That's my next plan of attack I think.
I can feel the flap moving through the side of it but something just isn't right. I've got a little inspection camera that I'll feed in and see if things are moving.
After doing the heater matrix and o-rings on our Vogue SE in January 2020 and having to bypass the matrix again early in 2021, I’ve got the dashboard out doing the whole job again.
This time I’ve opted for an Audi heater matrix and have removed the metal pipes through the bulkhead and replaced them with silicon pipes connected directly to the T’s in the engine bay where the LPG comes off the heater hoses.
After finishing I decided to fill it with coolant with the dashboard, airbags and HEVAC panel connected so that I could get it pressurised and check for leaks.
All was going well at this point, no leaks visible and everything seeming to be tight.
I then moved the flaps on the heater box and am a bit confused now… On the Windscreen setting I’m getting heat on both sides, however, on Face/Lap and Feet I’m only getting warm air on the drivers side. On the passengers side I get cold air.
I had to split the heater box so that I could trim it slightly to get the Audi core in and am wondering if there’s a chance I’ve got something in the wrong place.
Open to ideas on best things to check though :)
David.
As above, I think the time to be realistic has arrived.
We’ve got 5 Series 2B Forward Controls all in varying states of disrepair.
A rolling chassis with axles, chassis and cab.
A 2.6 Ex-GPO Cherry Picker
A South African tour bus
A normal pick up version with drop sides (stripped with a new chassis)
An ex-Scottish Water mobile workshop (chassis was extended by Scottish Water) now just a flat body on the back. Engine remove but have a spare 2.6 engine.
There’s a few old pictures on page 2 of this thread:
https://www.900club.org/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=127&start=10
None of these are working or driving and will need to be collected on a transporter or trailer. I could possibly deliver within an agreed distance of Glasgow where these are located.
I have no idea what they are worth so this thread is more intended to gauge interest and canvas opinions on values. I’m pondering the idea of keeping the one that’s been stripped to try and get time to build it but the others I’m not going to get near I don’t think.
Would appreciate peoples thoughts as I really don't know what the market is like.
David.
I’ve been looking around it for days and was about to throw in the towel when I just happened to glance and see that. Quite lucky really as I was loosing the will to live.
This afternoon we managed to find the leak in the Air Con system thankfully.
The soapy water spray was running off the compressor to quickly so we weren’t seeing the bubbles. We got some leak detecting spray today that was much thicker and didn’t run off so quickly and we found this!
Going to order a new compressor and get it fitted then hopefully that’s another part of this P38 back to working condition.
David.
Had another look at this yesterday, I definitely can’t find any leak with soapy water and 10 bar of nitrogen in it so I’m going to need to look at getting some R134a and some UV dye into it.
I’ve got the UV dye so am thinking of buying a tub of refrigerant from Halfords to get the compressor to kick in and circulate the dye and then looking around the whole system with the UV torch now as I’m all out of ideas.
Thankfully the dashboard is out of this one just now as I’m doing the heater matrix (again!) and until I’ve found the leak I don’t really want to build it back up in case it’s the evaporator.
David.
The other option was one of these:
And a can of refrigerant from Halfords in the hope that it’ll be enough to allow it to engage the compressor, circulate the dye and then allow us two attempts with an R134a sniffer and the UV dye.
One other thing I’m pondering the idea of is filling it with something that could be sniffed with a gas sniffer and then flushing it with compressed air and nitrogen.
We’ve got a sniffer and it’ll detect very small leaks but am not sure it’s a great idea.
If it’s a Range Rover Sport it’ll be an L320, if it’s a full size Range Rover it’ll be an L322.
Both very different cars as the Sport is basically a Discovery whereas the L322 is unique to itself.
Does your car have a split tailgate like the P38?
Morning All - Hope everyone had a good Christmas!
I’m trying to sort the air conditioning on our 2002 Vogue SE at the moment. The last VSE I did wasn’t too bad but this one’s being a pain!
So far I’ve replaced:
Air Con Condenser
Air Con Drier
Pressure Switch
Tri-Switch
Both A/C pipes that run along the bulkhead
Various O-Rings
After doing all of the above I put 2 bar of Nitrogen into the system and soaked all of the connections with soapy water and got no bubbles anywhere. I then took the pressure up to 10 bar and after an hour I’d lost 1 bar of pressure. Over 24hrs I’m loosing anywhere between 6 and 8 bar of pressure in it.
I’ve done soapy water tests over and over on all of the connections that I can see and am unable to find any leaks anywhere. I’ve got the dash out just now replacing the heater matrix so I’ve sprayed the evaporator too and cannot see or hear any leaks anywhere.
I’ve bought some UV dye but as there’s zero refrigerant in the system I’m unsure how to circulate it as I don’t fancy trying to engage the compressor when it’s only nitrogen in the system.
Has anyone got any thoughts or suggestions on where to go next as I’m at a loss unfortunately.
Thanks,
David.
I’ve dealt with Duncan personally over the last couple of months, he’s been nothing short of a true gent, honest to his word and with zero messing around whatsoever. It really is tragic what’s happened to him and his business.
David.
Foam on the heater box replaced today. Not my neatest job but it seals in the right places and is better then what was left when it was removed.
This car has had a new air con condenser and drier last week whilst it’s been in the shed so I put 10 bar of Nitrogen in the system.
After an hour we were down to 9 bar.
I soaked a few places with soapy water and sure enough found it leaking in exactly the same place as the other VSE that I had.
Looks like we need to order a couple more pipes for it now.
David.
I removed ours yesterday to change the heater matrix… there’s a lot of stripping but it’s not actually that bad a job to be honest.
This guide is great. I followed it on my iPad and it was spot on.
http://paulp38a.com/range-rover-p38/dash-removal/
David.
Been doing some more tinkering with this car this weekend. The heater matrix was replaced almost exactly 12 months ago but it was leaking again. I’d tried nipping the bolt but it didn’t cure it so I decided enough was enough and tackled the job again.
This time I’ve gone for an Audi style core from Nissens.
Thankfully, there’s now no o-rings on it. I’ve removed the aluminium pipes and have run silicon hoses through the bulkhead. Thankfully the LPG system is tee’d into the coolant pipes just in front of the bulkhead so the silicon pipes don’t have to go far.
The old matrix hadn’t done 1000 miles and when I looked in it I saw this protruding and showing in the heater pipe connection.
It was rigid plastic that I couldn’t get out by hand so I grabbed it with a pair of pliers and pulled it.
It certainly wasn’t visible when the heater matrix was installed and I’ve never seen anything like it in a heater matrix before.
I’m going to replace the foam on top of the heater box tomorrow as well as fabricate a small bracket to hold the core into the box and then hopefully get most of it reassembled.
David.
I wish I had the time, dedication and funds available to do a job like you’ve done to our 2002 Vogue SE.
I’ve just seen more pictures of it on the link you posted, that car really is an absolute credit to you.
David.
Mark Adams who owns Tornado Systems (they specialise in tuning Rover V8’s) told me that the THOR MAF sensors should be changed if you’ve no history that it’s been done in the service history.
He also said don’t fit anything other then a genuine Bosch one.
I fitted a new Bosch MAF to our 4.6 THOR when the new engine went in and it’s been great ever since.
David.
Shiny bits arrived earlier today so after another couple of hours in the workshop, the SC is finished 😀
The worst bit of the whole job was the shock absorber mounting bolts. They were seized solid to the hub. Freeing them off took longer then the actual job of changing the struts did.
Both of the original struts were dated December 2006 so were definitely the originals to the car.
There’s a chunk of metal on the top of the strut that acts as a damper according to the workshop manual. On the drivers side strut it was seized so once the strut was off I cut the air bag open so I could grip the strut with a pair of molegrips. I noticed that the drivers side airbag had a big puddle of oil in it… The outside of the bag was totally dry though, you’d never know it had burst.
When you press the shock absorber it just collapsed. I noticed recently that it seemed a bit harsh on a couple of bumps, this is probably why.
I cut the passengers side one open and it was dry. This was the one that burst. As you’d only ever change them in pairs, I’m glad it did now as it means the drivers side is now right.
The car is now back together, I’ve checked all the unions on the air bags with soapy water and they seem air tight but I’ve left the car in the workshop with the suspension on it’s highest setting and the battery disconnected over night to make sure it stays level. If it does, then I’d call it another job jobbed 😁
That is an absolutely stunning restoration!
My advice would be to take what everyone else has told you with a pinch of salt and do your own troubleshooting. Checking everything over first hand will give you a good idea what’s going on.
Just realised it’s been a long while since I updated this thread…
I bought a brand new transfer box from Duckworths Land Rover and fitted that which completely cured the bearing whine.
Since then we’ve had a few months of trouble free service. I noticed that the ride from the rear was slightly harsh so I ordered new rear shock absorbers. When parked for a few days the rear would drop slightly too so I thought I’d change the rear air bags whilst doing the shocks.
On Monday I had the wheels refurbished to make them silver as I’d finally had enough of looking at the black wheels. Whilst the wheels were off I decided I’d replace the rear shock absorbers and air bags. Whilst the rear was jacked up, I heard a pop from the front followed by a loud hiss and you could see the car deflating so I’ve had to order new front shock absorbers and bags from Island 4x4.
Seeing as it’ll be on new shocks all around and new tyres all around by the end of tomorrow it should hopefully drive really well!
The tyres I’ve fitted are the Pirelli Scorpion Zero All Seaons. They are LR homologated and have the PNCS (Pirelli Noise Cancellation System) in them. On my Dads L322 they made a huge difference to the road noise so hopefully they’ll do the same on mine!
![enter image description here](https://imgur.com/b3KRhPV.jpg"enter image title here")
And here’s a before and after showing how it arrived in January and how it looks now :) It looks like a different car.
Hopefully the new parts will arrive tomorrow and then we can have her back on the road for the weekend.
David.
I had a GROM BT-3 on my last P38 which was superb. It was a cracking piece of kit that I used for over 3 years.