Both P38's have problems

Hi
My 4.6HSE has finally died. I have had a problem with the front wheels scrubbing and losing traction for a while now and could not find the problem. Last week I think that I identified the problem as the viscous coupling in the transfer box / front prop shaft but to late as on Thursday the front diff exploded so now probably have 2 problems.
My 2.5 DSE has had a wobble from last years holiday that I have tried to sort out. It started last year in France with a wobble through the steering wheel at about 55mph but you just drove through it and from 60mph there was no wobble. Got home and had the balance and tracking done but both were OK. Changed front wheels for back and no change. Changed the steering damper wobble got worse as it went from 55mph up to 65mph. Changed the front shocks no change. Changed the radius arm bushes and the car became un-drivable from 45mph. The wobble was so violent that I could not drive it. So last week I gave in and took it to the garage as it had run out of MOT. It went straight through the MOT but they did find a UV joint that had gone and replaced it. This has made the car driveable again but the problem is back to how it started i.e a wobble at 55mph - 60mph but is violent
This wobble feels like the body of the car is going from right to left and back and is worse if the road surface is uneven.
On a smooth road the problem goes away until there is a bumpy section and then off it goes but only at the certain speed. I have only got the pan hard rod to change now but the garage has said that there is no movement in this.

HELP PLEASE

I remember seeing a thread on here about these exact symptoms. In that case the tyres were found to be warped and not round. I think the guy took the wheels off in turn and had them checked. Do a search for tyres and see if you can find the thread. May not be the problem, but might be worth a check.

that was me,mine was wobbling/vibrating,the 4x4 place i went to rebalanced 2 wheels,but had to remove and rotate the tyres on the other 2 wheels,it has been ok since,all the other places like kwik tit etc all said the tyres were knackered had flatspots and out of shape,thank god for a decent tyre fitter that knows what he is doing

Craig - you've described the same problem my '97 HSE auto is having (I only bought the car last week).

Are you running 19" wheels on yours?

I am and was told that they need to have spacers and different wheel nuts and the 9" wheels don't align exactly to the P38 hubs

The previous guy didn't fix these on so I've bought the spacers and nuts (thanks to other guys on the forum for letting me know where to fine em)

I was hoping this would sort the problem, but not so confident now... I'll keep a close eye on this thread to see if there is anything else I need to check / fix!

Good luck with yours...

Mark

Hi All,

Just bought my first p38 4.6 hse 'cos my old Defender went up in flames, so thought i'd 'upgrade' - Ha! - anyway, i'm having the same issue - fairly impressive wobble :crazy_driver: on the steering at around tthe 50 - 55 mph mark.
18" alloys on Goodyear Wranglers, all balanced, but still got the jitters.
Have any of the previous posts found a resolution?
Ta.

Are your tyres Goodyear Wranglers, they have a habit of cupping, run your hand over the tread and they will feel like the teeth of a saw if you get what i mean,run your finger around the tyre and you will feel a rise on the trea then it will drop the your finger w ill rise again then drop thats what causes all the vibration, i remember a row in USA between Land Rover and Good year that was coverd on another Land Rover site, people were taking their vehicles back to Land Rover complaining about vibration and it was the Wranglers that was causing the problem, i had Goodyear Wranglers on my P38 and i changed the tyres around and i could not go over 40 mph , the car would shake, i tried a pair of cheap sumo tyres and the problem had gone.

Another tip for finding vibration ect is to take your car to a garage the has the ramps with the plates that can move in different directions for mot , they can find worn joints that cannot be detected with a crowbar ect

Reading around the forums suggests that many people have similar problems with wobbles after fitting almost any tyre other than the original Scorpion S/T's, even the newer STR's that were supposedly direct replacements, and if fitting L322 wheels you must use location rings as the wheel centres are not the same size and will induce a big wobble.

superkingtango said:

Hi All,


18" alloys on Goodyear Wranglers, all balanced, but still got the jitters.
Have any of the previous posts found a resolution?
Ta.

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I'm a RRC (four to date) owner & a tyre fitter advised me against using this make of tyres on any LR product except Freelander as (despite LR's recommendation) the tread can 'squirm' due to the vehicle's weight. This advice came when I had the wheels balanced & the guy showed me the extent of the problem on my own tyres.

Mine developed exactly the same wobble after I had my tyres replaced.

Turned out that despite me asking them to check, they had left one of the spiggot rings off. So just one wheel without a spiggot ring caused it!

Hope that helps someone.

Guy

Brilliant chaps - many thanks for the replies.
The Wrnglers are on their way out anyway, anyone had experience of General Grabber AT2's?
Or any recommendations with which tyre would suit?
70 % on road, with a bit of horsebox towing.
Cheers!

superkingtango said:

Brilliant chaps - many thanks for the replies.
The Wrnglers are on their way out anyway, anyone had experience of General Grabber AT2's?
Or any recommendations with which tyre would suit?
70 % on road, with a bit of horsebox towing.
Cheers!

Click to expand...

I've just put a set on mine. Very pleased with them. They're quiet on the road and very good off road.

Guy

Pirelli ST's are not the most expensive and are good on road and mild off, STR's are OK on road but I prefer the ST pattern for a bit of mud!

4father said:

Pirelli ST's are not the most expensive and are good on road and mild off, STR's are OK on road but I prefer the ST pattern for a bit of mud!

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I agree, but STs are very difficult to find now as they have been discontinued. I tried a pair of STRs but they were awful on road - my car wandered around all over the place and they were utterly hopeless off road - FAR worse than my worn STs that they replaced.

Good one Pirelli! Lets replace a great product with a crap one for no good reason.

Guy

Here's an update for anyone who cares! - had General Grabber AT2's put on today, balanced, adjusted the tracking (way out apparently), and the wobble has ALMOST gone, but it's still not quite right.
New steering damper going on next week - will let you know what happens.
Thanks again to the previous posters for their help......

Looks like I have the same problem have tried two sets of wheels and tyres wobble still there changed air bgs bushes wheel bearings shocks track rod ends drag link steering damper and yep still there am now looking at the diff perhaps worn bearing any ideas welcome
Lets know how she goes with new damper on those boots might be a solution

Right - just got the motor back from the garage. He's performed a thorough check of the steering - all ok. Still wobbling.
He (the mechanic) bought HIS P38 down (with which incidentally, he has no problems!), and put his steering damper onto my car - Still wobbling.
He then swapped all the wheels on my car round - Still wobbling.
Then, he took his wheels off his P38, (16" by the way) and put them on mine. WOBBLE GONE!!
So, his verdict is that the company that fitted my tyres have not set the balance and tracking correctly. He has given me the correct tracking figures, and i am going back to them tomorrow to get them to double check it.
Either that or the wheels are buckled, but if that's the case, it should have been picked up when they balanced the wheels!!
Watch this space!!

Hi Guy I see you have a p38 running on gas, would you mind giving me some info please, I have been looking at a sequential system, but have also read that it is important to upgrade the plugs and leads. This is from RPI in Norfolk. Another point is that it makes cylinders 6 & 8 run hot and can lead to the liners slipping. Your help is appreciated, hope the cruise thing is sorted!

ATB Jon

superkingtango said:

Right - just got the motor back from the garage. He's performed a thorough check of the steering - all ok. Still wobbling.
He (the mechanic) bought HIS P38 down (with which incidentally, he has no problems!), and put his steering damper onto my car - Still wobbling.
He then swapped all the wheels on my car round - Still wobbling.
Then, he took his wheels off his P38, (16" by the way) and put them on mine. WOBBLE GONE!!
So, his verdict is that the company that fitted my tyres have not set the balance and tracking correctly. He has given me the correct tracking figures, and i am going back to them tomorrow to get them to double check it.
Either that or the wheels are buckled, but if that's the case, it should have been picked up when they balanced the wheels!!
Watch this space!!

Click to expand...

The tyre fitters do not always pick up a buckled wheel, they just seem to balance it out:doh: Had the buckled wheel problem on my MR2 after my son kerbed it, no amount of balancing got rid of the wobble

Datatek said:

The tyre fitters do not always pick up a buckled wheel, they just seem to balance it out:doh: Had the buckled wheel problem on my MR2 after my son kerbed it, no amount of balancing got rid of the wobble

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Also, some tyre fitters are just useless at balancing wheels.

I remember a Supra my sister had once - came back from having new tyres fitted with balance weights stuck on EVERY available part of the rim. And it vibrated so badly it was almost undrivable.

They claimed all the wheels must be buckled. Funny how it was fine before they touched it.

Anyway, another tyre place sorted it out (once they'd stopped laughing).

Guy

Just got back from the tyre place (who fitted my new AT2's last week), told them the story, they checked the track & balance, and guess what, BOTH were out!::frusty:


So, after they corrected it, I took her out for a spin, and the wobble has..... wait for it....... disappeared!!!:clap2:

It's like a different car.

All i can say is that SOME tyre companies could perhaps take a bit more care in the job they are supposed to do correctly first time round.
As my mechanic said, someone could throw a lot of money at a car, trying to fix the 'Death Wobble' when i reality, all it needed was a bit of TLC at the tyre place.

Food for thought.......