For off-road enthusiasts, I'm not aware of a more luxurious vehicle that can go offroad. I haven't done any extreme off-roading in mine, but I have taken a stock P38 shooting, down muddy farm tracks, over soggy fields and that sort of thing. I probably wouldn't take it to a pay and play because I like it, and those places are quite brutal. I've taken my Jeep, because that's what it's for - but I don't want my Range Rover beaten up.

However, it does have a proper chassis, live axles and plenty of torque. The later ones have a really good traction control system which will help overcome the lack of locking axles, and works evern better if you can afford/care enough to fit a LSD. The downsides for off-roading are basically size and weight. Size limits where you can go without scratching it, and weight makes it harder for the tyres to keep traction. Otherwise it's very capable, even stock and there's no need to remove the airbags and go to coil springs unless you're really messing about with big lifts/large wheels and at that point it's going to be a different animal.

For reliability, yeah - it has a bad rep. But honestly, I'm not a gifted mechanic and mine is still running. You can see what I've changed in my details on here (although I've run out of space for the latest couple of lines so there's been some new exhaust bits this year).
Here are some jobs you need to know how to do:

1. Check EAS for leaks, how to replace/refurb an EAS compressor, how to refurb the solenoid block, how to replace the whole EAS box. These are all easy jobs and not even expensive.
2. Change CoilPacks. They don't last forever, although I've only had one new set in 60k miles. It's a bit of a git for access but otherwise simple enough if you have a chart handy showing what goes where.

The next most common bit you need to look at is leaks in the cabin. It might be the sunroof, it might be the heater core O-rings. You might want to go the "one and done" route to take the dash out, replace the heater core (I have the Nissen/Audi spec core which eliminates the O ring situation) and check/replace the blend motors at the same time. Time consuming, but not expensive on a DIY basis. I had help from Marty who is now back in NZ but there are guides online.

Otherwise it's just preventative maintenance. Fluids (inc all three diffs) and filters (inc pollen filters to keep those HEVAC motors happy) Airbags don't last as long as springs, but they don't cost as much either, plus you can remove them with a stanley knife instead of coil compressors.

The glorious news is that P38s really don't rust badly at all. The most common spot is the tailgate, which is hardly structural and easy to spot. My local garage mechanic took the time to say that he was converted to the P38 now, have been a D2 fan but with there being so many Discos around here he was sick of welding them, and would buy a P38 everytime now just to avoid the rusty subframes.

Nothing is perfect, of course and there are definitely some dogs out there - but there are still enough good ones to find a decent vehicle. I'd definitely budget £1500-£2000 to go through it properly (plus tyres) to fix everything I've mentioned and I'd budget for a Nanocom to save a ton of time and money asking garages to scan for codes. It's not just a handy gadget - you do actually need one if you're planning to do the necessary tasks to keep it all running well.

Two keys is a good sign. The dealers either don't have them anymore or charge £300+
Jst my £0.02 - ymmv, E+OE, Caveat Emptor etc....

Gilbertd wrote:
>

However, once you get it and start using it, you'll be putting the Elgrand up for sale.

Which one? LOL

Pheasants are a pain in the headlights :( I worked over twenty years for an estate that shot pheasants so I've hit a few. The scariest one didn't cause any damage but it was a direct hit on the windscreen in front of my face. It detonated and I couldn't see a thing at 50 mph. Eek.

I took my father out for cofee in the Duchess today. I was able to use access mode with confidence for the first time in ages :)

He sent me a PM with the details, maybe there's a York in Ontario?
anyway:

installed yesterday a new 12V battery. car started geat did not use the FOB ,as the car is parked in doors
UNTIL THIS MORNING
my 2001 P38 FOB is not recognised by the car.
will not open doors.
when opened with kay the alarm goes off and the car will not start

disconnected the battery overnight
used the 1515 code
Range rover in Brampton( ontario) could not help..stated the car is too old :-(

Grabbed it! Thank you :)

Oh dear.

The intermittent Cheque Book light is starting to annoy me, now that the Duchess will start, drive and stay up on her bags. The light comes on for every cold start. If I drive for fifteen minutes or so and restart, the light goes out.
I've just been doing some fiddly poking with the Nanocom and saw a ton of faults, all of which cleared apart from this one
right hand blower motor stop mode fault (current)
The left hand blower works fine, the right hand one seems weak rather than stopped - but the fault is definitely there.
So, where do I start?
Fuse box?
Resistors?

Can anyone please link me to the right Valeo parts please? I have a feeling that something in a Peugot box would be better value than one with a Green Oval :D

Changed the pollen filters. yay!

I spent a few hours in the Duchess yesterday, down to Stilton to visit Richard and Dina for lunch and to pick up an EAS set. We escaped without buying an Dachshunds! Then back via F-I-L and a total of about 300 miles most of which were done on gas.

I need to track down a noise on the passenger side windscreen which appears at about 71 (ish) mph. It's probably time to change the oil in the diffs too... and one day I'll track down the source of the cruise control issue but otherwise she's still a very comfortable cruiser and was well up to the task of importing some Stiton cheese to Yorkshire :)

I put the bike in the back and went to my mates house for the first bacon run of the year. The relevance? I started her up and drove off in high with no flashing lights and no grumbling exhaust. WIN! :D

She did fine on the road... fixed for now!

Well, she's up! Although I'm not counting this as a 100% fix.

Richard, I'd definitely be interested in another valve block - especially if tested! Driver pack too....

How it went:

1. Dunlop compressor is indeed toast - didn't even start.
2. New Compressor ran and produced pressure. I can hold my thumb over it, so maybe I was harsh on the other one I bought... milk, spilt, etc.
3. Green stuff was present again, I decided it's blowing out of the solenoids (can't see where else it would come from) so out came the whole EAS box.
4. I took the dessicant dryer holder thingy off, sprayed it with WD40 in case it was tight and immediately snapped the plastic on the airbox. Grrrrr. I then failed to take the lid off so I blew through it and it seemed to not be an obstruction so I guess that was a waste of time. New dryer is on the list.
5. Put the refurbed EAS box and "new" pump in loosely, found that the airhose threads on the new pump were f£$"$d. Swore a couple of times and swapped the brass thingy for the Shiny! New! brass thingy on the Dunlop pump. The Dunlop thingy was much easier to remove, suspiciously so... another leak? We'll never know.
6. Because I'm become a Professional EAS Box Swapper in my spare time, I just slapped it all together without putting any bolts in and fired her up. Woosh! It all works!!
7. Found that one of the front legs on the pump was badly bent. Mild Swears, subsided when I realised how easy that thin tin is to bend with a decent pair of pliers.
8. Put the Nanocom on while the engine was running. No dice. No comms! also, crashed the Nanocom which is new to me. I tried reading faults and it locked solid so I had to restart it. Tried reading settings and it went to black screen and didn't restart. Luckily it restarted when I power cycled it, so.. the Nanocom lives. Seeing as it's one of the most expensive parts on the Duchess, I'm relieved.
9. Decided that a P38 with air suspension that stands up but can't be adjusted is better than one which talks to a Nanocom but sits on its arse.

10. Let the pump run until it shut off - suprisingly quick! Also left the thing idling while I cleared up. Pump did not need to run again. Hmm, that Dunlop was actually a pretty solid unit.....

11. Test drive coming up after a cup of tea.

So, yes - please may I put my name down for a known good EAS setup? Ideally I'd like the box and all its contents, but whatever can be spared would be gratefully paid for.

If anyone wants a shagged but pretty Dunlop pump (minus Brass thingy, but with the old one if you feel like fettling the threads) or the the guts of an OEM one with a snapped bolt at the front - let me know.

Time for a cuppa!

Right, it's time to get into the EAS issues on my Range Rover.
Feel free to ignore this thread if it's too tedious but I thought I'd be better off writing stuff down methodically and if anyone has any advice (apart from Mr Molotov) just shout/laugh at me....

Symptoms:

1. Compressor runs too much. Has been like that for (ahem!) time.
2. Sits down overnight, parked on a slight slope.
3. Sits down over a couple of days sitting on the flat.
4. Just realised that the green dust seen between the solenoids in the block is probably dessicant!
5. Driving back from Salisbury, EAS boop boop and the Nanocom revealed "Valve permanently closed RHF"

She managed to drive back for 2.5 hours on emergency valves at 65 PSI all round (maybe 55 at the back?) and sat down again over three days. She self levelled on the way down, which was strange but I guess it's logical that the bags on the high side get squished more.

Resources!

2x Valve Blocks with Driver pack and plastic box.
The fitted one was last rebuilt 6-7 years ago
The spare on was rebuilt a couple of months ago but I couldn't get any pressure into the system when I hooked it up. Hmmm.
1x Dunlop compressor (fitted) which wasn't able to get us home, and I forgot to unplug it when we started driving again so it was probably running all that time, probably toast.
1x "Good, used" OEM compressor from ebay (the CNS4x4 Guy in Wales) which hopefully will run OK but needs testing.
1x compressor rebuild kit including sleeve from X8R

Nanocom
Calibration Rods

small brain.

First things I'm going to check:

1. Has the Dunlop Compressor died?
2. Is the dessicant in the dryer now done? (It's ancient, last changed just before a summer camp!) and is it now green?
3. Does the new pump run and produce pressure?

Then we'll see....

I looked at it out of the window an saw her sitting down on her bumpstops and thought - yep, no more excuses!

That's a good tip - thank you!

Sorry for the suspense. We made it home on my emergency valve things. I've had them rattling around in the centre console for nearly a decade and now they've earned their keep.
The rears were straight forward, one pipe per bag. The fronts seemed odd, we pumped one up and nothing happened, then the second line shoved the nose up evenly. I'm have to check out the diagram but probably not until tomorrow.
We got back from Leicester Forest East in 2.5hrs without refilling the bags so at least I can be confident of the bags and lines!

Hmmmm. Might have pushed my luck!

Was trundling up the M1 and the EAS came up with 35mph max.

We got stopped and plugged in the Nanocom which showed" RHF valve permanently open"

I cleared that and checked the valve status...RHF Closed. Ok.

But the compressor was running when we stopped and then stopped showing "Hot"

After a few minutes with the bonnet open and the EAS cover removed, it ran for a couple of minutes then stopped again.

So, current plan is to have a leisurely coffee in Leicester Forest East and let it cool for 20m. Then pray.

Sadly not headed that way, but I can recover the OEM one from the bin. It ran fine, but didn't seem to have much pressure. I'll hook out the barrel and motor part. I had taken the head off to have a look inside and I think that has sunk into the nightmare!

Edit: Rescued - but not the lightest thing to post. Where are you? (PM)

Richard, you're a star.
I managed to mangle both pumps during "rebuild" one was my fault - snapped a bolt trying to tighten the head back onto the piston barrel. The other one must have been locktited to death as the first bolt I tried to remove snapped. I really CBA drilling out bolts from these things so I'm probably going to be buying disposable Dunlops from now on.

OK, thanks Richard. I'll double check next time I try that EAS box. For now I'm running the original I rebuilt about 6 years ago.