You need to investigate if it is the steering lock or the lock barrel. If the lock barrel won't turn it won't take the steering lock off but equally if the steering lock won't release, the key won't turn. If the latter, that is why giving the steering wheel a wiggle will allow it to turn. If you can get the lock barrel out, which you should be able to with the key in it, will be able to see if all the wafers are moving as they should. Never done it on a P38 so not how possible it is, but on another car I have actually taken the steering lock bolt out so it doesn't lock. I can't see why it won't be possible but like I say, never got in there and tried it.

Aragorn wrote:

NO idea why they didnt just move the engine over an inch in the bay...

If you look, it isn't central anyway, it is offset towards the drivers side as the propshafts run down the passenger side.

There's multiple places where the wheel can be out of alignment. The steering box needs to be centralised, there's a tab on the input shaft that has to be aligned with a 'lump' on the casting. At that point the drag link needs to be adjusted to get the wheels straight ahead otherwise it will always pull to one side or the other when steering straight ahead. If those two adjustments are correct, then you've got the splined intermediate shaft at top and bottom which can go on anywhere and finally the steering wheel on it's splines. There's no telling if it had been misaligned previously but now you have chance to get it all correct.

You've got it. By default it comes up to show AC, so there is a button you press to toggle between AC and DC and a Zero button otherwise it will show current flow from the earth's magnetic field. Clamp the end around a cable and it shows the current flowing in that cable. You have to go around just one, if you try to use it around a two core cable so it has both power and return, it will show nothing as they cancel each other out. If both sides show the same, then they are both drawing the same current so both working as they should.

As you probably realise, it will only power up the relays with the engine running so measuring current draw with your DMM is probably not a good idea. A clamp meter will show you if it is drawing current but it won't show you how much of it is working. When they fail they tend to lose strips so verifying if all the screen or only part of it are working will be difficult. You could check on the two power feeds to see if one side is drawing more than the other though which will give you a clue. I've got one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/UT210E-Current-Meters-Capacitance-Tester/dp/B00O1Q2HOQ/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?th=1 that works very well at very low currents so good for checking battery drain problems and doubles as a DMM and NFC checker (for seeing if a wire has live mains on it without having to actually connect to it) too.

Jeez, that's more than I pay for a trade policy that covers any number of cars. No restrictions on hybrid or full electric cars either, although they won't cover steam powered vehicles or kit cars though.

Yup, that'll do it.....

Are the springs properly inside the calipers and not poking through the hole? Once the caliper is pressing them down, they shouldn't be capable of moving.

Original were TRW calipers but with the spring at the rear they shouldn't need anything extra (and neither of the ones you linked to will fit anyway.. I had a rattle going over bumps and also if I kicked the rear tyre. That was the dust shield bracket that had rusted through and it was the dust shield rattling not the pads.

I've got a trade policy that covers me fully comp for any vehicle I own or in my custody up to a value of £10k per vehicle and when that came up for renewal the premium had gone through the roof. I list any that I own, or will be with me for more than 14 days, on the Motor Insurers Database and the broker told me it was because I had 2 Range Rovers listed and insurers don't like Range Rovers due to the number of them that get stolen. I explained to him that it is the later ones that get stolen and mine were 25 and 27 years old so highly unlikely to be stolen as they don't have the stupid keyless entry systems and the chances or them being stolen to order to be stripped for spares or exported to Africa was pretty remote. He spoke to the underwriters and got them to agree to renew at the same price as long as I didn't have any more modern ones.

For the average user it is probably better to go for a limited mileage classic car policy as long as you don't do huge mileages. Best bet for them are the likes of Adrian Flux, Footman James or Abbeyfields. Abbeyfields have had good reports from others that have tried them and they will accept a P38 as a classic car.

Yup, go for it.....

A valve permanently closed means that the ECU has instructed a corner to raise but it hasn't seen a change in the signal from the height sensor. Doesn't help much as it could be a leak at that corner, it could be a fault within the Height sensor or it could be that a valve really is stuck closed. Why it doesn't behave once the fault is cleared I have no idea. I assume you are clearing the fault with the engine running, switching off then starting up again so it gets chance to reset?

You'll need to wade through it a bit, but in this thread https://discoweb.org/index.php?threads/reset-adaptive-values.92885/page-13 there's some software that can be used with an ELM327 OBD dongle that alleges can reset the adaptive values. Admittedly I've not tried it but as I have a Nano I've no need.

If you squeeze it until it feels dry, leave it overnight without any further wetness and squeeze it again. I suspect you'll get the same amount out again. It really does hold a lot of water.

I replaced the heater core O rings on one car that had been leaking for quite a while (owner had been topping the coolant up on a daily basis for months) and the amount of coolant that was retained in the foam under the carpet had to be seen to be believed. This was on a Vogue where that foam is a good inch thick. We used a wet and dry vacuum cleaner to get what we thought was a lot of it out but it still kept coming. The owner ended up putting old towels under it and propping the foam up to allow air to get underneath whenever he wasn't using the car until it was dry but that took weeks. So if any appreciable amount of water has been soaked into it, it will need a lot more than a hairdryer......

Try from here http://p38webshop.co.uk/index.php?route=product/category&path=71 (the last one), when you click on it, it should immediately download the pdf and open it in Acrobat. This assumes from a laptop or desktop, no idea what it will do on a phone though.

Marty's pdf of how to do it is very good, even my mate Danny who is as ham fisted as they come was able to follow and get a full set of pixels. Marty's instructions are here http://p38webshop.co.uk/RRdocs/P38%20HEVAC%20Pixel%20Fix%20v2.pdf and may be more comprehensive than anything from RPi.

It sounds as though you have dealt with all the likely places. Are you sure it is still coming in or if this isn't just water that got in there before you fixed the leak and hasn't evaporated away yet?

That is the advantage with a diff from Ashcrofts, all the pre-load and backlash is set up by them so it is just a case of fitting it. The main problem with the weight is that it isn't in one place. The end that you can't put a jack under is the heavy end and there's no really flat surface to sit it on.

This is what I use anywhere that calls for an RTV silicone https://www.autodoc.co.uk/reinz/982547. My local factors (Millfield Autoparts) stocks it. Not cheap but the Victor Reinz stuff is recommended by Porsche amongst others and it is very easy to use being in the aerosol type dispenser. The only problem is once opened the nozzle gets clogged so you may end up throwing half of it away.

Yes, I've got an Ashcroft on the rear and another from a different rebuilder on the front (a place up north who could do one for me in a couple of days whereas Ashcroft gave me a lead time of a month). The front has leaked slightly from the pinion seal from day one.

Correct, later 4.6 has a 4 pin as standard, earlier ones and diesel and 4.0 litre have a 2 pin. Diff ratio is 3.54 on all P38 versions.

Only if you spend more time crawling over rocks than driving on the road. You've got traction control that does the job on all but extreme surfaces.

Yes it is. Drop off the rear propshaft at the diff and tie it up out of the way, pull both hubs and halfshafts out by a couple of inches (you can even leave the brake callipers in place), undo the nuts holding the diff in place, whack it with a mallet to break the RTV seal and keep your hands out of the way as it drops as it is heavy. Hardest part of the whole job is lifting the new one into place..