Thanks. I'll have a look at that.

Thanks! How easy is it to 'pull the HEVAC out'?

My 2000 X-reg doesn't have working aircon, but the heating does work after a fashion. Yesterday, we were off on a 30-mile trip and, in the sunshine, we were getting too warm, even with the heater fan off. Pressing the buttons until both sides were indicating LO made no difference. As I predicted, after making our visit and restarting the car, the heater was producing only cold air. However, the sun had gone in and resetting to HI provided heat to the passenger but not the driver. This has happened before! I suspect that next time I drive it, there will be heat both sides, as occurred on a previous occasion. It seems to be predictably unpredictable! I'm sure some of you know why. We've had it a year now and in the summer I just left the heater on LO. Otherwise I've generally left it on 23 and controlled it on the fan. It works as regards change the settings from screen to face-level to feet etc. Clearly the blender motors work, but not when I want them too. Any suggestions?

Thanks Karlos!

Finally, the weather permitted me to get the job done. 7mm 3-point socket from Neilsen. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203156902462 which was £5.99 but is now £7.99. Gasket 1461 015 303 from local diesel specialist, CP Diesel in Lincoln, £3.22. Very simple job, once the manifold is off. I could have done it without removing the manifold, but it would have been too risky regarding getting dirt in the top of the pump and very awkward. Thanks all.

karlos01 wrote:

" to undo the bolt you will need a special socket and mark the pump top lid and the side so you can relive the parts back together as it doesn't take much for it to be out and either run to rich or not rum at all
you will need a 7mm triangular socket to remove the securing screw."

Thanks karlos01. I'm only removing the top cover. I believe that it is the next bit down (the actuator, which has elongated screw holes in it) that affects the running of the engine, the gasket there being called the 'positioning gasket'.My understanding is that the top cover (which has small circular holes) only goes on in one position and does not need marking. Only the tamper-proof screw goes through both the top cover and the actuator; the top cover has three short T30 screws into the top of the actuator. Thanks for confirming that the 7mm socket is the one I need. That is what I thought.

I have a leak from the pump top cover and have obtained a new gasket Part No. 1461 015 303 from my local diesel specialists CP diesel in Lincoln. Cost £3.22 inc. VAT.
I'm now needing to be sure which socket I need to undo the wierd-shaped long bolt at the front outer corner of the cover. I've watched the Youtube video, but if he tells us which one it is, I missed it. There is a Neilsen product with 7mm and 12.6mm sockets, of which the 7mm socket might be the one, but there also Audi/VAG sets with 6.5 and 7.5mm sockets, also for Bosch pumps. Who can tell me for sure? Thanks.

Thanks for all your helpful contributions on this thread. P38 Parts Shop is a bit cheaper! Happy New Year to all.

My HEVAC system doesn't work perfectly, but I can get warmth in the winter and turn it off in the summer so it's not so bad! This week the display has behaved erratically, losing bits, going blank and then working fine again on the last journey. I've watched a Youtube clip showing how to fix it with a Zebra Strip. My question is whether I can buy a suitable strip cheaply from a local source, as a generic item, and, if so, what precise size should it be? I see that there is a strip on Ebay for that specific job, but it is £13.16 inc. p&p for just the strip or £20.95 for the strip and bulb kit. There are bits of strip of various sizes on Ebay, but all from US suppliers. It seems like something that might be just a couple of pounds, if I could find the right spec. and a supplier. Anyone been here before?

That's what I thought. I just can't understand how that could be.

A few days ago I queried a problem with 'jumping locks', which seems to be caused by wear in the driver's front door latch so that the CDL microswitch isn't reliable pressed in to apply the earth condition to keep the doors unlocked during motion. Until I have the time and inclination to remove the lock and investigate, I decided to travel with the doors locked by depressing the sill-lock, thereby creating a stable condition. Imagine my surprise today when the sill-lock was depressed and nothing happened to the other locks at all! We completed a short journey with no jumping locks, parked the car and I locked it with the fob. All doors locked. Later I returned to the car and unlocked it with the fob, started the engine and tried the sill-lock again. Nothing. We returned home and I locked the car with the fob. All sill-locks down. How can that happen when, as I understand it, the same microswitch is unswitched whether the car is locked electronically or physically? I should add that we tried pushing the sill-lock on the passenger door down and that didn't do anything either.

Great stuff! I'd forgotten about the 'outstation'! What a mad design! I must'nt complain as I knew these were tricky cars! I'll let you know how I get on!

Thanks for that extra help. I do recall that the tailgate won't open without the earth via the driver's door microswitch. That is understandable as the tailgate latch is powered and therefore needs an earth. What is surprising is that the door latches need an earth to remain unlocked, but I suppose they must, although that earth perhaps operates in the BECM rather than in the latches themselves and merely switches the earth to the actual latches. It must be the case that the earth is removed when the pip is out, otherwise the wear wouldn't lock the doors, so you were right to say that the pip wouldn't go in far enough to MAKE the circuit when wear has occurred. I have loads of microswitches from Xerox photocopiers of the 1970s, some with wiper strips. They may prove useful for the first time since I acquired them over 40 years ago! Thanks again.

Unfortunately my car is a 2000 model, so I can't use the MGF lock. Might the earlier lock have a compatible microswitch unit? I presume that it is permissible to use the sill lock when the car is being driven. The driver's handbook states that the sill locks on both front doors will lock the car from inside, but doesn't make it clear whether that can be done in motion, or how the car should subsequently be unlocked. I presume it is by opening a front door. My thinking is that if I sill-lock before moving off, the locks won't keep jumping, because it will be stable with the earth applied. You previously stated that, when the mechanism is worn, the pip doesn't get pushed in far enough to make the circuit, but it would actually be to break the circuit, wouldn't it? The earth is applied when the switch pip is released and it is not pushed in far enough to break the circuit reliably as it wears. I'm not wishing to be pedantic, but i'm anxious to get a sound comprehension of how it works. I'm thinking that I shall remove the bit of black plastic mechanism that operates the switch and build it up so that it fully depresses the pip. It should be easy enough to test it electrically before and after reassembly. Thanks for your patient and informative replies! I've just looked on Ebay and note that driver's door latches are over £100 secondhand for my car!

Excellent information. Thanks. It appears that I will have to fix it properly! If I unplug and remove the driver's door latch from the car with the battery still connected, will that cause any problems with the immobiliser or the BECM? You are right in thinking that I wouldn't like the price of a new latch!

I know there has been much on here about this topic but here goes anyway. I understand that there are 3 microswitches in the driver's door latch. One of them switches the earth/ground for the rest of the door latches, so if it plays up the other locks lock/unlock randomly as mine have begun to do, but the driver's door remains unlocked (whilst the car is being driven). I've looked at a Youtube video which shows the black plastic piece in the door latch moving across the microswitch with the red/black connections, depressing the pip. I understand that this is when the driver's door is locked and that it interrupts the earth connection, thus de-energising the other lock motors. It isn't what I expected and I may have misunderstood the narration. What I want to know is how I can temporarily control the other locks with a manual switch until I am ready to remove the door latch and sort it properly. Is the problem with that switch due to the pip wearing a groove in the plastic so that the pip is not depressed properly and the earth is intermittently connected, because that would suggest that the pip is depressed when the driver's door is unlocked, which is not what the chap on the video seemed to say? Are the necessary components to effect a permanent repair available? Presumably the black wire on the back of the double microswitch is a common earth for the blue wire (door ajar) and the red wire (C/L), is it? In which case if I disconnect the red wire and provide a temporary 'permanent' on/off switch to the black wire, I can control the locking of the other doors with that switch? I know there is a fellow who can supply reconditioned latches, but I'm looking for a temporary remedy now and my own repair to the latch/switch later. Thanks..

Since posting this I've done a Google search and there have been posts elsewhere about the very long accelerator travel and the fact is that it must be pressed down quite a way before much occurs. It is understood that this allows for delicacy of control when the driver is being jostled about off-road. Certainly it is just the same on the Discovery 2, as I found when I drove my friend's TD5 Auto a few years ago. My pad on the pedal mod doesn't change that but it certainly gives a more comfortable position for my foot when wearing ordinary shoes.

Since getting my 2.5 DSE Auto about 5 weeks ago I've been aware that the ankle angle required to press the accelerator far down was uncomfortable and it seemed too far away. I looked at the position of the pedal, which was far lower (further away) than the brake pedal. I have attached a 3/4 inch thick rubber pad to the pedal and now find it perfectly comfortable. Is this an issue others have noticed? If so, are there better remedies? I understand that the pedals were arranged so that the car could be driven whilst wearing wellies.

Gilbertd wrote:

I fitted a set of Vredestein Quadrac to my car in December 2017 before driving to Latvia for New Year, mileage at that time was 344,940. New they had 8mm of tread. Now, 3 years and 67,625 miles later, they have between 2.5 and 3mm of tread left. Not bad for a 3 peaks marked all season tyre.

That is over 12000 miles per millimetre! Do you rotate your tyres, including the spare, because the tyre wear if shared around 5 tyres would be 9600 per mm. It seems that P38s are not heavy users of tyres compared with other vehicles I've had. How would you describe your driving style?

When I bought my 2.5 DSE Auto it had some history with it. It had two new Nexen rear tyres (255 55 18) at 114295 miles. They are still on the car at 141420 miles and have about 5.5mmof tread left. If they started out with 10mm, they have worn only 4.5mm in 27000 miles, which is 6000 miles per mm. At that rate they've still got 18000 miles in them! They are date-coded 2013 and were fitted in 2014 as a pair. So is 45000 miles about normal for rear tyres in average use on-road? By comparison, what might expect for front tyres?