P38A 2.5 diesel- want one but scared!

Enthusiastman · Jun 22, 2021

P38-DFX said:
Oh I will. I’ve been through most of the car with a fine tooth comb. She’s serviced every 3k miles and only run on shell fuel, also gets treated to a bottle of sulphur additive every tank too. No k&n filter yet, I just use a standard Bosch paper filter.

Good man. She should serve you well then albeit i would highly recommend a K&N panel filter in the air box buddy. Been using them for over 40 years now in all my cars.

marjon · Jun 22, 2021

Henry_b said:
£12000 for a P38? nah and anyone that thinks the P38 is worth over £8k needs their brain examined,

Exsquezze me I do

.

J

Henry_b · Jun 22, 2021

marjon said:
Exsquezze me I do.

J

Well a 630R is an exception, only 25 made

marjon · Jun 22, 2021

Henry_b said:
Well a 630R is an exception, only 25 made

Thanks

Glad somebody agrees

and I am not the only 1 going mad

J

P38-DFX · Jun 23, 2021

brianp38dse said:
Whats been done with the turbo

slightly bigger compressor wheel and turbine wheel. I believe from a TD05 but don’t hold me to it, they don’t like to share too much detail. Seems to spool up better than the original.

P38-DFX · Jun 23, 2021

Enthusiastman said:
Good man. She should serve you well then albeit i would highly recommend a K&N panel filter in the air box buddy. Been using them for over 40 years now in all my cars.

I’m hoping so. I’ll have a look at the k&n but I’ve never found them to be that much better. They certainly work out more expensive due to the cleaning though.

Enthusiastman · Jun 23, 2021

P38-DFX said:
I’m hoping so. I’ll have a look at the k&n but I’ve never found them to be that much better. They certainly work out more expensive due to the cleaning though.

Been using them for over 40 years now mate and i am still on a cleaning kit which i bought over 15 years ago too. You could bulk buy a paper filter if you prefered to save money and fit a new one yearly if you wanted to. I have always found the K&N to be an improvement and ive fitted them on a variety of different cars. Best gains i felt was in my little sooty van

RangeRoller dt · Jun 23, 2021

P38-DFX said:
slightly bigger compressor wheel and turbine wheel. I believe from a TD05 but don’t hold me to it, they don’t like to share too much detail. Seems to spool up better than the original.

OE is a low blow non variable. If your head holds up they can take considerably more.

P38-DFX · Jun 23, 2021

RangeRoller dt said:
OE is a low blow non variable. If your head holds up they can take considerably more.

I did consider a VNT but wasn’t sure how it would react. Ended up going for the TD05 internals. Still on wastegate pressure at moment but there is scope for more boost. If it goes bang I’ve always got a V8 to drop in lol.

RangeRoller dt · Jun 23, 2021

Td05 is safe bet. You can tweak the wastegate a little with OE setup and get away with it. Perhaps half a turn if you are feeling ballsee. I’d keep to less as I don’t have spare engine lol. One of Grrrs friends here went bit far we never saw him again. Got fair bit of boost before the disappearance

Rubberknees · Jun 23, 2021

Further to my 2 red ones, any one like this black one I was in today

Ignore the Tesla in the background that don't count. I was more interested in the V12 with 650bhp under the bonnet

P38-DFX · Jun 24, 2021

RangeRoller dt said:
Td05 is safe bet. You can tweak the wastegate a little with OE setup and get away with it. Perhaps half a turn if you are feeling ballsee. I’d keep to less as I don’t have spare engine lol. One of Grrrs friends here went bit far we never saw him again. Got fair bit of boost before the disappearance

I may give it a tweak, I’m undecided as of yet as it’s driving perfect.

RangeRoller dt · Jun 24, 2021

P38-DFX said:
I may give it a tweak, I’m undecided as of yet as it’s driving perfect.

It wasn’t a suggestion

Main reason to tweak the wastegate is to make up for lost power due to age/wear, and therein usually lies the problem.
How many miles you done with the current setup?

P38-DFX · Jun 24, 2021

RangeRoller dt said:
It wasn’t a suggestion
Main reason to tweak the wastegate is to make up for lost power due to age/wear, and therein usually lies the problem.
How many miles you done with the current setup?

It doesn’t really need it at the moment. It’s making boost sooner than the original turbo and has a lovely spread of power. Doesn’t hang about, especially with the larger tyres on. I’m only on 103k.

RangeRoller dt · Jun 24, 2021

Big tyres gear it down a bit but I’ve had no long term problems.

P38-DFX · Jun 24, 2021

Nor me. You notice it a little but nowhere near as bad when I had the mud tyres on.

Grrrrrr · Jun 25, 2021

RangeRoller dt said:
Td05 is safe bet. You can tweak the wastegate a little with OE setup and get away with it. Perhaps half a turn if you are feeling ballsee. I’d keep to less as I don’t have spare engine lol. One of Grrrs friends here went bit far we never saw him again. Got fair bit of boost before the disappearance

That was Stuart. He's got an L332 now, on top of his pile of beamers.

Coley53 · Jun 26, 2021

Enthusiastman said:
My advice to you and from my own RECENT experiences is this: WAIT UNITL YOU ARE 100% ready. Look by all means BUT look local or as local as possible. My long long search for a P38 ended miserably after 3 failed attempts so i gave up and bought a 5 year old L405 Autobiography instead.

The web is full of P38's for sale and most of them IMHOP and experience are ready for the scrap yard and MUST be avoided no matter how good they look or sound. The dealers out there too again IMHOP are lying cheating tossers and again should be avoided and they are plain greedy with it. They all seem to think that the P38 market is rocketing and values are massively on the up. IMHOP its all BS. They are only ever worth what someone will pay for them. If you want a excellent P38 that has been looked after then look for a enthusiast owned example instead as you are in a much better chance of finding a good one this way albeit they will NEVER be faultless. Another reason why i gave up in the end.
The 2.5 TD is a peach of a car if you get a well maintained example. Slow yes but 30 plus mpg if driven well and looked after and there are plenty out there on offer.
I thought i had found the right one but it ended in disaster.
Loads of choice out there BUT if your looking at sub £4000 examples then don't expect too much for your money. The cars were trouble when new and are still trouble now so keep a good cash reserve for new parts etc and service items. The 2.5 TD engine is a dream to work on space wise compared to the v8's so that's a plus and you can find them in HSE spec too so it will have all the bits on them albeit SE will have lesser spec which could be a blessing electrics wise. LOL.

We are always here as a collective to offer advice and guidance for FREE which in turn gives you a heads up and prevents you wasting your time and money on rubbish and dodgy sellers/dealers.

Remember this : If they don't or won't answer questions properly and honestly then WALK AWAY. The olde " oh the A/C just needs a regas " is BS and if it don't work its because its most likley knackered = £££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££'s needed to put things right.

They are nice looking cars and i would still consider a minter in the future BUT NOT NOW i know what i know about them.

Coley53 · Jun 26, 2021

Bought one a couple of years ago absolutely mint, 63 genuine miles and FSH but it looks like the engine liners are knackered after less than 5k.just spent a wad on getting the EAS refurbished a month before.
Having a few more checks to make sure it is the linings and if it is? then will defy loads of advice to ’scrap it’ and will probably looking to put the 2.5 diesel in.

RangeRoller dt · Jun 26, 2021

Pick an m51 up for few hundred quid then work on the v8 while it’s out. Would more than cover the cost when fixed.

P38A 2.5 diesel- want one but scared!

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Think outside, no box required.

Well-Known Member

P38 Enthusiast

P38 Enthusiast

Well-Known Member

Well-Sprung Member

P38 Enthusiast

Well-Sprung Member

Well-Known Member

P38 Enthusiast

Well-Sprung Member

P38 Enthusiast

Well-Sprung Member

P38 Enthusiast

Technician, Bodgit & Scarper Ltd

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Sprung Member

Similar threads