P38 V8. Vibration when accelerating.

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andymalham

Member
Posts
38
This one had me tearing my hair out. 2000 P38 4.6L V8 petrol/gas auto box. 160000 miles. The car seemed to be driving OK except for an annoying vibration in top gear which smothed out when the box kicked down. Acceleration was poor when it kicked down but the vibes smoothed out over 50mph. Took it to my local independant, Four Plus Four in Leeds expecting to be needing a new torque converter and box. Turn out the car was only running on 7 cylinders (#6 dead). Did the usual remedies, plugs, leads, coil pack, no joy. Compression test was OK and the injectors (petrol and gas) were firing OK.
They suggested doing a flow test to check the valves were opening and closing or simply taking the rocker cover off and having a look, which is quicker and cheaper. Took the rocker cover off and found the inlet pushrod on #6 was not moving. Stripped it down and found the lobe worn out on #6 inlet. Plenty of oil evident so no smoking gun.
New camshaft, followers etc fixed it. Drives like a dream now.
Just goes to show how difficult it is to notice a gradual loss of power over several months and how easy it is to convince youself that something completely different is to blame. I wish it had been the box and torque converter as this would have been cheaper to fix. Hey Ho. Loving the way it drives now. Saw 18mpg average on the trip home so the repair should pay for itself in about 100000 miles.
 
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