Purchasing a RR 2.5 DSE

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wills

wills

Well-Known Member
Posts
1,209
Location
Northamptonshire
Hiya everyone,

Everyone tells me im crackers but I am after a Range Rover, a P38 model, pref 2.5 DSE. Been on the look out for one for quite a while now and have finally hopefully found one, but (always a but, heh!), it has a few faults.

Its a 2.5 DSE - 1998 Auto

First of all the Lo range gearbox wont 'engage'. On the test drive I moved the shifter accross into Lo (while stopped with handbrake on and foot on brake) range and it clicked into place. As I did this the dash lit up with two cogs with an X over them and it started beeping. From what I understand this is normal and is supposed to stop after a few seconds. It just remained beeping and the light kept flashing.

Second of all, the passenger side door doesnt lock when all the other doors are locked with the key fob. I could lock it manually from within the car it just didnt lock automatically.

Last of all, when the engine was started, the ABS light remained on after everything else had gone out. Upon trying the brake it felt hard to push and as I did I could hear a sound coming from the front of the car as though something was trying to work?? As soon as the vehicle started moving the light went out and the braking felt ok and the vehicle stopped fine and the light didnt come back on until the engine was restarted.

Also, what should I expect to recieve if I purchase this in the way of keys?? Are there just 2 keys to the vehicle or is there a third 'emergency' key as well??

So, I was just wondering if anyone could give me any advice on these problems and what their causes might be?? I have bought second hand vehicles before and expect to spend a few £££'s on them but since I have never got a RR before I would appreciate any help on these above probs and any other tips you guys can come up with :)

Thanks
-Wills
 
Wills

Firstly, you are not mad wanting a P38 DSE, they are fantastic vehicles.

Transfer box may or may not be expensive depending on what it is that is wrong, difficult to tell unless you plug into a LR computer. Could be the stepper motor is fried, could be the Transfer box ECU.

The door lock is pretty expensive as I recall, I think the parts are around £140 per door, like muddee said, check the website, there is some information about that problem on there.

ABS not sure about that. The ABS light remains on with my vehicle until you start driving it, I think that is normal until it has completed its checks on the system. I've not noticed anything weird with the brakes when at a standstill as you suggest though. Did you manage to check the ABS by braking on gravel or similar?

Not sure about brand new, but I think the car was supplied with 3 keys (at least on of my keys says "Key 3" on the back) although I only have two keys. There is no emergency key, they are all the same. Be aware though that if you loose/damage the key they are around £120 from a LR garage - and that is the only place you can get them from, so be careful!

With the problems you describe, I'd be asking around £500-700 off what it is worth, as you simply do not know what is wrong, and the items you describe are not cheap to fix - otherwise they would have been sorted by the owner!

Where in the UK are you?

Matt.
 
With an LP RR you can have up to 4 keys plus an ordinary non-electronic emergency key.The electronic keys numbered 1-4 are supplied pre dedicated to the car against its Vin number.They only have to be syncronised to the car as described in the handbook - they are not programmed on testbook.
 
mmaddock said:
Wills

Firstly, you are not mad wanting a P38 DSE, they are fantastic vehicles.

Transfer box may or may not be expensive depending on what it is that is wrong, difficult to tell unless you plug into a LR computer. Could be the stepper motor is fried, could be the Transfer box ECU.

The door lock is pretty expensive as I recall, I think the parts are around £140 per door, like muddee said, check the website, there is some information about that problem on there.

ABS not sure about that. The ABS light remains on with my vehicle until you start driving it, I think that is normal until it has completed its checks on the system. I've not noticed anything weird with the brakes when at a standstill as you suggest though. Did you manage to check the ABS by braking on gravel or similar?

Not sure about brand new, but I think the car was supplied with 3 keys (at least on of my keys says "Key 3" on the back) although I only have two keys. There is no emergency key, they are all the same. Be aware though that if you loose/damage the key they are around £120 from a LR garage - and that is the only place you can get them from, so be careful!

With the problems you describe, I'd be asking around £500-700 off what it is worth, as you simply do not know what is wrong, and the items you describe are not cheap to fix - otherwise they would have been sorted by the owner!

Where in the UK are you?

Matt.
Click to expand...
Thanks for all your replies guys, im located in Northamptonshire which is around 60 miles North of London :)

I've got in touch with a local RR specialist that my father happens to know and I am going to try and hijack him for a day and take him along to check the vehicle over.

Other than the problems mentioned it seemed a sound vehicle. Are there any other tips anyone could give me on what to check and look out for?? Ive gone through as much as I can over at

http://www.rangerovers.net

and also followed the buying guide here...

http://www.rrr.co.uk/P38/P38%20Ownership.htm

and i'm now wondering what other things to look out for that may not of been listed.

Any suggestions other than to stop fannying about and just go for it?? :D

Thanks
-Wills
 
Great idea to take a specialist along if you can. I would have offered a hand, but you are a bit too far away.

Have a search on the web for problems with the 2.5 BMW engine. It does cause problems if it has not been well maintainted and allowed to overheat. rr.net doesn't say anything about that engine because they did not import it into the US, but there are other places that mention problems with this engine and what to look out for. In general though, when well maintained this engine will run a long time. Mine now has 197k on the clock and still goes very well, but then it has been properly serviced every 6000 miles from new. Although my local specialist reckons I'm overdoing it and should not bother with the interval 6k oil service, I still prefer to get it done for piece of mind.

Main thing I would really look at is the suspension. That is what is going to cause the most problems.

When you first start the engine it should raise up within moments to the right height, if it takes several minutes that means there is a leak somewhere, or a sticky valve block. It should go up and down freely from full height to access mode and back again. It will go up in jumps and starts, that is normal and is to stop the lights dazzling drivers (the rear rises first, then the front, then the rear, then the front!) If you overuse the system, the accumulator tank will empty and then it will take about 8 mins for the compressor to re-fill the tank, so don't worry if after messing for a while that it just won't raise up! Stop the engine and then listen into each of the arches to see if you can hear any hissing. Any hissing is a sign that the air springs are perished and leaking. They are relatively cheap now (£65) to replace and very easy to do, but still worth bargaining over. If possible, leave the car off for as long as you can after use and return to it to see if any of the corners have sunk down.

At some point in the future you will probably find that the compressor dies on you, but that is just par for the course, and they are getting a lot cheaper than they used to be.

If the worst comes to the worst and the air suspension eventually becomes economically not viable then you can buy a whole steel spring set and associated bits for £360 to replace the entire system! Personally I think the air suspension is one of the best features of the P38, so I'd never replace it, but I can understand why people do.

Other than that, just do a check over as you would with any other vehicle. Like you originally said, you will always get problems with 2nd hand vehicles so they are to be expected, it is just the luck of the draw, but if it looks basically sound you will have a very nice vehicle!

Matt.
 
Wills

Just to let you know that i am fairly local to you (Warwickshire) and my 1999 Range Rover 2.5 Diesel is up for sale at the moment with a new lower price of £10,995 ono..(Just bought a new car so it has to go....could get yourself a bargin)

It Comes with 14 months FULL warrenty still left on it from where i bought it from which is a Genuine Range Rover Specalists so there is NOTHING to worry about.

There is NO problems with this car AT all and it has JUST been serviced.....Will come with 12 months MOT aswell

Here is a link to it, click on it

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f10/for-sale-v-reg-range-rover-dse-25056.html

Here is a link to the add in the auto trader, it is the 5th one down....Ad starts with "1999 LAND ROVER RANGE ROVER 2.5 DSE 4dr Auto Diesel Estate, V reg,Limited Edition Country SE Model"

http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/WW...&miles=40&max_records=50&modelexact=1&photo=1

Feel free to ring me--Mark--07796 901697

Rangerover4.jpg


Rangerover3.jpg


Rangerover1.jpg
 
mmaddock said:
Great idea to take a specialist along if you can. I would have offered a hand, but you are a bit too far away.

Have a search on the web for problems with the 2.5 BMW engine. It does cause problems if it has not been well maintainted and allowed to overheat. rr.net doesn't say anything about that engine because they did not import it into the US, but there are other places that mention problems with this engine and what to look out for. In general though, when well maintained this engine will run a long time. Mine now has 197k on the clock and still goes very well, but then it has been properly serviced every 6000 miles from new. Although my local specialist reckons I'm overdoing it and should not bother with the interval 6k oil service, I still prefer to get it done for piece of mind.

Main thing I would really look at is the suspension. That is what is going to cause the most problems.

When you first start the engine it should raise up within moments to the right height, if it takes several minutes that means there is a leak somewhere, or a sticky valve block. It should go up and down freely from full height to access mode and back again. It will go up in jumps and starts, that is normal and is to stop the lights dazzling drivers (the rear rises first, then the front, then the rear, then the front!) If you overuse the system, the accumulator tank will empty and then it will take about 8 mins for the compressor to re-fill the tank, so don't worry if after messing for a while that it just won't raise up! Stop the engine and then listen into each of the arches to see if you can hear any hissing. Any hissing is a sign that the air springs are perished and leaking. They are relatively cheap now (£65) to replace and very easy to do, but still worth bargaining over. If possible, leave the car off for as long as you can after use and return to it to see if any of the corners have sunk down.

At some point in the future you will probably find that the compressor dies on you, but that is just par for the course, and they are getting a lot cheaper than they used to be.

If the worst comes to the worst and the air suspension eventually becomes economically not viable then you can buy a whole steel spring set and associated bits for £360 to replace the entire system! Personally I think the air suspension is one of the best features of the P38, so I'd never replace it, but I can understand why people do.

Other than that, just do a check over as you would with any other vehicle. Like you originally said, you will always get problems with 2nd hand vehicles so they are to be expected, it is just the luck of the draw, but if it looks basically sound you will have a very nice vehicle!

Matt.
Click to expand...
Hi guys,
thanks for all your help so far.

Matt, the vehicle itself is actually located in Mildenhall in Suffolk if that makes any difference. Would be good to have someone who is familiar with these things to come along as the RR specialist I was hoping to take along can't make it.

The problem with the gear box has been identified and sorted, was a motor that got stuck. Anyway, this has now been rectified and is no longer a problem.

The door lock I am going to try and use as a bargaining point and from other Range Rovers I have looked at and what you say, it seems it is normal for the ABS light not to go out until the vehicle is driven.

Thanks for the tips on the air suspension, it all seemed fine when I test drove it with the vehicle raising and lowering like you described. I shall check for leaks when I go to see it again sometime this week. Hopefully I will then make a final decision on it.

The one last thing I am slightly worried about is the actual engine itself, it sounds quite noisy!! I didn't really notice this myself but it was more a worry of my father who I had taken with me to view it. He just thought it sounded quite noisy when going along. Its a rather vague description of something I know and all he has ever driven is petrol cars which as we know are not noisy things (well, his Volvo seems pretty quiet inside anyway!). As I said I didnt really notice it and the vehicle seemed to go along alright and when idleing it basically sounded like... well, a diesel engine does!! i guess its a bit of a stupid worry really but as I havent been able to test drive another DSE I have nothing to compare it to :( I guess what I am asking is, should it be pretty quiet inside the car or will there be some engine noise??

Mark, thanks for offering the ad, unfortunately its a little out of my price range :( looks a lovely vehicle though and i hope you sell it soon :)

Thanks for the continued help guys...

-Wills :)
 
Wills

Yes, the motor siezing is quite common because basically, almost no-one ever uses low range in the P38 RR cos they never take it off-road! I take mine off-road, but rarely anything serious enough to use low, so I occasionally put the car into low range to keep the stepper motor running free!

The engine is an older generation diesel compared to the modern ones that have come out in the past 2/3 years and it is considerably noisier than the current generation. I don't find the noise particularly intrusive, but it is there! At motorway speeds it should be fairly quiet, but you will notice engine noise when accelerating and around town within the cabin. From outside I'd say (when cold) it is quite a noisy engine. I wouldn't be overly concerned unless it sounds sick!

Can you not pop along to a local(ish) garage that may have a DSE in stock and run it up?!

I'm afraid I'm in Bristol, so that's still quite a way!

Matt.
 
Hi again everyone!!

Well today was the day, I took the plunge and bought my very first Range Rover 2.5 DSE and so far I love it to bits (although I am still a little paranoid thinking argh, is anything going to break etc etc)!! I have spent two weeks thinking about this car, went to check it over twice (160 mile round trip) and could not resist any longer.

I got it for, in my opinion, a good price and all of it works (touches wood n everything else for luck) apart from the odd minor glitch (ABS was fine) as mentioned earlier in this thread, a few interior/instrument bulbs and the serivce book icon light coming on ocassionally on the HeVAC display although it is heating and cooling fine so not quite sure of that.

Its dark blue in colour and has a cream leather interior. All in all im really happy with it and have spent most of the day admiring it while helping my father doing the gardening!! :)

Its goes over to my RR specialist sometime this coming week to be fully checked over and hopefully get the glitches sorted. Will let you all know whats what and hopefully will get some pics up :)

-Wills (proud new Range Rover owner - woo!) :)
 
Well, here are two pics as promised, I'll upload the others into the gallery.

Many thanks for all your help everyone in helping me out while getting one!!

-Wills :)
 

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Very nice.

I like those wheels, when I've got the cash I'd like to upgrade to those and put MT's on my 16in wheels. Need to do something quickly, I had a blow out on the motorway the other day and currently don't have a spare. I was amazed how well the car coped, a rear tyre died and I didn't even notice! I heard a bang which I thought odd, but until I heard a strange flapping noise and looked in the mirror to see tyre flying around I hadn't realised it was my tyre!

Matt.
 
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