Indeed, Happy New Year to you all, and of course belated happy birthday pub!

When working on the car this week I needed to refer to the manual a few times. I know I could have read the manual first but I had a good idea what I was doing. When I did refer to the manual it basically said to do this go to (a) then (b) then come back here. All well and good but would have been easier to have taken out the sheets. Also half the info on the pages is irrelevant to the task you are doing. Not that a printed copy isn’t. Guess I just like paper. I’m 36 and have tech everywhere but still like printers schematic when working.

Of course, after nearly having an L322 fall off a jack once I am super careful. Learning a lot at the moment though.

gordonjcp wrote:

Sticking that fuse in would put the transfer box in neutral, which would rule out the gearbox but not the transfer case and propshafts.

Have you tried jacking up both wheels on the driver's side and giving them a bit of a spin to see what happens? You'll need both up because of the VC trying to lock the front and rear together, or you could drop the front propshaft - you should be good at this by now ;-)

Front Propshaft is still off to aid fault finding, I am sure the fault is in the front. Will jack up the back tomorrow and run it then can rule out the rear. Then jack up the front again and try turning each wheel with the prop still off. I have the flu at the moment and no garage means working on it is rather hard at the moment. Still will get there eventually.

This is a follow on the Broken Down Again topic.

Having changed a few items I am slowly getting the cause. Well eliminating!

When rolling/moving there is a dull thud that seems to come from around the drivers footwell. The faster you go the more frequent the noise. It is not intermittent and starts at less then 5mph.

I have now changed the front and rear propshaft union joints, and replaced the Front Diff.

Tomorrow I will jack up the rear of the car, (Front Propshaft is off) and run the car, hopefully I will not hear any noises. That would mean the fault is on the front axle so would guessing it will be the hubs.

Chris has also suggested to place the fuse in the top right position on the drivers seat fuse box, and roll the car down the hill, this ensures the car is in neutral.

Does anyone have any other ideas?

I just did a quick bit of searching for printing manuals.

I am sure we can do others the more of each copy we do the chepear they are.

For example the workshop manual at 1350 odd sheets would cost £75 each for singles or sub £50 each for 10.

Need to find out if it comes with a binder though.Thought about the plastic wallet things but that would take ages and use up more space. At the moment the £75 would save about a day of printing paper and ink.

I tested in doing other manuals if people have them. Easy to Adobe them just need to watch formatting.

I am well aware that we can get the manuals online, but when outside using the phone or laptop is not really ideal. I was thinking of seeing if I can get a print run done of the P38 Manual, If it is just ring binder bound then if a page is damaged or covered in oil then a replacement could be printed without too much hassle.

The idea of my ink jet running a 1361 print run is not on my to do list. However online I have found if I can order 10 they could be supplied for under £50.

Would anyone be interested in this if I was to organise it? Would you prefer bound copies or as above.

no10chris wrote:

I personally don’t think we need to ramp things up, word of mouth seems to be doing the job, we’re getting new members every week without fail.
I like the idea of maybe an off road day, or invade a show and show off our cars,, it’s about time the p38 was more recognised, especially at shows.
Last year a trip abroad was mentioned, I’m up for that as I’m sure many others are.

I would be very interested, Swindon is good location about 2 hours drive for me so should be good. Might bring the caravan and stay local or get a hotel if we do more then one day. I have quite a list to do on mine but happy if we are doing something else. Shall we look into some dates in the future? BH weekends are usually off for me as I got to motorsport events when I can.

Ok, nearly there just can’t pull the diff off, all 10 bolts are off. Axles are pulled out on both side. Will not budge. Any tips?

Edit... it’s now loose but will not clear track rod. Can’t seem to free track rod now.

Edit 2... Quick chat with Chris and track rod is now loose and front diff can be changed tomorrow. If the weather is not completely awful tomorrow I may do a reverse picture dialogue.

Yes thought of one of those but given I live on a welsh mountain, i don't think it will last for more than a month. Only really needs a bench, however i would be nice to be able to get the car in. When its not in there store the caravan in it. Only real problem is the best place to put it would mean it blocks the view from the living room.

Well a quick update, The diff arrived from No10Chris, thanks! Replaced the Union Joints on the props, Fitted the rear prop and tomorrow will replace the front diff and hopefully fix all of it.

Got a cold so its a bit more difficult. Decided that I need a workshop for this so will order a shed soon.

Thanks for all your help.

I haven't got to the end of the problem yet, It has truly pissed it down today, there is at least three times as much play in the front diff with the car on the ground as there is in the rear diff. If Amazon had actually honoured prime and got the circlip pliers to me on time I would have gone out in the rain and fitted the two props back on, until then I can't get it off and back on the ramp.

I am out of the country for the next 4 days so will look into to it again next Friday, hence why wanting to get a diff ordered just in case. I can either A) keep it as a spare, B) Sell it.

Thanks for the heads up, I have watched a couple of YouTube videos so was aware of that. The garage that repaired it last time have messed me around soo much I don't really want to take it there and its kind of forced me to look at things my self. I aways used to do these things myself.

What I don't want to do is put the props back on next Friday and find I do need a new Front Diff. Feeling like get a cheap one from eBay and if needed fit that if it goes wrong again i have a spare that I might be able to liberate parts from.

From what I have heard you can fit a 4 pin rear diff to the front? Its a 4.6L V8 Petrol 1997, if thats the case then I would potentially have a spare for either if its not required.

Yes thats it, £400 plus the £100 return, its christmas so it its basically £500 until next year anyway.

I will fit it as already got both the both the propshafts off it can't be too much harder.

Orangebean wrote:

Do your Halfords circlip pliers compress the new circlips sufficiently to fit them? If so, you can just mullah up the old ones getting them out with a pin punch/ screwdriver and pliers. No circlip pliers required!
I thought Chris offered you a diff from his garage "stock" supply? See #24 above...

Thanks completely missed that one! I will get in touch with him.

Thanks.

Thanks that did it, sounds like you have had that very same issue! Unfortunately though the Halfrauds circlip pliers aren't man enough so will have to wait for the three day late amazon parcel. Hopefully today.

What are your thoughts on another 2nd hand front diff? Ashcroft is what I want but at £500ish I can't justify it in case I might need it, with time running out I am thinking of an eBay special. Would get me back on the road anyway.

OK, So ordered a pair of high end circlip pliers on amazon and expected delivery on Friday, still not here! Drove 30 miles into town and got the best I could find between Screwfix and Halfrauds,

Now got home and circlips on the UJ's feel like they are welded in! I have even tried tapping them round with a flat blade and filling the socket of the UJ with WD40. Nothing is moving?

Struggling a bit for time now as would have like to have know the actually issue before I go away for work next week. Going to drop Ashcroft transmissions a message to see if he can prep a front diff for me so on Friday I can determine if it is that and see if he can get it to me over the Christmas break. Don't want to have to wait until Jan to order it as may have a lot of spare time over Christmas this year. Or should I plump it up and just order one on eBay?

Well quick update, Both the Propshafts are off, Neither seen to have any play in them but will change the UJ's anyway, Tools are on their way.

Less is a lots less play on the rear diff then the front diff so I have a feeling the garage fitted a second hand diff that was almost on the way out. Nearly S**t myself when the rear diff came off when the parking brake obviously didn't hold the car anymore rolled back a bit onto the chucks. Bolts on the rear diff are all shagged so glad I bought a load, however why the hell are sold in 10's when you need at least 16!!! I have a few lying round but if the fault is not the props UJ's then I will need to go back under it anyway.

Once I know what the problem is I will probably order a NanoComm, Want to turn off the Passive Immobilisation so that would save £40 for the first one. Blend Motors probably need to replaced, so another £40, and so on and so on.

Thanks for the heads up, that is the first job for tomorrow.

Quite enjoying learning more about the car. On the upside too I got a deal with a local hire car company that means hiring a car will not break the bank when the P38 is not useable.

OK, so a quick update, Snow has gone and UJ are here.

Took off the front Prop and it looks OK, Drove it in two wheel drive and its still making a bad noise maybe a little quieter. The front diff has a bit of play, but not a lot. Tomorrow i will jack up the front and put it on axle stands to see if I can detect and noises coming from the front diff.

I will also drop off the rear prop and do the same with the rear diff. Lent my Circlips and obviously never got them back. Ordered a new pair for delivery on Saturday. Will change all the UJ anyway and hopefully its the rear prop that is the fault and not either of the diffs or the Transfer Unit.

Suspension will looked into soon and heating pipes and thermostat and service will done tomorrow.