Filling stations with LPG are probably more common than you think, you just aren't looking out for them. I've got 5 within 5 miles of where i live and when on a long journey I've never been able to not find somewhere on my route where I can fill up, it just needs a little bit of extra planning if it's a route I haven't used before. Agreed on the less complication side but that also depends on what system you have fitted and how old it is.

As for Marty's 16.5 mpg, I just worked it out compared to mine. At 16.5 mpg I would get 241 miles from a 65 litre fill compared with the 200-220 I currently get but as I'm running the single point, I only use a thimbleful of petrol to start and it changes over to LPG immediately. So I'm running solely on LPG. With Marty's multipoint, it starts and warms up on petrol so unless it is a continuous run with no stops and re-starts, he's running on petrol for the first mile or so after starting so the 16.5 isn't solely on LPG, but on a mix so there probably isn't much in it.

My first Range Rover was a '93 Classic LSE with the 4.2 V8 on LPG. I bought it from a mate of a mate with nothing working properly, heater blowers, central locking, electric windows, interior lights, etc were all considered irrelevant by him but his missus hated it. He replaced it with a DHSE P38 which his missus loved as it was comfy and shiny and everything worked. He hated it as, compared to what he'd had, he had to thrash it mercilessly to get anything approaching the sort of performance he was used to and, as a result, could only get 25 mpg out of it so it was costing him more to run than the V8 had. Like you say, there's little to choose in running costs (but with LPG working out marginally cheaper) but as you say, it's overall condition that is far more important.

You sure it's the compressor you can hear and not the ABS pump? I can't hear my EAS compressor even without the engine running unless I take the lid off the box. ABS pump running when your foot is on the brake suggests a dying accumulator.

Martyuk wrote:

If it makes you feel better Simon... I only manage 16.5mpg on LPG still...

Cor, that's good. I get between 13.5 and 14.5 mpg out of mine depending on how much weight is in it and how hard I drive it. But, with the price of LPG that's worked out at a cost equivalent of 27 to 32 mpg compared with running on petrol. So still cheaper than a diesel even if not by much.

Relay 20 turns the pump on and off so it could explain the pump cutting in and out if it has gone intermittent, try swapping it with one of the others but I doubt it is that in all honesty. What heights do you have set? Is one corner significantly different to the others? Rumour has it that if the settings are more than a few points out it can cause a problem. If you check the height sensor readings at all heights do they look right or is one not moving smoothly? The other thing is the driver pack or connections between the driver pack and valve block might be playing up.

Get yourself (or make) the cable and use the RSWUnlock software but it does sound like you may have an iffy height sensor.

The VM was fitted to the early diesel Range Rover Classics when they realised that some people baulked at the fuel consumption of the 3.5 litre V8 and there was a demand for a diesel version. It was a sort of interim until they started fitting the 300 TDi lump into the Classic. Then the P38 came out with the BMW unit as BMW owned Land Rover at the time (so they could steal the 4 wheel drive technology and put it in the X5).

You sure it's the gearbox Chris? When I first got mine it would whine like a London bus and that was the rear diff. If you suspect the T case, then the whine will be road speed related rather than engine speed related but a diff would also be the same. When the viscous coupling goes, the front end of the car hops and skips all over the place when pulling away at full lock so I doubt it is that if it is driving normally.

Tweaking the FIP to adjust the timing and take out the retarded timing caused by the stretched chain is the other fix. From what I've read, it involves turning the FIP towards the engine a smidgeon although that's about all I can tell you as I wouldn't know a FIP if one jumped out of the undergrowth and bit me.

Depends on the mileage you do as to whether it is worth it. Even with a self install, it's still a 4 figure outlay and are you going to get the benefit from it? In saying that, it is nice not even having to think about fuel cost when 200+ miles is under 40 quid.

I had someone notice my changeover switch last week and comment that they were surprised I run on LPG as the engine will be worn out in 50,000 miles. So I turned the ignition on and pointed out the odo showing 336,000 miles. There is so much bollox talked by people that know nothing about it. The LR V8 is an old generation engine so an old generation LPG system is going to work fine, Christ, I'm running a Leonardo single point on mine.

However, I did convert someone yesterday. While waiting for the Ascot to go into the workshop for the MoT and chatting to the owner of the garage and another customer. Customer also owned a Nissan Leaf EV but was saying that the lack of range meant it wouldn't suit everyone but when the oil runs out we'll have no alternative. I pointed out that I run on a byproduct so there'll still be Propane around for a long time yet. At that point the MoT tester started my car up to drive it into the test bay and the rumble of the V8 made him look. Told him that was on LPG and by the time we'd finished he went away with the idea of using his EV for commuting but getting a V8 on LPG for long journeys......

Nope, symptoms are different though. Switch it on and the display lights up but shows nothing (in fact, it looks like the LCD display has leaked) and no sound whatsoever, not even a click from powering it up. I've been over it with an LED light and jewellers eye glass looking for any dry joints and found nothing so as the cost of sending it to Clarion is less than a worker from eBay, I might as well do that. I've got a Pioneer DAB unit that I could put in it but that would involve making up the attenuators as it has door amps in it and would lose the steering wheel controls so original would be better.

From your thread on the oil pressure relief valve O ring leak, I suspect that's where this one is leaking from too. Very wet around the front of the engine with a drip hanging off the underside of the filter. Looking at the MoT history for it, oil leak from the front of the engine has been an advisory for at least the last 5 years.

One of the rears on the Ascot is even worse than yours was. I was thinking about changing it but then thought I may as well leave something for the new owner to do. Someone said that a P38 will always have 3 things that need doing on it, so if you leave 3 minor things nothing else will go wrong. If you fix the minor ones, the next one might be a major one.......

Good old Arnott..... It never ceases to amaze me how the Yanks think they know better than the original designers. With the cars that I've imported from the States over the years we've built up a box full of MSD distributors which Yanks have fitted because they have Made in USA printed on them so must be better than the original stuff. One of them, fitted to an early Porsche 911, was an empty die cast box with 'Ignition Optimiser' printed on it. If you really need the extra 2" because of bigger wheels and tyres, I'd stick a set of Dunlops on it and fit spacers under them.

Picked up the complete sunroof assembly yesterday but that's still in the back of my car at the moment. But working on the principle that I don't need a working sunroof for the MoT, dropped it in this morning. I got the LPG system working a week or so ago and as far as I could see, there was nothing else it might fail on. I was right. Passed with two advisories, engine oil leak (not dripping on the workshop floor but very wet around the front of the engine) and he wouldn't accept the explanation that it was Land Rovers patented chassis lubrication system and middle exhaust hanger rubber deteriorated (slight split but still supporting the exhaust). That's it, now just need to fit the new sunroof, re-trim the headlining (may as well do the job properly if it's coming out) and a couple of other minor cosmetic bits and it'll be ready to go. Radio doesn't work (lights up but does nothing more) so as it's the HK system (but pre-DSP thankfully) I'd rather leave it as standard but with the line in mod so that will be going into Clarion to be refurbed.

If it was the driver pack, it wouldn't fail on all channels, so it would still do something, even if only lift on 3 out to 4 corners. Is the compressor doing anything? Is it running on it's own or can you turn it on from within the software? It might be making a noise but is it shifting any air? Unscrew the filter from the end and put your finger over the hole, you should be able to feel it sucking.

Smiler wrote:

Success! Turns out I really am a mechanical genius/god!

I think you proved that at Summer Camp by spending a day adjusting Marty's wheel alignment. Anyone else would have given up, thrown their tools in the back and told him to take it to Kwik Fit......

Fuel hose is OK as a temporary fix and I used it to replace a short hose that goes from the throttle body heater to the inlet manifold on mine (GEMS having a different pipe layout). After a few months it had gone rock hard and I had to cut it off to remove it. Hose intended for fuel doesn't take kindly to hot water for some reason, although not quite as catastrophic as putting fuel through hose intended for hot water, it dissolves. I found very few places, not even my local motor factors who normally stock just about everything, carry 8mm coolant hose as it isn't often used.

Welcome and join the club, we've probably all been there at some time in the past. Mine did it during a blizzard in the middle of the night while towing a trailer somewhere in the middle of France. Actual fault turned out to be a dodgy height sensor but I could clear the fault, hit the unlock ECU button but as soon as I shut the software down and disconnected, it went back into hard fault. I found that if i cleared the faults, hit the unlock ECU and then just unplugged the lead, it all went back to normal. What faults were showing? On mine if I read the faults, hit the button marked Faults (the one that doesn't look like a button) and then read them again, they were all clear but came back as soon as I disconnected. Try it, it might work but you will need to fix the fault that caused it to throw a wobbly in the first place at some point.

I'll second the 8mm inside diameter single ply silicone hose from Auto Silicone Hoses and just replace the whole run. That's what I've done on mine. You could always call in at mine on the way past (I'm only 1.2 miles off the A1) as I've got about 6 feet of it. It's red as that was all they had in stock when I ordered black, but it'll give you something else to make look shiny.

dazer2000 wrote:

I'm taking the parts to RSW Solutions. The guy is sound, knows what h's doing.

That's alright then, just as long as you weren't taking them to the doctor.......