P38 Questions

Can anybody please help with the following?

I get about 1.8km/lt. Use to get about 5km/lt in town. The fuel line has no leaks, but I smell petrol if the sunroof is open. I'm starting to think it might be the oxygen sensors that is fualty, as the exhaust fumes smell of fuel as well.

The other problem is the sound system. I had water problems and took the radio out. Now the #3 button does not work, so I can't put the code into the system. There is no water damage inside the radio.

1.8 km/lt - I work that out to be about 5 mpg? That's about right for a what I'm guessing is a V8.

The problem is that it doesn't correspond with the comp readout. The readout gives me 17lt/100km. The car is giving about 40-45lt/100km. Even the estimated range is way out.

40-45Lt/100Km = 1 Lt/2.2Km = 1.76pints/1.243Miles = 0.706Miles/pint = 5.648 Miles per gallon.

17Lt/100km = 1Lt/5.89Km = 1.76pints/3.66Miles = 2.08Miles/pint = 16.64Miles per gallon.

Are you seriously saying your motor is doing 5.6MPG?

The other day I put in 33lt. I did just 60km with it. The computer said I could do 150km. It started suddenly. Had the fuel line checked and they fixed a small leak under the driver seat.
If the car idles, it smells of fuel.

how about the return line leaking before it gets to the tank. - it sounds like you are loosing 1/2 to 2/3 of your fuel!

I took it to the local LR workshop and they checked only the fuel line, both ways, and all was fine except for the small leak under drivers side. I'm starting to think it could be the oxy sensors that packed up? I had that in my previous car.

Failed lambda sensors wouldn't do that to your fuel consumption, they really don't have that level of control over the fuelling. They are typically limited to adjusting fuel pulsewidth by +/- 20% of nominal fuelling.

The other thing is that if you were overfuelling your engine by a factor of 3, I doubt sincerely that it would run at all. At the very least you'd be washing the oil of your bores and filling up the sump with petrol!

When the local garage tested it for leaks, did they do it statically/stationary, or when the engine was being driven under load. It could be that the leak only happens when the flow rate/rail pressure is above a certain level, i.e. when the car is being driven under load at more than a certain speed.

I would suggest that you have to look for a leak while the car is being driven (maybe strap a video cam at varying positions including under the front looking backwards and then driving around), failing that, look for a local with a syphon pipe.........

Thanks for the reply about those sensors. At least that is sorted now.

Took the car up on the lift today while letting it idle. The smell is coming from the tank area. The LR Shop used a mirror to see the top of the tank, but I think they missed something. Going to take the tank off tomorrow.

What do you guys think of that trick on rangerovers.net where they cut a hole under the back seat? Isn't that a bit drastic?