New member/P38 owner in Swindon

Just saying a quick hi to you all as a new member and P38 owner. Bought a 2002 runout model P38 Westminster 2.5 TD a couple of weeks ago from a dealer in Northampton off flebay.

Been cleaning her up and adding new bits to make her as near perfect as i can and at the moment all 6 injectors are out and at a specialist refurbishers in Bristol as 1 week into ownership she developed a rough running issue.

She has a great service history file and only 105k on the clock from new. Last owner spent £8000 on her and it shows when reading all the invoices. Pity he never had the injectors done though. All the work was done in 2017 and the selling dealer has had the car dry stored for the last 2 years which for a diesel is not a good move albeit i am certain once the new injectors are back in she will be running sweet again as she was when i drove her home just over 2 weeks ago.

Wish me luck.

Hello and welcome
You will not get better help for p38 then on here

Welcome, nice colour
I'd invest in a Nanocom diagnostic tool for your bus. Not a lot of other diagnostic tools can access and adjust setting as well as the nanocom.
Not cheap but cheaper in the long-run than visits to a garage.

Cheers Guys. My injectors are on there way back to me all fully refurbished with new copper seals so tomorow i will mostly be putting her back togeather again.
The company i used and who came highly recommended to me are " The Injection Centre " in Longwell Green Bristol on the Stonehill Centre industrial estate units 2.5 & 6. BS30 9DH.

Chris is the owner and a really nice chap he is too. Very helpful. 0117 9353596 is their number.
They can fully refurbish ANY fuel injector and a lot more besides.
Hope its ok to give them a plug on here.

Update: I fitted my newly refurbished injectors yesterday. Sadly it has NOT cured the problem. I have ordered a new air flow sensor to try and i have also just bought a new Hawkeye scan tool direct from Bearmach.com for £240 to try.
Still got the rough running symptoms and smoke out the back and gutless power. I am now at my witts end. I have spoken to a local Range Rover specialist today at great length and they have booked me in for the 18th November. That is the earliest they can see my P38.
I still don't think its the Turbo but you never do know for sure until its been diagnosed properly. So i still have an expensive ornament on my driveway. She starts up fine and idles fine and all the fluid levels are fine. Just as soon as you start to drive her she labours and smokes.
I think the new refurbished injectors have helped a wee bit but not enough.
Back to the drawing board. If there are any fellow Landy P38 owners close to me in Swindon and could possibly help then my kettle is on.
Regards,

@Enthusiastman you been round to rich at ridgeway? If he don’t know he could point you in the right direction.

Hicap phill said:

@Enthusiastman you been round to rich at ridgeway? If he don’t know he could point you in the right direction.

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Hi buddy, i rang them last week and spoke with Alex, they are fully booked for the next 6 weeks and are down to just 1 mechanic at the moment albeit Alex very kindly pointed me toward Greg & Dudley @ G&D automotive in Minety. I visited them yesterday morning and had a really nice chat with Greg who has booked me in for the 18th of November for a full diagnosis and hopeful repair. That is the best they can do for now for me.
In the mean time today i have been tinkering again and ran her on the driveway and took her for short runs local. Still down on power and smoking BUT i think alot of the smoke is the fuel treatment i had added to the 1/4 of a tank of diesel which is pushing it through the system and out the back zorst pipes. LOL.
Its like emergency smoke withdrawal scene from my Army days. LOL.
A mate popped round today with his " snap on " scanner and plugged in to my OBD port. Surprised to seee there were no faults codes showing or any stored codes either which was a good sign. We also took off the intercooler pipe to Turbo with engine running and she was sucking well indeed so all ok there too.

I have driven her today and actually managed to get her up to 70 mph where as last few days she has struggled to get above 45 mph with smoke. I can also hear a metallic sort of rattle sound/clicking under hard acceleration which makes me think its the Turbo actuator compensating for lack of power/boost.???

She revs up lovely and settles down perfect on idle with no hunting on the rev counter either. She starts perfect from stone cold and also from hot after about 3-5 cranks on the key.
We unplugged the mass air flow sensor with engine running and noticed a drop and plugged it back in and noticed it pick up. No check engine light came on but it did store it in the scan codes which we cleared. I have a new mass airflow sensor coming Monday to try as a process of illimination.

All guages are perfect and all fluids are perfect and no signs of any leaks or losses anywhere. A small bit of oil on the bottom of the Turbo underside where the hard plastic intercooler pipe connects on the back of the Turbo but nothing major to worry about ( YET ).
I think i will just have the Turbo fully refurbished anyway as the car has just clocked up 106k from new with a great service history record file so it has been looked after in the past by previous owners at main dealers and in 2017 by Turner Performance in Hemel Hemstead over alternating 4 month periods to the tune of £8000 spent by the last owner on all sorts including a stage 1 remap from standard 138 bhp to 180 bhp with NO EGR delete.
I have however carried out a full lubrication service less for coolant and brake fluid flush but it had an all new ABS pump and sensors fitted in 2017 so the fluid looks fine and the brakes all work perfectly. I have also bought a full set of drilled/grooved discs and new pads to fit also.

I will get there in the end and will be able to enjoy her fully ( I hope ) so in the mean time i am fitting my light guard set, my new exhaust system, my front steering arm rod and new gearbox oil cooler pipes which should keep me busy until she goes in to G&D for a expert check over.
Regards,

Keep us updated. It’s amazing how these vehicles can empty a wallet!

Knappster said:

Keep us updated. It’s amazing how these vehicles can empty a wallet!

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Tell me about it buddy. LOL

Have you tried it with the MAP pipe pulled of the sensor bolted to the fuel filter, if the car runs the same its duff but if the car is worse its working, when the map sensor fails its very sluggish.
Post your problem over it the range rover section of the forum you will get the right people looking then
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/forum/range-rover.10/

Welcome to the forum

Hippo said:

Welcome to the forum

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Cheers Lord Hippo.

brianp38dse said:

Have you tried it with the MAP pipe pulled of the sensor bolted to the fuel filter, if the car runs the same its duff but if the car is worse its working, when the map sensor fails its very sluggish.
Post your problem over it the range rover section of the forum you will get the right people looking then
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/forum/range-rover.10/

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Fitted a new mapp sensor today and its made pretty much no difference at all buddy. The car is a tad better responsive wise but still struggles and still smokes but not as much as it did as i think the fuel treatments i put in are coming out now. What worries me the most is the metallic/clattering sound on hard acceleration which sounds like the Turbo actuator rod working overtime to possibly over compensate for no Turbo boosting perhaps?? I have checked the intercooler and cleaned the pipes which TBF were not really that dirty and i have also cleaned the EGR valve today too as it was fouled up. Both EGR and Mapp vacum pipes are both clear too as i blew through both of them.

I am at a loss now what is the issue.

Enthusiastman said:

Just saying a quick hi to you all as a new member and P38 owner. Bought a 2002 runout model P38 Westminster 2.5 TD a couple of weeks ago from a dealer in Northampton off flebay.

Been cleaning her up and adding new bits to make her as near perfect as i can and at the moment all 6 injectors are out and at a specialist refurbishers in Bristol as 1 week into ownership she developed a rough running issue. The dealer has agreed to pay the costs involved to put her right.

She has a great service history file and only 105k on the clock from new. Last owner spent £8000 on her and it shows when reading all the invoices. Pity he never had the injectors done though. All the work was done in 2017 and the selling dealer has had the car dry stored for the last 2 years which for a diesel is not a good move albeit i am certain once the new injectors are back in she will be running sweet again as she was when i drove her home just over 2 weeks ago.

Wish me luck.

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Hi and welcome to LandyZone
Love the pictures of your new "ornament" sorry "ride". Seriously though I nearly bought a Westminster myself but Mrs Tricky insisted on a slightly newer model hence the L322.
Glad to read that you are getting her sorted. Love the spot lamps.
Tricky.

Tricky of York said:

Hi and welcome to LandyZone
Love the pictures of your new "ornament" sorry "ride". Seriously though I nearly bought a Westminster myself but Mrs Tricky insisted on a slightly newer model hence the L322.
Glad to read that you are getting her sorted. Love the spot lamps.
Tricky.

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Thanks Tricky albeit at the moment i am slowly losing the will to live with it. Only had her 4 weeks and not had any enjoyment with her yet apart from adding all the new bits i bought for her although she may look nice but currently going nowhere fast or not as the case maybe. LOL.

I am taking the weekend off away from her completely so i can regroup and start again next week.

Regards, Brendan ( Swindon )

Well i got home today after having a weekend away from all the crap i have been having with my newly aquired 2002 model P38 2.5 TD. Its had my C-tek connected to her all weekend too so the new battery was 100% charged. Unplugged the C-tek and she eventually unlocked on the remote key fob after about 5 goes ( the batteries in the fob are low too as per the dash warning ). I got inside and turned on the ignition and let the glow light go out and then turned the key. Boom, she fired straight up which i was not expecting. I was expecting a vehicle disabled notice again but didn't get one. Sadly she still has the rough running issue under load and is still smoking but she idles fine and comes up to temp perfectly. Again all fluid levels from cold check were spot on with no loss.

Surely if she is starting up and running ok on idle there must be nothing wrong with the in tank fuel lift pump??? as i am certain if it were at fault i would not be getting fuel and she would not run/start. Also i am not suspecting the F.I.P at fault either as fuel is going to each NEWLY refurbished injector ok??? and i am also ruling out any air locks as its supposed to be a self bleeding system??? The fuel filter is brand new too as is the mapp sensor and the maff sensor ( both non OEM types ) but not cheapy items either it has to be said.
I have checked all the plumbing and all is fine and all the injector leak off pipes are new too. I can see no blockages in the clear fuel pipe from the filter to the F.I.P inlet either.
I have checked the Turbo and that all seems to be ok with no play at all that i can feel on the wheel and all the vanes are intact but i do still have the metal clattering sound under hard acceleration??? which to me sounds like the Turbo wastegate actuator over compensating maybe??
I have cleaned the EGR valve too and my mate did the intercooler vacum test with pipe off and it nearly sucked his hand off so that cant be blocked either.

Again i have no dash warning lights and never have had any and no fault codes are showing on a OBD scan.

I am going to order a new set of intercooler pipes just to rules those out too. As soon as you rev her up or try to drive her she struggles and judders like a misfire symptom and smokes.

COULD THE DIESEL TIMING BE OFF ???? i have no idea how to test for this either. The local specialist to me can't see the car until the 18th November either.
In 2017 she had £8000 spent on her by the previous owner at Turner Performance in Hemel Hempstead and i have spoken to Elliot on the phone who seems to vaguely remember the car as they do a lot of P38's.

They did carry out a stage 1 remap on the car too @ £350 on the invoice and they did a refurb on the F.I.P and loads of other stuff under the bonnet such as ABS and suspension. The car has only done 5k miles since all this work was done back in 2017 and then traded back to the same dealer who i bought her from and he dry stored it for 2 years until July this year. I bought it 5 weeks ago and although she ran slow she drove home ok and only developed the rough running issue 1 week later which was now nearly 4 weeks ago. She has been sat on my driveway ever since and i have done all i can in my remit.

Frustration is an understatement. If there are any P38 diesel owner experts near to me in Swindon i would be happy to pay you for your time if you were able to find the fault for me??? as i really need to get this issue resolved so i can move on and enjoy the car if that is at all possible with a P38 diesel. LOL.

I have a new exhaust to fit to her too from the cat back but was wondering if its worth deleting the centre silencer and putting the silencer delete pipe in and just having the 2 rear boxes??? anyone done this and has it improved the over all running of the car??? or is it just as well to fit the new middle silencer too???

I have a new K&N panel filter in the air filter box also.

Once she is sorted i think i will most likely have one of the sweetest running 2.5 TD's out there. I hope so anyway as i bought her for the long term.

I have heard and read all these horror stories too about the alarm module being suscceptable to interferance which wakes up this BeCM thing under the drivers seat and flattens the battery overnight which is why my C-Tek is connected.
Where exactly is this RF modulator box and if i buy a newly upgraded one and i am told its the GREEN DOT one then do you just simply unplug it and replace it or does it have to be coded to the cars BeCM????? more electrical misery. LOL.

There is a chap on ebay who can refurbish your BeCM unit and disable the alarm and immobilizer if you wish and make you up a new key too albeit i have no idea if my BeCM is at fault and also i have no idea at all if my factory key codes have been changed in the cars history.

Oh the joys of P38 ownership. LOL. At least for now i still have my sense of humour but how much longer i don't know.

Hi best to post in the range rover section
There are cheaper ways of sorting the RF receiver as ones on the bay are hit and miss unless you can look at the board in side, a new genuine one is about £300, Martyuk on here can supply you with a modified unit for about £90 or i can give you the details of a remote second fob that stops any signals getting to the unit
the rf unit is in the back drivers side under the panel with the seat release button.

brianp38dse said:

Hi best to post in the range rover section
There are cheaper ways of sorting the RF receiver as ones on the bay are hit and miss unless you can look at the board in side, a new genuine one is about £300, Martyuk on here can supply you with a modified unit for about £90 or i can give you the details of a remote second fob that stops any signals getting to the unit
the rf unit is in the back drivers side under the panel with the seat release button.

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Cheers Brian. Just PM me any or all info and i will act on it. Cheers again. Brendan

Here you go
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/rf-reciever-work-round.258096/#post-3078662

brianp38dse said:

Here you go
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/rf-reciever-work-round.258096/#post-3078662

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Cheers albeit i am no sparky so would not try this myself TBH. Are you saying then if i cut the BLUE wire on my current module then it will no longer be affected by outside forces in the night thus flattening my vehicle battery???

I currently have my car connected to my C-tek charger as its a brand new battery fitted last week so keeping it alive 100%. I only have 1 remote key fob which the dash display keeps saying the batteries in it are low but i am waiting for a new fob repair kit to arrive as the rear cover is badly butchered and i don't want to take it off until i have new batteries and the new cover to fit on it until i can get a new key fob done for me.
I cannot understand as to why LR did not recall the cars if this interference issue was such a big issue. ??. I have also read there are two differing types?? a blue dot and a green dot, the latter being the upgraded item which protects the car from outside forces in the night. LOL.
If i change this module for a later one do i have to have it coded in to the car for it to work or is it a simple unplug and remove and replace and plug back in job???
I am no sparky and do not wish to be either. I hate car electrics of any nature.

Regards, Brendan