Tnx, I'll take a look. I know that my exhaust comes close to the panhard rod, for example, and if I take a speed bump at high speed I can hear a bit of a clang. But, this sounds internal to something and is no louder window down versus window up, it will occasionally do it while the vehicle is stationary, so I was wondering if there's some electrical system active & doing something. If I am stationary on access height, then occasionally I can get it to do it by going to ride height - maybe something to do with the self-levelling. None of this happens over 10, perhaps 20, mph

I know, if we had a pound for every post about a rattle, knock or squeak in a p38 we'd all be millionaires, so to help you on your way....

I have an infrequent tap from the direction of the LH rear door or under the back seat. It sounds a bit like if you took a plastic handled screwdriver and tapped the chassis, or bodywork. It only seems to happen at low speed, less than 10 mph. It fairly often does it after slow braking, when the car's almost at a halt. Some times it does it just rolling along. Occasionally when I'm stationary, or if I turn the ignition off, but it's all low speed stuff. I have put the EAS up and down a few times to see if that had anything to do with it - seems not. I had the air con switched off, to be sure the clutch was not creating a phantom noise.

What moves almost randomly under the rear end of the car? I suppose I can check the rear calipers/ guide pins, but they were all thread locked anyway. something come loose in the fuel tank? I cd maybe check the exhaust mountings

Just drained my coolant, and flushed it through several times, there isn't/ wasn't much crud in there, so perhaps the rad is not the issue. I'll give the viscous fan coupling a go next, i think

E252 RH footwell panel - that's the earth point for most of what you say is playing up, although it is common to a few other things, like fuel filler cap. ETM Z5 view 56

The lights on without the switch could be an earth thing (ie going with Bolt's conclusion) - but could you just define the difference between main beam and headlights, since you say the first doesn't work and the second is always on?

Thanks for the feedback. I had my eye on the Direnza rad already :o)
I think the viscous fan's fine, although I'm not sure I've ever seen it disengaged/ heard it changing pitch tbh, it always seems to be running.

How/why does the Prog test work Richard ? Because the heater matrix is being used ? I put the HEVAC on Hi to cool things down anyway (and opened the windows), but as soon as I was on the open road I was back on the a/c.

Anyway, it sounds like current performance is abnormal, so I see a new shiny rad in my future. I did try and stick an endoscope in the water pump housing situ when i did the HG rebuild, but I couldn't get it to work, shame, I was feeling really clever having thought of it.

As I look back I had two near misses this summer, both on hot days, after 15-20 minutes of slow traffic ie just the fan running at barely above idle, and no air ram effect on the rad... I pulled over quickly each time, let the engine cool, and then as soon as the traffic cleared, hit the open road and no problem, back in the centre of the dial. OK, so I did subsequently have one HG go, which I'm sure wasn't helped by the first over-heating episode, but a HG change was in the tea leaves anyway.
So my question is, should I expect (and so try to avoid) these kind of heavy traffic/ hot weather over-heating scenarios, or does it sound like my waterways might be bunged up (ooerr). All the hoses are changed out since I bought it, but I haven't touched the water pump (yet) or the rad. The system did have some rad weld in it for a few weeks last year, but I have done a couple of changes of the coolant since then. I was wondering if the radiator was free flowing...if I stuck a hose in the top of the rad and blasted it through would it make any difference, or should I consider a new rad - I couldn't swear to it being the original one, but it's certainly the normal abs/ aluminium build and so possibly due a new one anyway

Welcome Mick, unlucky, that cd have been me on my first weekend

My Monroes are good, IMHO. I have front and rear. As mentioned on. net, i don't trust people re-selling "OEM" stuff and who think you don't need/ deserve to know the manufacturer, especially on a pair of shocks. I'd rather have a name, and know who to blame if it turns out to be shite, although thus far I trust Bearmach as an umbrella brand, even though obviously they don't manufacture all their stuff. But in this case (ie P38 shocks), by the time you've priced up a Bearmach set you may just as well have Monroe.

is it that, or your dunlop rears are shot :o)

err..no, and my nano was last updated about 3 months ago. Anyway, seems my saga is not over yet, ABS light came up again, but nothing reported on nano, bit weird.

Turns out my fix (replace and grease the RHF sensor) was only transient. In the few weeks since then nano has sworn blind that the air gap was too large on the RHF sensor. After greasing and replacing the sensor 10 times, i tried to get nano to work and give me the live wheel data - turns out the LHF was reading zero. Pulled out the LHF and cleaned it up, and we're back to normal.
I'm not sure whether to attribute the inaccurate error message to the nano or the WABCO ECU, but worth considering that those text messages aren't always accurate.

that's a shame. I imagine the most painful experience was having to listen to the Jeep driver crowing for the whole session

you can get Dave on catch-up. End of Day 1, beep beep beep, engine immobilised - hilarious

I have BFG ATs on my V8 Defender (265/75 R16)- the BFG AT was a standard fitment from new, am on my 2nd set at 100k miles. They come in two speed ratings though - you'll want the V for the P38. No complaints, runs at 80/85/90 without excessive noise, but if I needed to stop at speed on a slippery road, jury's out - the Defender is heavy, no ABS - RR is nearly twice as heavy, but at least has ABS.
I run Goodyear Efficiency (255/55 R18) on the P38, and had fun rallying on my Dad's farm last time i visited. On balance I'm more concerned about stopping the RR at speed on the road, than losing traction at low speed off road, so just depends how you think about it.

GYEs are about 100 per unit BFG ATs close to 180

I think you're right, it finds its own level, which may or may not be where you think it should be. Takes a few miles for all the air to come out of hiding, and possibly some sits in a corner somewhere in a waterway and gives you a little too much expansion capcaity. I have now run the overflow from the expansion tank through a silicone tube and down to axle level, as I got bored of cleaning coolant from elsewhere when the coolant system decides to chuck up

You'd have to be going some to strip the thread on one of those M16 b***stards, still, it does go to 120 ft lbs or something, hard to feel any stripping at those kind of values

Nope, mine came off ebay from a seller called coolpartsuk (2 year warranty). I seem to recall that the actual manufacturer was these guys https://www.adrad.co.uk/

what wheel/tyre/ pressure combo are you running? might you be better off with firmer shocks ie a shock transferred to both shocks at the same time is according to your preference, but a shock to one side produces a yaw

I removed my bumper too. In theory it shd be quick, but like Gilbertd be prepared to abort if the bolts feel like it's shearing or the head strips. The originals are 12 point and road salt may have got the better of them, the heads are recessed, so limited options for removal - drill or use unwin bolt extractors. Replaced with s/s hex bolts.
The wire retainers on the plastic lugs may also have corroded and will probably bend rather than turn. And then the ears on the chassis will v probably need replacing too ie you will probably need/ want to clean up alot before remounting the bumper, unless you know this is all as it should be, in which case removal is just a 15-20 min job.
I'm not sure I cd have replaced the receiver/ drier without removing the bumper, but I suppose if you are familiar with releasing the connectors, and the retaining bolt for the canister is kind to you and you are dextrous with little green o rings you might get away with it. Let us know how it goes