Dog of a P38 or are "they're all like that sir"

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Tight Fart

Tight Fart

Active Member
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OK so I have been looking for a play car, tow the boat, play in the mud and take the dogs out car.
A car dealer mate has taken a P38 in p/ex and offerd it to me at a fair price and I have it for the weekend to try.
It's a 1996 4.0ltr V8 with 156k miles and gas conversion.
Now my old Disco had faults that I put down to character, we all loved her.
Now in 20 mins of this I loath it, the tail gate dosen't stay up, interior lights don't work, the blower on the air/ ventilation dosn't blow so it mists up,the heated front and rear screens both have big gaps wher they don't work. (I think I can smell gas as well) :eek:
It wanders all over the road (steering damper?) and dosen't seem to have any go, on petrol or gas (maf?)
 
you get what you pay for!

buy a cheap 1 and its generally going to need loads spending on it, spend the extra on 1 thats got the history etc and its only going to need a little spending on it lol

that 1 sounds like its going to need a fair bit as you have only had it a short while and found numerous faults that have been left so how many other faults are going to surface due to lack of attention?
 
my ex boss bought a good one, full service history from landrover etc, he had it 6 months and in that time he had to replace: the gearbox, the rad, the ecu, the complete exhaust system and the eas starting playing about he spent loads on it and made a huge loss, he now has a new rangie with the bmw v8 in, and it is starting to give him trouble........ anything newer than a classic will give you a headache
 
I'm off tto Devon for the weekend (about 550 mile round trip) and had planned to go in this and see how it went (on LPG etc). now I'm thinking don't even bother.
 
Tight Fart said:
Now in 20 mins of this I loath it, the tail gate dosen't stay up, interior lights don't work, the blower on the air/ ventilation dosn't blow so it mists up,the heated front and rear screens both have big gaps wher they don't work. (I think I can smell gas as well) :eek:
It wanders all over the road (steering damper?) and dosen't seem to have any go, on petrol or gas (maf?)
Click to expand...

tailgate not staying up in the struts - when it gets a bit warmer they will probably be ok but they would need replacing to hold this back open in cold weather, common problem.

interior lights - look at the centre light pod at the front. Hold on the centre button until the message centre says INT LIGHTS ON - that should get you your interior lights back - this is covered in the owners handbook.

blowers not blowing - check out the relays for the fans in the fusebox - any burning or corrosion?? this again is a common prob. is the book icon showing on the screen??

front and rear screens - unfortunately, as with all heated screens they do go bad sometimes, my rear is ok but a truck kicked up a stone n landed it hard on the drivers side of my front screen in the bottom half, this destroyed a good few inches of my heated screen as it broke the tiny elements inside the glass. Just wait until it finally cracks/breaks and get it replaced on insurance??

don't know about LPG stuff as i don't have it so can't help there.

steering - check all the track rod ends/ball joints etc, probably a worn one somewhere.

As for not having any go theres obviously something not quite right somewhere - might be good to book it in at a specialists to see any faults stored and then go from there.

Lastly - you have bought a P38, they are not perfect machines and will most probably never be as 'reliable' as your old Disco - then again its 20x more complicated with electronics etc - you need to make a choice on whether your going to keep it and spend some cash or just sell it on (give it away - to me?? :D)

-Wills :)
 
thanks Wills, alot of that makes sense, Idon't mind buying new stuts etc, I did check the fusses and pull the relays, they all looked ok (the handbook icon is showing on the air con screen ). I know the screens go in places but with no blower it's a pain, I do have a new steering damper and will fit that and check the other bits at the same time.
I'll take it into work in the morning where I should have more time to look over it.
I think though at in the end I'll prefer a more basic disco or 110 as a toy.
If I don't keep it I've said I will list it on ebay for him, so I'll keep you all posted.
 
On balance if I could have a lse or p38 new-would have lse or even 3.5 efi. Mine breaks regularly.

Having worked on many classics only the vm engined ones were a piece of ****
 
Cheers, nightmare coming into work this morning with no heating or visability due to misting up.
Had a quick look at the relays and found a burntish looking one for the heater, swapped it round and the bl;ower has started.
I have a Land Rover spares place within a mile so I'll go and pick a new one up.
 
Thanks for all the help, I'm not keeping it. the guy selling it has asked me to list it on ebay for him. If anyone wants to see it I'll post a link up here.
Meanwhile back to looking for a TD5 110 csw xs.
 
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