I hate P38's so MUCH!!!

Back in 2001 I bought a 3 year old P38 from a friends dad's company...... I kept it for 18 months and in that time it spent most off it's time in the dealers! After owning maybe 20 classics before the 38, I vowed I would never buy another Range Rover again as long as I live!!! I hated them that much. Well time passes and you somehow forget the pain, anger, disappointment and financial cost of owning these things and I got a hankering for another RR, this time I bought a rather clean L322 Overfinch with 72k full history and I couldn't be happier with it I'm glad to say (although I am having a little trouble with the tranny at the moment)... This was maybe 5 years ago and she's been as good as gold, trouble is it's getting ruined with me using it for work etc, it's normally got building materials in the boot or wet and muddy straps etc. "I know" I said to myself, "I'll buy another older RR to use for work"......... So started looking, "Ow, a P38"!......................
So off I went to collect this P38 needing work... (even as I'm typing this I'm thinking "what an idiot"!). As it happens it wasn't too bad, needed a compressor rebuild and the EAS sorting, had an ABS issue, oil leak form the rocker, broken front shock you know, bits and pieces.. So I set to work on her and with advice from you guys on here managed to get her up and running and working as she should, booked her in for an MOT and as I'm pulling out of my workshop she cut out... In tank fuel pump! Back in she goes, dropped the tank, new pump in then had a bad sciatic issue, then life got busy and illness in the family etc, so there she sat. 5 months later bring us to last week, time to crack on. Tank back in, let her prime, turned the key and she fired straight up.. Magic I thought. Then came the beep beep bloody beep!! EAS Fault, ABS fault, diesel leak..
The battery was a bit low to be fair so I stuck on for a quick 10 min charge and the EAS fault went, the leak was just one of the little return pipes so easily fixed but the ABS issue was still there, I remembered that I put new pads all round 5 months ago so decided to bleed the system, as per RAVE of course, perfect, ABS fault gone, very happy. Then had to work the weekend and been a bit of a busy week but managed to get back on to her yesterday, re-checked everything for MOT and booked her in for this morning......... Go to pull out of the gate and the bloody ABS light came up again!!! F@@@@@@@@@K!!!!!!!!! I'm done, I hate them!!! I HATE THEM!!!!!!!! Also now, the she's decided to sit lop sided for some reason, it's lower on the drivers side and no it's because I'm a fat bar steward before any smart arse comments..... I've seriously fallen out of love with this car, but what to do? I also have another one that I bought for spares, thinking I may just advertise them as a pair maybe...... I just want to get on with my newly acquired classic now...
Rant over

It can't sit lop sided if it's down on the bump stops

1999 p38a 2.5d abs sensor always turns on while starting. Stays on until you drive off for a bit. I had to replace my front ones. I have light on again now. I had to keep getting under the car and push the sensor down to the wheel hub and axle. There's a ring with teeth cut outs all around it which the sensor reads while the axle is in motion. While I put all new ball joints in the front end i also changed the abs sensors. sometimes the rings can come off. I think mine has. Anyway. I have issues with my abs and eas at the moment. still figuring it out.

The abs sensor stays on while it does self checks and only goes off at 5mph. This is by design
The rings can crack at one of the gaps, making the gap bigger than the rest, this makes the compete think the wheel is slipping at low speeds and you'll feel the abs come on

right makes sense. not having abs kick in so dont think thats the issue. must be that the sensor has come away again and now from all the crud got stuck and wont go down when i tried to push / bash it down again. I may have even damaged it? sort of dented the top now. will that have anything to do with it? oh while your on here i have eas issues hahahhahah

New sensors are pot luck, several folks, me included, have had them fail almost immediately

Its a sensor!! A bloody speed sensor!! Had a friend pop down a few weeks ago with his magic box, front off-side speed sensor.... I'm going to try and work up the enthusiasm to take a look... Mind you, need to try and find time first!

Well bloody hell

doriz said:

Well bloody hell

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I know right?.....

Youngest P38 is 21yrs old now, can't go in to a fix'er upper with your eyes closed, years of past neglect will invariably cause a cascade of faults, true for any car to be honest.

Generally I found the P38 to be better built than the classic, a body that doesn't disintegrate when it gets damp for example.

All faults are fixable with time and patience.

Henry_b said:

Youngest P38 is 21yrs old now, can't go in to a fix'er upper with your eyes closed, years of past neglect will invariably cause a cascade of faults, true for any car to be honest.

Generally I found the P38 to be better built than the classic, a body that doesn't disintegrate when it gets damp for example.

All faults are fixable with time and patience.

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Still hate them!

Rallymantony said:

Still hate them!

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The cost of fixing up an old neglected vehicle tends to exceed the with of the vehicle, especially when the vehicle costs are still so low

Well, it's gone off to it's new owner this evening that has plans to off road her...
How do you mark sold on the sale forums? I'm terrible at tech....

Rallymantony said:

How do you mark sold on the sale forums? I'm terrible at tech....

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Just reply now sold on your thread

steve24v said:

Just reply now sold on your thread

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You can edit the title of your own threads too

Mph007365 said:

right makes sense. not having abs kick in so dont think thats the issue. must be that the sensor has come away again and now from all the crud got stuck and wont go down when i tried to push / bash it down again. I may have even damaged it? sort of dented the top now. will that have anything to do with it? oh while your on here i have eas issues hahahhahah

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Id like to reply to my own post here for everyone to read. I purchased one of those specially made EAS leads from ebay and downloaded software for diagnosing and recalibrating the eas system. It has really made a massive difference to doing diy and repairs and maintenance. Being able to turn off the pump, lock the system, reset codes, and decompress the system, and adjust ride heights to your own likings. I ended up buying more abs sensors as they are not reliable and i suppose can be cheap enough. yeah i bought the ebay ones because i have more repairs to do in the future so removing abs sensors and the sleeve is impossible to save them and re use them. After a complete eas valve block rebuild and refurb, new compressor, and individual external air valves just in case. I bought a portable cordless compressor the size of a dewalt impact drill, and that has pumped up my eas a few times and saved a few headaches when things go wrong. p38's are awsome cars. I love mine. It has me swearing now and then but when i keep it maintained it runs well. I have a parasitic drain somewhere im dealing with at the moment, and a cold start issue, but ive just bought new glow plugs, fuel filter, air filter, cleaned MAF sensors, and bought new battery. It has to have atleast a 105 amp for these diesels. more to come just wanted to update post.

bought mine for a grand 4 years ago. Ive done a long list of maintenance and repairs. I've probably got 3 or 4 grand into it so far and its still going. I intend on keeping it and getting a smaller eco snowflake ride to daily now considering life costs have sky rocketed and its getting more tough to fill the tank.

You’d be best sorting the drain before fitting the new battery. Charge it full before fitting. Also the standard alternator set point was originally for the old type batteries, if you upgrade to a modern MF31/1000 you should also upgrade the voltage regulator so it charges properly