My spare car may not get used, or even started, every couple of months. That is left with the suspension on high and in summer it doesn't drop at all but in winter the front left corner drops noticeably after it has been left for a couple of weeks.

KCR wrote:

Unbelievable knowledge!

Not really, I just looked up the part numbers for the front cover.....

No, you cannot reprogram a key from one car to another, not with Nanocom or even the LR specific Testbook. They are programmed to the car's VIN when produced and that can't be changed.

If Passive Immobilisation is enabled in the BeCM, then the immobiliser will kick in if you don't start the car within 30 seconds of unlocking it. There should be a coil around the ignition switch that causes the fob to send the unlock code to the receiver when you put the key in the ignition. However, if you unlock the car, put the key in the ignition (which sends the code) and then don't start the car within 30 seconds, the immobiliser kicks in again resulting in the "Engine Immobilised, Press Remote or Enter Code" message. Simple answer is to go into the BeCM settings with Nanocom and change Immobiliser from Enabled to Disabled. This is the one that many think turns off the immobiliser completely but it doesn't, it just turns off passive immobilisation.

The other one I always change in the BeCM settings, is one marked wiper speed (or wiper delay) and enable that. With that enabled if the wipers are on continuous, they drop down to intermittent when you stop at a set of traffic lights and restart as soon as you hit 2mph.

Although there are different part numbers for the front cover, late GEMS and Thor share the same one, the changover was at the 97-98 change. So that will fit. Not sure what holes you have to drill as the blocks are the same so I would have thought the sumps were interchangeable.

I wondered who would be first, thanks mad-as. Merry Christmas to all and may all your problems be little ones.

Welcome. I also know very little about the diesel, but there are others who will no doubt pop up once they are sober.....

Some people have complained that the very thin seals that go around the base of the solenoid plunger don't fit too well and leak. My experience with them is that they don't leak if you are very careful when fitting them and make sure everything is spotlessly clean. However, there is no reason why they should ever leak in the first place so if you are unsure it's better to leave them alone and not bother replacing them.

Maybe but most of us own the earlier P38 with a ZF gearbox. I'm aware that the GM box fitted to the diesel L322 is only good for about 100k miles (the petrol version had a ZF which goes on forever). I've been speaking to a local owner of a 2006 with a failed gearbox at 115k despite it having been flushed and refilled about 30k miles ago.

Found this which looks to be a good step by step rebuild guide https://www.lrukforums.com/resources/gm-5l40-e-teardown.173/

Bear in mind that sometimes the Nanocom gets its left and right muddled up. I'd unplug the nominated sensor to ensure it detects an open circuit fault on that one.

According to Marty, it's a fault with the ECU, see http://p38webshop.co.uk/index.php?route=product/category&path=77

Replace the header tank cap for starters, then see if it is still spitting it out.

No idea on mpg but running on LPG all the way. A total of 10 fill ups, once in Latvia, once in Lithuania, three times in Poland, twice in Germany, once in the Netherlands and twice in Belgium, total cost £362.20. Cost varies a lot, 0.69-0.74 Euro in Latvia and Belgium, 0.55-0.58 in Lithuania, 3.00-3.70 Zloty in Poland, 0.75-0.82 Euro in Netherlands and 1.18-1.25 Euro in Germany. Belgium is only small but as it is that much cheaper than Germany, France and the UK, I will arrive in Belgium virtually empty, fill up at the first filling station and then top up at the last. The last fill in the last filling station in Belgium was just enough to get me home and the 9 miles to my local Flogas to fill up Tuesday morning.

As most will have noticed, we've been to visit the other half's parent's in Saulkrasti, Latvia. On the way out we cheated and only drove as far as Lubeck Travemunde in Germany and took a 23 hour ferry crossing to Liepaja in Latvia, but on the way back, there wasn't a convenient ferry so drove all the way. However, there was an event in Liepaja on Saturday that we wanted to go to, so came back via there too. Unfortunately, there's a bit of Russia (Kaliningrad) between Lithuania and Poland so you have to go round that making it a less than direct route. So with going via Liepaja and avoiding the Russian bit meant the route that we took was a bit further than a direct one and included a stop off with my step daughter in Lelystad, Netherlands for a decent nights sleep. The temperature was below freezing and snowing as far as Warsaw and the HEVAC didn't get up as far as 0 degrees C until we were well into Germany, by which time the snow and turned to sleet and then rain. So we knew we were getting closer to England.

It did mean that a milestone was hit just before the Belgium/France border though......

The car behaved faultlessly all the time. The highest temperatures we saw all week was -3C and there was 40cm of snow on the ground. Interesting that we were hearing about snow in the UK causing a state of emergency to be declared and roads closed but no such thing there. The snow falls, they send out a snowplough to clear the roads down to about 5cm so you can see where the road is. After that, the traffic clears it if there is enough. So main roads get cleared after a while, more minor roads are left with tyre tracks while side roads are still a couple of inches of hard packed snow that you drive on. With decent winter or all season tyres, it isn't a problem at all and I had to try really hard to get the traction control or ABS to kick in by booting it and then stomping on the brakes.

I think GeorgeB is the only person that has mentioned a similar problem, I've not heard of anyone else that has even had cause to look at it.

The result is in. Fitted the beam blades and found not a lot of difference with ice still building up on them causing them to freeze in the curvature of the screen so not clear it that well. However, most of the ice was blue suggesting that Tesco own brand washer fluid that claims to be good down to -20 isn't. When I set off from Latvia yesterday it was -8C and it snowed right through till almost Warsaw in Poland when it turned to sleet and ultimately rain but now I've arrived with step-daughter in the Netherlands where it is +9C but raining, they are much quieter than the original ones. 4 litres of Polish -20C screen wash may have helped too.....

Found some beam blades in the local filling station, Bosch ones for 9 Euros each so got a pair of them. Fitted them this morning (and they certainly look a bit odd) but today has been the first day it hasn't snowed so not had chance to try them yet. Forecast is for more snow for the next couple of days though so I'll find out how well they work.

The higher spec Classics had heated washer nozzles, or at least my '93 LSE had them, but it seems that was something that was dropped on the P38. I'll pick up a pair of beam wipers locally and see how well they work.

I've never seen winter blades in the UK, probably because we don't get sufficient cold weather to justify them (in the same way as most people never fit winter tyres). I might try getting some replacement wiper blades locally and see what they are like.

When the keyswitch fails, it is often temperature dependent. I've got a latch on my spare car that works fine in warm weather but not at all when it is cold. It's caused by wear in the nylon slider that operates the microswitch so a tiny bit of thermal expansion is all that is needed. It will usually fail so it works when locking but not when unlocking for some obscure reason.

Over the weekend I drove to the in-laws in Latvia and for the last 150 miles or so the exterior temperature was down to -4C and it was snowing. The snow got on the wipers and a combination of the ambient temperature and wind chill meant my wiper blades turned into a couple of blocks of ice. With the curvature of the windscreen it meant that they were frozen into the shape of the screen so were only clearing a couple of small strips and not even in contact with the screen over most of their length. Before setting off I'd filled the screenwash with neat wash supposedly good for down to -20C but it can't clear the screen if the wipers aren't touching it.

What do people do that live in places where this sort of temperature is common so they can still see where they are going?

On a side note, having seen the news reports of a state of emergency being declared in parts of the UK due to the snow, there's heaps 3 or 4 feet tall either side of the roads here where it has been ploughed but not gritted, you just drive on the remaining snow. I'll also change my review of the Kleber Citilander tyres I fitted last week. I said they were pretty good in snow, they aren't, they are absolutely excellent in snow, I had to try really hard to get the ABS to kick in, it goes where I point it and stops no worse than on a wet road.