P38 buying advice

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emoose

Member
Posts
61
Location
Kent/SE London
Looked at a diesel '98 P38 today, generally in pretty good condition given its age (done 120K miles).

Just wanted to check 2 things before taking the plunge,

1) After the test drive the engine bay seemed very hot, very hot air being blasted around by the fan.

The temp gauge went up from cold to ~12 o'clock position OK and stayed there during the drive but under the bonnet seemed very hot.
Am I might just be being a bit paranoid?


2) Noticeable body shake/wobble at motorway speed. (noticeable around 50mph, very obvious at 70mph). Its not really through the steering, the whole body seems to be shimmying. This was while driving at a steady speed, so not braking related.

When I had something similar on my BMW 3 series it was the suspension bushes that needed replacing. However that was felt mainly through the steering and when braking.

The tyres were looking a bit flat and not in best condition so could be as simple as that, are there any known body wobble causing issues?


Happy doing some DIY on it, just want to hear if this is a nightmare walk away scenario!
 
emoose said:
Looked at a diesel '98 P38 today, generally in pretty good condition given its age (done 120K miles).

Just wanted to check 2 things before taking the plunge,

1) After the test drive the engine bay seemed very hot, very hot air being blasted around by the fan.

The temp gauge went up from cold to ~12 o'clock position OK and stayed there during the drive but under the bonnet seemed very hot.
Am I might just be being a bit paranoid?


2) Noticeable body shake/wobble at motorway speed. (noticeable around 50mph, very obvious at 70mph). Its not really through the steering, the whole body seems to be shimmying. This was while driving at a steady speed, so not braking related.

When I had something similar on my BMW 3 series it was the suspension bushes that needed replacing. However that was felt mainly through the steering and when braking.

The tyres were looking a bit flat and not in best condition so could be as simple as that, are there any known body wobble causing issues?


Happy doing some DIY on it, just want to hear if this is a nightmare walk away scenario!
Click to expand...

1) as long as the guage is around 12 oclock or just below it should be OK, engine bay gets pretty hot.

2) they are well known for wobbles, tramling etc. Tyres, tyre pressure, worn bushes, swivels, drag link, track rod etc.

If you buy, be prepared to replace the EAS airbags and change the gearbox oil and filter if it's an auto:)
 
Datatek said:
1) as long as the guage is around 12 oclock or just below it should be OK, engine bay gets pretty hot.

2) they are well known for wobbles, tramling etc. Tyres, tyre pressure, worn bushes, swivels, drag link, track rod etc.

If you buy, be prepared to replace the EAS airbags and change the gearbox oil and filter if it's an auto:)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response!

Prepared (in fact looking forward to) doing some DIY so gearbox oil etc no problem (yes it is an auto).

Are any of the bushes/swivels etc particularly hard to do or expensive?
 
emoose said:
Thanks for the response!

Prepared (in fact looking forward to) doing some DIY so gearbox oil etc no problem (yes it is an auto).

Are any of the bushes/swivels etc particularly hard to do or expensive?
Click to expand...

Airbags are a piece of cake, I can send you a guide. For wobbles start with the tyres, then look at drag link and track rod. If you still have a problem worry about the bushes etc. Never had to do them but I think a press is needed:)
 
I had tramlining on mine, in the MOT it failed on the draglink. Changed this and it has cured 90% of it and gave a more defined steering feel. It was a DIY job and the part was about £80.
 
Jelleyman said:
I had tramlining on mine, in the MOT it failed on the draglink. Changed this and it has cured 90% of it and gave a more defined steering feel. It was a DIY job and the part was about £80.
Click to expand...

That's reassuring, not a nightmare by any means.

I should just clarify that its the whole body that wobble, not through the steering. In fact the steering felt pretty much sorted.
 
Datatek said:
Airbags are a piece of cake, I can send you a guide. For wobbles start with the tyres, then look at drag link and track rod. If you still have a problem worry about the bushes etc. Never had to do them but I think a press is needed:)
Click to expand...

I'll take you up on the airbag guide please. It was slow going back up after I lowered the suspension so I suspect there may be a leak at the rear (front bags looked pretty new)
 
i had a wobble on mine and it was tyres and draglink and land rovers always had vage steering
 
Had a major wobble on mine at 60-70mph. Had the geometry done and swapped the wheels front to back, all sorted
 
emoose said:
Looked at a diesel '98 P38 today, generally in pretty good condition given its age (done 120K miles).

Just wanted to check 2 things before taking the plunge,

1) After the test drive the engine bay seemed very hot, very hot air being blasted around by the fan.

The temp gauge went up from cold to ~12 o'clock position OK and stayed there during the drive but under the bonnet seemed very hot.
Am I might just be being a bit paranoid?


2) Noticeable body shake/wobble at motorway speed. (noticeable around 50mph, very obvious at 70mph). Its not really through the steering, the whole body seems to be shimmying. This was while driving at a steady speed, so not braking related.

When I had something similar on my BMW 3 series it was the suspension bushes that needed replacing. However that was felt mainly through the steering and when braking.

The tyres were looking a bit flat and not in best condition so could be as simple as that, are there any known body wobble causing issues?


Happy doing some DIY on it, just want to hear if this is a nightmare walk away scenario!
Click to expand...

think about it but don't do it, unless you have deep pockets,get bored at weekends,and want to arrive at your destination, if you do buy one before venturing out,get a recovery package, rave is a must and a decent sized workshop,out of the elements,and a big toolkit, big sledge hammer. pry bars oh and an endless supply of patience, and above all your sense of humour you will need it, lots of friends help too. oh and make sure you have a good supply of plasters,and tea and biscuits for fellow p38 owners that help you.
 
roddy4 said:
think about it but don't do it, unless you have deep pockets,get bored at weekends,and want to arrive at your destination, if you do buy one before venturing out,get a recovery package, rave is a must and a decent sized workshop,out of the elements,and a big toolkit, big sledge hammer. pry bars oh and an endless supply of patience, and above all your sense of humour you will need it, lots of friends help too. oh and make sure you have a good supply of plasters,and tea and biscuits for fellow p38 owners that help you.
Click to expand...

:D:D

That about sums up my experience so far but then mine was a project purchase, just lucky I enjoy working on my cars.

Now all I need is a garage, come to think of it building a garage was to be my project this year and then I bought a P38 :rolleyes:
 
roddy4 said:
think about it but don't do it, unless you have deep pockets,get bored at weekends,and want to arrive at your destination, if you do buy one before venturing out,get a recovery package, rave is a must and a decent sized workshop,out of the elements,and a big toolkit, big sledge hammer. pry bars oh and an endless supply of patience, and above all your sense of humour you will need it, lots of friends help too. oh and make sure you have a good supply of plasters,and tea and biscuits for fellow p38 owners that help you.
Click to expand...

In 3 years and 20K+ miles mine has never let me down, plenty of niggles though:)
 
roddy4 said:
think about it but don't do it, unless you have deep pockets,get bored at weekends,and want to arrive at your destination, if you do buy one before venturing out,get a recovery package, rave is a must and a decent sized workshop,out of the elements,and a big toolkit, big sledge hammer. pry bars oh and an endless supply of patience, and above all your sense of humour you will need it, lots of friends help too. oh and make sure you have a good supply of plasters,and tea and biscuits for fellow p38 owners that help you.
Click to expand...

Any good points? :)

I'm well aware of the potential disaster area I'm getting into, however I want a project car and something more interesting...of course when I'm back here cursing it I reserve the right to contradict myself
 
emoose said:
Any good points? :)

I'm well aware of the potential disaster area I'm getting into, however I want a project car and something more interesting...of course when I'm back here cursing it I reserve the right to contradict myself
Click to expand...


It's comfortable and the diesel is remarkably economical for such a big heavy car:)
 
roddy4 said:
think about it but don't do it, unless you have deep pockets,get bored at weekends,and want to arrive at your destination, if you do buy one before venturing out,get a recovery package, rave is a must and a decent sized workshop,out of the elements,and a big toolkit, big sledge hammer. pry bars oh and an endless supply of patience, and above all your sense of humour you will need it, lots of friends help too. oh and make sure you have a good supply of plasters,and tea and biscuits for fellow p38 owners that help you.
Click to expand...

You must've got a shocking example. Mine is at 173k, so far only needed heater plugs, an alternator and tyres. Got a service due soon too. But nothing major.

Although because of the amount of people who laugh when I say I've got a Range Rover and the horror stories I always heard when I made a living spinning spanners, I had got a mild case of rangernoia. Every bump, squeak, rattle and clang has my heart skipping a beat.
 
When the first thing goes wrong, you'll go "oh feck" because they just ain't like other cars. This, and a couple of other sites, has the answer to most issues. Stay away from dealers, particularly main ones. The charges for doing things the L/R approved way is simply beyond most peoples' pockets.

One word of caution, they are not fast but are deceiving. I don't use cruise control so, on motorways, I just let it creep up to where it feels 'just right'. The whole car (mine anyway) has a sweet spot just short of 90 mph. You'll fall in love with it then unless you see the blue lights in your mirror! All the noises vanish, it's straight as an arrow, the suspension goes into glide mode and the miles disappear. It really is quite extraordinary.

G~
 
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