P38A Diesel Conversion

Just yesterday i got the April edition of Land Rover Owner International (yes New Zealand is behind with international magazines ), anyway you would've seen it if you got it. Range Rover P38 HSE with bobtail conversion, 33'' Turbo Insa Special Track tyres, custom winch bar stripped out interior, four bucket seats and so on.
but my question was can you fit a diesel manual in them of some sort because going by the LRO International table of Land Rovers at the back they didn't come with a manual diesel....
I may have this wrong but I am very interested to know more about these vehicles.

Thanks.

Tumor said:

Just yesterday i got the April edition of Land Rover Owner International (yes New Zealand is behind with international magazines ), anyway you would've seen it if you got it. Range Rover P38 HSE with bobtail conversion, 33'' Turbo Insa Special Track tyres, custom winch bar stripped out interior, four bucket seats and so on.
but my question was can you fit a diesel manual in them of some sort because going by the LRO International table of Land Rovers at the back they didn't come with a manual diesel....
I may have this wrong but I am very interested to know more about these vehicles.

Thanks.

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LRO are wrong P38 did come with 2.5 litre BMW diesel engines and R380 manual gearbox.

wammers said:

LRO are wrong P38 did come with 2.5 litre BMW diesel engines and R380 manual gearbox.

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+1, I've got one.

Yeah okay, I may have something wrong here...........
What are they like? simple like a 200tdi/300tdi? or more complex?

Nothing complicated about them, 6 cylinder BMW engine with lots of power when chipped. Best have a manual if it is chipped, auto box a bit weak especially if you give it some welly (like I do)

Tumor said:

Yeah okay, I may have something wrong here...........
What are they like? simple like a 200tdi/300tdi? or more complex?

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Much better engine than either the 200 or 300 TDI. Look up BMW M51.

yeah okay... got a picture of the engine bay?
REALLY interested now!
have either of you modified yours or just a daily driver, go to the shops type SUV?

Tumor said:

yeah okay... got a picture of the engine bay?
REALLY interested now!
have either of you modified yours or just a daily driver, go to the shops type SUV?

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Mine is a chipped automatic and catches pigeons. Only problem with chipping autos is if you do a lot of towing above 50 MPH in torque converter lock. The extra torque tends to knacker the sprag clutches up. If gearbox is in good nick used normally with regular servicing no problems. As it is the same box that is fitted to the 4.0 litre petrols with slightly more BHP but the same torque as a chipped diesel. You can fit the ZF 24 box out of the 4.6 which has strengthened sprag and drive clutches for total trouble free power use.

over the past few minuets ive been reading.................
i see that they have an overheating problem....
can anyone shed a bit more light on this?

200 and 300tdi don't have the engine management and are simple, the bmw does have it.
Simple and bmw are never used together.
Discovery has a 300tdi option.
R380 is a good manual box.

Gmacz said:

200 and 300tdi don't have the engine management and are simple, the bmw does have it.
Simple and bmw are never used together.
Discovery has a 300tdi option.
R380 is a good manual box.

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Later 300 Tdi used EDC.

200Tdi is considered the best Land Rover made engine....simple and reliable if a bit agricultural.

The BMW derived M51 in the P38 is a solid and reliable (when maintained) engine is one of the better engines fitted to a Land Rover, much more reliable than the Buick derived Rover V8, but doesn't sound as good.

They do not suffer overheating problems unless maintenance is skipped. The Rad top and bottom is plastic and these do crack over time so best to replace if history unknown. Cheap rads are not fitted the very important internal baffle, without this the water flow just scoots across the top of the rad instead of down one side and then up the other. This lack of baffle can cause cooling problems.

The heads can crack/warp if they have been overheated and must not be skimmed....but again, they will only overheat due to poor or neglected maintenance.

The FIP timing chains stretch over time and can cause hot starting issues, there is a work around by using a box of tricks to fool the ECU into thinking the engine is cold and injects more fuel, but the proper resolve is to either change the chains or have the FIP re-timed to account for the slack.

BeCM to Engine ECU sync is more stable on the Diesel models for some reason, maybe the lack of HT voltages flying around that can cause havoc to poorly shielded electronics!

Manual models will require a bit of work on the clutch and accelerator pedals as the M51 is not the 'pokiest' of engines but is mor ethan capable when needed....the Diesel does suit an auto box better as the torque converter slip masks the low end lack of oompf.

Once on song, she will lift her skirt and scamper away quite briskly.

Expect 24-28mpg in a diesel I'd say.....I got 25mpg as an average on my auto Diesel.

300tdi, quick wipe with an oily rag, job done.

Gmacz said:

300tdi, quick wipe with an oily rag, job done.

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No the rag is only oily after you have wiped it.

What Saint said!

I have the manual and it drives perfectly reasonably for a large SUV without any excessive clutch work. The missus uses it on a daily basis so believe me it has to be simple. The only issue is you need to burn the clutch a bit when doing very steep hill starts or when towing something heavy on a reasonably steep hill. If off-road you can always use low range and then it'll pull a truck without really noticing it (done it!).

Gmacz said:

300tdi, quick wipe with an oily rag, job done.

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Once EDC is in the bin, I agree with that completely

Disco1BFG said:

Once EDC is in the bin, I agree with that completely

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Why not go the whole hog and convert it to steam?

wammers said:

Why not go the whole hog and convert it to steam?

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Have patience Man, I've already built 1 four cylinder steam engine - it took me years - I'll get round to it

wammers said:

Why not go the whole hog and convert it to steam?

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Petrol engine does steam, diesel is pretty reliable.