more p38 issues from p38 newbie

evening all, as per title recently for (all my sins) bought a 1998 p38 4.6hse for bit of comfort and just going to use the defender for playing in!

knew nothing about the car hadnt even heard it running n bought as spares or repair :doh::doh::doh: body work is all good and interior is well tidy. had a play in her today got her fired up sounds sweet as now the list of problems im hoping a few of you can help with...

1, had her ticking over idling lovely for 10-15mins and she boiled up there wasn't that much pressure in the top hose but was hot there is no slime in the cap or the oil dipstick. its been stood 8months could the hoses be a bit clogged up or is it the dreaded h word?:jaw: there was warm air coming out of vents.

2,the vents were blowing warm but but only on the screen when adjust to feet or face there was no air at all??? the motor still makes noise like it blowing but nothin... cant be with out a good blow!

3, fitting new stereo as other required code and i dont have it, the new stereo works fine tested in my car,it powers up in range rover works on a small unfitted speaker but not through any of the rangies speakers it has harman kardon systems done a few searches and the only thing i found was to check fuse which i have done under bonnet and seat is there any others i should check? the car has had tvs and dvd player fitted

4, sun roof set??? managed to re set windows as had window faults all round but cant even get the sunroof to open?? any idea?

5, heater/temp display has a hand book, freezer sign and exclimation mark *!

on the main display panel ive had alternator fault, slow max 35mph, all window faults gearbox fault but these have seemed to clear when i managed to get her started and all that on the first day of owning!!!!

short of buying a litre of petrol and matches not sure what to do
cheers for any help

The little snow flake sign on the heater just lets you know the outside temp is below about 3 degrees. And book sign means a fault with the system.
You could prob get the radio code from a main dealer along with the eka code etc. Remember the hk sound system is very complicated and doesnt like after market head units being fitted (loads of amps etc)
Sunroof may just be stuck, you can open it if you take down the light unit and there should be a tool in the glovebox that you put into the motor to turn it.

on the main display panel ive had alternator fault, slow max 35mph, all window faults gearbox fault but these have seemed to clear when i managed to get her started and all that on the first day of owning!!
This lot is all to do with the battery being low they are really fussy on batteries and all sorts of odd faults appear even if down a little

Overheating if it's not pressurising could well be either a stuck thermostat or water pump. Has it got antifreeze in? If not it's possible it was frozen when someone attempted to start it and has sheared the waterpump impeller off.

cheers guys it had a small amount of anti freeze/liquid, off out have a look now

rite flushed coolin system today topped her up left her running for 10 mins temp needle sat bang in the middle warm air coming out of blowers but im getting alot of pressure in the tank? i thought it could the thermostat i removed the piece that the top hose goes to thinking it was there but it werent then i saw there was one in in the bottom hose from radiator is this right? i noticed a bit of creamy sludge in the oil filer cap but none on the dipstick? im pretty confused, my mate thinks head gasket

even if its the hg its not too bad a job to do yourself,, just make sure you get the heads skimmed..

ned25 said:

rite flushed coolin system today topped her up left her running for 10 mins temp needle sat bang in the middle warm air coming out of blowers but im getting alot of pressure in the tank? i thought it could the thermostat i removed the piece that the top hose goes to thinking it was there but it werent then i saw there was one in in the bottom hose from radiator is this right? i noticed a bit of creamy sludge in the oil filer cap but none on the dipstick? im pretty confused, my mate thinks head gasket

Click to expand...

Once it's hot there will be a fair amount of pressure in the tank, that's why the top is called a pressure cap. The boiling point of water goes up as the pressure is raised. I'm not sure what pressure the V8 runs at but it could be around 14psi. If you have mousse, it could be just a lot of short runs with a cold engine causing condensation, or HG or liners

as regards the overheating is your viscus cooling fan working?

yeah heater/ engine/ viscus fan/ water pump all working fine i was concerned there was too much pressure in the tank. then i got a mate saying all points to a head gasket failure

Have you had a sniff test done?

The heater issue could be bad blend motors (hence the manual sign)

I have the same issue and keep seeing these blend motors blamed!

Im new though, so i wouldnt take my word for it!

least in my depender i know the heaters **** and can just blame land rover lol! sniff test seen this on another thread what is they detect?

ned25 said:

sniff test seen this on another thread what is they detect?

Click to expand...

It tests for combustion gases in the coolant.

sniff test seen this on another thread what is they detect?[/quote]
Take it to your local garage and get them to use there gas analyser machine to sniff the header tank. As above it will register HC (hydro carbons, unburnt fuel) in the coolant.

just got home thought id do some more tinkering checked coolant level n its gone??? its not been run at all its not in oil and cant see any signs of damp?

i think i remember reading that if when eng is hot try squeezing top rad hose if no flex its a sign of slipped liners
anothe sign is coolant disappearing with no trace

ned25 said:

just got home thought id do some more tinkering checked coolant level n its gone??? its not been run at all its not in oil and cant see any signs of damp?

Click to expand...

Split under the header tank, waterpump leaking, got wet carpets? The possibilities are endless.

Gone from where, just header tank (split?) radiator (leak).....any pressure in hoses?

check head gaskets for leak ,but will be staining your looking for rather than gap ie there should be clean ring round the fire ring on gasket and block ,but more than likely aliminum bore cracked behind liner adjacent head bolt hole, as block warms it allows combustion gases to pressurise coolant system ,this is extremely common from 3.9 onwards as 200 thou of ali was removed to fit wider liner 0f 3.9 compared to 3.5 block, often bought on cooling system fault often rad not cooling effectively or other