P38A V8 talk me out of it?

OK so after 10 years of jaguar ownership I've decided to finally get a P38. Always wanted one. As you can imagine having run jags i'm not afraid of hardcore DIY and the suspension, heater core, blend motor, windows etc etc those things are all fixable and thus don't worry me even a little bit. I like a car that needs tinkering

However I get the impression that all the v8 cars are basically ticking time bombs and its just a matter of time before they slip a liner or go pourous and pressurise the coolant or the liners dissolve etc and basically you will need a new engine every 75k. Is it really that bad? I always thought the Rover v8 had a reputation of religious reliability compared to many.

I also had you concerns 2 years ago when I purchased my 4.6 autobiography and yes they do need a certain amount of tinkering but she has never let me down. I tow my caravan a couple of times a year up and down the hills of Cornwall and she has never missed a beat. Yes, I have replaced a few bits , mainly the cooling system. And have had my share of EAS issues but being a member on this site has seen me through all my niggles. There are some really good chaps on here who know their stuff, you will never be short of advice and quick answers to your questions, going back to there reliability they do have there problems but if do not neglect them they are superb to drive and dead comfy .
Oh and Welcome.
Paul.

The 94mm bore Rover V8's do have a reputation. The 3.5 was pretty much bomb proof, then Rover over-bored & weakened the block with 94mm bores (3.9/4.0 & 4.6). Add to that the lean running & high running temps for emission control & you have a fragile V8.
Mine is now on it's 3rd engine over 170k miles, this time a top hat liner'd block has gone in earlier this year so no more liner failures. Having said that, many V8's will happily do 200k+ miles without issue, usually running on unleaded only. They are after all a very simple design & easy enough to work on & quite forgiving. My old engine had one flat cam lobe when it came out but was still running fine apart from the annoying tap tap tap from a loose liner.
Personally, as i run LPG, i wouldn't buy another standard Rover V8, especially a later model - the '02 run off for P38 & '02 - '04 D2's seem to be the worst as tooling & subsequently tolerances were getting pretty tired, i was pretty disgusted with the quality of the engine block casting on my old block. It would need to have a top hat block from a reputable company but P38's with these fitted seldom come up for sale (i'll certainly be keeping mine for a long while).
Anyway, a P38 will give you plenty to worry about never mind the engine.

In consequence to that, We have two P38's both 2001 4.6 Vogue, one at 110k the other at 135k never had a problem with the engines. Both are on BRC LPG multi-point system.

Like anything mechanical, it needs to be looked after. preventative maintenance is a lot better than rectification maintenance. I two heavy with both our P38's they have never skipped a beat doing so. (One does have a slight weep from the valley gasket, so that is on the list of to-do.)

EAS is really not that complex. it seems like many people see it as 'here be dragons' territory, its not.. its 4 airbags with airlines, a tank a pup and a valve block. There's no black magic involved.

Any P38 you get, allow for a gearbox oil change, pretty simple. grease the UJ's, t-stat- waterpump and Viscous fan, maybe a valve block rebuild kit if the air is slow (£30 and about an hour to do) and a pump rebuild kit - Sleeve and piston kit again £30 and about an hour) You'll probably be better off getting something like a nanocom for diagnostics (£400) as it saves trips to dealers and indi's that charge to diagnose fault codes.

Aside from that. get in, drive it and enjoy it. They are very capable cars that are luxury, like anything mechanical it needs to be maintained. The only difference with the range rover is, due to the size most things are pretty accessible to get to.

Welcome.

PPP38vouge said:

I also had you concerns 2 years ago when I purchased my 4.6 autobiography and yes they do need a certain amount of tinkering but she has never let me down. I tow my caravan a couple of times a year up and down the hills of Cornwall and she has never missed a beat. Yes, I have replaced a few bits , mainly the cooling system. And have had my share of EAS issues but being a member on this site has seen me through all my niggles. There are some really good chaps on here who know their stuff, you will never be short of advice and quick answers to your questions, going back to there reliability they do have there problems but if do not neglect them they are superb to drive and dead comfy .
Oh and Welcome.
Paul.

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It's nice to hear this as I am a cornish lad and I am always worried about the cornish hills taking their toll. Cars do tend to die faster here.

The ancillary gear inc the Eas is all very simple really. But the idea that a fault will develop that will write the engine off almost guaranteed no matter how much work I put into maintaining it makes me uneasy. Are there any preventative measures?

Lack of efficient cooling system is the killer....

Keep that up to snuff and the chances of a slipped liner are reduced.

There are reports of being able to 'pin' the existing liner in place, some efforts look and sound like a bodge, but I am sure a competent machinist could pin these with a degree of professionalism.

fizzyhair said:

It's nice to hear this as I am a cornish lad and I am always worried about the cornish hills taking their toll. Cars do tend to die faster here.

The ancillary gear inc the Eas is all very simple really. But the idea that a fault will develop that will write the engine off almost guaranteed no matter how much work I put into maintaining it makes me uneasy. Are there any preventative measures?

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First thing i did when i got mine was completely renew the cooling system - i'd rather not meet the devil half way. Oil changes every 6k miles etc. Still mine failed.
Liners can be pinned depending on the failure - a cracked / porous block would need top hat liners fitting. Mine was just a loose liner (no coolant loss) & i did consider pinning it but i have always been paranoid of liner problems so decided to rectify it for good. Not cheap but the P38 is well worth it. Refined, comfy, & as said, if maintenance is kept on top of it will be a reliable 4x4 - mine has never left me stranded.

Or you could get a good diesel. Which is a better start point if you want reliability.

Diesel would tick the boxes for better reliability, but if your used to running Jags your going to be disappointed.....very disappointed!

Disappointed in what way? Oh you mean by its terrible lack of oomph! Lol I really want the v8 I guess I just want to know the v8 is worth the Agro

Some find the diesel ok but you have to give it plenty of throttle to pick up. I prefer the more refined petrol for a effortless drive. If your handy with the spannering the V8 is relatively easy to work on with lots of advice on here if you get stuck.
The Thor is the one to go for - 4.6 has plenty of torque & a better transmission to boot.

Diesels aren't all german reliability as I've discovered.

If you go down the V8 route (and in hindsight I probably would with LPG) then check the liners. I am sure they changed something about them at some stage but cannot quite remember what it was or when. Maybe around 1998? Were the liners slotted in or something to prevent movement?

On the other hand I wouldn't dream of life without the Jag. So you'd have to keep both. An LPG Rangie is pretty much a cheap run-about anyway so you can afford the 2 of them!

I've got a jaaaag

Grrrrrr said:

Diesels aren't all german reliability as I've discovered.

If you go down the V8 route (and in hindsight I probably would with LPG) then check the liners. I am sure they changed something about them at some stage but cannot quite remember what it was or when. Maybe around 1998? Were the liners slotted in or something to prevent movement?

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They did put steps into the block casting at the bottom of the liners on later LCF blocks. My old block had steps but the theory is that the liners were'nt properly seated in production so once inserted & decked they could still move. That's LR quality for you. The 4.6 blocks were supposed to only use the best castings (graded for quality) but this seemed to go out the window by the end of production. I managed to get an earlier '97 WYF red grade block for my rebuild.

With the vee's, the block remains the elephant in the fridge issue. Mine went after 3 days of ownership, then ran like a dream for 5 years. Go figure. Just imagine, if the LR stressmen had done a proper job increasing the block sizes (I hope they were taken out back and given a damn good thrashing), 4.6's may still be selling at Landcruiser Amazon prices. Ha, maybe even £15k a go!! ... erm.... actually...

Just nipping out to the Jag to get my wallet.

Land Rover Range Rover 4.6 30th Anniversary Ltd Edn

martynv8 said:

They did put steps into the block casting at the bottom of the liners on later LCF blocks. My old block had steps but the theory is that the liners were'nt properly seated in production so once inserted & decked they could still move. That's LR quality for you. The 4.6 blocks were supposed to only use the best castings (graded for quality) but this seemed to go out the window by the end of production. I managed to get an earlier '97 WYF red grade block for my rebuild.

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Did they put some sort of marking on the block to tell them apart? The safest year would be a late GEMS then?

They were colour graded after being scanned for tolerance (wall thickness between cylinder / water channels), red being the best, then blue then yellow i think. the worst being used for the 4.0L D2's. usually on the back of the block. The best blocks were indeed the WYF Gems blocks.

So Martin, if I have a '97 4.6 how can I tell whether it's a WYF? Confess am occasionally concerned about the slippage issue.

Also, it has to be said, most threads on here are regarding the diesel lump - or is that just because there's more around in the vehicle parc?

I run a V8 and I've had excellent support on here, also in engine-specific cases. I think you're right though - there were probably more diesels made than petrols, and certainly more of them running today.