Range Rover P38 DSE - The leap of faith! - MoT!!!

Thanks for the advice, it is very much appreciated.

I think an update is about due.

First, it hasn't broken down! (yet)

It does however have a horrendous leak on the air suspension system meaning that every time I stop for more than a couple of minutes I have to wait ten minutes for the air pump to refill the system.
The leak is from the valve block that I rebuilt previously. Turns out that there are a few variations of the rebuild kit and the kit containing orange o-rings, the kit I used, is the worst for poor fit and subsequent leaks. This means that the compressor is being over-worked and considering it was rebuilt from the same kit is probably also now goosed.
So I have found a trusted supplier through the forums and ordered another rebuild kit for both valve block and pump and this one also comes with fresh desiccant for the air-dryer. Cost -£80 delivered.

I have had time to find the odd other age related foible commensurate with a 21 year old vehicle but nothing worth mentioning other than the vandalism of some of the wiring loom with scotchlocks when the carphone was installed. I will be taking the dash out to free off the heater blend motors so will have a good purge of the wiring then.
I'm also eyeing up a double din android head unit for music and sat-nave duties. This is an increasingly popular mod on these as many come with a reversing camera function as well and can be programmed to the original steering wheel controls.

With mine having the premium Harmon Kardon sound system I need an adapter to allow fitment of an aftermarket head unit to make the output compatible with the various amplifiers dotted around the vehicle.




Oh look, more scotchlocks!




I also found this little fella floating around in there (it's not as fuzzy in real life):



Which I suspect is supposed to be linked to this:



Which I believe is the cabin temp feedback sensor for he cabin conditioning system (HEVAC).

Had a decent run out in her at the weekend, she behaved herself impeccably and really was a pleasure to drive. A different pace of life to the cars and a great views of the countryside over the hedges.

Very nice and hats off to you for recommissioning the old girl.

Smiler: You might find this months Practical Classics magazine interesting. There is an article about someone who bought two P38's that had a number of problems which he sorted out.

Thanks for the positive replies folks.

I shall take a look at Practical Classics next time I'm in Tescos and if the articles still in there I shall pick a copy up.

There was supposed to be a small article in Practical Performance Car magazine last month about someone buying one of these but it ended up on the cutting room floor.

Oh dear...





Remember how I replaced the accessories drive belt whilst I had the radiator out?
Well today that nice new belt failed leaving me with no water pump, no power steering and no alternator.

I have checked all affected pulleys and accessories and all are free to rotate and appear to be in correct alignment so at the moment it appears to be a straight belt failure.

Extremely irritating and again not directly attributable to the P38 as this could happen to any vehicle.

A pain but at least an easy fix.

Mine's being a very naughty girl at the moment, with not such an easy resolution.

I'll update my thread after I've scrubbed up and operated tomorrow.

Needless to say, I need another load of brake fluid. 😞

Looks like you guys had a pretty productive couple of days.

You probably already knew this, but your '38 was registered in Worcestershire.