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.
Did that work or did you manage it another way? If the keyswitch in your drivers door latch has died, then the only real answer is a new door latch but they aren't cheap.
If you still haven't managed to get the alarm/immobiliser off and it is caused by a failed door latch microswitch, you could try simulating the signals from them. Presumably you have to unlock the car with the key and only the drivers door unlocks? If so, you'll need to take off the door panel and unplug the connector to the door latch. Simultaneously ground the Blue/Red and Green/Red wires to the door outstation which should cause all doors to unlock. Then, leave the Green/Red grounded (otherwise the central locking will kick in and lock all the doors again) and that should have taken the alarm/immobiliser off so you can start the car.
To sync the fob if the keyswitch has failed (which is the one that normally fails and isn't used if you always lock and unlock with the fob), Get in the car and make sure all doors are closed (including the tailgate). Put your ground on both wires again and press and hold the Unlock button on the fob until the led flashes faster, release the button on the fob and take the ground off both wires then put it on just the Blue/Red and press and hold the Lock button on the fob until the led flashes faster, release the fob button and take the ground off the Blue/Red. The doors will be locked, with you in the car, reconnect the plug to the door latch and the fob should now work so you can lock and unlock with the fob as normal.
Low battery won't help but after reconnecting you need to sync the fobs to the car but you have managed to confuse it somehow so the alarm is going off. Usually you only get a problem if locked with the fob and unlocked with the key, particularly if one of the microswitches in the drivers door latch is iffy. That would also explain why the EKA isn't working as it needs both the CDL and keyswitch to be working to detect the key turns.
EKA can be entered with a Nanocom but that assumes you have one or have access to one. Normally I'm not far from Nottingham and have been called in to do just that in the past. Unfortunately at the moment I'm a considerable distance from home on a ferry between Germany and Latvia.
If the battery is disconnected, the car needs to be in the exact same state when it is reconnected.
davew wrote:
Richard: Unfortunately it seems the Local Authority system just can't handle anything prior to 2001.
In that case, as it's too old for them, it must be Historic so free....
Obviously it seems the UK Systems are still mainly based on highway robbery ( aka indirect taxation ) instead ?!
I've always said it has nothing to do with cleaner air, it is purely a money making scheme.
davew: What does your local authority want you to provide as proof of CO2 emissions? If they are asking for a copy of the V5, surely you can send yours in and tell them the CO2 figure is zero?
I far prefer the French system. You pay your €4.10 for a sticker for life for your windscreen and send a copy of your V5. From the Euro figure they give you a different coloured sticker. If running on LPG, you get the same sticker as a hybrid. Most of the time, it doesn't matter but at times when the air quality falls below a certain level, they restrict what can enter the cities (which usually means a minimum of Euro 6 diesel and Euro 2 petrol), can go in, the older diesels can't. It's an on the spot fine if you enter without the correct, or no, sticker. None of this 'you can drive any old polluting pile of junk into the cities as long as you are prepared to pay the money' like we have here, irrespective of the air quality at the time. The restrictions in France normally only come in during the summer when there is plenty of sunshine and no wind to disperse the pollution, the rest of the time it doesn't affect anyone.
Then again, maybe I'm just biased as I can go anywhere in France (and Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands) at any time but still have to pay my £12.50 on the odd occasion I have to venture inside the M25.
Painted the wheels and treated it to a new set of boots. Not usually one for doing cosmetics, the wheels have looked pretty horrible for a long time. They were last painted with silver wheel paint but seems to have gone darker in colour over a period but not all by the same amount. I had a can of Plastikote metallic silver that I bought for something else so decided to use that before getting the new tyres that had been delivered fitted. The wheels could really have done with being shot blasted but attacking them with some 80 grit emery cloth and a wire wheel on a drill got most of the rough off, so I masked the tyres and sprayed them. Initially I thought they looked far too bright but maybe not now I've got used to them. Took it in to my preferred tyre fitter to put the new tyres on. Went for the same as last time, Kleber Citilander as they are 3 peaks marked, all season tyres, have a C + C label and are quiet too. Not bad in snow either. The set on it had done around 65,000 miles and were down to 2-3mm left but as I'm driving to Latvia in a couple of weeks, I need to have 3 peaks marked tyres with at least 4mm of tread to be legal in Europe.
Actually looking pretty respectable for a car about to hit the half million miles in the next few weeks.....
This reminded me to do something about mine as a few more segments were starting to only wake up once the interior of the car got warmed up so ordered the RPi strip and fitted it yesterday (inside, on the coffee table, as it was pissing it down so I couldn't do anything outside). Their instructions aren't as good as Marty's so followed that, cleaned the back of the green screen while it was out and also checked all the bulbs. A bit fiddly but got it all done and back in so now have a nice bright display with everything showing.
It really is crap. A 1999 4.0 litre P38 isn't compliant but according to them, a 2000 4.0 litre P38 is but a 2000 4.6 isn't, yet they are all Euro 2 so none should be. Interestingly, I've just put my other half's Merc in the ULEZ checker. It's a 2007 SLK280 which is a Euro 4 petrol V6, but on a personal plate starting R15 and it correctly identifies that as compliant, yet a neighbours 2005 diesel Rover 75 on a K80 personal plate, which isn't compliant, comes back as fine even though putting it's original AE55 plate in correctly shows it isn't. Same car, correctly identified as a 2005 diesel in both cases but two different results just by changing the plate.
If you put in the date of first registration as September 2001 (when the 51 plate started) then fill in the other details (fuel type, gearbox type, Manufacturer, etc), you will only get the one result.