Hmmmm good to hear...

If you don't want the old/dead one then I could be interested in purchasing it from you to pull apart and test/strip down/repair...

Glad it's all working with the replacement head unit though...

If you're doing work on it, and the DSP amp still works fine at the moment, then it might be worth pulling it out anyway and making sure the connectors aren't green and there's no sign of moisture on the main board, it might help prolong the life of it! If it all looks good, then I'd almost be tempted to spray the board with PCB lacquer to seal it all from moisture in the future anyway..

Does the head unit power up at all? I have a spare Alpine head unit, which is fully functioning - but keeping it on the shelf for awhile as working ones seem to be worth a pretty penny, and I haven't yet decided if I'll keep it/use it in the '00 or go down the all-in-one route that I've got on my P38.

I did get your emails - sorry I haven't responded... been in the garage working on HEVAC controllers, and heater boxes, and finish off putting the fuse box back together from my '98 as it smells a bit burnt/crispy - but after pulling it apart and cutting the joining pins to get it all open, it's in great condition - tidied up a few solder joints, but nothing burnt or horrible in there!

I may have late lightstone door cards for the rear - I know I have a whole lot of lightstone door cards, but also have a funny feeling I've only got one rear one, rather than both... but I would need to go up to the workshop and have a look through them all to be sure.

It's probably the proper car-phone interface for the cellular side (I would imagine).

Nokia made a hands-free kit which had the speaker on the driver side somewhere and a microphone, usually on the driver's A pillar. This (in it's standard guise) was wired to a cradle for a nokia mobile phone.

However, there was a separate 'car phone' which had it's own SIM card in it (rather than a clip-in mobile to a cradle) - so I presume this had another box of tricks to connect all that up. Another owner who I've done a bit of work on his P38 for him has one of the actual car-phone units installed (and still working!) but I haven't had to dig about in the loadspace before, so I don't know where the control box is located for it...

Big black box is the subwoofer for sure....

Small box to the side... any markings/stickers/part numbers on it? My guess would be car phone - if you don't have navigation, then it's about the only other thing I can think of that would require a screened coax cable...

I've also read that it's worth checking the pads on the other side too, that contact the top of the valve ..

Seen pictures of the pads that have either worn or shift slightly which can cause rattles etc.

First post of this thread ;)

Hi Simon,

Interesting reading... I'll discard the OBD idea then... to be honest, it's not connected on the current system (as it doesn't support it) and I haven't missed it at all.

How do you go about adjusting the pressure on the Zavoli Zeta reducers? There's what looks like a hex grub screw in the back/centre of the reducer, which would be my guess - I have looked in the Zavoli manuals I have, and it's not clear/marked - all it mentions in the setup is to read the pressure from the sensor, and put that into the setup so it will calibrate at the correct pressure.

I have also noticed in the setup screen of the software where the pressure is input that it says in the little popup 1.1-1.4 as the range.. will it accept me putting a higher pressure (like 1.7bar) in or reject it because it's outside of what it's expecting?

I'll run a 2.5mm bit through the single strip nozzles I have and swap them over when it's not too windy (blowing a gale here at the moment) and re-run the calibration with the bigger nozzles at the current 1.4 bar pressure, and see what the result is...

I'll leave the ECU setting on Matrix for the moment, and then keep my eyes peeled for a King ECU at some point...

Marty

You won't find a DSP amp on a 1996 DSE... subwoofer maybe...

There isn't really anything 'upgraded' about them by having the HK badges on - as I think HK did all the audio for the P38's, but the 'mid line' and 'high line (which I guess you have if you've got a subwoofer and cd-stacker) means that instead of the head unit having amplifiers that drive the door speakers, each door has an amplifier in it, and the head unit just sends a balanced line level signal to each door amp.

The good news... the amplifiers in the doors sound really nice, and are far better than what a head unit amplifier would do. The bad news is that you can't just rip out the factory stereo and put a new head unit in and have it work.

You can however use the amplified outputs from a new head unit and feed them into some attenuator circuits which the information about is here:
Stereo attenuator circuits

Yes, the link it to the 'other' site, but it's the main website part - not the forum..

The attenuators are cheap to make, and bring the amplified outputs from a replacement head unit down to the level expected to be input on the door amplifiers that you will have.

The subwoofer (if fitted)... most people just put an RCA plug on it and plug it into the line out subwoofer feed from an aftermarket head unit - but sometimes the level isn't high enough to get decent bass... it isn't on my P38, so I put a booster in line with it, which is fine, except I get a pop from it when it powers up/turns off - so I might look at either a) adding something else to filter that out, or b) fit an aftermarket subwoofer amp which is designed to take a lower line-level input.

Hope this helps..
Marty

Edit - Gilbertd typed faster than me... but SNAP at linking to the same page...

I'd say it depends on what RF receiver was actually fitted as the replacement. If it was a Gen3 receiver, then yes, a bit of a head scratcher, but there are a couple of explanations I can think of.

If it's a Gen2 receiver that a previous owner bought because it was 'upgraded' then it's still prone to interference (but not as bad) and I've heard that the interference to the BECM will cause all sorts of strange things with EKA etc. I am guessing that the RF receiver data works on an interrupt to the code in the BECM CPU - so that when a transmission from the FOB is received, the BECM then does the number crunching on it processes lock/unlock commands if they are valid. My best guess is that if there is interference then on Gen2 receivers, this will then end up on the data line to the BECM which will then interrupt what it's currently trying to do - eg listen for the EKA.

It could also be the passive immobiliser is still turned on and it re-immobilised the vehicle, and then the mobilisation code from the fob wasn't able to be received due to the interference, so then it would just sit there and ask for the code.

Either way, I would at some point be testing the door latch microswitches, as if one of them is faulty/intermittent, then that also won't help matters!

From memory, the rear doors don't have the cams in them that the front doors have - so probably a couple of good shots of a lubricating spray like WD40 will work better on the rear doors.

The SELECT NEUTRAL message on the dash will come up if you move the gear shift from Neutral into a gear before it has finished doing the range change.

Likewise, if you try to change range whilst moving, you will get a SLOW DOWN message on the dash, and I don't think it will attempt to change range until the vehicle has actually stopped.

From memory (again a bit hazy at the moment) the light on the dash with the gears in it should come on when it is changing range, and go out again when the range change is complete... along with the 'beep beep beep beep.........' whilst it's performing the change.

27mm is the size of the wheel nuts, if you need it for reference.

7 minutes is pretty reasonable to fill the tank enough to get it up to height... though if it keeps emptying the tank overnight, then hopefully the valve block service kit will sort that... as long as it isn't one with orange o-rings in it, you should be fine!

EDIT: Gordon got there before me... that's what happens when I go and have dinner before coming back to finish off my reply!

I find the front air springs easier to do with the wheel off, to help get to the bolt that holds the pin in, and to pull the pin out - especially if it's a bit rusted in there, but the rears are easy enough to do with the wheel on (but again a bit easier without to get to the air line connections)

No problem, good to hear it's all up and running again! Another one down to RF interference... Don't park there again :)

Hi Simon,

Thanks for the advice - I see about 183 in the map at the low end/idle area, with the 2.1mm nozzles.
I've just looked at the spec on the Hana 1 stripe nozzles, and they are actually 2.4mm - is that close enough, or should I run a 2.5mm drill through them? I could even just remove the nozzles if 3mm wouldn't be too big on a P38? I'll have a look at it over the weekend, and maybe try to whip the manifold off again and either remove the ones in there, or swap them for the one stripe as-is or drilled out and then recalibrate again.

Interesting on the ODB side of things too - I wasn't sure how much difference it would make, and how good the adaptivity is on them - but if it's not great, then I probably won't bother. The later Bosch P38's like I have are OBD II compliant on the engine ECU, so I think that it should connect ok - but if I do go that route, I will probably go as you mention and get a King ECU and just wire that part in.

On my Zavoli ECU - I have the options of PAN EVO, Zavoli, Zavoli 2 (which the instructions say never to use?!?) and Matrix - I think you mentioned awhile ago that the Matrix setting would be the best given the options that I have... I'm intrigued as to what Zavoli 2 is now...

Might look into getting a King ECU at some point...

Cheers,
Marty

I'll come up tomorrow when I've finished my other job, as it's 20 miles from home in the right direction for Coventry.

If you send me an email on p38webshop@gmail.com with your details, phone number etc, then I'll send you a mess a when I'm on my way, with an ETA as I'm leaving the other one.

I'm aiming to be at the other RR about 10:00-10:30am, so could be at your RR as early as about 11:30, but it will also depend on whether it a simple 'plug in, resync and go' as I'm led to believe, or whether it will be more than that.

I'm going to attempt to make a power cable for my faultmate to run it from the accessory socket in my RR, and I'll bring my laptop, just in case it is an alarm lockout. It doesn't sound like it is, but won't know for sure until I hook up to it.

Alarm lockout on becm won't necessarily trigger the vehicle alarm.. it just means the BECM is in an alarmed state (rather than the vehicle alarm being set) and that causes it to lock itself down and ignore EKA entries and other attempts to get it working properly. It usually happens s when the vehicle is locked/alarmed and the battery goes flat.. but RF interference can cause weird things to happen too..

The change in RF receiver stops the battery going flat, yes - but it depends if they spent the money for a 3rd gen one, or just put a second generation one in.

That aside, if the new one is there but it is still getting bombarded with RF, even though it won't wake the BECM up, it that could still interfere with the transmission.

There isn't much in the latch that could break and stop one of the switches from working as the parts are all retry strong.. but it's not entirely unheard of. I'd have to look at the specific part when I get home to see if the end of it snapping off would stop the CDL switch from operating. It might ..

The only issue will be if the BECM has gone into alarm lockout, and I rock up with just the Nanocom...

If you want the to come look at it, then I'd probably charge about £60 for travel and the hook-up.

If the BECM has gone into alarm lockout, then I charge £100 to unlock them, but that something I usually do at home on the work bench..

If it's locking and unlocking the drivers door then the linkage is ok.. the CDL switch is operated internally in the latch as it locks/unlocks.

The key switch is operated by the mechanism which the rod from the barrel connects to, so if it's detecting the key turning one way, then that microswitch and mechanism is working too.

One thought... if the remote usually works, have you tried moving the vehicle (pushing it a few car lengths even) and then tried unlocking with the remote, or entering the EKA.. I've heard on some of them the RF interference causes the BECM to get confused and it won't listen to the EKA attempt, but move the vehicle to where there isn't RF interference and away it goes.

Mm, about 150mile round trip.. bit further than what I had expected...

I'll have a look at my logistics for tomorrow, as my other one is about 20 mile from home.. I'll drop you a message later if I can fit it in time-wise around what else I have to get done, as Google maps was showing it as being about 3hr round trip!

Where exactly is the vehicle?

I have to go out tomorrow to fix a a sync problem, and I might be able to make a long detour to come and have a look after I've done that - I just have to see how long etc it would take for me to get there.

I've got Nanocom etc to sort most of the issues out, and can tell you if there's an issue with the door latch etc aswell.

For reference for others with a Nanocom - yes you can read all ECU's other than the engine ecu on any vehicle. You can then additionally read the engine ECU for the type that you purchased. You can then also add other engine ecu licences to expand capability as required.