a couple of days and it doesn't drop, it is self levelling. If it does, you've got a leak.

If you listen to some people (RPi for instance) they all drop liners, some say Thor is better, others say GEMS is better, some say that the 4.6 is more prone than the 4.0 litre. In reality, the GEMS and Thor use the same block, only the ancilliary bits are different, more 4.6's have suffered slipped liners than 4.0 litre ones but only because they sold more 4.6 versions than 4.0 litre ones. If it is going to slip a liner, it's almost certainly because you've overheated it and whether it is a GEMS, a Thor, a 4.0 litre or a 4.6 is going to make sod all difference.

If it is trying to change height and it doesn't happen within a certain length of time, it decides there's a fault so shuts down. I suspect you were driving around with one light lit and the other flashing while it was trying to do something but couldn't as there wasn't sufficient air there. The two big clues to it needing attention are dropping while parked overnight or taking a long time to rise when it is started.

Not quite everybody..... I had a Classic LSE that had been converted to springs but as I used it mostly for towing I got fed up with having the headlights pointing skywards, so bought my P38 purely for the EAS. It was bought with a burst rear airspring (and a blown head gasket) which I replaced, used the free EASUnlock software to reset the ECU and up she came. In the 10 years and 178,000 miles since then, I've replaced the front airsprings (as they were also the originals), fitted a new seal in the compressor and a set of O rings in the valve block. It just works and what other item on a car only needs attention every 15 years or so? My partners Merc broke a rear spring, her daughter's Nissan broke a front and the front springs broke on a pair of Saabs that my ex and I had at different times. So coil springs aren't that reliable either.

No, a P38 isn't a sports car and I wouldn't have thought EAS would be right on one either (even though numerous modern Mercs and Audis have also gone over to their version of EAS), but what it does give is a far superior ride. As I mentioned earlier, it's what sets a P38 apart from all the others.

The Thor has a little more bottom end grunt than the GEMS (due to the longer inlet tract) but I also wouldn't discount a GEMS (although as I have 2, I may be a little biased). Pre-97 had a few more weak points but there were quite a few mods done under the skin from the 97 year model onwards. Even then, most were parts that were superseded so if you needed, for example, an underbonnet fusebox, the new one was a different design to the original so would bring it up to later spec. At the end of the day, you are looking at a 20+ year old car, so what's the odd year here or there, how well it has been looked after is more important.

Bolt wrote:

Question for the gallery: Can you drive on 3 well inflated bags in case of catastrophic failure of one?

You can but it'll sit at a very funny angle with the diagonally opposite corner being high.

Best (only) deal for emergency valves is https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/P38-RANGE-ROVER-AIR-SUSPENSION-SYSTEM-EAS-EMERGENCY-VALVES-SET/272726482487

Although I've got a couple of servicable air springs, I have never carried them with me. I suppose if someone was doing a lot of serious off road stuff (or running Arnotts) it would be a good idea but not with Dunlops under normal use.

headlight wrote:

Looking online it looks as if I might have to travel a few miles to be able to look at some as there doesn"t appear to be any close to me.

Where are you?

Forget welding or bodywork unless you are really unlucky. A P38 isn't a Disco that starts to dissolve as soon as the sky clouds over, rust simply isn't a problem. The chassis is built with much thicker steel and doesn't suffer while bodywork will only show signs of rust around the rear wheel arches, front edge of the bonnet and bottom of the lower tailgate (which is alloy but can still corrode. Diesels are a bit sluggish (and that's me being polite so as not to offend the diesl owners on here too much) although they can be chipped to get a bit more out of them, but even then, they are still thirsty, for a diesel, so the running costs of a V8 on LPG is probably the same or slightly lower. Don't even consider a car that the seller tells you has been 'upgraded' to coil springs, you'll just be buying a pretty Disco. The air suspension is what sets the P38 apart from everything else, is simple (once you get your head round it) and dead easy and cheap to repair. Make sure you get two working keyfobs, if you have to lock and unlock it by putting the key in the keyhole, it will lock you out and immobilise itself in the very near future. The cooling system is the most important thing on a V8, make sure it doesn't overheat and doesn't show signs of gloop in the cooling system. Brown coolant with copper coloured flecks in it should cause you to run away very quickly.

Get a good one, or one that you need to spend a little time on and once you are happy with it, I guarantee you'll be doing more miles in it than your van. I've done nearly 200,000 miles in mine in 10 years, 320 of them this weekend!

Lol. Or as my missus said, if you want to know who really loves you, lock the wife and dog in the boot for a couple of hours and see which one is pleased to see you when you let them out......

Could well be. I had a very slight knock from somewhere on the rear of mine a few years ago although that was suspension movement related but only noticeable at low speeds. Spent ages trying to find something loose with no joy until I took it into a mates workshop, got it up on a ramp and got his apprentice to keep bouncing the car by hanging off the towbar. Turned out to be coming from one of the rear shocks but not from a top or bottom rubber but from inside the shock itself. Somethng had obviously come loose inside as once it was off there was about half a millimetre of free movement..

Bolt wrote:

It just seems you are always on line either here or there.....no matter if I was in Calif, Oz or Hawaii.
On another note, Is it just me, or has .net become P-38 Kindergarten lately?
Between "RichardG" and Escape, you ARE the forum!.........Good job!

Back to topic: I will grab a few speed controllers when I see them. Lots of pick your own type wreckers nearby!

I usually check the forums in the morning (to delete the Russian spam), and when there's nothing worth watching on TV in the evenings (which is most of the time). So it might look like I'm always here but I do have a few hours off every so often.

Yes, .net is filling up with newbies asking the same stupid questions and the odd know-it-all who need bringing down a peg or two every so often. As even RRTH hasn't put in an appearance since the revamp, someone has to slap them around a bit.

I'm bunging a speed controller in the post for James in the morning but they are always useful to have a spare.

I've got a blower that I took out of mine as the bearing was noisy. I only kept it in case anyone needed the speed controller bit.....

Sleep?? It's only 7pm here......

It's the speed controller on the blower itself, the bit with two big power transistors on it. One of them has gone short circuit. You can replace the transistors or swap the speed controller from another blower (or just swap the whole blower).

If anyone does get one, make sure you get the BC30 complete kit (https://buy.garmin.com/en-GB/GB/p/501486) as you can also buy an additional camera which is usually around £95. However, the full kit comes with a replacement power cable for your existing Garmin sat nav that includes the receiver for the camera, the additional camera doesn't come with this as the system can have up to 4 cameras tied to the one sat nav.

I'd suspect exhaust mountings. The exhaust might move when the engine stops. Check right at the very rear too. One of my rear boxes is very close to the end of the chassis so could touch if it had shifted on the hangers.

I'm aware of the different gearbox and have been assured, as Henry says, as long as it isn't thrashed mercilessly will cope with the small amount of extra power. I did have one other thought though, what about the ECU? However, according to the Nanocom documentation, I can change the engine type from 4.0 litre to 4.6. Never tried it but I don't suppose t will make much difference anyway.

Dave is asking £650 for the 4.6 complete with all ancilliaries so we'll be going for that one. No exchange either, an outright sale so he may be able to get some money back flogging off the good bits from the old engine. Might even pull the old one apart and see if it would be worth doing anything with it.

No, because it is a wireless unit and you need to buy the camera to get the transmitter and receiver that goes with the sat nav.

I've spoken to Dave at East Coast. He had a 4.0 litre that came in last week that he wasn't sure what the engine was like so he checked it and reckoned it sounded like a bag of spanners, had over 200k on it and oil in it that looked like it hadn't been changed for half of that 200k. However, he has a 4.6 with a supposedly perfect, low mileage, engine coming in later this week which I've told Mick about. The only thing that would need changing would be the flywheel spacers to make it mate up to the 4.0 litre torque converter, everything else being the same. So any GEMS engine will be fine. A Thor could be modified and fitted with the GEMS ancilliaries but the most difficult bit would be the different CPS mounting so not straightforward and I would think a GEMS would be easier to find anyway.

Don't see why not, video is video in most cases (1V p to p). Only variation is NTSC or PAL but most displays will handle both.