Hello - Site (and RR) Newbie with P38 problems!

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complete n00b here, but can't agree more with the reply about tyre pressures, as I have posted on numerous threads I thought mine was going to kill me first trip up motorway, tyre pressures sorted and its a different beast and a pleasure to drive. 30 front and 38 rear is what I now run, thanks to advice on this forum

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UPDATE: Replacement Blower motor arrived (£20, fleaBay) - tested satis, fitted. Scorched relay also replaced.

Now full-blast HVAC, and 'book' symbol on HVAC display has vanished! Result!
 
Ok, no instant results, but I only drove it about 5 miles. Seems to have smoothed out that 3rd-4th-3rd change, but it still revs right up for a couple of seconds before changing.

Datatek, how long before you saw results with yours?
 
Ok, no instant results, but I only drove it about 5 miles. Seems to have smoothed out that 3rd-4th-3rd change, but it still revs right up for a couple of seconds before changing.

Datatek, how long before you saw results with yours?

Twas a few hundred miles maybe, it settled down on route to the UK:)
 
This arrived today... Look familiar, Datatek?

...except it's too frickin' COLD to work on the car now!!
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Ok, the fun begins... Book symbol now back on HVAC, down intermittently to one blower... And the new relay 7 is already fried!! WTF??

Do I need to bite the bullet and change the fusebox? There is some scorching around the R7 socket.

Also have another weird fault, just started. After my son was buggering round with the interior lights whilst parked, I can now either have front on / rear off, or vice-versa... Not BOTH off OR on! Pressing the button on the front roof console simply switches one off and 'tother on. Same effect when opening doors... Front light stays on when shut off, parked and locked up, so standing by for flat battery in the morning :-(

In addition... I've noticed the backlighting on the HVAC display seems to dim slightly when I brake...???!!!

Any clues, learned ones?
 
Need to find out what fried the relay, and take it from there - it is not impossible that the other issues are related to this (perhaps because of voltage drop due to the large current drain that is frying the relay!). My HEVAC display went very dim when the battery was failing.

I would check wiring between relay and blower first, starting with the underneath of the fusebox itself!

It is also of course possible that the replacement blower may have failed taking the relay with it....

Sorry, can't be more help than that I'm afraid...

Cheers

Jerry
 
Ok, the fun begins... Book symbol now back on HVAC, down intermittently to one blower... And the new relay 7 is already fried!! WTF??

Do I need to bite the bullet and change the fusebox? There is some scorching around the R7 socket.

Also have another weird fault, just started. After my son was buggering round with the interior lights whilst parked, I can now either have front on / rear off, or vice-versa... Not BOTH off OR on! Pressing the button on the front roof console simply switches one off and 'tother on. Same effect when opening doors... Front light stays on when shut off, parked and locked up, so standing by for flat battery in the morning :-(

In addition... I've noticed the backlighting on the HVAC display seems to dim slightly when I brake...???!!!

Any clues, learned ones?

Any signs of scorching around the fusebox means it is probaly shot. You can take them apart and re-build them with patience. The fusebox can cause all sorts of strange problems:eek:
 
my hevac display dims when brake pedal is pressed, the brake pedal switch hevac and eas switches are all on the same circuit/fuse.
so is prob just down too voltage drop when brake pedal is pressed and the brake lights come on.
 
Woke up to a flat battery this morning :-(

Turns out the odd interior light behaviour was due to a short in the interior / map light unit in the front headliner. Removed, fixed short, problem gone!

I now have to buy a bigger jump-start unit as the weedy 20Ahr one I have was most definitely NOT up to the job this morning in -6 deg.. and definitely not with some dodgy glow plugs, which didn't help.

God bless my 21 yr-old BMW, which started first touch of the key and provided the current to kick the P38 into life!!!
 
New fusebox and replacement relays have arrived.

Any tips on doing the swap? I read somewhere about leaving the key in the ignition when disconnecting the battery....?
 
New fusebox and replacement relays have arrived.

Any tips on doing the swap? I read somewhere about leaving the key in the ignition when disconnecting the battery....?

The proceedure is in the owners manual, 17 seconds comes into it somewhere. I take no notice and just diss the battery as my alarm sounder is disconnected:)
 
New fuse box fitted satis. So far, so good. I split the old one apart:

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Remarkable lack of damage or corrosion, compared to what I was expecting according to some on here. Damage seemed to be limited to the scorched area immediately around the plugs for R7. We'll see how matters improve.

Might be totally subjective and / or coincidence, but I seemed to have much less drama starting it from cold compared to this morning... And it's been sat for several hours in -10deg.
 
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