P38A Heater O Rings

ukadamwest · May 16, 2017

so, following the head gasket renewal, the heater O rings then started leaking with the resultant wet carpet, most likely from the disruption from the head gasket on old brittle o rings.

what a ball-ache of a job ! Land rover when design-building the interior stared with the heater pipe connection and blend motors.. then built the rest of the interior around that.

and what a daft piece of engineering a bloody cross head screw. I elected to replace the cross head screw with an M4x30 bolt with washer which can be got at with an 8mm socket to get the clamp tight to prevent leakage.

lets see how the o rings seal up ! I'll be watching the water level over the next week

P38Penguin · May 16, 2017

I remember doing them on my old DSE and thought I'd like to meet the designer and ask what on earth he was thinking!

wammers · May 16, 2017

If everything was easy there would be nothing to complain about.

martyuk · May 16, 2017

When it starts leaking again

pull the top of the dash out, take the heater box out and free all the flaps up and re-grease, put an Audi heater matrix in with hose connections on it, which connect to the vehicle pipework in the engine bay, and never have to worry about leaky O-rings again!

You might be lucky and find the new ones seal OK - I found on mine when I went to change them when I first bought it that they had obviously been done in the past, and they'd damaged the sealing face of the heater core, so I was going to have to take it all apart anyway!...

Grrrrrr · May 16, 2017

Careful you don't overtighten and do the plastic in or it'll be a Marty job.

wammers · May 17, 2017

Grrrrrr said:
Careful you don't overtighten and do the plastic in or it'll be a Marty job.

I agree no need to wrench it up. If pipes and O'rings are located correctly only thing clamp fastener needs is a slight nip.

ukadamwest · May 19, 2017

wammers said:
I agree no need to wrench it up. If pipes and O'rings are located correctly only thing clamp fastener needs is a slight nip.

Indeed. I agree.

But it's still leaking. That's another weekend committed to RR repair

Joss155 · May 19, 2017

hmm noticed a small amount of dried red AF on the carpet by the side of the pedal the other day. I wiped it up and not seen anything since but I'm guessing that's where the signs start?

wammers · May 19, 2017

ukadamwest said:
Indeed. I agree.

But it's still leaking. That's another weekend committed to RR repair

On each pipe there is a cut out that engages inside the plastic part. Pipes must be twisted to ensure this engages so that O'rings are fully engaged before clamp is applied.

ukadamwest · May 19, 2017

Joss155 said:
hmm noticed a small amount of dried red AF on the carpet by the side of the pedal the other day. I wiped it up and not seen anything since but I'm guessing that's where the signs start?

Yup

Joss155 · May 19, 2017

ukadamwest said:
Yup

Bollox

I'll add it to the list

ukadamwest · May 20, 2017

So at the moment I have the feed pipes in the engine bay firewall undone so as to give full and free movement to line up with the heater matrix.. the top pipe just doesn't want to sit square with a 1-2mm lack at the top. I'm loathed to use RTV as it should seal without any additional help

ukadamwest · May 20, 2017

Looks like I might have done it.. no drips.. even at revs..

The LPG system is tapped on on the flexies as they come through the bulk head so with two T pieces and 6 hose clips the ability to move the pipes to sit in is restricted.

Solution.. undo the LPG coolant feed stand them off the connections with a long bar sitting over the inlet manifold and the brake fluid reservoir to get some slack on the matrix pipes.

Let's see how this holds..

Note: no RTV or other sealant used

martyuk · May 20, 2017

Take the top of the dash off, and put an Audi heater matrix in... problem solved

If it's not sealing up properly, then it could be you have the same issue as I did, where the mating face in the plastic on the heater core itself has a small crack or chip in it, which is allowing it to leak out still.

ukadamwest · May 20, 2017

martyuk said:
Take the top of the dash off, and put an Audi heater matrix in... problem solved

If it's not sealing up properly, then it could be you have the same issue as I did, where the mating face in the plastic on the heater core itself has a small crack or chip in it, which is allowing it to leak out still.

I think it's done.

I have to say Mary you've definitely stuck by your P38 through thick and thin.

Despite my aggravation the wife and I were discussing if we did replace the P38 what would we replace it for.. we were stumped... maybe a sport in couple of years time but then the P38 is a known entity with lifetime warranty on the air springs... rebuilt compressor and a spare. New brakes all round new head gaskets..

Unless I win the lottery..

... then the P38 can go in for a ground up restoration

martyuk · May 20, 2017

I've put too much into my P38 now to let it go.. plus I actually love driving it, and was a bit amazed at how good she looked once cleaned and polished up the other weekend - as it hasn't had the full cleaning treatment from me in probably a coupe of years, due to various reasons - work and always getting it dirty when going to the workshop being the main ones!

I did the dash out/matrix swap for another couple of owners earlier this year, and it isn't a tough job - just take a bit of time to go through systematically... it's a good excuse to be able to refurb the heater box aswell, whilst it's apart and replace the foam on top of the heater box, and free up any sticking flaps etc.

I'm a sucker for punishment too, I have 2 other P38's which are my restoration 'projects'... I'm in the middle of stripping the first one down, so I can go through it with a fine tooth comb, and rebuild it back up.. I don't know how long it's going to take me to do it, but as it's a '98 with 83K on it, I figure by the time it's finished, it will have been well worth saving... my other one, which I haven't even looked at starting work on yet is a '00 Vogue, with 89K on it.. it will get the same treatment, but who knows when I'll have the time/funds available to get that one done!!

kurtjohnson10 · May 20, 2017

ukadamwest said:
I think it's done.

I have to say Mary you've definitely stuck by your P38 through thick and thin.

Despite my aggravation the wife and I were discussing if we did replace the P38 what would we replace it for.. we were stumped... maybe a sport in couple of years time but then the P38 is a known entity with lifetime warranty on the air springs... rebuilt compressor and a spare. New brakes all round new head gaskets..

Unless I win the lottery..

... then the P38 can go in for a ground up restoration

stick with it mate - we all have times we wish our p38 had set of balls we could kick it in

ukadamwest · May 20, 2017

I still need to sort my 3 classics out too marty

ukadamwest · May 20, 2017

kurtjohnson10 said:
stick with it mate - we all have times we wish our p38 had set of balls we could kick it in

Lol.

True.

martyuk · May 20, 2017

ukadamwest said:
I still need to sort my 3 classics out too marty

That should keep you busy for awhile then....

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