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!

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.

We've got a set of Milenco Aero's that we use on the P38's and L322's without any issues. General consensus on the caravan groups seem to rate them too. We'd buy them again if anything happened to them.

https://www.milenco.com/products/mirrors/milenco-aero-3-mirror

David.

I’m hoping that tomorrow I should receive the new transfer box I’ve ordered. I’m not taking a risk on another used one so this time I ordered one from Land Rover so hopefully I won’t have any issues this time around!

David.

I managed to obtain a replacement gearbox for the car. I flushed the oil cooler and lines in both directions with 2 litres each way of Lifeguard 6. When I refitted the box I had exactly the same fault present.

It turned out that it was actually the transfer box that was grinding and banging rather then the gearbox. A replacement transfer box was purchased and fitted but it turns out that it’s now whining on the motorway which is driving me nuts so I’m going to ask the company I got it from to replace it tomorrow.

Never rains but it pours!

David.

I keep thinking about doing similar to our Vogue SE but I want it to work with the original sat nav screen. With the sat nav unit in the boot it must be fairly easy to pick up the feed to the screen and switch the feed when the reverse lights come on.

Well, we got 3 months and 2.5k miles before any problems with the L322 arose.

Unfortunately, it appears to be quite a major problem and quite an unusual one too! My gearbox has died! It’s quite unusual as the ZF 6HP26 box tends to be very robust and doesn’t give much trouble.

When I serviced the car I replaced the solenoids, the filter, the seals and the oil. It’s been driving perfectly, no signs of slipping or any bad changes either. It lost drive very suddenly too. I was going through the field to collect one of the trailers and I’d gone into low as I came through the gate, driven about 30 yards into the field and heard a funny noise. It was as if a piece of wire was caught on the car.

I stopped, got out and had a look and when I went back into Drive I had no drive. I eventually got it into D but it was stuck in 2nd. I limped it down to the house and did some troubleshooting as the faults codes were pointing to the transfer box. Eventually after exhausting everything else, I drained the gearbox oil to find that it had gone from being nice and golden to burnt, stinking and black within 2.5k miles.

I’ve now sourced a replacement gearbox which turns out to have been a good buy as it was a genuine LR replacement supplied in 2017 so I’ve got that to fit now. Thankfully LR only quote 5.7hrs to change the gearbox on the Supercharged L322.

David.

Mild steel exhausts for P38's have been the one job I've hated on them the most as they never seem to fit properly. Once this one we have now needs one it's going to get a Double S stainless one. They're not cheap but I've read that they fit first time without needing modifying and should last a long time.

You're lucky as when ours sounded tappety and it was coming and going it was the liner hitting the head! Glad yours isn't such an extreme problem.

David.

The VSE that I put the new engine in (only one I've got now) passed it's MOT without any advisories.

It's done 712 miles since the new engine went in it 12 months ago so we're half way to it having the running in oil change!

David.

When the DSP amp in my Vogue SE started failing, it was only the rear speakers that worked. It could be that your car has the right amp but it's just dropped a channel or two in the early stages of failing.

Only way to be sure is to remove it and read the numbers off it.

David.

Interesting post on the Supercharged, Simon. I had my Supercharged smoke tested recently due to a very small lumpiness at idle when cold. There was nothing found on it. The JLR specialist who smoke tested it said that vacuum leaks on the 4.2 SC engine are very rare.

David.

Took the P38 to the local dealer today to get the throttle body heater. As I left our village the car beeped and told me the front left indicator bulb was faulty so I managed to grab one of them whilst the dealer. 2 mins to fit it in the dealer carpark saw that issue fixed.

Then after work I changed the throttle body heater. The old gasket was fairly horrible and was leaking on one edge.

Am going to miss this one when it’s sold. It really does drive nicely.

David.

Gave my P38 a quick check over and a wash today in preparation for a potential new owner coming to have a look at it on Thursday and noticed there was some pink staining that had started to appear around the throttle body heater pipes.

Going to call the dealer and see how quickly they can get me one tomorrow. I thought I’d have to remove the throttle body but it looks like Henry managed it without so here’s hoping.

David.

Makes sense as it's from the left hand side of the car where the reducers are mounted. Does it even happen on brand new ones?

Sounds like you're being kept busy, Simon!

Mine is running great on LPG at the moment but more often then not I still get the EML light on for high fuel pressure. Have had a good look around it but can't find any signs of an emulator or fuel return. Other then changing the reducers I've done no work on the LPG so I'm wondering if the previous owner just put up with the EML light being on all the time.

It's annoying me though and I'd like it putting right though.

One thing I have noticed is very occasionally it makes a loud noise under load, almost like a fog horn kinda noise but fainter. If you let the car go into overrun it stops, and if you switch to petrol it stops too.

David.

Right, I’m getting some serious grief about the number of cars I have sat around at the moment so this needs to go. I’m going to be washing it and trying to get some pictures of it at the weekend. I’m not going to have time to get the rear bumper sorted so will be prepared to negotiate on that accordingly.

If anyone wants a cracking, sorted P38, give me a shout :) I’d love it to go to an enthusiast home.

David.

I've just done this on one of ours last week so it's fresh in my memory...

If you lift the coolant bottle out of the way it does improve access. You don't need to completely remove it. The rear screws on the modulator are awkward but not bad. I used just a standard open ended spanner to loosen/tighten them.

The bleed nipples on the calipers are easily accessed when the car is on it's wheels from the back of the wheel so unless you need the wheels off, it's probably not worth it.

Ours had 2 new calipers fitted, all new brake flexi hoses and the front calipers were removed for cleaning and painting so all our fluid was lost. To get it bled properly took about 3 attempts, however, the last time I just changed the fluid it was easily done on the 1st attempt.

Also, like you say, follow RAVE to a tee.

David.

My Dad had a couple of D2 ES’s that he bought new, I previously owned a D2 4.0 V8 ES, and whilst I was running a P38 my brother in law was running a D2 ES.

IMO, the D2 is a bit like a Defender with a nice interior. The P38 is much comfier inside it and is much quieter to munch miles in. ACE does cure the body roll but that’s about all I liked about them.

For some reason, D2’s rot horrendously compared to P38’s too.

David.