Well, I got The Duchess valeted because I was driving over to the continent and taking some colleagues to a meeting when I got there. I'm hoping that the local carwash guys got a bit excited with the water.. but I suspect I might have something else going on!

After about 30m of driving, I braked quite hard for something and immediately the horn started and I had to hit it again to switch it off. Most odd! Then I turned the wipers on and the horn stayed on, the wipers wouldn't switch off and then the alarm decided to join in. The dashboard backlights also dimmed in time to the wipers, which was quite trippy.

So, I did what anyone else would do and turned the radio up so I could keep moving and didn't miss the ferry. I did a quick restart in a laybay which brought the wipers back under control but hilariously, a single sweep would beep the horn whenever the wipers moved through the park position. Then the alarm started again, it ran for 5-10 minutes at a time before shutting off for another 5 monutes or so. Luckily, nobody in Hull seems to notice cars being driven with their alarms going, so I was able to keep going without getting arrested. I stopped at a garage, switched everything off and filled up with fuel (because adding LPG and Petrol to faulty electrics is how I roll). The Duchess decided to behave perfectly after that and didn't miss a beat for the next three days (and still counting).
Judging by the bits that were affected, I'm wondering if I need to think about replacing the clock spring in the steering column, or whether I just chalk it up to the joys of damp Range Rovers and keep on trucking. The worrying option would be the fuse box - does anyone have an idea where I should look to make sure this isn't something that is likely to set an airbag off, or leave me stranded?

Wet grass is really tricky nomatter what tyre to be honest. I've done OK with Grabbers (the AT3 version) on my Jeep, which is a lot lighter.
For road use I go with Michelin All Seasons which are not an off road tyre but cope with farm tracks etc OK while being superb in the wet and snow as you'd expect.

My understanding is that ZDDP is needed for flat tappets...

Comma does oil with Zinc. It sold as "Motorsport" but I think that's just to let them put what they want in it.

https://www.commaoil.com/en-gb/product/moove/moove/comma/engine-oil/motorsport-5w-50/pdf/tds

0.1% / 1000ppm. It's not as high as some, but up there. It's also very high VI and pretty cheap on Amazon at £32 for 5l

That's impressive!! IIRC She's had a new engine in that time - but that's still a hell of a run even for two engines I reckon.

What a landmark :) I certainly wouldn't have been able to keep my P38 on the road without the Pub and all you great people. Thank you!!

I passed this on, and I'm getting a refund. Apparently three more have been sold in the meantime and they all worked. I hope I didn't cock something up!
It's a shame it didn't work for me, as I would like a spare - but if you find yourself in the same situation as me I'd recommend giving this option a try as there's nothing to lose, really.

Sorry folks, but I'm terrible at comparing circuit diagrams.
Are there any variations in the wiring for the P38 DSP amps? Did it evolve over time or was it a one and done type thing?

Well, it's a bit intermittent as it turns out. I did some driving in Europe last week and for some legs the amp ran perfectly. For some it clicked (switched on or off) and at some points it would make a sort of ratchet noise through the speakers if you tried to change the volume. But the volume didn't change... Very odd behaviour in all. Switchinig off/on would usually calm it for a couple of minutes.Then for the final couple of trips it behaved really well. Unless the battery was a bit marginal to start with, I think it's still not quite fixed.
I'm talking to the Vendor above on WhatsApp. Seems like a nice chap, we'll have to see if this is a solution that should work but it's a bad unit, or whether he's got confused on the P38 vs Disco.

Bolt - don't throw any amps away just yet! ;)

It wasn't too bad this time! Probably because the meeting finished at about 3pm so I was nicely away before rush hour. I have less than fond memories of the Antwerp Ring and Kennedy Tunnel from when I used to drive back from Onsabruck at the weekend...

Today, I overtook someone on the way to the Physio and the exhaust decided that louder was faster :/ I dropped straight round to the local tyre and exhaust place (no, they're really good) and she should be sorted tomorrow.

I drove it back from Hull, having previously driven it to Hull and then from Rotterdam to Antwerp, then to Mechelen and back to Rotterdam.
What a pleasant way to spend a few hours!

Welcome!!
I have to admit I've been pondering an L322.. not sure if it's a good idea or not. It'll be great to have a NoExpert here!

Bolt wrote:

That is very interesting on the disco amp. I wonder that Marty did not go that route? Maybe send him a PM and ask?
If you really get frustrated by the rewiring process, I do seem to have 4 spare tested working DSP amps here that
I have collected from breakers over the years.......I also have the aforementioned disco amp on the shelf.
Of course, these may be considered to be "Geographically undesirable" but I don't need that many spares.

You're such a hoarder :) That's a really nice little stash, though!

Gilbertd wrote:

Does it still have the part number on it or has that been taken off?

No, it looks to have been removed. All the screws are marked and there's a Warranty Seal on it. I don't think he wants me peeking :) which is fair enough.

Oh OK. Well I certainly haven't added any wiring, this was meant to be plug and play. Curiouser and Curiouser.

Great info!
I wonder if our chap is moving the connections around in a disco2 amp to match the P38 pinout?

Gilbertd wrote:

The P38 system only supplies left and right channels to the amp and signal is split inside the amp to feed the rear speakers. When installing Marty's alternative, you have to run additional wires from the rear outputs on the head unit (which are there just not used) to feed the amps that drive the rear speakers. Without a full circuit diagram I don't know if you would be able to run the additional wires to the Disco amp and make the rears work.

If you don't have the DSP features, it sounds almost as if they have done a similar job to Marty (who used 4 door amps from earlier pre-DSP cars) or something similar to what I have all the bits to put together but just haven't got around to it (see https://rangerovers.pub/topic/8-info-p38-alpine-dsp-amp-connections-and-wiring?page=1#pid30814) rather than supplying a DSP amp.

Yes, that's all true - but it remains to be seen if this is a disco amp or not. The claim is that it's another HK amp that has been modified to work with the P38. If that is the case, it could still be a disco amp I guess, but if it's possible to modify one to work with the P38 without the door amp shenanigens I'm all for it!

And much WhatsApping later, the amp is going back to be inspected. It should drive the rears and subs but it doesn't. My old amp, however, is doing just fine after some.. <cough>contactcleaner<cough> was used to do some serious maintenance. Ah well.

I'm still interested to know if there is a DSP alternative available to us as I'm sure I'll need one sooner or later.

MOT day. She went through, some advisories. The only worrying one is a front balljoint with play, which is a shame as I had those done soon after I got her... It's been a while!

That's the thing. The page promises everything will work apart from the DSP "concert hall" type features. If it's just a Disco amp then I'm unimpressed as they claimed that they modify an amp to work fully with a P38.
I have emailed them.