Hi guys, I would just like to wish everyone a Happy Christmas, and a Prosperous New Year. Thanks for all te advice given over the past 12 months. [I was going to download a Christmas card gif but it won't load here !!].

I do have a problem that has been annoying me for a while, when I open the drivers' side door the latch seems to be sticking in the open position, meaning that when I close the door it just bounces back open. I can get around it by giving the innner door release handle a hard pull to fully open and then letting it go so that it snaps back. Then the door closes and the latch keeps the door closed.

It has been doing this on and off for a couple of months but it is not yet terminal - but is this a sign that the latch is goosed ?

A couple of days ago the door lock threw a wobbler, which I have seen mentioned a good few times. I went to get out of the car only to find that all the doors were locked, but when I pulled up the drivers side lock button [in the door] all the buttons hopped up, the doors unlocked, except for the drivers' side door, and then immediately locked again.

I was able to get out the passenger side, and this morning, having followed advice from a RR guy in Wales, Iain McKee, I opened the drivers' side lock so that all the locks are open. Currently, the car now unlocks and relocks without a problem, but the latch is still an issue, in that it will still bounce back open when I go to close the door.

So, would I be right in saying that the door latch unit, with the micro-switches, is goosed and needs replacing ?

Pierre3.

OK, that kind of makes things clearer. My car is 2001 so would I be correct, and as Richard says, in saying that it doesn't matter whether I buy long or short rear sensor, just that I would have to loose the extra cable ? There is no difference in the resistance of the sensor, even if the cable is longer ?

Pierre3.

Hi, I was just wondering whether there is any difference in the front ABS sensors and the rear ABS sensors as far as the connector cables are comcerned.

I was considering keeping two new rear sensors in the garage and one of the sellers mentioned that he had rear sensors with long cables. I was under the impression that the cables were all the same length ?

Pierre3.

Richard, thanks for the information. I just couldn't visualise what it looked like !

Velvet, you are right about not being able to find a new seal - I tried a number of different places that I have ordered from in the past, in the US, the Ukraine, and a few other places but there is nothing available anywhere.

Gilbertd made a good suggestion, that it is possible that a BMW seal might work being as BMW owned Range Rover at this point in time, and the may just have used sunroof parts from a 5 series or a 7 series. A long shot, I know, but you just could be lucky. I am going to measure my sunroof and then make a few enquiries over the new few weeks.

Pierre3.

Richard, thanks for your advice. Looking at the BMW 5 and 7 series may well be a good starting point.

But it does seem that quite a few people have rainwater getting into the car despite the drains being free. I suppose it is a matter of everything in the sunroof cassette being in perfect condition. When I took out the cassette in my car I found that the metal around the glass was a bit corroded. I wired brushed it, and then sanded it with course wet and dry, before putting it back in the car.

One thing that I can't remember - does the seal push down on an edge on the metal of the roof ? Around the sunroof opening ? I can't remember exactly how I refitted the sunroof cassette. Or is it, as you seem to say, glued to the edge of the cassette ?

Pierre3.

Following up on this issue, if the only way to get a sunroof seal is to buy one from a scrapped vehicle and risk buying something worse than ones original seal is there any alternative to sourcing a seal material that would replace the original one ?

I have received 10 emails from around the world, all with the same story - discontinued and no longer available. I emailed JLR and they have no alternative suggestions.

If it is not possible to buy a very good, second-hand sunroof, complete with a seal, what are the alternative choices ? The only two that I can see, at the moment, is to either permanently seal the sunroof with mastic, rendering the sunroof inoperable, or welding in a piece of steel and repainting the car, and then fitting a non-sunroof inner roof lining. This would also mean, probably, re-upholstering said lining, provided you can get one and it is in good condition.

I have a feeling that the lack of supply of the sunroof seal will be the straw that breaks the camels back as without an effective seal the car will be evermore wet inside.

Pierre3.

Velvet, I was explaining that if parts are not available anywhere in Europe, and a lot of parts are "No longer available" then you have to look elsewhere to buy parts. My point is that, if you can't buy something locally, or in the country in which you live [in your case Italy], then it doesn't matter how much it costs, if no-one has that part then the price means nothing - because you can't buy it anyway.

Therefore, if an item is listed as €25 in Europe but is not available, but it is listed as $150 in the US then it is neither cheap nor expensive because if this is the only place that you can buy it then that is the price. The only issue then is whether you need the part and do you want to pay the price for it.

It is the same for everything. I buy replica and old handguns, and if I want to buy an1858 Remington revolver and i can't buy it in Europe then I have to pay the US prices, however much they are. It is my choice then, to either pay or reject. No point in saying "I can buy it in Europe for $xxx" if there are none for sale.

I'm not criticising anyone, I am just pointing out that sometimes you have to look farther from home, or buy second hand parts.

Pierre3.

I couldn't get the Hankook battery, about 18 months ago, so I bought a Yuasa battery from Batterymegastore, and it has been good so far. I have a DHSE but I have to admit that it doesn't get used very much. It does sit around for a couple of weeks at a time but it always starts without fail, first time.

I think, that if you have a diesel, it is really important to make sure that the heater plugs are in good order. If my car takes a few turns to start then the first thing that I get a contact that I have, is to check the heater plugs and replace anything that doesn't look 100 per cent. Not having the heater plugs working well is the surest way to kill the battery, as you have to start cranking the engine. It will inevitably start but the battery power will be reduced, and will probably be not recover to full charge each time the car struggles to start.

The Yuasa is more expensive than the Hankook but it is 925CCA. Here is the description for anyone who is interested:
Yuasa YBX3642 12V 110Ah 925A Super Heavy Duty SMF Commercial Vehicle Battery.

Pierre3.

If the seal is available in the USA, and you want the seal to be new, then you may be advised to buy it from the USA.

I live in Ireland, in the EU, and I quite often buy parts from USA based suppliers. I just pay the duties. The way I see it, if the parts aren't available in Europe then it doesn't matter if they are free, if you can't get them then there is no point in saying that the parts are much cheaper than importing them from the USA. That means US prices are not expensive as you can't buy them from someone else in Europe.

Pierre3.

Thanks Richard, I realised what the cam kit was for, but only after I had written the post.

Pierre3.

After looking through a collection of pictures that I have about the door handles I can now see what the cam kit does. So, no need to have to post any replies 😀 .

Hi guys, could somebody explain where this cam kit fits, please ? STC3064 KIT-CAM DOOR LOCK.

I was talking to a friend, last week, and mentioned that the nearside front door handle isn't pulling right in, even though it is only 18 months old. I bought all new handles from Rimmers the year before last and for some reason the passenger door front isn't springing fully back into the door.

The guy I spoke to suggested getting a new door lock cam kit. But where does this cam fit. The Rimmer diagram doesn't actually show whether it fits in the door handle or the door latch.

Pierre3.

I have to agree with Richard about dealing with cars in France. I used to be in the haulage game, back in the late 60's and up to the 80's, and it was always a slow job getting trucks repaired. We had Volvo's and Scania's and the crazy thing was, if we broke down and were towed to a local dealer, they had to contact either of the manufacturers in Sweden, to get authorisation from Ireland, and to order te parts from Ireland, before they would do anything. So you could be stuck in France for a couple of weeks before you got going again. Unless you did the job yourself, which is usually what happened.

A guy I know had a gearbox break, in Italy, and, after a good few phone calls, managed to find a second hand box some distance away. He mabaged to buy it and get it transported to the restaurant/bar, where he was parked, and with help from another three or four drivers, changed the gearbox and left the old gearbox sitting in the bushes behind the restaurant !! You have to understand that, in those days, Italian truck stop restaurants usually had very large carparks, maybe an acre or so, so nobody was bothered about an old gearbox just left in the bushes ! Somebody would probably come by one day, in an old Fiat truck, and rob it anyway.

I think, correct me if I am wrong, that in France you can't modify the engine, gearbox or running gear of a car, without some sort of permission from the manufacturer. You can fit body kits and different size wheel rims, and you may be able to change shock absorbers and springs but that is about it. I believe that it has something to do with the original build and design criteria, and if you change major mechanical parts you are contravening the factory specs. The same thing has happened in Ireland because the government brought in a Spanish crowd to do the annual road tests, and they test cars using the manufacturers specs, so you can't fit, for instance a straight through exhaust on your car as it wasn't fitted as standard. And they will fail you.

I have heard from young guys that I sometimes meet, with cars like Renault 5 Turbo's, or Escort Turbo's, Escort RS 2000's etc., that they are being failed for fitting things like dump valves and for chipping the engines, and also for lowering the car too much.

Lastly, there is a saying in France that the French don't like foreigners, but Parisians don't like anybody at all, including the French themselves. I spoke pretty good French, back in the days, and I have to say that it was always my favourite country to go to. I spent a lot of time there and got to know it well. I spent two years working for a guy up in Brittany and I loved every day of it.

Pierre3.

Richard, thanks for the link to RLD. I also buy from Landypoint in France.

I just had a look at RLD's website and their price for the water shedder skin is actually the same as the price, so I am happy enough. But it's always handy to have more contact on the continent.

Pierre3.

Richard, you are very fortunate. Dealing with the dumbkoffs here is just so frustrating. There isn't a main Land Rover garage here, the dealers are all franchises. They are all owned by large motor groups, or they are independents who deal with a number of different manufacturers. LR dealers here are not interested in P38's, they only want to see brand new cars, that they have sold.

When the door latch locked me out I had to get the car collected and delivered to an independent guy who has nothing to do with LR Ireland, he buys all his stuff from the UK. But the tow guy told me that the previous day to collecting me he had picked up a 2 year old RR, which had a big problem with the ignition key thing, and he had to take it back to the dealer that sold the car - 95 miles away. The local garage, the one that I would have to go to, told the owner that it was nothing to do with them, and the car was under warranty but only by the garage that sold the car.

About the only thing that my local dealer will order without a fuss, or a row, is new keyfobs, but probably that's because at €300 it's money for old rope. And they won't connect, or check, the keyfob without you paying nearly €100 for a mechanics time.

It's just so much easier to buy from Rimmer, except for the sterling difference and the tax, duties etc., or from companies like Jon Wade in Belgium. Wades are very efficient, and I don't have to pay the courier for the customs admin stuff, and the duties.

Pierre3.

Hi guys, thanks for all the suggestions and information.

Richard, it is a long, and usually expensive, job going near the local Land Rover dealer here. I have tried to get a few things done by them but they don't want to know about P38's. In fact, when I had a problem with the door latch and rang them to see if they might have a guy that could come and have a look they said that the only guy they had had left the company, and no-one else knew about P38's. I was also only 400 yards away from their workshops. So I do my utmost to avoid going near them.

Garvin, I like the idea that you suggest, if it makes it easier the take the liner off again then i will definitely have a look at doing this.

Leolito, I know what you mean about being careful, but I have found that, even being careful, using a plastic trim tool with some oil on it the black goo still sticks to the removal tool and damages the liner. If I can find a way where it is removable without causing damage then I would be happy.

Pierre3.

Richard, very many thanks for your guidance.

I will actually be able to try the methods you suggest as my brother-in-law owns a farm up country. I will give him a patently false pretence of expressing interest in chickens, so that I can drive across his fields - and then head home again !

Thanks for including the piece from the manual about testing, I am going to print this off and call into the test centre when I am passing, just to see what they say.

Pierre3.

Richard, the more information that you suggest the more I think that they are getting wrong. I was watching this morning, and there were two fella's in the front of the car, and the guy in the passenger seat was leaning across looking at the dashboard I suspect. I bet that, as you suggest, the ABS light was probably flashing on and off.

I have to say, I couldn't figure out how you can use a two wheel test rig if the vehicle is permanent four wheel drive, because the description alone, "four wheel drive" indicates that all the wheels are going to drive if the car is in gear.

I wonder, Richard, whether you might know where I can find the information in the RAVE manual, about the method of testing the ABS four wheel drive system, specifically, what to do and what not to do. The guy I spoke to earlier today, Steve Hill, said that the information is in the RAVE manual, but I didn't ask him where.

Pierre3.

Just a quick question - I believe that, in RAVE, there is mention of how, and how not, to test the ABS system. I have looked through the manual, in the section about brakes but I can't find anything that explains how to test the ABS braking, and how not to.

Maybe someone might have a page number, section number, where I can find this information ?

A further update to my annual test - I went back with the car, this morning, and I was expecting the guy to just road test the car to ensure that the ABS light goes out, but instead he took the car back in to do another brake test. I watched three guys try to figure out how to do this, until eventually the supervisor called me to tell me the car had passed the test. But he then said that they couldn't test the system fully because the drivers side front wheel would lock up on their rolling road thing, but not when the car was driven on the road [inside the test warehouse, so not very far]. So they spent about half an hour going backwards and forwards before eventually agreeing that there is nothing wrong ------- BUT I would be advised to have the problem looked at !!!!

The supervisor said that their system can test permanent 4 wheel drives as it tests one wheel at a time, but the car is still sitting on a two wheel "rack" [or whatever it is called]. I have checked that the four wheel drive is working OK by following Richards instructions about doing a couple of tight circles, and there is nothing untowards happening.

What problem ???? There is no problem as far as I can see. I even went to the extent of ringing a guy in Brislington, an ex-Landrover guy called Steve Hill who runs his own LR garage and is considered an all-round good guy, and he agreed with me, from my description, that there isn't anything wrong and it is the way that the tester is trying to test the car.

The big problem, in Ireland, you can't just go somewhere else because the test centres are few and far between. The next nearest centre is around 3/4 drive away and about 35 miles each way. And, and, you can't just ring these test centres up and ask what method do they use for testing different vehicles as the bookings are done through an automated, on-line system.

Pierre3.

Pierre3.