Not mine but Nigelbb's car. He dropped it off for a continuation of the work I did on it last time on Tuesday and I've been on it until about half an hour ago. Out with the dash to get the heater box out so I could change the matrix. I used the Paulp38a instructions on removing the dash and found a couple of things that he'd missed, but not too bad a job. Although someone had been in there before and the four bolts holding the dash to the frame weren't fitted, maybe it won't rattle now. Then looked at RAVE to remove the heater box. RAVE says to undo the 2 bolts at the front, two more underneath at the back and, with an assistant, lift it out. What about the two bolts at the top and the screw that holds it to the AC evaporator housing then? No mention of those. The two at the front can't just be removed because the bracket along the front won't allow it to come out so that has to be removed too. Anyway, once out, changing the matrix was easy enough. While out I put the spindle for the face vents back in, it had slid out so wasn't attached to the cog driven by the blend motor so the flaps were just flapping. Lubed all the flaps too for good measure. All back in together with new foam in all the duct joints so what comes from the blowers actually gets to the vents and doesn't leak out under the dash. While the dash was out I replaced the cruise control vacuum hose to the brake pedal switch. The old one had a leak and was split at the usual place where it went through the bulkhead.

Reverse flushed the cooling system and refilled it. Took ages to refill and get all the airlocks out (seems a Thor is more difficult to bleed than a GEMS?). Wasn't happy with the temperature it was running at, or the fact that the top hose was cold while the header tank was getting very hot, so dived out to Nene Overland for a new thermostat (and had to drain and refill again). While under the bonnet, found the spacer for the guard that goes over the AC compressor and PAS pump that Nigel had lost (under the alternator), tapped the thread on the bracket that he had chewed up and ran a die over the bolt so it now screwed back in as it should. Ran it up and found the temperature was stable at 94 degrees and the heater was chucking out loads of heat. Finished putting the interior back together. Then noticed the heater had stopped giving heat..... Nanocom said that the heater matrix was at -10 degrees so off with the lower panel again. Touched the pipe to the heater to find the sensor was telling lies as it was bloody hot. Gave the connector to the sensor a wiggle and the Nano told me it was at 83 degrees and heat came back. Off with the sensor, unplugged it, gave it a squirt of contact cleaner and then had to drop the lower panel off as the clip pinged off inside the dash. Having found the clip, put it back on, checked that it worked reliably and called it a day.

The other problem was that the keyfob wouldn't sync and Nanocom reported that the keyswitch wasn't changing state when the key was turned. The door ajar switch was also intermittent, sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't, so a new door latch was needed. As a 2001 car, it needed the version with the single 8 way connector. Offered to get one of the MG latches and change the plug over but Nigel said he'd prefer a nice new genuine one despite the price. All the usual suspects showed them as something they would order in from LR so figured it would be quicker to go to the LR main dealer. Called in there yesterday and ordered it and got a text at 8am this morning saying it was in. Picked it up and pulled the door panel off to find someone had been in there before as the moisture barrier was missing. Not just torn where someone had accessed something inside the door but completely removed! Fitted the door latch, synced the fob and almost there. Took it out to try it. Temperature remained a nice steady 95 degrees and the cruise control worked but not well. Going uphill the speed would drop and it wouldn't try to maintain it but going downhill it would back off the throttle so was working after a fashion. Tried to use the Resume function and nothing happened initially but suddenly it felt like the throttle had been stamped on. Figured something was a bit sticky. Adjusted the throttle and cruise cables as per RAVE and noticed everything seemed a bit stiff. Lubed it all, re-routed the cruise cable so it didn't have a tight bend in it, took it out again and found it was now working as it should.

The only puzzling thing left now is the EAS. When driving it, everything works exactly as it should but when parked, even with the doors open, with the engine running, I can hear the pump cut in, then the car will rise slightly, then pump cuts out and it drops back to where it should be. Looking at the state of the valves with the Nano, it shows them all to be closed. This suggests a leak inside the valve block but no matter how long I look at the diagram, I still can't see where? I've got a spare valve block but it isn't complete so can't fit that and can't swap it for the one on the Ascot as Nigel has taken that to go home in while I've got his car. I'll give it a bit more thought and may have a go at that on Sunday before he comes to collect it......

This place https://turbozentrum.co.uk/ is far more reliable at supplying silicone hoses that ASH who advertise stuff they don't have in stock then try to sell you something different. I bought some single ply reinforced 8mm hose to replace the rigid plastic radiator breather and throttle body heater pipes, this stuff https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/223571087756. Their postage on eBay is a bit steep but if buying a few bits and pieces off their website it isn't too bad.

If you has asked his time yesterday, I had a car in that exact same state here but it's all back together now. The wiring is clipped to the underside of the dash panel so assume it goes over the top.

We all know how expensive door latches are and how much grief they can cause, but it seems that if you have a GEMS with a dodgy drivers door latch, there's another option (as Marty is still away and not able to supply refurbed ones). Some may be aware that the MG TF uses the same latches as the GEMS P38, the only difference being that they have 6 + 2 way plugs rather than the 6 + 1 on the P38. Not a problem though as you only need to use the black wire in the 2 way connector and ignore the extra grey one that the MG latch has. However, while Rimmers have huge stocks of latches for LHD cars at ridiculously cheap prices (probably because there's not that many LHD MGs in the UK), latches for RHD MGs are around the same price as latches for RHD P38s. Every supplier seems to want £200 or thereabouts plus the VAT. All except one it seems, how about this https://www.ukmgparts.com/product/mgf-mgf14-exterior-bodyshell-panels/door-lock-rh-mgf-tf-rhd-fqj102262pma. There are two part numbers for the MG latch, the other one is FJQ000080PMA which you don't want as it is for the basic MG without central locking so doesn't have the microswitches we need.

If you have a Thor the plug is different. It uses a single 8 way plug but the latches are the same as on the GEMS so if you need one and don't mind getting involved in a bit of soldering and swapping the plug over, the MG one will work in a Thor too.

A late model, Thor, 4.0 litre P38 is ULEZ compliant. A GEMS isn't and a 4.6 isn't and the 4.0 litre shouldn't be as they are all Euro 3, so it is obviously a mistake on the part of TfL. How long the situation will stay like that is anyone's guess but sooner or later they will realise and close the loophole I'm sure.

It's very shiny.....

and running the same Kleber Citilanders I put on mine a few months ago.

Don't know but it's another possible. When I went to look at it last week I took a clamp on ammeter with me but as we knew the BeCM wasn't sleeping, that was what we concentrated on. With hindsight, we should have checked for any other current draw after the BeCM was sleeping.

Looking towards the rear from the front of the car.

Loom goes underneath the engine mount, doesn't appear to be clipped anywhere, with the tails to the starter going upwards. Ignore the additional white cable there, that is for the extra 0-1V lambda sensor in my RH downpipe to feed the LPG system.

Checked that as it is one of the things that keeps the BeCM awake. As the BeCM is now going to sleep, staying asleep and the sensor has been changed anyway, it has to be something else that is permanently powered. To take a fully charged, new, battery down to completely dead in 48 hours says it's something drawing a fair amount of current.

I'll have a look tomorrow as I intend getting under mine to see if I can sort out the lambda sensor heater error so I can try running it on E85 next time I'm in France.

It's not just urban-centric but London centric. Nobody needs to have a car, they can use public transport they say. If you are in London with a bus every 2 or 3 minutes and a tube station just down the road, yes you can but if.like me, you live in a village 6 miles outside a city with a bus once an hour up until 9pm, if you haven't got a car you are stuck. If you are even more rural, then what I have is probably considered practical. In rural areas a car isn't a luxury, it's a necessity.

AWR2227, see https://www.lrdirect.com/awr2227-screw

Screwfix no nonsense heavy duty degreaser and a pressure washer.

Bad connection, doesn't always make. Or the starter relay in the fusebox.

The Clarkes parts washers aren't that bad actually. We fully equipped a mates workshop in France with stuff from Machine Mart. If you have the space in your workshop, you could always install a second hand dishwasher.....

Does it go click or nothing at all?

You don't really need a sparky, just someone that can use a soldering iron. If, as I suspect, you are talking about the connectors behind the footwell kick panels, it just needs doing carefully, one wire at a time. Snip one wire at one connector, solder a short jumper wire to it, snip the matching one from the other connector, solder the jumper wire to it and then move on to the next wire.

davew wrote:

RAC say they will use tracking technology; Big Bother Is Watching You ! (sic)

Sales of GPS jammers will go through the roof then......

Gulp.... I did 28,000 miles between MoTs in the last year and that included lockdown where we were only doing essential journeys.

Make sure the casing of the radio is connected to a good earth and not relying on the one in the power plug (assuming it is using standard DIN connections). It shouldn't matter which one you use as long as it is a clean earth. Failing alternator is a possibility. I recently bought one of these https://www.veconline.co.uk/new-replacement-12-volt-lucas-type-alternator-regulator-a127im-vrf153a-138789?search=282504162073 for the original Marelli alternator, set point at 14.7 volts too.