At 50 quid for a new one you may not want to take the risk : o) this failure is starting to sound fairly common

To be honest, I did order a new one, I opened the box and ... left it there. I went and got a 2nd hand OE.
The quality is really SH*Tpart for this item, at least the one I got delivered ...

Mine also took the belt cover and the top hose.
Just imagine what would happen if the bonnet is open and someone working on the engine ....

Sorry to hear, I had the same happening to me, in addition to all the damage described above, I also had - have, as I have no mended them yet - a little squashed the gearbox to oil cooler pipes.
Mine was also original, and this occurred a few weeks after replacing the viscous and the water pump.
I put the culprit in the work done, which somehow de-stabilized the fan and accelerated its destruction, but I guess will never know.
On the other hand, thanks to this I found out my rad was 1/3 clogged, and this was the reason for my perennial engine heat/overheat.
So I think the fan failure was a result of fatigue from "over working".

Unfortunately, I still have not replaced the hood, but worse, I cannot find a sound deadener in reasonable condition ....

My drain pipes - and I assume many others - were full of crap and gunk at the very bottom, where there is a concoction that looks like a rubber flap/valve. This does not allow bigger debris, like leaves, to pass, and it clogs the flap/valve, and the water level ... rises.
I removed them all entirely, I never understood their purpose anyway.

About "raining in", once I left the sunroof slightly open in the tilt position, and got a stain inside after some summer rain with wind. Curiously, my mate's Audi was parked in the same position with the sunroof opened as well, and got nothing in. Teutonic supremacy?

Thanks Richard, I see you use 'H' type which is the same I thought to use (was valid until 2004, so surely compatible with our "old" boxes).
I think also the manual R380 and transfer use ATF, so I would leave 75W-80 or 75-90W for the diffs.

Even for the diffs, I am wondering if 75W-140 would be a better choice ...

I am convinced, and colleagues that are auto box service/repairmen, always recommend a change at no more than 40K km for any type of auto box, regardless of what the manufacturer says. Fresh fluid can't hurt, especially considering the thermal stresses is subjected to. No-one recommends flush, but partial changes, or, if you are keen and diligent, you can get to a full change by opening the circuit in one of the cooler outlets and therefore replacing more fluid than with the standard drain/refill (including the filter/strainer).

The Audis that we service, that mount the 6-speed ZF 6HP26A ("A" is the Audi derivative, with the transfer/front diff in the same case), fall into that category as well. For those we drain and refill only as above, no flushing.
I would never flush on an unknown box, danger of freeing impurities that can complicate things is high.
If you do open the box and proceed to a full cleanup then is ok.

Now I got a question for the fellas ... what ATF you use in yours? I am not interested in brands, but type. I've replaced mine (partial drain/fill + filter/strainer, this was before I've perfected the method above) when I bought the car (239K km) and then I've done another one at 254K km. I plan the next in another 30K km, if the box holds as much ....
I've used Mobil 320 Dextron III type on both occasions, but now I have learned there are many "varieties" of Dextron III, ranging from C, D, H, J, and so on. Anyone has a clue that is the correct type for our old gearboxes?

I got a friend that made a total flush and went with Dextron VI (the full-synth) and he says his box changes much better, but I am afraid to try ....

great! I need to get off my ass and get this thing, now my "hole" in the finisher looks uglier than ever! :-)

I've also ordered a new sensor, since I have no rear spare, and I have noticed it varies wildly in its readings, like being stationary at 'normal' and jumps from like 90 to 130 to 85 to 125 and so on ... on access and on full high it does not do it, so I think it is a circuit problem. Unfortunately cleaning with contact spray or whatever does not solve, hence it goes (spare) and I will get another one. I don't want anymore to lose time and efforts on dubious success enterprises, if something don't work right and it is still available, might as well get on with it and ... get it.

Now, a doubt ... before ordering a new sensor, I thought I'd try calibrating it, using a number of wooden sticks gotten from a friend.
https://1drv.ms/u/s!Aog9VsSxOLcFmB406hI35Aw0j_LF

But, I raised the car to full high and put the 145mm block into the bumpstop, and this I get:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!Aog9VsSxOLcFmiDKJJAX4G_18_29

to say on full high I am "too high"? But the car looks right on on height, as well as other P38s at least.
What am I doing wrong? Once I get the new bags and sensor will have to calibrate, but I am failing to understand the proper procedure ... I think I might have asked in the past, but still got these doubts ...

Hi all, I revived this topic to update on my EAS suffering. As I mentioned in the "what have you done today?", after hitting a speed bump a little too vivaciously, I heard a puff and a lowering.
We discussed I might have busted a line or a air spring, well, after a few days I managed to limp towards my friend with a lift and I have found that ....

https://1drv.ms/u/s!Aog9VsSxOLcFmh9DQjASJPRhZ9HK

... the bag came apart in its housing, did not split or break. Oh well, since I have not a spare, I ordered two, this one will discard, and keep the other one (which is around 6 years old since mounted, but I did not use the beast for a full couple years) as reserve/spare.
For now I've "folded" it again, and it holds, I hope at least until when the order with the new ones comes ....

nice finds! I've also got to look for such tray and kit, although not the most functional is a sign of a bygone era :-)

I would not bother with an unless you plan to use it in anger, or leave it to some heir .... I replaced mine with a shitpart (was in a hurry after the fan disintegrated and took the lower third of the radiator with it), and it works fine and never seen more than 87-89 deg C after it, while before I would not see any less than 95-97 deg C ...

Sorry, I see this only now.
My 4.6 Thor is with a flexi under the heatshield, my parts Thor also, and a mate with another 4.6 as well.
Also, the material do not look to be cast iron, but steel. Might have to do as to why it has a flexi joint ...

Danke!
Will do so ...

Great work! With the engine properly rebuilt, you might even save on fuel as it becomes more efficient to run.
Any specific work on the heads, or they are rebuilt to standard spec?

Such activity is somewhere in my future plans, but will see when (mine sips coolant almost daily).
Might contact you in private to ask some details about the operation.

My German friend, the Jansen site is quite comprenhensive, but did not find anything. Will search more careful in the future.

I can guess ... can it be you have a "half-electric" seat? I have seen this from other manufacturers ... say fore-aft is electric, but the backrest is manual, something like that?

I am also going to look for this clip, absolutely.
I have access to a friend with a scanner and 3D printer, in case I find a part to use as basis.

Another day without useful progress, managed to raise the P38 enough to access the rear pipes but visual inspection does not tell me anything meaningful.
In the afternoon I was going to look at it again in more detail, but I started to feel very weak and lo and behold I ran a test and came back positive for the damn covid. So now I am more or less dead in bed.

I will try to put the thing back together one of these days, and take it to a friend with a workshop, don't have the strength to crawl down and out of the beast.
Any tips to inflate manually the EAS to whatever extent possible, at least not to go around on the bumpstops like any lowrider of bygone era?
I obviously do not have a manual inflation kit and stupidly never got one and now an order will take weeks.
The compressor I hear it rumbling, but it could be not pumping and on its way out.
What course of action sounds more reasonable?

1) use nano to open all valves and put the "home compressor" nozzle on the pipe to the air tank (or dryer?), and then send to highway or normal with nano and see. The unplug the ECU to prevent any reset or adjustment.
2) send manually air thru the "home compressor" to each one of the four corners and see what happens, and then plug them back in in the valve block, unplug eas ecu to prevent rest/adjustment

this was not the time for this problem, unfortunately

I think the pic is from a D2 or something else, see the inner retractable curtains the P38 does not have.
I am also interested in this, my refurbish did not include the surround and it is noticeably different.

Nice work!
Been there ... nightmarish ah ah ah
You might want to put some additional insulation while your queen is "naked", but do not overdo it - the fit of the carpets and other things is very precise from factory (word!). I put a layer too thick in mine and I had all sorts of issues to refit some of the trim in the proper position ....