You could always try putting a small container (aerosol can cap?) under the pipe. If it fills up it's coming out of the pipe, if it doesn't, you've got a crack in the tank.

Grounding the green/red wire should simulate operating the CDL switch in the latch and cause the doors to unlock.

If the earth is disconnected, or connected last, the doors will lock. Looks like you've had a real bodger in there, biggest cause of most problems on an older P38 (that'll be all of them then) people messing with things they don't understand.

C'mon lads, can we get this thread back on topic? Have you managed to bodge your pipes and get the AC working again?

Definitely sounds not good. If the pressure has got high enough to causes hoses to leak. Did you try water glass?

That's OK then, I'm up for that. I've heard others talk about detailing and I got the impression it was going a bit further than throwing the car at a group of Eastern Europeans at a disused filling station where they attack it with pressure washers and big soapy mitts to return it to the original colour. Mine got that treatment on Saturday before heading off for Billing but as they put the stuff on the tyres that make them look black and shiny,the dust stuck to them so I've now got brown tyres.....

No AC would have been a very bad idea. It was 30 degrees and you don't get much airflow at walking pace. At one point we passed one of the course marshals who was dripping in sweat and losing a battle against a swarm of flies that had mistaken his safety jacket for a very large yellow flower. As we were one of the few cars driving around with all the windows shut, he made a comment about us being cold so Dina opened the window to let him feel the air from the vents. We very nearly picked up a passenger.....

I'm not sure if anyone else was there but there was a distinct lack of P38s. At least 80% were either Defenders or Discos, a few newer ones, a few RR Classics and I didn't see more than about 10 P38s if that. There was me, Paul, a neighbour of mine that now owns OldShep's Vogue, one of the CVC cars which was a factory demonstrator kitted out for police forces restored in full police livery (the owner asked if I intended restoring mine to original police livery but as I said to him, doing 25,000 miles a year it wouldn't really be practical, I use my car, not show it), a red HSE in the camp site and a couple of others. Unlike mine which was a special order and built by LR Special Vehicles to the specific requirements of GMP when they ordered it, the CVC cars were standard HSE spec taken from the production line and used as demonstrators for press, dealers and anyone else.

The convoy attempt was errm, interesting. It was supposed to start at 5pm and it may have done at the front but it was 6:30 before we started to move. The pic shows the cars that had completed the 3 mile course and were lining up in the finish field when we were only just starting out and hadn't even reached the Start marker yet.

I've not seen anything to say if the record set by the Germans (632 assorted Land and Range Rovers) was beaten but as we approached the start I was given a numbered wristband with 890 on it so if I was number 890 in the convoy, there must have been over 100 more cars behind me. Leading the convoy was the original 1948 Land Rover prototype and the restored police P38 followed up at the rear with all his lights switched on. Or at least he was until they managed to get an ex-Army Land Rover ambulance started and he tagged on the back. Whether the record attempt will stand or not I've no idea. The rules said that there should be no more than a two car lengths between each car but at times there was much more than that, 40 mph on a dirt track trying to catch up with the rest of the convoy when the dust kicked up by the Defender in front meant you couldn't actually see the track certainly proved the EAS although the new air filter I'd fitted the previous day probably needs changing again now. The AC came in handy though, the guy in the Defender in front drove most of the route holding his door open trying to keep cool!

Lpgc wrote:

Is that a P6 in pic with the P38?

Looks more like an early Silver Shadow to me.....

There was a company at Billing yesterday doing a replacement headlining in two pieces, bloody expensive too. You'll get a far better finish doing it yourself with one of the Martrim kits.

I had the exact same problem a few years ago, with the same results. The first time it did it I dropped a jump lead down the side of the engine, clamped it to the positive battery terminal, crawled underneath and splashed it onto the positive terminal on the solenoid that was connected directly to the starter to spin it over and the engine started. Ordered a new starter thinking the solenoid contacts were on their way out. It was intermittent and would sometimes be fine but not at others and I could start it with the jump lead anyway so not totally critical.

Then went out in it and on the way home I started to get faults coming up on the message centre. EAS decided it wasn't gong to do anything, then gearbox fault, then ABS fault then the radio and HEVAC shut off, then it died..... Checked it and found about 8V from the battery so called the AA. While waiting for them checked the battery terminals and found the loose bolt. Tightened it up, AA gave me a jump start and all was back to normal. As it was before I'd added the extra cable from the battery to the alternator, as well as there being no feed to the starter, the alternator output wasn't getting to the battery either. Clamping a jump lead to the battery terminal had pressed the cable against the main terminal so it worked fine while the clamp was on there but not once it was removed. New starter became a spare.

Put the TPS back in the original position. If the RSW software shows you a voltage for the TPS it should be around 0.6-0.8V but is likely to be higher, the stored value will be lower than this which is why you had high idle (it thinks the throttle is slightly open). Resetting the adaptive values should set the stored value the same as the actual value. It should self adjust over a period but I've found that it self adjusts upwards but not downwards

I found that using a hex bit, a short 3/8 drive extension (exactly as you have used) and a 3/8 universal joint with insulating tape wrapped around it to stop it flopping around too much to be the quick way. It brings the ratchet out to the exact position it needs to be in to clear the back of the starter but not too far so the engine mount is in the way. Took me about 10 minutes to change a starter last time although it took me a lot longer the first time to work out how to do it.

I am very averse to disconnecting the battery (resetting the windows isn't a problem but resetting the 9 channel graphic equaliser on my stereo takes days!, I even took my engine out with the battery still connected) so I carefully slacken off the main power feed nut and take it off with fingers (as they don't conduct, not at 12V anyway), shove a length of heater hose over the end of the cable to insulate it and tie wrap it to one side.

But you've done a really nice job on the starter. I've still got the one I took off to refurb.

Yes, that will reset the adaptive values. Definitely worth doing every so often when running on LPG as they can drift off.

That was a couple of years ago just after I'd had it gassed. Since then it's had to have a new condenser and be re-gassed again and I haven't checked it since. I would do again except I've no idea where the thermometer went or how accurate it is (as it was only a couple of quid from a man in China, I suspect not very).

super4 wrote:

Recently a new one (Repsol) appeared only 12 miles away but the price has risen slowly to 70 euro cents a liter.

Cheaper than France then where it's around 78.5 Euro cents at the hypermarkets but between 93 and 98 on the Autoroutes. My mate was wondering about replacing the system on his P38 for something a bit better but as he said it hardly seems worth it. Petrol on the Autoroutes is 1.65 Euro a litre but at the hypermarkets it's down to 1.30 so the price differential isn't that great. Long runs are when it would be most beneficial but that would involve filling on the Autoroute rather than using a tank full of hypermarket petrol at only 35 cents or so more expensive. He's driving to Portugal and back this weekend so we'll see what he thinks once he's done that trip.

LPG price is rising everywhere, a year ago it was only 31 Euro cents in Belgium, 4 weeks ago it was up to 50, still cheap though.

Are you talking about the dash or the message centre? I wouldn't have thought lighting the speedo, rev counter, etc would even be noticed in daylight but the message centre can go dim if it gets dirty inside.

What's this detailing I hear people talking about?

On Lo with the fans on full, you should be able to get frostbite on your fingers if you stick them over the vents. The last time mine was done I checked it with a digital thermometer and saw -3 degrees from the vents. The large pipe on mine is covered in condensation within a couple of minutes of starting the engine at the moment. I'd suspect they've not put enough in, they do hold a lot of refrigerant compared with most cars.

I would reckon your Jeep is far more comparable with a Range Rover Classic than a P38. Agricultural, and drives like it, but built like a brick outhouse. I never actually realised how much smaller than a P38 they are until I was parked next to one on a filling station.