HI everyone.
Trying to resolve a mystery. Over a year ago our P38 2.5 diesel 1999 had issues with exhaust gases leaking into the cooling system so replaced the head gasket. The car has been excellent, pulls and drives the best it has ever done. Just lately we noticed slight over flow from the expansion tank. Not a lot (about an inch in the bottom of an old pop bottle connected to the overflow pipe) over two/three weeks. The engine shows no sign of overheating even through the hot summer weeks. Did the sniff test - the blue dye turned slightly green after a while. Have checked the torque on all the head bolts and they are all the same. Done the compression tests - cyl 1 =27bar, 2=27bar, 3=30bar, 4=27bar, 5=27bar, 6=28bar. The readings are good for a 24 year old engine. Now trying to work out the next strategy - tweak the head bolts??? - put in some steel seal head gasket repair stuff.
Any suggestions would most appreciated. Cheers Mike

While sourcing a replacement radiator for overheating P38 diesel I notice that some have two brass fittings in the bottom, tank which mine does not have. I cannot find any reference to them in the catalogue. Can anyone shed any light on them??? Can they be fitted as a replacement to the "standard" 1999 radiator??
Cheers, Mike

Brother's Range rover P38 2.5 diesel (1999) i suffering from occasional overheating. We have been slowly working through all the usual issues. New water pump fitted last year along with a new thermostat. There are no leaks in the system except through the overflow on the the reservoir when it overheats. Engine compression is excellent reading on the high end of the tolerance range across all cylinders. The heater system inside blows hot so no air leaks there. We believe it to be the baffle in the radiator as the top of the radiator is .very hot but the middle is only warm at best. Before spending oodles on a new radiator there are two questions which baffle us - not difficult at our age but we have got nearly a hundred years mechanic experience between us!!!!! The are two issues

1. When the engine overheats the coolant level rises in the expansion tank and vents through the overflow. When it cools it falls back to normal level.
2. He has driven the old girl for weeks at a time with no problems, then it the needle shoots up the temp gauge as it overheats.

The first could just be the expansion of the coolant as it gets hot. The second could just be more stop/starts on the last journey. Are there any other suggestions????
Cheers, Mike

Thanks for the response.. We were thinking on the same lines. Just to test the system brother took the old lady on a 30-40 mile round trip picking up some shopping along the way and everything behaved as it should. no overheating gauge showing all the right readings - low on motorway running - just over normal in traffic. AND NO MORE leaking from the expansion tank. Ordered a new cap as a precaution.

The condenser leak is an odd one. There was a hole in the vey top on the left side - it was a clear hole as if someone had put a screw in it. As soon as we pressurised the system the leak "almost blew me wig off". It is odd because it is under the rubber foam padding of the top slam panel. We reckon it may have been there for ages even years but was sealed by the rubber foam., only showing now as the rubber has aged..

Thanks again for the quick response, Cheers Mike

Brother and I are now reaching the end of our tether with the old girl. Sorted the transfer box, and XYZ switch. With the recent hot weather decided to sort out the air con that needed re-gassing. Found a major leak on the top corner of the condenser - how it got punctured there I do not know but such is life. Replaced that and now re-booked in for regassing.

NOW the old girl has decide to play up on coolant.. After a six mile run found water rushing out of the expansion tank overflow. The coolant temperature gauge shows normal temp, The coolant is clean in the tank - no sign of oil or any other muck. The old girl was leaking some coolant with no obvious leaks but O-rings in the cap were looking dodgy so replaced them with new ones and the cap is looking past its best. So the first plan is to put the old ones back in and see if that improves it.

Don't think its the head gasket as there no sign of over-heating or contaminants in the water. Mayne the tank top needs replacing?? Any other suggestions would be appreciated. Cheers Mike

SOLVED
Followed Gilbert's advice and it worked like a charm - now onto the next problem!!!!!! Thanks GilbertD for all your advice. It is much appreciated. Mike

Thanks for the clarification. I sent a copy of your first response to my brother who has spent more time underneath the old lady and he understood what you meant. The clarification helps further. Will try it out first thing tomorrow if its cool enough. Apologies for the typos in the earlier posts, I seem to have a keyboard that adds letters of its own accord. Usually I catch them before submitting but its too damn hot!!!! Thanks once again for all your help.. Cheers, Mike

Thanks for the quick response. I'm not sure that I understand it, can you clarify it?
You say that "You adjust the cable so the gears engage fully when the interior gear lever is showing where it should be". Does this mean that we set the cable so that the Selection lever displays shows the right warning, then set the XYZ switch to match the display. If so - think that's what we did but will check that bin the morning when it's cooler. OR is there another way to make sure it is in the right position??? Cheers Mike

Having sorted the clunking noise on the transfer box, Now been having trouble with XYX switch on the auto-box.,. We think we may have disturbed the cable while investigating the clunking noise. As usual we have tweaked the cable connection on the XYZ switch lever a few times and now it works fine - the display on the dash matches the display on the selection lever display in all positions in low and in high mode. Just been out on a short shopping run, pulled into the drive which slopes downwards steeply. Driving in low ratio everything was fine both displays showing park. I took foot off the brake and the old girl rolled forward with a slight ticking noise that we've not had before. Any ideas why the car can move when in Park and the source of the ticking noise??? Cheers Mike

While checking the oil levels on the Automatic gearbox we discovered a clunking noise on the Transfer box when manually turning the rear prop shaft. Checked out the forums and you tube to ick up the suggestions that it could be the chain drive between the input shaft and output shaft differential. In the process of removing the box we took of the Viscous Unit. With unit off there is no clunking just the bearing noise inside the box. Having read the Rave description and operation until my head hurts and I still don't understand the purpose of the viscous unit.

The unit is ready to come off tomorrow bur one question that I am hoping that someone can help with is "Should the rear shaft on the viscous unit move move separate to the front shaft?" Ours is solid - both shafts are locked together turn at the same speed when turned manually.. We have the opportunity to purchase a replacement box at sensible money but it doesn't have the viscous unit. Any help would be appreciated, cheers Mike

Thanks for the response. We've been driving the old lady for a week now - monitoring daily and it seems that you are right. Repair kit has been ordered. The video link is excellent and helped to convince brother that it was the problem. Thanks again, Mike

Trying to track down various oil leaks on brother's 1999 P38 Diesel which we are slowly addressing but found one on the injector pump that has only started recently and not sure how to fix it. There is a "cover plate" with cable attached, on the side of the pump above the main body with four screw fixings that looks like the gasket is leaking. Anyone know if it is safe to take this off and replace the gasket???? Cheers Mike