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

[Smiler]

I have finally scratched an itch and bought myself a Range Rover!

In no small part to Georgebs' thread, may I introduce to you:

1996 Range Rover 2.5DSE















It has 101k on the clock

Apart from the obvious in the photos it has some nice extras such as cruise control, heated front screen, Harmon Kardon sound system, built in phone(!) and factory tinted glass (not stick-on film).

I have so far not found a dent on it but the interior is filthy.
It has a gearbox overheat warning on the dashboard.
All four door handles are stiff to operate (common P38 ailment with documented repair).
One of the bonnet catches has seized.
Air-con dead.
Heater control display dark (backlight bulb?)
Needs a service.
No Mot.

It has been stood for a few years but most things seem to work.

The to do list so far is:

Replace tired tailgate gas struts - done (£12)
Replace the suspect gearbox oil temp sensor (£40)
Clean it inside and out!
Remove all four door cards to service door internals (clean and lube) including freeing off the stiff door handles.
Free off the bonnet catch
Service
MoT
Air-con Regas

I shall keep this thread updated with how I get on.

Wish me luck!

Smiler.

[skkylinedave]

I wish you luck.....a lot of luck !!

[60six]

Loving the Austin Metro stalks!

Always liked these - Beautiful colour too - What did it cost? Has it got the air suspension?

[georgeb]

Mar 9, 2017 21:46:15 GMT Smiler said:

I have finally scratched an itch and bought myself a Range Rover!

In no small part to Georgebs' thread, may I introduce to you:

That's it, get the blame in early!

Wish my interior plastics were half as good as yours. The good side of it living in a hot climate is no rusted in bolts, the bad side, knackered plastic!

[scimjim]

Loved my LPG 4.6 (Thor) HSE, detested my 2.5DSE - good luck :-)

[Smiler]

It is still on air which all seemed to work when I viewed it. It's apparently had new bags on the back but I haven't been able to look properly yet.

It was also on private plates hence the lack of number plates.

Paid a bit over a grand for it.

I think it will need some attention to start with but will then hopefully be ok.

Having not owned a V8 model I don't have the problem of being able to compare it.
If it turns out to be the wrong vehicle for our needs I shall just sell it again. At least with an MoT we should get our money back.

[Smiler]

Oh, and the front foglights switch is missing. These were apparently never fitted to diesels of this age. Surely a previous owner hasn't gone to the trouble of having them fitted just for looks?!

[Thrasher]

BMW engine in these isnt it ?

[welshpug]

yep, m51d25, needs an end tuning chip.

I think there were early ones with the VM engine.

[squonk]

You have balls the size of footballs to buy one of these that has been left standing!!! Soooo much poorly built technology to go wrong. I wish you the very best of luck!!!

[hopeso]

I think you have got yourself a bargain. These have been ignored for too long. Yes they have plenty of problems but all have been well documented and fixes are known.

They don't rust as badly as the Classic or Discovery and are a lot of car for the money.

Looking forward to how you get on with it.

[Mercdan68]

Interesting....watching closely!

[Smiler]

Well, day 1 (a couple of hours anyway).

Got the bonnet open after a but of tugging on the cables. Need to remove the front panel to service the latches and lube the cables properly. Whilst I'm there I'll also clean up the area and fit the fan shroud that was in the boot (it has a shiny new radiator fitted).

Washed and polished the roof! Wife wants to start cleaning the vehicle tomorrow but won't be able to reach the roof so I did it today for her.

Removed the boot seal and washed it. Cleaned the tailgate/boot shut of all the built up gunge and mud. Even used a bit of polish to keep the paint sealed.

Battery is flat and of too small a size so first big bill - bought a new one. Will fit tomorrow. Have noticed that the battery clamp is missing!

[Mercdan68]

Looking forward to following this
One of those cars I like and admire, but to frightened to buy!!!

[daslandroverman]

A well sorted P38 is a good motor, the trick is not buying one that's full of issues that previous owners couldn't afford to sort properly.

A pair of airbags on the front would be a wise move if it's had rears recently.

Mar 10, 2017 14:56:56 GMT welshpug said:

yep, m51d25, needs an end tuning chip.

I think there were early ones with the VM engine.

The diesel P38 was only ever BMW powered.
Early diesel 'Classics' had the 2.4 and latterly 2.5 VM engine, which was eventually superceded by the 200 Tdi.

They do benefit greatly from a power chip.

[georgeb]

Mar 11, 2017 10:36:05 GMT daslandroverman said:

A well sorted P38 is a good motor, the trick is not buying one that's full of issues that previous owners couldn't afford to sort properly.

This, this and more this!

Although mine didn't fall into the same category. Well, not totally.

Air suspension - gone. Reinstated with 3 month old bags, new height sensors, rebuilt valve block and new compressor. Kamusta, Kitty?


Engine oil - black as a bag. Changed twice at 500km now every thousand km. Stays clean.

Exhaust - knackered. SS front pipes with sport cats and OEM middle and rear


Leads and plugs - as they left the factory looking at them. Changed!

Radiator - mainly liquid steel. Replaced by locally made, all alloy one. No plastic headers now and can get it repaired anywhere here. New water hoses and thermostat at the same time.Have spare pump in the 'stores' cupboard.

Serpentine belt - as it left the factory looking at it. Changed! Old one cut in half and nailed to bottom of front door to stop dog hair escaping from the apartment.

Wheels - L322 19" jobbies. We'll be charitable and say peer pressure and no idea of how a '38 should drive. 


Changed to 16" and 165x70 A/T tyres.


Battery - weak and threw up all sorts of amusing faults.Changed. Twice now, the heat kills them.

Gearbox - crappy changes. Set throttle cable exactly as per workshop manual. What a difference!

Fusebox - getting a bit crusty. Changed.



Yet...
Auto and transfer box - bang on the mark with fresh fluid

Diffs - same, same

Brake discs and calipers - spot on and greased pins. Just replaced pads. Easy.

Bushes - all good apart from Panhard rod which failed after 3 years. Running "Truck Tyre" locally made bushes now. So far, so good!

Shockers - fairly new Bilsteins all round, which I find with the air suspension and 16" wheels, work well.

Electric everything - all worked apart from auto-dip mirror. Replaced with new manual one.

So a bit of a Curate's Egg really, but not too bad to make into a reliable daily.

For me, the Nanocom is an essential tool.


Silenced all the spurious alarms that got me 50% discount when haggling. Showed that TPS and IACV were out. A removal and clean up sorted them. Also showed MAF is fine and doing its job. Allowed me to reset suspension after refitting for the larger tyres. Allowed me to disable various bit of alarm that I don't need and means I don't get locked out or have to enter key code. Can reset fuel trims after any work. Gives me independence from "Specialists" and, way more importantly, Land Rover Manila.

So if you look at the list, probably not much more than you'd expect to recommission any other then, 19 year old vehicle, that had been stood for around 18 months.

Saying that, she's never seen salt, but does live in high humidity.

All worthwhile when some cocky "Off-road" turd in a Hateful Fortuner with pointless suspension lift and slicks pulled up next to me at some lights, Leaning out of his window, he looked over and down at me with a smirk. Pressed "High" on the dashboard and watched his face fall as I climbed above him. "I suppose it's diesel as well?" I asked as I floored it.

Simple things, simple things.

Sorry for the long post, but, as you may have noticed, I really am a fan!

As you were Smiler

[discostew38]

"if" it's all working as it should there quite a nice car
A friend of mine has had them for years
He's probably owned 5 petrol/diesel manual and auto
And he's had to deal with all the common problems

I've got one
Bought it with a knocking 4.0 V8 (gems) and put a 4.6 in it mines a bit tatty on the inside but as I occasionally use it off road that's a plus
When I bought it it was on springs and I converted it back to air (it drives better and it complies with insurance company regs)
I had a disco 2 V8 before this and if I'm honest that was better but it still had its faults just different ones

[squonk]

These are some words of wisdom that a friend of mine who owns an independant Land Rover service and repair centre once told me:

Potentially the problem with 'older' modern Land Rover ownership is the previous chain of ownership.

The first owner has bought a vehicle thats cost them probably £60k+. They are fully aware that a full service at a main dealer could cost them in excess of £1000 and are not bothered as that is par for the course for a vehicle of this price - and anyway, if they can afford £60k+ for a car a £1k service is small change!.

Three years on its sold to a second owner for probably £20k. They too are aware of the servicing costs and buy the car in full knowledge of the cost of ownership.

By seven years old it is worth £10k and has passed to its third owner. They will keep up the servicing but at a specialist and not a franchised dealer.

Three years further on and the car is ten years old, its value has dropped to £5k and is bought by someone who thinks they can afford it but hasn't actually looked into the servicing costs. So when the reality of the cost of ownership hits, servicing starts to slip and so does reliability. The car starts developing niggling faults and so is passed on a couple of years later.

By the time it reaches its fifth owner it is likely to be a whole heap of expensive trouble. Potentially at this point it is debatable as to whether it is even viable to keep it on the road. Hence it just gets parked up and forgotten about.

He reckons that about 75% of Range Rovers and Discoverys over 10 years old have or will suffer this fate! Possibly why it seems that you hardly ever see P38's on the road any more. Having said that, he's more than happy about this as it makes him a lot of money!

PS: I have two Range Rovers sitting on my drive and they have been there for at least five years - and they're classics!!

[fray-bentos-uk]

Beautiful cars, I had a 4 litre petrol, they are so comfortable and classy. You will probably love and hate it from day to day, but they are worth the grief. So I presume the Escort is all sorted now?

[Deleted]

That is an unusually straight looking one. The colour combo really works with the factory tints, too. Hope it proves to be a good one for you.