Dave 3d, your tow hitch looks awesome

i'd be more worried about what extra problems my P38 would present after being laid up for a few months... then the saving of a few months road tax might not seem so attractive

About 30 years ago (before Google) at Billing Aquadrome (just a Land Rover show, at a country park, albeit on the off-road course) a winch cable snapped, and killed the driver (cable shot straight back through the windscreen). If a recovery point fails you may well be worried about more than cutting and welding a new one. You want the strongest recovery gear you can get - rated to exceed the pull of the winch (or snatch etc etc). Of course if the standard towing eyes are the only option in the field then that's what you'll have to go with, but better to be prepared if you can. Many moons ago I had to get a tractor to recover my Series 3 from a "green lane" they're not all dirt roads, and this time of year are likely to be more brown than green. This is why most LR clubs have the rule about recovery points, it sounds like overkill, until it's not.

On the rear, as I said, you should be able to find a bow shackle to fit the towbar directly, assuming you can get the swan neck off. And don't forget to remove the lower skirt on the front bumper

kultur wrote:

There are 2 recovery points on the vehicle from the factory. They protrude from the bumper and are fairly obvious when you see them. One in the front and one on the back.

These are not to be confused with the factory tie-down points used during towing. The tie-down points are underneath the car and face downward.
Not sure I wd trust those for off road recovery, fine to be winched onto a flat bed by the AA though

You shd always have a recovery point, most wd say front and rear, but you're stuck for a front on a RR, unless you start drilling, so one may do. make sure you're in front :-)

I wd suggest you remove the ball hitch ( if you can!!) it's held on by an m16 bolt iirc and I had to beat it, heat it, and then grind the rust off... Then either replace the bolt and put a bow shackle around it or you may be able to get the pin of a large bow shackle to go straight through the bolt holes.

What am I missing? Type p38 pollen filters into eBay and you'll have them at the drop of a hat...

sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but that cd be early-stage head gasket failure. If you put a hose pipe to your ear, and probe the area you may be able to locate the sound better. I had one go like that (3, outer), and it ended up like a steam engine. The next time it happened (4, outer) I got it early and removed the HG before it went critical. If you remove the lead from the suspect cylinder the squeak will likely disappear

My exhaust gasket on the Defender V8 sounded more blowy, when that needed doing, but was easily spotted by the hose-pipe, and wasn't load-dependent.

Sounds like you're living the dream Richard.

in a 50 mph zone on the M4 today I hit "trip" out of curiosity. the computer hit 29.6mpg for 10 miles or so, obviously that's fairly optimal conditions, but i was impressed it could do that

GeorgeB wrote:

Average speed - 8kph
Average fuel - 8mpg
Ouch - Manila traffic hey, I thought London was bad

I always take it out of Drive at lights (I had to think carefully about that, because it's sub-conscious now). Maybe it just reminds me of a manual, being able to move the stick. When I started driving the Defender auto 15 yrs ago it was way back before I understood the anatomy of the gearbox [ EDIT, though I'm not saying i understand it much better now :o) ] and I didn't want to create any unnecessary stresses on a car I will take to the grave, and now it's just become the way I drive.

Bolt,
Re models: Monroe fronts I used were STC1882M. Rears were STC3671M. About £180 for all 4.

I'd like to drive the car like I stole it, but in London they've introduced 20 mph speed limits everywhere, so now I barely exceed 1000 rpm

Your car must be perfect if this is the one issue you are worried about :-))

GEMS 4.6L petrol: does marginally above 20 mpg on highways; stop/ start in city can be as low as 12, so I tend to get an average of that. Seems much improved since I had the injectors cleaned - unfortunately, since I never believed the trip computer prior to that (ie seemed low), then I can't quantify by how much.

? I just typed "P38 pollen filters" into ebay for mine, took a couple of days

Monroe front and rear - they're gas filled, rather than oil filled like the Boge, and dont cost much more. The Bilsteins (which I don't have) seem to come up hard on the RR according to others eg Clive IIRC

My next battery will be a Hankook, but for now i'm massaging my Bosch

Re side steps in Morat's post... does anyone actually use them? I bumped into an P38 owner once who had taken them off... rust trap he said (fair comment) have most people left their's on?

Looks good, how did you do it?

My nano always reads 16 v from the ECM - not sure if its a nano error or a becm error, but can be ignored.

All that nanocom data is "engine off", so won't help much. TPS looks ok though. IACV looks off, but I think at engine off the IACV doesn't give reliable data, I'd need to check mine to see. If it cranks but doesn't fire then I'm thinking there is a fuel/ air / spark issue - please respond on those basic questions and check the engine harness plugs to sensors/ injectors etc are clean and secure. Has anyone messed with the HT leads recently?