There's a Vogue 50 one on ebay the guy wants 500 quid for !! It looks ugly anyway IMHO Dave, do you have any encapsulation recommendations?

i'm still "dash off" too... on the indentation on the top of the dash - there's the soft skin - and a layer of ABS straight under which would take a self tapper. If you drill it and self-tap it there's no reason why you should have an air leak (any more than every other join in the ducting), but you cd add some RTV if it was a concern. However the windscreen edge is a lot clearer than the cabin edge if you're drilling blind. I think i'd be tempted to use a good double-sided tape. The wires can come up through the centre vent, and follow the same route as the alarm/ sun sensor wiring

Replaced battery on my DMM and suddenly the range tests ok, moving the motor with 9V - anything from about 2k to 9k ohms resistance (motors fitted, so limited by the movement of the flaps). I also redid a pin on the LH blend motor and replaced the connector block. Now all is fine, no service book symbol.

I've got the new ones coming anyway, so I may just put those on to test them and see what resistance values they give. Thanks for the tip Leo, if I'm fitting them I'll open the new ones up for a quick check first. This UK house-arrest thing has put a damper on my P38 work as I'm now home-schooling two kids.

Thanks for looking Richard, I'll try with a different meter.

I have the dash off my RR.
Q1. The blend and distribution motors were 90% ok before I started (periodic service book symbol), but anyway, now that I have everything out the HEVAC is showing me “Feedback circuit on RH blend motor faulty” (or some such – reporting via Nanocom).
I'm not an electronics expert, but possibly know enough to be dangerous. I can move the motors back and forth with a 9V battery. I took the 10k ohm pot off the board of the RH blend motor (ie desoldered it), and it goes all the way from 0 to 10k ohms (measured on multi-meter), but when I soldered it back to the board it goes from 0 to 3k ohms mid-range, and back to zero again (measured at the circuit board) - looking at the ETM there is a dotted line going from the pot to the motor, so maybe something is messing with the way the DMM measures resistance. Thing is all 3 blend motors seem to be like that (I didn't remove the pots from all 3 though!!). I’m just measuring this on a Uni_T multi-meter 20k ohm range – the fact that all 3 are the same may just mean my meter’s getting it wrong. Or maybe my test is wrong (just measured between the white/ wiper and one of the reference legs of the pot)?
Anyway – if the feedback error is not due to a dodgy pot then what else ? wiring? I think I may scrap the RH blend motor anyway, as the case has been cooked by a hot heater matrix manifold at some point (although the innards look fine ) but the principle is so simple that it then annoys me I can’t crack it !! As future-proofing I'm considering just installing 3 brand new ones at this point - just because accessing the blend motors is such a PITA.
Q2. Has anyone had any luck freeing the Distribution mechanism - I've greased all the pivots i can see, but it's still quite stiff - the gearing in the blend motor shifts it without complaint though. There seem to be two black toothed wheels driven by the main grey one, how do the black wheels come off ? Pull hard? I found a link to someone who had dismantled the whole heater box to do this, which i'm not very keen on.

As luck wd have it I am "dash out" at the mo - as in HEVAC out, centre switch panel out, Dash instruments out... plugged the instruments back in - started on the turn of the key, so yes, no problem

Kultur- I'm not sure what you though I was dishing out, but I think I was being pretty polite and trying to be inclusive.

I've done plenty of off-roading thanks - in an SIII/ Defender/ Camel DIsco - I happen to prefer a Series/ Defender as a base for off road mods - I personally have no time for lifts/ snorkels on a P38, but winches and off-road tires no problemo. Poor Leolito - you completely hijacked his welcome thread

Tnx for the vid Morat - that was pretty impressive. Kultur- fight xenophobia with xenophobia, that's what I say, you must really get wound up by Top Gear. 90%+ of these off-road mods are just for on-road posing. There are a handful of people, like your good self, that make use of the mods, but i don't think Gilbert D was referencing you - us lesser mortals just end up watching youtube off-road videos. Anyway the P38 is a poor choice of off-road vehicle, for as long as you have the terminals of every electronic system in the car lying on the floor.

In these times of coronavirus, and social distancing, I decided to whip the dash off and dig into the HEVAC looking for the source of a noxious smell. The dash came off without too much trauma, I buttoned a shirt around the s/w, so didn't bother removing it. All I found so far was that the the foam gasket on top of the heater box was completely u/s. Now contemplating removing the heater matrix to take a look at the outside of it (no loss of coolant though) - for now I'll probably plug in the dash and HEVAC and see how the HEVAC powers up. Bunch of other things now i'm in there - put a relay on the earth for the headlight switch, fix my centre console where some idiot PO cut it open, grease up the blend motors, clean out the temp sensor and tidy up the routing for the wiring.

So far I fished a rusty torx bit, and a one pound coin, out of the heater unit with a magnetic pick-up, god knows how they got there

Had a look, and found the same bulge as you, injected a bit of RTV for now. And yes, the back edge of the sunroof has a bit of give, probably around 5mm

I feel exhausted just reading that. I hope you manage to get back to the UK alright

Ah OK, so 4 big ones, and is the smaller one, by the screw-in stud for the spare, also removable? I don't want to try and pull it out if not.

Smart that they worked out how to drain the spare wheel well after wading but not protect the BeCM

Tanis - your "cut the seal" fix... how's it bearing up? would you recommend it, and what did you use to fill the gap. Ive just remounted my old seal, but it may well have shrunk and so need a cut too

What are those things for ? Mine are the worse for wear, and I need some new ones...does anyone have a name for them? - or part code :o)

Either that or a D

I think now mine usually runs around 93/94 degrees (post a new rad, t/stat, ect sensor and water pump), a shade left of centre on the gauge. Bottom end of the gauge is around 85 or so, mid is 95-102. I think my light comes on a bit higher, like 103+. In an overheat IIRC the needle moves into the high range first, and then the warning light comes on. I haven't tested this recently, just based on my memory of observations of near-overheats prior to my overhaul - it often happened in slow motion - traffic jam on a high street, so I could watch the events unfold in front of me.

dave3d wrote:

I was Dave4x4 on Landyzone. Don't go on there now. I got fed up with the abuse.

I know what you mean, i only joined LZ recently, but it seems like a painful experience. I thought the same thing about rr.net too when I first joined, but the community has mellowed/ matured somewhat - if you can see past the fact that the site admin have trashed it as a resource

Hi Tony, welcome....Richard, quick qn for you pls, when we put Tony's diesel on the nanocom today it had Police enabled. Should we care? It's obviously been like that for some time... Tony your car looks great btw, very impressed with the engine bay

True - I will still be keeping the nano in the glovebox, for sure

Well, I'm the kind of useful idiot rr.pub needs, so I took one for the team, using the sill button/ open window method to get to engine disabled. v37/ GEMS.

First off I did it with EKA enabled, just to be sure when I disable the engine I could get back with a. the Fob, and b. the EKA code, and yes, all fine - dash message "engine disabled enter the EKA or press the remote". Since I hadn't gone battery flat then the fob signal didn't need synching. I tried to change the EKA to "disabled" in the BeCM while the engine was disabled, but it didn't accept the change in that state.

Then I disabled EKA, wrote settings, came out and went back in again - EKA disabled. Locked the door with the fob, opened with the sill button. Turned the ignition on, this time "engine disabled, press the remote". BUT, when I went into the BECM at this point the EKA option is marked "enabled". After entering the EKA code, and going into BeCM/ Alarm the EKA setting had now reverted to "Disabled". So it appears that the BeCM always leaves the backdoor open for EKA entry, even if the EKA option has supposedly been disabled, and it doesn't actually ask for the EKA on the dash.

And as a supplement to test the key blade only theory... with EKA enabled, simulated engine disabled, the key in the door unlocks only the driver's door, and does nothing to cancel the engine disabled message on the dash - as expected then. With EKA disabled - the key in the door opens all 4 doors, and does actually cancel the engine disabled state, and the car drives away...

So it looks as if you CAN disable EKA in the BeCM, but still be able to enter the EKA (even if not asked for) - but allowing the key in the door as an extra option to getting going. The only difference with a flat battery is that the remote most likely is out of synch too - but that gives you EKA and key in the door as recovery options still.

Interested to see if others get to the same conclusion