I'd be looking at the rear. Easiest way of checking which end is to drop one or other proshaft off.

You've not heard from him then......

If you've got a problem with the driveline, your first move would be to take a propshaft off and try it then. If it doesn't clonk with the front propshaft removed then you are looking at the front end and the same if you do it on the rear. A clonk on downshifts can be caused by the idle being high but I suspect it's going to be worse than that or you wouldn't really be too concerned.

It's definitely running rich. £42 at 63p a litre works out a 66 litres, on a run I'd expect to get somewhere between 210 and 230 miles on that amount. Like I said before, running rich is safe, it's running lean you need to worry about so you should be OK to drive it home. As already mentioned, it could be a TPS problem and they are cheap and easy to change, crank position sensor is unlikely as that usually just stops the engine from running at all. You've got two, probably unrelated, problems so get the stutter sorted first before thinking about getting the LPG side looked at. As you say, it's been running on gas for quite a while and it's only this new problem that has made you start to look into it.

Simon is a full time LPG installer who spends almost as much time sorting out problems on installs done by others as he does installing from scratch and definitely knows his stuff. If you look here http://www.lpgforum.co.uk/viewforum.php?f=27 you'll see a few of the more complex installations he's done recently.

I've got 9 different versions of Stag software, no idea which one would be needed for the ISA2 though. But that would suggest it's readily available.

Ferryman wrote:

Are you attending in this one
or this one?

Neither, I'm taking the P38 to use as a combined support vehicle and video camera platform. Never owned a series 1 Bagheera (even though the one pictured is the U8, a prototype that used a pair of 4 cylinder engines side by side linked by a Morse chain) but worked on lots, although I have owned 3 series 2 Bagheeras, an M530, a Rancho (but fitted with a 1600 engine and 5 speed box from something else in the Talbot range) and a 2.2 Murena. The Murena has been slumbering in my garage for the last 10 years as, after being used as my everyday car for over 20 years and 400,000 kms, it's a bit tired. I bought it in 1985 and took it off the road in 2007 when I bought something else to use as an everyday car, a Maserati Biturbo Spider....(I've never been one for sensible cars). Plan is to remove the well worn, 2.2 litre, single overhead cam, 4 cylinder engine and fit a VW 2.8 VR6 unit instead but that probably won't happen for at least a couple of years. Fortunately, the galvanised monocoque used on the Murena means it hasn't crumbled into a pile of rust like a Bagheera would have done.

The event is an open day at the factory and museum to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Rancho, the car that was the first 7 seat MPV. It's proposed replacement was turned down by Talbot as they didn't think it would sell only to be taken on by Renault and renamed the Espace. All the first and second generation Espaces were made by Matra but with Renault mechanicals and badges.

Orangebean wrote:

I've seen a few reports where using K Steel or other variants on the P38 where it happily seals up the bleed pipe hole back into expansion tank.

It does. When I bought the SE (with a blown headgasket), the bleed pipe hole was clogged with the coppery deposits that K Seal leaves and the rest of the cooling system seemed to be filled with Steel Seal. Neither is going to do much when the blown gasket was between two cylinders though. I still managed to drive it home from West London on 6 cylinders.

It'll only show warnings on the dash if it's an electronic problem, if it's something mechanical, then you won't get a warning except when the mechanical side and electronic side are doing different things. So if it's something that's come loose inside the gearbox, for instance, you won't get a warning message. For what you paid for that gearbox rebuild I'd be taking it back for a refund and getting a known good one from Ashcrofts.

It's the exact same stuff but without the fluorescent dye in it and about a quarter the price........

Steel seal is Sodium Silicate with a dye in it to make it look worth the money. You an buy Sodium Silicate without the dye for a lot less http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140726670858. I agree with you, it does seem to work if the leak isn't too bad.

The biggest problem with stretch bolts is the inconsistency. A stretch bolt from one supplier may start to stretch at 30 lbft while another from a different manufacturer may not start until 40 lbft. Then there is the amount of elasticity in the bolt once it starts to stretch. A softer bolt will stretch a lot and not apply much pressure while one that is a bit harder will apply far more pressure. I have been told (by a Land Rover independent) that some of the cheaper stretch bolts have been known to snap before you get the second 90 degree turn on them. At least when you do an ARP stud up to a certain torque you know that the pressure it is exerting is going to be the same every time.

Running rich isn't going to harm anything, it's if it's running lean you need to worry as it will run hotter and we all know excess heat is not a good idea on a P38 (or anything else with an LR V8 for that matter). Running it on petrol will force the short term trims to the extreme so the long term will slowly correct themselves to get the short term trims back to centre. How quickly it will happen will depend on how it is driven, it will take longer on a constant speed on the motorway than on a journey with mixed speed, acceleration, deceleration, etc. But as soon as you go back to running on gas it will pull the trims out again.

You've got a couple of LPG installers in your area although neither of them appear to specialise in Stag so you best bet would be to give them a call and see if they can do anything for you. There's New Farm Motor Services Ltd, New Farm Road, Alresford, Hampshire, SO24 9QE and Hants Auto Fuels Ltd, Unit 5/6 Hammond Industrial Park, Stubbington Lane, Fareham Hampshire , PO14 2PT (although they appear to specialise in Prins). Your nearest Stag specialist appears to be Oxford Autogas (http://www.oxfordautogas.com/).

Only LPG place I know anything about in East Anglia are a fair bit further north, that's Jaymic near Cromer. The Zavoli importers are in Essex so most other installers around there are geared up more to dealing with Zavoli (or similar re-badged AEB) installs. When Stag first appeared on the market it was really cheap to appeal to the DIY installer and soon got picked as the system of choice for the done in a day merchants because it was cheap. Problem with that is if you've spent the day installing it, you've no time left to calibrate it properly so it may well have been out since day one. Once the Stag got established they put the prices up as people had got used to installing it. It's not a bad system, just that many installs using it are not really up to standard.

Where's home?

When I put my engine back together, I put the block in first and then fitted the heads once it was in place so much the same situation as you. I tried putting the studs in first then found there was too much other stuff in the way to allow me to lift the heads high enough to drop them over the studs. So I put the heads on without any studs, the same as if I was using bolts. I then put the studs in and tightened them with an Allen key. No idea how much torque I put on them, just until they didn't want to go in any further. I put the nuts on and did them all up hand tight then did a 3 stage at 30, 50 and 65 lbft as that is what most other engines with alloy heads are tightened to and I'd also seen the arguments that the recommended 80 lbft was too high (it seemed too high to me too). I don't think stud wind up is too much of a problem as the threads into the block are much courser than those on the nuts so the turning force is going to be concentrated on the finer thread particularly with the lube on the underside of the nuts.

My engine went in at 287,500 miles and I'm now showing 329,200 so 65 lbft is good enough for 41,700 miles at least with Elring gaskets.

Pulling fuse 27 (or relay RL2) will take power off the ABS ECU. Looking at the diagram it will still allow the pump to operate so you should still have brakes, but best to check it before driving any distance. Where is near you? Clacton or home?

Difficult to diagnose without seeing it but I'll try and give a few pointers. The lack of connection to a Stag LPG controller may well be that he is trying to use the wrong cable. The AEB cable will fit but the data pins are reversed so have to be swapped over to use an AEB cable on a Stag controller. Even thought it sounds like the trims are out, that would just cause rough running, not an intermittent misfire. I suspect the clonk is an engine or gearbox mount that is allowing everything to move when it misses. Alternatively, it could be that your ABS/TC is intermittently applying a brake. That would cause it to lurch a bit, try tapping the ABS sensors further in with a small hammer or mallet, you should be able to get to them with the wheels on. There's not a lot that goes wrong with the transfer box, the viscous coupling either works or it doesn't and the only other fault is a stretched chain which gives a passable impersonation of a machine gun under the floor under hard acceleration.

Knowing that most modern auto boxes are sealed for life I was quite surprised when someone (I think it was Ferryman) pointed out that the service schedule shows that a fluid and filter change should be done every 24,000 miles. I suspect it is something that has been neglected on just about every P38 on the road, I know I've only done mine once in 135,000 and even then I only changed the fluid and not the filter. However, in my defence that was because I dropped the pan and found the filter held in place with Torx screws and, after spending nearly 2 hours searching for my Torx bit set, gave up and put the pan back on. Only to find the Torx bit set when putting the rest of my tools away...... The filter is still in it's box on a shelf in the garage.

The intermittent adjust slidery thingy often needs a good squirt of switch cleaner as it is usually left in the same position for years and fills up with crud. Never had a problem with the actual switch but again, switch cleaner may well be all that's needed. There's 3 individual switches in it and it uses one or a combination of them to tell the BeCM what you want the wipers to do. The switches all switch a ground signal so switch 1 made puts a ground on the white/green wire which should give a flick wipe, switch 2 puts a ground on the red/light green wire and enables intermittent wipe, while a ground from switch 3 on the blue/light green wire enables fast wipe. What doesn't make sense is that for normal wipe you need to have switch 2 and 3 making contact and putting a ground out on two of the wires. As they both work individually then logic says they should work together. It sounds like neither are making when the stalk is in the mid position but you'll only know that once you take it apart.
Simple enough to take it out as it unplugs once the surround is off. I'll admit I've not had one apart (only the intermittent slider) so can't tell you if it's a nail bomb waiting to be detonated but I'd only take it apart on a large white cloth so you stand a chance of finding all the bits if that happens. Relays 1 and 8 are also involved in the front wipers so it might be worth checking those. They should both be 5 pin (green) relays.

The rear wipe is controlled by another switch in the stalk (putting a ground on the Orange/Black wire) and should give two wipes when you switch it on, followed by a single wipe every few seconds. If it's hit and miss, it may be that there is another switch only making contact sometimes.

Unfortunately, as it's German designed ZF box, the Yanks would consider it a black art too. They understand the simple GM boxes and Land Rover tried a GM box in the early diesel L322, you're very lucky if it isn't worn out after 80,000 miles, a barely run in mileage on a ZF.

You know why they like autos in the States don't you? The concept of two feet and three pedals just doesn't compute........

Yeah but a Bentley, an 135i or a Golf R32 can't tow a 3.5 tonne trailer. The ability to cruise up some of the hills on the way down to the south of France while towing a trailer without having to sit in the crawler lane with the trucks would be nice. Admittedly, mine's much better since the engine went to see Ray as the compression was down to 100-110 psi per pot before then so it was a bit on the gutless side,

It's not where you put the spare (assuming the boot on a RRS is big enough to bung the spare in there), it's the way the space for the spare is on the tilt. An LPG tank ideally needs to be sat flat.

Anyway Mark, how flat is the block face? I've never heard of a block warping, I think there's enough stiffening webs cast into it to keep it flat. I've always just given it a light going over with some very fine wet and dry on a sanding block. Even less critical with the top hats as they do the work, not the block face.