I sent him a PM, but just if you happen to be talking to him then perhaps you could let him know that maybe I could do with one, if they are good.

Very many thanks,

Pierre3.

Richard, could you let Marty know that I sent a PM, this evening, to him with reference the sunroof cassettes that he has ?

If he has a complete good one, with clean outer seals and the motor securely attached, and the price is right then I wouldn't mind one.

Pierre3.

Yes, you are probably right. In fact, I contacted James Coleman and ordered some Wabco-D ones from him, this morning, as I am now in some doubt as to the likelihood of the others ever actually turning up.

I was reading that you need a thirty ton press if you want to fit Timken wheel bearings. What happens if you choose SKF bearings instead ? Do you still need such a big press, or can you reasonably expect to be able to do them in the average garage ? And my garage is very average !!!!!

Pierre3.

Richard, thanks for the explanation. OK, so it looks like I have two problems. one is probably a leaking passenger side rear airbag, and two, one of the ABS sensors is flaky.

I'm a bit disappointed because a guy in Aus is supposed to be sending me 4 Wabco used sensors, in good nick off a P38 that has only had tarmac use in Melbourne or somewhere. I don't think that he is a crook as he has a lot of stuff on the Range Rover P38 facebook forum, a guy named Nick Thomas. But who know, it won't be the first time, and I will look elsewhere.

Pierre3.

It's an interesting discussion, sure enough. Just to add another dimension to the discussion - a company in the States which builds hydrogen powered trucks is call Nikola.

Nikola was supposed to team up with GM, which they did for a while, and now I think Nikola are working with another truck manufacturer, and one would think that the future is looking bright. Based on the reviews in the US financial papers I fancied a punt on the Nikola shares, they looked good at $10, and being in league with GM they should have a pretty solid background. But what happened after two years - the shares tanked, to about 0.50 cents a share. I just hung on until last year, when they got another decent share review and the price went back up, but not quite to the original $10. I didn't lose too much, fortunately. Now I am putting those losses into my P38, with as much chance of getting my investment back as if I had stayed with Nikola !!!

Pierre3.

Hi Richard, what is the effect of the flexible sensor arm not working correctly ?

Pierre3.

Hi guys, thanks for all your invaluable advice.

In regards to the misreading of the sensors it is possible, I suppose, that this would explain why the rear passenger side wheel goes down over the course of a week ? Although more likely to be the airbag.

I will follow up on all the advice given so freely, but much appreciated, over the next couple of weeks. I need to wait for some good weather, and also to get my walking abilities back !!!

Pierre3.

Hi guys, I hope that this is allowed but I want to look for a bit more information in regards to the ABS/TC warning lights coming on, on the dashboard.

I got under the car yesterday, and following both Richards' and Bolts' advice I gave the passenger side sensor a couple of taps with a light hammer, and the warning lights went out, tested by driving about 1/4 mile. So everything appeared hunky-dory, but I know that you readers have guessed that that is not all.

I went out on a 40 mile, each way, journey and after around 10 miles the warning lights came back on while gently bumbling down a motorway. So I continued on to my destination, parked and switched off ignition.

After three hours I returned and set off again, but after 6 miles this time the warning lights came back on and stayed on until I got home, about 1 1/2 hours - due to heavy traffic.

So could I be looking at, as Bolt suggested, a flaky wheel bearing on the passenger side front wheel. This is where I had a lower reading on the Nanocom, when doing as road test as suggested by Richard. The static readings were all around 2.30, a bit above and a bit below, but when driven slowly three readings varied from the 2.30-ish figure by very little, but the front passenger side sensor gave readings around 1.80.

So tapping the F P Side sensors cleared the fault.

Some research suggests perhaps a faulty wheel bearing, a faulty sensor, or a CV joint going faulty. Do I just have to bite the bullet and change everything ?

Pierre3

Ha, that's fine then. Provided it lands on the two ends then I will be able to crawl out from under it !!!

Richard, thanks for the RAVE page number. And after reading your post I went back out, got out of my electric wheelchair and lay down on my remote control inspection trolley, and rechecked the front bumper - where I found two hex head bolts. As I didn't have a hex head driver with me I decided not to remove the bumper on my own. The danger of it falling on my head and bringing me back to sanity was tempting, but I decided against this course of action.

On a more serious note, when I had a look at the gearbox oil cooler fan it looks as if I could remove it by undoing the phillips screws that hold the small fog light grill in place. The grill seems to be right in front of the fan sensor and it does look as if I remove the grill then the sensor should be right there, hopefully with enough manipulation space to remove it. First job I will attempt is getting the fog light grill screws out.

Pierre3.

Hi guys, thanks for your advice. The information from Bolt is interesting, especially as steering play is nearly always there. I will try the obvious solution - tapping the sensors to make sure that they are fully in.

OK, so an update to the above - I checked the readings with Nanocom, and Madame writing down the figures, and I got more inconsistent results from the front left sensor, compared to the other three sensors, and compared from a standing reading. So a few taps with a light-weight hammer and the issue appears to have gone. I took the vehicle for a drive around the block, about 1/4 mile, and the issue has not yet re-appeared. So a good result, and thanks to Richard and Bolt for the varied advice.

Now I need to address the gearbox oil fan sensor. I looked up how to change the sensor and most posts suggest that the front bumper has to come off, but I had a look under my car to see how difficult it is going to be, and my front bumper fixings don't look anything like the ones on the internet. It was suggested that behind the bumper there are two bolts to be loosened, and then you knock the bumper downwards and the it will pull out forwards. Well, good luck with that because the radiator is in the way of any access to the back of the front bumper bolts.

I will need to investigate this more, and see if I can find clearer instructions relating to the front bumper on my vehicle. First stop RAVE, and hopefully a clear description - when I can find the section dealing with it !!!

Pierre3.

Hi Richard. Yes, I took those readings while the car was parked in the drive, this afternoon. So, I will follow your instructions tomorrow, and see what they are then. But does this dashboard message, and the ABS and TC warning lights, just indicate a likely wheel sensor issue ?

Also, do you have any idea why the gearbox fan keeps running ? Is this likely to be a stuck closed sensor ? I have done some "research" on the squinty-net and it looks like a stuck open heat sensor is the problem. Maybe my best option is the change the sensor, and not have the fan motor go west !!

Pierre3.

Hi, i'm not exactly sure where to post this so I thought that here might be a good place to start.

I was coming home last evening, bumbling along on a quiet motorway, doing about 50 mph, when the message "ABS has failed", or something similar, and the yellow ABS light and the traction control lights came on and stayed on until I got home. The vehicle didn't appear to have any problem driving along, but obviously there is some issue.

Perhaps someone could give me a bit of advice on the problem. It is starting to get tiresome, at this stage, the constant problems which are now happening. The heater matrix and blend motors were replaced only two months ago, then the drivers side latch packed up, and the car has driven maybe 300 miles, and this includes a journey to a wedding this weekend. Now the ABS fault has appeared.

I know, also that I will need to replace the height sensors shortly, as the EAS has been, since getting it back from the garage two weeks ago, going to full height when I go around a roundabout fairly quickly causing the vehicle to lean somewhat. Then I have to press the EAS switch to drop the vehicle back down, after which the vehicle runs fine.

But firstly I need to solve this ABS issue, so any help would be appreciated.

Edit - having read through a lot of different forum posts about this, could it be so simple as a wheel sensor ? Maybe I just need to buy new height sensors and get hold of some Wabco wheel sensors to cure the problem.
Edit - I plugged in Nanocom and the readings from the sensors are - front right 2.31; front left 2.35; rear right 2.21; rear left 2.35. Perhaps someone might know if these are correct, or thereabouts.

Another problem seems to have cropped up, now. The gearbox cooler fan is running when the ignition is turned on. This is a new issue, it has just appeared this morning. The car has been parked since 10pm last evening so it certainly can't be hot this morning. Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this ?

Pierre3.

I am really pleased to say that, because of the reliable information from Richard [GilbertD], I have saved myself the hassle and, more importantly, the cost of having to buy another door latch, FQJ103260, to replace a new one that I received, FQJ103220.

I had fitted the two plug lock before realised that I needed a new single plug lock. I don't why I missed the obvious, that the new lock I was fitting had two plugs and not one, but, hey-ho, I did and I was the author of my own problem !!

Anyway, as Richard correctly says above, it turns out that the wiring colours in the plugs of FQJ103220 [two plugs], and FQJ193260 [single plug] are the very same. There are seven wires in each lock, and the answer to not being able to buy the later lock, FQJ103260, is to buy FQJ103220 and chop the plugs off both locks, then solder the single plug wires onto the two plug cable wires.

The one thing that one must remember is to keep the lock motor part of the lock, which you break off to open a locked door. The cable should be cut off at the lock end so as to give the most cable to connect to the two plug cable.

So, I am pleased to say that I have everything refitted and working perfectly. And many thanks, Richard.

Pierre3.

yes, of course - I can chop off the two plugs from the new lock and solder and heat shrink the new cable to the old plug cables. I have the electrical switch enclosure, from the back of the old lock, with the plug on the lead. If I just cut it off, leaving a decent bit of length, then I can do the same to the new lock cable and solder them together, having a slightly longer cable from the lock, to plug onto the car door loom.

Sorry for missing the obvious, often one needs another head to solve a problem. Thanks for your kind assistance. Just out of interest, if I am soldering in the door how easy is it for the car to go on fire ????!!! Only joking.

Pierre3.

Hi Richard. Thanks for getting back to me, if that is the correct terminology !!

I had a strong suspicion that the US passenger side probably wouldn't work, mainly because there isn't a key entry on the passenger side door handle. The most annoying thing about this is how I missed the fact that the door latch, that I bought, had two plugs !!! I was really annoyed with myself because I have fitted the new latch and tested the mechanical operation of it. It was only when I went to connect the plug as the last thing to do, before refitting the door panel, that I suddenly found that I was looking at two plugs !! Even next doors dog had his ears covered when he heard my language.

So, can I just check - the two plug latch is the early one ?

What I was considering was to pop out the wires with their pins still connected, and hopefully those pins will sit properly in my original orange plug. If it doesn't work then I will look, perhaps, at using your suggestion but with bullet connectors. Just in case I ever need to disconnect the door latch again.

Anyway, thanks a lot for giving me the information to go forward with, and not having to get burned by buying another door latch !!!

Pierre3.

Hi, I thought that I had solved a problem with the drivers' side door latch blowing up and locking me out of the car. I did the LR emergency manoeuvre and bashed the latch with a steel rod, thereby allowing into the vehicle. I then got a new door latch from my usual LR dealer - but, as has been pointed out, the "f***-up" of the electrical connector plugs came into play.

The door latch that arrived has - yes, you guessed it - two connector plugs. But my latch has only one. F, f, f*** !!!!

So, I am wondering whether I can take the original plug off my broken lock and then take the two plugs off the new lock and reconnect them into the old single plug, to reconnect to the wiring loom.

The first picture is the new, two plug arrangement; the second picture is the original plug off the banjoed door latch; and the third picture is the plug connector on the end of the door wiring loom.

The correct door latch is FQJ103260 but this is NLA and LR tell me that they have no prospects of new stock arriving. So this leaves the second hand market with the prospect of the door lock failing again, whenever it feels like it. The latch that I currently have is FQJ103220 but it is for the previous model of P38. The part number FQJ103260 seems to have been fitted to very late P38's and when I asked LR they said that that part number shouldn't have fitted to my vehicle, based on the chassis number. BUT - it is !!

If it is possible to rewire the plugs then it will avoid having to [a] buy second hand; and [b] rescue the cost of buying the two plug latch.

Any suggestions would be most welcome. A last comment - I have seen a new passenger side door latch for a LHD P38 with the correct plug, and all the mechanical lock connections in the correct position. But would this door latch work in the drivers' side door on a RHD vehicle ?

Pierre3.

I am very pleased to have now received a new original drivers' side door latch. Having had a close look at it I now think that when the previous latch was fitted, about 18 months ago, it was a spurious manufacture. The reason I say this is because the plastics on the lock that packed up look a bit different in colour and fit than the new LR item.

Also, there was no label on the previous latch, and looking at the new latch the label looks to be a sort of plasticized material. And it looks pretty hard wearing. I would see no reason why anyone would pull off the original label when fitting it to the car. So, I suspect that the old one wasn't original.

I also got a roll of self-adhesive foam rubber strip of the internet. The piece currently on the door is 25mm high x 25mm wide and about 50/60mm long. I ordered a roll of 25x25mm from a place called Rubber Stuff, and it looks pretty good.

All I have to do now is [1] hope that the weather improves; and [2] refit the new door latch !

Pierre3.

Richard, I would agree with you. I thought it unlikely that it would be a "part number" due to its make-up, it is only a piece of foam rubber about 20mm wide x 25mm high x 50mm long. I'm not actually sure what the thing does but it is glued on with RTV.

I am going to order a roll off the internet, which comes as 20mm wide x 25mm high x 2metre roll, costing around £7. I can't find anything of these dimensions on the websites of DIY stores here. I want to get a foam rubber, or neoprene rubber, as similar in make-up as the one currently on the door, just in case it performs some really important, but unknown, job !!!

I would imagine that the manager at LR, with responsibility for production, probably just rang a local motor factor and ordered 50 boxes of a foam rubber, self-adhesive, strip to go under the door card. So therefore no official part number.

Pierre3.

hi, I am looking for a foam rubber filler piece that sits behind the drivers' side door card, on the top front edge of the door. It could be something that will have to be made up of other materials but I would be interested to see whether there is an actual part number for it.

Perhaps someone mave have a suggestion for another type of foam rubber to make it up, if LR don't have it.

Pierre3.