Strange one on the heads....

I use NGK BPR6ES on mine, and they have the smaller socket head... Though my heads had the larger socket plugs fitted before and no problems... and I highly doubt my heads have ever been swapped before.... strange..

Regarding Paint.... yes, mine is Java Black aswell - same 697 Paint code.. if you don't mind having a look at it, then would be much obliged!

That's one of the reasons I painted mine... because the somewhat rough alloy finish on the upper manifold is a pain to clean fully as it's so bloody porous on the outside.

Hopefully the coats of paint mine received will help make washing workshop mud off it a bit easier!

That's pretty expensive for the Laser tool, considering i only paid about £80 for the actual P38 bush tool from LR direct...

I would be interested in a tool for the rear ones if anyone was able to make one up...

12T press should shift them I would think... I only went 20T as is wasn't that much more expensive than the 10/12T version, and I'll probably have a go at pressing out wheel bearings on an old set of front hubs at some point...

Interesting to know about the blue/purple poly bushes...

The 'genuine' rubber ones... I went with 'blue box' ones on mine... not the actual Britpart branded ones, but the 'OEM' ones - which happened to be supplied by Britpart.

The skeptic in me says that if they're blue box then how can I tell they aren't the cheap ones, but with an 'OEM' sticker on the box - but the trusting part in me says that if they are OEM, then it would be very bad practice to sell something listed as being from the Original Equipment Manufacturer (the people who made it originally and put it in a green box for Land Rover). but have it being an inferior part.

So far they have been OK though, and will see how they last - at least I have the tool to push them out/in again if I need to! I couldn't justify the difference in price between green box and blue box OEM - which in theory should be exactly the same thing!

I haven't done the rear arm bushes on mine yet - mostly as I the tool to press them in is different to the one to do the front bushes, and also my issues felt very much 'front end' rather than at the back, so just went with all the front arm bushes.

I am going to look into the tool to do the rear bushes - as it would be useful to have aswell... I think there are only the 2 bushes at the front of those arms though, it's all that's shown in RAVE anyway that I could see.

I also use LR Direct for as much as I can now..

Agreed... total steal for 125, given how rare they seem to be... and yes... VERY comfy :)

Did you fix the seat heater elements before fitting them too?

In a word.. no...

I've heard of people filing a taper on one end of the new bushes and pressing them in without the tool - and apparently polybushes fit in without the tool too (but I've also heard they don't last as long and the ride isn't as good!)

If you get a spare set of radius arms from a breaker or something and new bushes, then I'll happily press them in for you. I've got a press and the tool at my workshop... Or if you come to 'Winter Camp' when we organise when it is, then I'll do them then for you...

When replacing the arms, I would also recommend doing the rear bushes (which don't need to be pressed on) and also get new nuts/bolts all round as normally at least one will need the attention of an angle grinder to get off!

Hmm, think once I've got my current project P38's all sorted and eventually sold, then I'll probably keep an eye out for a westminster...

Nothing that is actually scheduled as yet.... but I was looking at something for the end of January/early February - as I need to get my engine finished and installed once I'm home from work, and then sort out the workshop a bit before I'd be able to host again!

Yes, meant pre '96.... this getting up early and being in a venue all day malarky is getting a bit boring! Think I'll be giving my hunk of aluminium in the garage a hug by the time a get home, as the simplicity of it will be a stark contrast to some of the bollocks I'm dealing with here...

I did take some pics of the PCB board for the coil, but can't find them at the moment... I'm planning on trying to fix mine up and see if I can get the passive immobiliser/friendly sync working properly on mine again - not that I'm in a hurry for it!

On pre 1995 models, I don't think the passive sync was actually enabled, even if it was fitted/shown in the manual. My old '95 never had anything like passive sync in it - just do it in the door and away you go..

Yes, the receiver coil is excited by the transmit coil around the ignition - and yes, this does send an unlock code from the fob, and is received at the RF receiver. There is NO other RF/transponder mechanism on the P38 for the receiving of code/signals from fobs. The parcel shelf RF receiver is the only RF link the BECM has for incoming transmissions.

Yes, I think there should be a small black bit of what looks like rubber under the single separate contact in the key fob. I remember seeing a picture of it somewhere on RR.net ages ago. If I can find it again, then I will put a copy of the picture, or a link to it up..

The nav mute line goes direct to the DSP amp and all the muting etc is done in there. If it is indeed just replacing the CD changer input, then I don't see why it shouldn't work...

On both Nav and non Nav vehicles the CD-changer goes into the head unit (same part number head unit...) the only difference in the systems is the output from the head unit - either to DSP amp, or to the door amps..

I don't see why it shouldn't work either

Well, the flight is delayed, and with any luck I'll still get to Philadelphia in time to make the connection to Dallas..

Yes, the battery does need to be in the fob for it to pick up the pulse from the coil and then transmit the unlock code. No battery in fob basically just makes it a key blade with a big shell on it.

Interesting that it works without the rubber O-ring, but not with....

Maybe the springy contact on the side of the PCB is missing the little bit of rubber under it to hold it up enough so that it doesn't make contact with the extra thickness of the o-ring under the cap...

Sorry, I haven't been about earlier... I'm currently being pulled from pillar to post on this job - and as such haven't had time to sit down an actually look at much on any of the forums, emails, facebook groups...

The passive immobilisation part of the BECM - which is switched on/off by toggling the 'IMMOBILIZER' option in the BECM settings works as Sloth mentioned by pulsing a coil around the ignition and this then activated the fob to transmit an unlock code. From what I have noticed, this is initally triggered by the 'Key in' switch in the ignition barrel... so the BECM notices the change in state in the key switch, so knows the key is in the ignition. It will then pulse the ignition coils, get the fob to transmit a code, and disable to immobiliser - if it has enabled itself.

I call what Morat mentioned as a 'limbo' mode - where it's not in a total EKA state as the doors lock/unlock - but the immobiliser is still on - most usually because the passive part has timed out (and then usually as mentioned, it will re-mobilise itself with the key in the ignition). Entering the EKA should make it so that it will start, but it can be hit and miss if it doesn't think it's in an EKA lockout mode.

A note on entering the EKA with a Nanocom (I haven't had time yet to watch the video Morat put up) but the communication with the BECM needs to be done with the IGNITION OFF - rather than hooking up to it with the ignition is already on - the BECM communicates better with nothing on in the ignition for some reason.

Also as a side note, before I sign off again and go to get on the plane.... the passive coil (whilst it is only single direction communication to pulse the fob, it won't talk back to the BECM through these wires)... isn't just the coil, hooked up to the vehicle wiring. There is a small PCB in there, with a bunch of components too - which I don't know exactly what they do yet - I want to try and find out, as the coil on my P38, is intact I've found, but something has burnt out on the board - which is why my passive immobiliser coil isn't working properly (it wouldn't pulse the fob, and fob wouldn't transmit)..

Right, better go and get ready to board the plane...

Will hopefully have a day off soon so I can try and catch up properly!

Marty

Another fine example of good 'ol customer service going well out the window.

I hope it gets sorted out soon!

Good to hear she's up and running....

I'm looking forward to getting back and working on mine again and getting it installed... And then obviously the nervous first turn of the key!

Marty

Lovely news to hear!

I hope I notice the difference in drive to mine when I finally get the chance to get the engine swapped!

Marty

Also because of the weight on the ball joints, and how tight they are - it is hard to tell if they are actually OK or not.

Mine hadn't been picked up on ball joints at the MOT - but when I took the old ones out the change them, there was some definite play in the joints.

Likewise with the radius arm bushes - they've never come up on the MOT, but replacing them made such a difference to handling and stability

I ended up getting a Britpart one - again from either Island or LR Direct. I didn't go Eurospare as they seem hit an miss if their parts are even available half the time!

Quality seemed OK - for a blue box item... the UJ's were all nice and tight, and well greased. The sliding part of the shaft was a bit different design, but actually easier to refit. From memory, the only issue was a couple of the bolts, I think i may have reused the old bolts with new shaft at the top/bottom joins.

In use in the vehicle, it does the job, and is a lot better feeling on the steering thatn before.

I didn't want to go blue box for it, but there were limited options, with one of the few being LR themselves and that was properly silly money!

The 2 biggest things I've done to mine that have made differences are 1) ball joints, and 2) radius arm bushes.

I still have a bit of a vibration in there somewhere - but it's markedly reduced with the new bushes in it.

Other than replacing the steering box, the biggest improvement was replacing the lower steering shaft. It was only apparent when I took the old one out, how loose the UJ was on it compared to the new one...

SIGH

All this looking at nice P38 examples, all clean and shiny, make me wish I was still at home getting the engine ready to swap over.... and then giving the rest of it a really good clean and polish...

I'm thinking of asking santa for a machine polisher for Xmas... Part of the reason I guess mine doesn't get cleaned/polished as much as it should is because it's so much surface area to do by hand that the amount of time it takes, it usually doesn't stop raining long enough for a start! Anyone have any experience with them? I've heard you can damage the paint if you press to hard with some of them... but as far as polishing the surface area of a P38 in a bit less time - thoughts?

At least I'm nearly a week into the tour tour now, so bring on January when I'm home and I can cut the cling wrap off the engine, get some more lube in there, and start the rest of the assembly to get it ready to install!

Looking forward to some more pics of the Vogue SE when she arrives...