Merry Boxing Day...

Agreed icing is much more likely on a carb engine because the throttle plate has a mist of petrol flowing over it, some evaporates as it shifts from the atmospheric pressure to the low pressure side (with velocity increasing etc), as the petrol evaporates it has a high cooling effect that is in addition to the cooling effect of air pressure and velocity changes. An AC system filled with just pressurised air would still work but only very slightly not to the extent you'd notice but filled with a substance that changes phase from liquid to gas it works a lot better.

Besides the dowel, does the AC compressor have any collared bolt holes... so as you tighten the bolt the collar in the bolt hole pulls into a recess in the compressor (same as often seen on alternator mountings)? Some vehicle models do.

Gilbertd wrote:

Yes there is if you don't want it icing in cold, damp weather. The air intake is under the inner wing so the air being drawn in is at ambient temperature so will ice on the throttle butterfly in the right conditions. Of course it falls under oily bits, as it says, if it leaks, it's in here and the hose for the throttle body heater is known for leaking, which is why it gets replaced with silicone hose.

I know the theory but wondered if they really do suffer icing in the wrong UK conditions if unheated, plenty injected vehicle models don't have tb heating (I don't remember if L322 BMW V8 tb's are heated), the iav isn't heated..
Second line was meant in jest..

Wonder if there are any real world benefits from keeping the throttle body heating on a P38?
Bit ironic that the subject should fall under 'oily bits' section lol - you wouldn't want oil in the water.

While on the subject of coolant and leaks, I wonder if any P38 buyers have fallen foul of sellers who have replaced coolant with 'waterless coolant'... the stuff that doesn't pressurise much when hot because there's no water in it to turn into steam. I once converted a Jag , I think an F type, for a new owner who's car had this stuff in it and reckoned the previous owner had stuck the special coolant in it to mask HG problems and a heater matrix leak.

I did the Corsa's other side front wheel bearing in the same way as above but having read up on special tools being necessary to do the ML wheel bearing and still not having bough a press I let my mate's garage change the ML wheel bearing while I worked on an LPG conversion.

If it's cranking fast enough it wouldn't seem that the battery or charging is the problem but low voltage diagnostic codes don't agree with that.. It's possible to get used to slow cranking (if it slows gradually enough over time) and think it's cranking OK until you put a new battery on and see the difference. Could be down on compression and have a duff battery / alternator (lol - not!).

Agreed with other people, ignition seems likely.
Also is there the chance of some module / immobiliser getting low voltage..
Dodgy crank sensor
Dodgy petrol pump can cause missing on some cylinders when starting if slow to keep up with pressure when ignition is first turned on, as can dodgy pressure regulator.

BrianH wrote:

Lpgc wrote:

Smug mode ;-) I've developed the habit of never leaving keys in a vehicle unless at least a window is down, I won't even do it with my own cars. P38s are among vehicles I'd worry most about breaking the habit with.

With you on that one - Fords being particually bad, I've only ever locked myself out of the car once, by locking the keys inside the boot (including the house keys) when putting stuff into it. Though i've known the locks on a few of mine to be heard trying to lock or unlock when driving along for no apparant reason, so I just don't trust them.

Ford bonnets that need the key to open them.. so it's possible to lock keys under the bonnet even if the car is unlocked, never done it myself but know of a few people that have. Also make it necessary to turn the engine off to open the bonnet.

Meant to say this earlier - Nice when the water pump isn't driven by the cam belt as on some more modern engines. Makes changing them on some cars a lot more work than iy should be, like the pump I changed on a Zafira. BMW V12 water pumps I've changed have protrusions that are almost an interference fit in the block that might have made them very difficult to extract if it wasn't for the pump having purpose machined tapped holes around it's perimeter to allow screwing bolts in to push against the block, almost self extracting..

Clive603 wrote:

So far as mass production factory "off the machine" quality is concerned a visit to the BMW motorcycle factory in Berlin a couple or three years before the wall came down was illuminating. In a not particularly good way. In particular a pile of imperfect K series heads on the floor awaiting re-work all looked well beyond saving!

Yeh, they mixed up the good and bad piles of heads so good heads were melted down and production vehicles got the dodgy heads thus explaining K series hg problems lol.

Can imagine finished pumps freshly off a machine just being lobbed into a finished product container before getting packaged up for sale, marks etc due to them hitting each other in parts bin.

Sloth wrote:

http://p38webshop.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=84&product_id=97

I didn't know about Marty's webshop... I'll start to point P38 owners I see there, have already pointed quite a few to this forum.

Never done a tv fan on a P38 but have on plenty other vehicles... and in younger days have been infuriated by the job lol. Last one I did was on a V12 BMW that had probbaly been on the car from new (so 18 years) with a water pump leak for dunno how long corroding it on, I ended up with a scaf bar on the pump spanner on that one, no way was it shifting without bracing the pulley and a wrap around grip on the pulley wasn't going to cut it.
Usually start out trying the quick blow method. If that doesn't work try holding the pulley with something like an oil filter chain / strap with an old belt round the pulley to prevent damaging it. If that doesn't work you can sometimes get on pulley bolts with a spanner braced against the shaft but they're often tight especially if corroded from pump leaks. Since Gilbert's said you can get on bolts with a bar with a hole in instead of a spanner on a P38 it seems a good plan to me.
If it's been off recently though would think it'd come off again with a tap.

Heater core on a series Landrover is just a bit easier to access...
Last heater matrix I did was on a Zafira, relatively easy but still not piece of piss, never any fun working on stuff buried under dashboards. I ran Chrysler Grand Voyagers for years, matrix access on the early ones was a dash out job but on post 2000 models can be easily accessed from passenger footwell. I think it was the same story with heater resistor packs (well, transistor drive pack on post 2000 ones) and same with blend motors (which I've done on later ones).

Sell it to a seat sniffer for a decent markup? If buying I probably wouldn't pay more than usual... but the thought occurs some people would, and as I'm also ginner the thought occurs I could contribute a few short curly's.... Her ex car and a few short curly's, some buyers might pay silly prices lol. But don't sniff the seat when I've been there.

Not that there'll be any pressure build up if there's a serious leak now but at any point following the work have you noticed a lot of pressure (by squeezing pipes etc)? If the rad has gone it'll need a new one anyway and they do seem to go wrong after being left empty of coolant for a while.

The only interpretation issue I've encountered was when I told an American I was nipping out to smoke a fag.
And I remember my old English teacher saying he once accidentally started a fight by saying an American's wife was dogmatic.
lol

Smug mode ;-) I've developed the habit of never leaving keys in a vehicle unless at least a window is down, I won't even do it with my own cars. P38s are among vehicles I'd worry most about breaking the habit with.

Done the Corsa nsf wheel bearing this morning without a press. Knocked the drive hub out of the hub assembly, circlip off, knocked the bearing out of the hub assembly, ground the inner bearing down from the drive hub, cut a slot in it and chiselled it off. New bearing in the freezer, heated the hub assembly and it dropped straight in no forcing needed. Drive hub in the freezer and heated the outside of the hub assembly to heat the bearing a bit and that went in with a gentle tap. Still some noise at the front, will be doing the other side soon and probably looking at CV joints if that doesn't completely quieten it.

Thanks to both of you.

The one Bri linked to is by far the cheapest 12ton rated I've seen, others on Ebay are double the price, triple the price at Machine Mart.
Nearly clicked to buy but it wouldn't be here before Tuesday and I want to get started before then, might just use my mate's press instead.