It's grim up north…tales from the Primate House

[Fumbler]

Whats worse/better than one P38?

 

MOAR P38S!!!

 

"Welcome to the Layer Cake son."

Also means you will be earning negative cash. Then again, my brother may very well be earning negative cash with his HSE version. Some family friends came over and were very sympathetic with his purchase.

[Jim Bell]

A funny tale from the other afternoon....the local Hermes parcel man came round to drop off a package in a dog eared Skoda estate, driven by his old man.

 

Now his normal conveyance is usually a tatty import Shogun or other similar 4x4 running on veg...bear in mind that he’s firmly in the school of reactive rather than pre-emptive maintenance and this is the third Shogun he’s killed in recent times, his most recent filling the radiator with engine oil.

 

Anyway, he’s lost all faith in JDM vehicles now and having seen the P38 outside has decided he wants something more reliable and is going to look out for a cheap one himself.

 

Just bear this in mind if you live around the BB12 postcode area and your parcel deliveries are late in the next month or two.

 

You couldn’t make this shit up.

It's nice to know that someone, somewhere is about to LEARN.

[Fumbler]

Learn hard too. Reliability is not listed in the manual's glossary, that's for sure. Engine failure and alarm faults are listed, left right and centre. It even has its own fuse diagnosis system! That's clever.

[NorthernMonkey]

That list does not look too bad! Basically the ride height sensor and a bit of welding! The tint and gearbox warning have always been like it since I got it (though agree should be fixed) and the exhaust and wheel clamp were fine when it left here mate!

 

Seriously, I am actually quite relieved, I kept the mud on it as I figured it could hide things (actually you have seen my track, it was impossible to keep clean!) and I was always too frightened to get under it and have a proper poke around in case I made things worse!

Absolutely not. I’m more than happy with it, Nick.

 

My aim is to bring it back up to scratch as economically as possible, mainly just to see if it can be done, and to explore whether it’s possible to run one as a reliable daily hack.

[Fumbler]

Absolutely not. I’m more than happy with it, Nick.

 

My aim is to bring it back up to scratch as economically as possible, mainly just to see if it can be done, and to explore whether it’s possible to run one as a reliable daily hack.

Would you be inclined to chip it to get more fuel mileage? Apparently it also will improve it starting terperatures and mixture settings which will preserve the block a bit more.

[NorthernMonkey]

Learn hard too. Reliability is not listed in the manual's glossary, that's for sure. Engine failure and alarm faults are listed, left right and centre. It even has its own fuse diagnosis system! That's clever.

My advice to him was to think very carefully but I’ve no doubt it fell on deaf ears.

 

Could be a nice little money spinner keeping him supplied in bits from the spares vehicle I suppose.

[NorthernMonkey]

Would you be inclined to chip it to get more fuel mileage? Apparently it also will improve it starting terperatures and mixture settings which will preserve the block a bit more.

It’s something I was considering all along but I found a little plastic box in the centre cubby hole with an ic inside. Now whether it’s an upgraded chip, the original chip or indeed entirely unrelated to a Range Rover at all, I’ve no idea.

 

I’ll post a picture up of it tomorrow in case anyone can shed any light on it. All I can remember is it’s got about 24 pins and a paper label with some numbers printed on and a blue felt tip pen cross drawn on it.

 

It’d be lovely to imagine plugging it in somewhere would result in increased power/decreased fuel consumption but it could equally be out of somebody’s PS2

[Fumbler]

My advice to him was to think very carefully but I’ve no doubt it fell on deaf ears.

 

Could be a nice little money spinner keeping him supplied in bits from the spares vehicle I suppose.

It could. Brother's one needs some boot seal renewing (as in making the panel lip protrude a bit more to seal it properly. He found 3 inches of water in the spare wheel well. No wonder why it was misting up.) and a general AC once over. Handbook symbol only comes on when the AC is on, which is reassuring, as the blend motors are something I don't want to be contracted to do. Neither do I want to do the heater matrix but it'll need doing soon. He loves it and is incredibly happy with the low mileage and the fact that everything works. Perfectly. For now.

 

I hope that your adventures are going to go well. Briother is interested in what you are doing so I'll be looking forward to what happens next!

[Fumbler]

It’s something I was considering all along but I found a little plastic box in the centre cubby hole with an ic inside. Now whether it’s an upgraded chip, the original chip or indeed entirely unrelated to a Range Rover at all, I’ve no idea.

 

I’ll post a picture up of it tomorrow in case anyone can shed any light on it. All I can remember is it’s got about 24 pins and a paper label with some numbers printed on and a blue felt tip pen cross drawn on it.

 

It’d be lovely to imagine plugging it in somewhere would result in increased power/decreased fuel consumption but it could equally be out of somebody’s PS2

It might be, however it could be the additional diagnostic code thingie to make it OBD2 compatible. If it is, that's a couple hundred bob off a parts bill.

[andy18s]

Learn hard too. Reliability is not listed in the manual's glossary, that's for sure. Engine failure and alarm faults are listed, left right and centre. It even has its own fuse diagnosis system! That's clever.

I had 12 months with my Dse and once I'd replaced the dying transfer box it ended up being just as reliable as anything else I've owned

Had a loose Abs sensor which would put the light on but a bit of araldite sorted that

The wife actually said it was her favourite of my choddy purchases,and was a bit peeved when I eventually swapped it for a Leon Cupra....

[Fumbler]

Mechanically I cannot fault them to date. I'm just extremely apprehensive to work on one because I know the electrical risks, probably too well for my own good. The V8ness is something I'll never get over. It sounds really nice and is really smooth. Really smooth.

[NorthernMonkey]

Mechanically I cannot fault them to date. I'm just extremely apprehensive to work on one because I know the electrical risks, probably too well for my own good. The V8ness is something I'll never get over. It sounds really nice and is really smooth. Really smooth.

Don’t go there.

 

The other option is to repair the V8 engine and build on that one but I’m not sure I could stomach the fuel costs.

 

Says he who’s currently dailying a 5.0 S class.

 

Slopes off to eBay to look for LPG kits.

[Fumbler]

Don’t go there.

 

The other option is to repair the V8 engine and build on that one but I’m not sure I could stomach the fuel costs.

 

Says he who’s currently dailying a 5.0 S class.

 

Slopes off to eBay to look for LPG kits.

I'm going to have to to make sure we get a good Audi matrix in with new seals everywhere. Rover's cost cutting measures can really be felt on that front given the materials they used. Blend motors might need doing too. Given the amount of time I'll need to do that I might as well call them bellend motors.

 

Chipping your petrol V8 gives you around 20% more fuel economy. It also changes the initial startup fuel mixtures to be more sympathetic to the emissions control and the engine block, as it apparently doesn't like a rich mixture. It also changes where the mixture changes so it is only rich at 1000 and below RPM as opposed to the 3000 Rover put in as standard. You probably know that but my brother probably spent months doing research and he also said to me that having a diesel with a manual box in one of those was a completely different Pandora's box. I wouldn't know but he assures me that petrol is the "way to go on one of these". He's been feeding us with P38 knowledge (whether we like it or not) since day 1 of ownership! He's like that though with everything.

[Matty]

It might be, however it could be the additional diagnostic code thingie to make it OBD2 compatible. If it is, that's a couple hundred bob off a parts bill.

Or plugging it in might start off a James bond style countdown to total self destruction complete with flashing lights!

[NorthernMonkey]

Or plugging it in might start off a James bond style countdown to total self destruction complete with flashing lights!

It’s already doing that.

[Fumbler]

I'd like to say the alarm would do that on its own. Ours has gone into panic high alert drain battery mode because the sunroof wasn't set properly, so was still open when the ECU thought it was closed. Volumetric sensor picks this up and then puts alarm into high alert and drains mega amps from a battery which isn't meant for deep cycling. Oh, and having a mobile phone, walkie talkie or any Wi-Fi signal near it also triggers the alarm. It's funny how something deemed so secure can be disabled entirely by disconnecting a well accessed connector. Might be tempting to do if we don't change the RF receiver.

[NorthernMonkey]

One thing I noticed is that as of yesterday, even though it hasn’t actually gone anywhere or done anything, the central locking motor in the drivers door has decided to call it a day.

 

Something else to pinch from the other one.

[Fumbler]

If you are pinching stuff from the driver's door: we're looking for a window regulator for Brother's door as the teeth have stripped on ours and it won't stop closing after it is closed. A lot of banging happens and I presume more bad stuff will happen if we leave it this way.

[NorthernMonkey]

If you are pinching stuff from the driver's door: we're looking for a window regulator for Brother's door as the teeth have stripped on ours and it won't stop closing after it is closed. A lot of banging happens and I presume more bad stuff will happen if we leave it this way.

I’ll have a look when it arrives. Mine is currently ok so if the new one is in GWO, it’s yours.

[JeeExEll]

. . . having a mobile phone, walkie talkie or any Wi-Fi signal near it also triggers the alarm.

There was a story of wireless doorbells doing this too but am not sure if it's true. At least you'd know if someone's at the front door.

[andy18s]

I've heard of those WiFi weather stations being enough to keep the cars' becm awake,which flattens the battery

You can buy an updated rf receiver which is a lot "tighter" with its frequency targeting

It costs a pretty penny though, and looks the same as the early box

[NorthernMonkey]

I’ve attached a photo of the aforementioned chip found in the centre consule...anybody got any ideas?

 

 

It’s got traces of solder on the legs so has been fitted to something in the past. The question is what??

[Dave_Q]

The 0 281 number looks like a Bosch ECU part number. Is it 0 281 001 273?

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RANGE-ROVER-P38-2-5-BOSCH-DIESEL-ENGINE-ECU-0281001273/223413591745

 

I would hazard a guess that that is the original chip if desoldered, and if you pop the lid on the ECU you will find a similar looking chip mounted in a socket.

 

I reckon that's the original and it's already been chipped.

[djimbob]

If that is off a PS2 or an xbox, if you throw in a staffordshire bull terrier I'll swap you for a nice motor 2nite M8

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not totally sure I've got the hang of this selling cars bizniss

[NorthernMonkey]

It's been a long, long week at work...what better way to kick back and relax on a Friday evening than to go and buy a knackered P38 to use as spares for your other not quite as knackered P38?

[Fumbler]

Thanks for the door mech offer. Yes, it does seem your car's been chipped. I don't know if you've already posted it on here, but, what are your Emm Pee Gee readings on a long run?

 

 

We also need to get a newer RF receiver, as it's on the same band as PMR, which could be interesting if it went to a large construction site, that's for sure! So far we haven't flattened the battery, and we'll be looking underneath tomorrow to see how it's doing under there. Apparently the L322 had more rust issues than the P38 so if anything, a window regulator job will be for the summer, along with other car weeping- er, I mean, work.

[The Moog]

Good luck on the collectin... I doubt you need it when collecting such reliable motor conveyances

[djimbob]

Just waved goodbye to the old barge, chodspeed brave shiters great to meet you

[NorthernMonkey]

And we’re back. No filling station shot as there was half a tank of petrol in the old girl so you’ll have to make do with a driveway pic instead

 

 

It’s now parked up outside having swallowed the miles between the white rose and the red with consummate ease.

 

Ok, that’s not strictly true...for the first two or three miles from leaving chez djimbob, it smoked like three dozen beagles signed up on the Lambert&Butler gig. So much so that I was looking for somewhere to park up and call Green Flag.

 

However, by the time I’d found a suitable forecourt with access to a coffee machine, it seemed to be clearing a little so the decision was made to press on. A mile or so later at the M62 junction, it had all but cleared and remained in fine fettle for the rest of the journey...indeed, it even went back out again on chinese collection duties.

 

Anyway, its now beer o’clock so you’ll have to wait until tomorrow for the next thrilling* instalment of this Solihull saga.

 

Nice to meet you and Mrs djimbob...A++++ sellers, would buy again

[The Moog]

That's almost too easy!

 

Is it too good to break?