Sounds like an interesting idea - though don't the couplings need to be vertically orientated to work properly?
I was underneath the car on the weekend doing some unrelated investigating....
I noticed the bottom of the radiator is covered in a mixture of ATF and coolant. The coolant is coming from the hose between the thermostat and the pump, and the ATF seems to be coming from the gearbox cooler. Took the slam panel off and the front of the radiator looks to be wet from the cooler down, and the front of the cooler that I could see was about the same. So I guess over time, the radiator has had a layer of filth building up and is probably now choking it somewhat. Need to take the condenser out to be sure but I guess I'm looking for a new cooler next!
Any suggestions on what I might use to clean off the radiator?
Mmmm mine does that too in the morning, and does loosen off after a short distance when cold, which I don't mind. Weirdly, my BMW doesn't do this at all when cold... in fact the viscous fan on that only ever locks up when ambient is over 25c and it has been driven hard. When it comes to summer I'm always worried it might have failed since the last hot weather and might not lock up at all :)
I was considering getting a Bearmach... maybe not. There is a local place up the road from my work that probably has some used fan/coupling assemblies - they've probably got some known good ones. Might pop in some time.
You can't miss mine. From inside the car you can't hear anything else drivetrain related unless you give it some and it eventually loosens at higher engine speeds.
It is really annoying. I might see if I can swap it over with the red one and see how that goes, keeping the one from my breaker in the boot just in case.
I guess they could leak?
Mine doesn't, but it is really eager to lock up and drive the fan an awful lot. I'm wondering if this is a trait of cheaper viscous couplings - both the Britpart one I put on my first P38 and whatever unit is on my new one do the same thing. It drowns out the V8 completely :(
Firstly, the engine isn't overheating, building any excessive pressure or really doing anything out of the ordinary (then again, it is a Rover V8, maybe that isn't normal). It can sit for a couple of hours at "70" and behave itself, and I can sit in traffic for ages barely moving without any issue.
My commute is say 20 miles on the motorway and then 8 miles or so minor roads through town etc. As soon as I come off the motorway, the fan will lock up, and then never shut up at low speeds. I get that is sort of the point - but its 5c outside, I wouldn't have thought it would take long to appease things and let go again. It will do the same from cold if I'm driving around town for long enough.
The red P38 we have doesn't do this... the fan will lock up from the heat soak in the engine bay if you stop and restart it a little while later, and then cool off fairly quickly and go quiet again. Otherwise it remains quiet - even after a run on the motorway.
What's your experience?
A/C is on the list for the warmer weather :)
Something else has my attention now with regards to things heating up and cooling down... time for a different thread for that!
Well that hopefully means I don't need to go looking for a random connection in the loom between the cluster and the HEVAC unit hiding in the dash somewhere :)
That sounds like what I've read re. the sensor and delay. I'm not sure where the sensor is on mine, but I really must replace the pollen filter on that side - I did the driver's side while investigating what had flooded the carpet and found it was completely full of crap. I guess the other side will be the same... so I will see if there is a sensor in there sometime. I do have the little relay in the fuse box though for the A/C clutch. Doesn't seem to run so I guess it has a leak somewhere. Future problem.
That sounds like an idea swapping the front half over - that sounds like it should make for an easy fix if its the transistor etc.
Currently with the weather ranging from 'cold' to 'very bloody cold' I'm making do with turning the blower up and down. I've no idea what the temperature is set to on either side but it comes out hot so that'll do! :)
That looks good with the possible LCD fix!
Thanks for looking into the backlight so in depth!
I need to try my spare unit to see whether the issue is within the instrument cluster (or cabling between it I guess too) and the HEVAC unit itself. At least there doesn't seem to be much involved inside the unit itself if so. I'd like to keep the 2001 unit as I believe the later software in it sorts out an issue with hot restarts where the HEVAC would blow hot even if it was a hot day.. or something like that?
Thanks guys,
I have the unit from the old car I could try - that one certainly works. Failing that I'll break out the multimeter again.
I can just about make out that most if not all of the segments work in the LCD if I shine a light on it.
On the up side, since resetting the faults, half of the heated windscreen sort of works! Quite a few lines not working but hey, better than the last one. Hopefully the other side has a wiring issue and isn't completely dead.
I have a couple of issues with my HEVAC that I've yet to work out.
The one I'm stumped on currently is the LCD backlight is dead - it's not the bulb, I've checked and replaced it. I've checked all the connectors are properly seated and reconnected them just in case. Also checked the plug to the instrument cluster, and that's fine too.
Someone has replaced the original 97-98 unit with a 2001 part at some point. I thought the A/C compressor and software were the only real changes between earlier and later units? Is there anything that might explain my lack of light?
My car is a bit odd, but every other date stamp I've come across is either 97 or 98 so far.
Me too! It's like a dark silver, or maybe it's just the dirt! I think the previous owner wasn't too tall... the top is going green. Unless you meant the red one - which is nice too. Both need some work on the paint in the summer.
Apart from the idle randomly shooting up, the engine is nice and quiet in the silver one now and pulls very nicely. Now to move on to the issues inside. Hope still exists for the heated windscreen on this one - it's been disabled by a fault 'to ground' by the HEVAC, so currently isn't doing anything. Could have really done with that this morning - had ice on the outside and the inside! A quick Google suggests the fuses may be blown or relays faulty/missing... I should go and look if they're even there. Then there is the rest of the P38-isms :) I'll find the VIN later - be interesting to see what it says!
We need to move at some point - that's the neighbours - I'm just clogging up the street with cars. Main requirement of our next place is a big driveway or access to the rear ideally... the house can be tiny, I just want somewhere to work that isn't the side of the road! Being able to build a double garage would be superb. I'd live in it.
A glorious sounding problem.
My first P38 sulking at the back slowing undergoing weight reduction, my parent's red Bordeaux in the middle here for me to fit a towbar, and my latest silver R reg with a Bosch engine up front. A strange vehicle it seems, ignoring the engine, it has side airbags too, which I thought didn't come until 99-00 onwards? Seems Land Rover owned it for the first two years of its life going by the service history.
Superb! Thank you very much :)
Ah, hmm. Ah it seems to have the same 20 pin connector...
If you have it out of the dash again for some reason, would you be able to map out the pins on the loom between it and your head unit?
I have a BT3 I'd like to re-use, but I don't have the loom. I could buy one... but I have loads of the 20 pin connectors, I'd just need the Alpine end and to know the wiring layout :)
Aha, someone with a Grom box!
Is yours a BT3?
Not a feature as such, but would a breakers or for sale section be handy? I know numbers are still quite low but...
I have a car I'm now stripping and on other (non-P38) forums I've been a member of, we've had a section for such things. No sense posting on the 'other' forum, being (apparently) 'NAS' based....
Right. I'll try and record it sometime, just in case I'm making a hash of describing it, but it sounds a bit naff. I can't say I've heard it on any other petrol engined car I've had - they just come to a nice quiet stop. The old engine did it as does the replacement, so I figured it was normal, I didn't consider the evap stuff. I can't remember if the old one would pop on the overrun, but it had the exact same slight unevenness in the idle despite leads, plugs, sacrifices, and now another engine.
I'll have to do some investigating, may build a smoke tester. Do you know if you can disconnect the purge valve electrically, and block the port on plenum for a short time without really upsetting something? After testing the purge valve isn't leaking through venting vapour into the bay while disconnected of course.
If this P38 my parents have acquired was a GEMS I'd be sorted for comparisons and bits to borrow. Sadly it's a Bosch/Thor, and it runs sodding lovely doesn't it.
In my quest to discover more working horses, I'm wondering if this is normal, seems to have gone unanswered 'over there'.
Most times when I stop the engine, I get a strange sound that seems like something is being released, but it isn't the EAS. Sometimes it can be heard as a sort of ongoing noise while the engine is running after starting. It is loud enough you can hear it inside the car. It does seem to be coming from right side of the bay (when looking at the engine).
So, does your GEMS make any odd noises at all when you turn it off?
Sorry I didn't get many more than that - it looks like it has been very neatly done, with some hefty brackets holding things in place.
I can take some pictures of my other one which is a Thor tomorrow if you like, it'll be the first time I properly check it over myself.
It has a Prinz system on it.
Hmm I was thinking about this the other day - I was looking at how I'd add another cable to the existing positive clamp and its a bit of a mess already.
I'd seen those clamps on eBay and they looked like they'd do the job - just wondering Marty what the clearance is like on top of the MF31 battery with the bonnet?