New member/P38 owner in Swindon

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Enthusiastman said:
Where exactly is it please buddy??? i have heard this mentioned before albeit not sure exactly where it is?? I have today ordered another fuel filter too and will change it again just to be certain the new one i fitted 3 weeks ago has not been clogged which is possible i suppose. Rule it out so to speak as they say.

Cheers, Brendan
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Check you can slacken the union's at the oil cooler before you proceed, they have a habit of tearing the threads off the cooler,dissimilar metals,stupid design fault.I had to replace the cooler as well as the pipes.:rolleyes::D not so much a problem if its not your daily drive yet.
 
Enthusiastman said:
Where exactly is it please buddy??? i have heard this mentioned before albeit not sure exactly where it is?? I have today ordered another fuel filter too and will change it again just to be certain the new one i fitted 3 weeks ago has not been clogged which is possible i suppose. Rule it out so to speak as they say.

Cheers, Brendan
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I don't remember seeing one on mine, think it was on the Discos.and the Classic's
 
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tomcat59alan said:
Check you can slacken the union's at the oil cooler before you proceed, they have a habit of tearing the threads off the cooler,dissimilar metals,stupid design fault.I had to replace the cooler as well as the pipes.:rolleyes::D not so much a problem if its not your daily drive yet.
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Yes buddy i am aware of that dissimilar metals problem. Had it on my DB7 also. Stupid idea it is. I have been spraying the unions with WD40 these last few weeks hoping it will soak in to the threads to aid removal as you say. My car being a TD model didnt come with front foglights as standard BUT in the past the car was upgraded to have them fitted and the oil cooler was relocated behind the left foglight with a small fan on it to aid cooling so because of this modification i am hoping the unions will indeed come loose and not strip the threads like they can do. If they do i shall just buy a new cooler rad.

Just out of curiosity and when you did yours, did you lose much of the red oil out of the cooler and the pipes when you took it apart??? i know afterwards to top up via the gearbox filler until it trickles out the filler hole like on the diffs.

Cheers.
 
RangeRoller dt said:
That does look like it’s had money spent on it.

One thing that occurs to me, if it’s been standing years have you tried draining the fuel filter water drain thingy mebob?
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In second reply to your question, Yes she has indeed had a lot of money spent on her. The last owner i know paid the selling dealer who i bought it off £8500 for it back in early 2017 and he then went on to spend a further £8000 onn the car @ Turner Diagnostics in Hemel Hempstead. The invoices and the works and new parts fitted are a great read and one of the main reasons i bought it as she has only done a further 5k miles since all those works were done and now showing 106000 on the clock. I have put about 150 miles on her since i bought her 4 weeks ago showing 105900.

Looking back in the service booklet she has mainly all L/R main dealer stamps ( sadly no invoices for those stamps ) and looking at the M.O.T history online she averaged between 10-20k miles a year for the first few years of her life and then dwindled down to lower annual miles each year so it looks like she was looked after by her previous owners who all had private number plates fitted too which sort of says " i love my car ". Once i have sorted out this rough running issue then i will assign my private plate on to her too.

Since buying the car i have also invested on top of the purchase price a further £2500 - £3000 of my own monies on new items just to make her a minter. My own choice yes and some would argue me being a tad nutts but these later examples and limited edition models do need to be preserved for the future otherwise they will all end up as bean cans sadly. The interior on mine is like new and only slight wear to the drivers bum seat cushion which i will get repaired by a local trimmer in time.
 
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Enthusiastman said:
£8000 onn the car @ Turner Diagnostics in Hemel Hempstead. The invoices and the works and new parts fitted are a great read and one of the main reasons i bought it as she has only done a further 5k miles since all those works were done and now showing 106000 on the clock. I have put about 150 miles on her since i bought her 4 weeks ago showing 105900.
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Turner Diag are rip-off merchants (IMHO) they pretend to know the P38 really well, but in fact they know diddly-squat. They stung me for a few bob too :mad:, before I cottoned on. I then sent my BeCM to CallRover who got me sorted immediately.
I wouldn't touch Turner again with a 10-foot pole. :D
 
Enthusiastman said:
Yes buddy i am aware of that dissimilar metals problem. Had it on my DB7 also. Stupid idea it is. I have been spraying the unions with WD40 these last few weeks hoping it will soak in to the threads to aid removal as you say. My car being a TD model didnt come with front foglights as standard BUT in the past the car was upgraded to have them fitted and the oil cooler was relocated behind the left foglight with a small fan on it to aid cooling so because of this modification i am hoping the unions will indeed come loose and not strip the threads like they can do. If they do i shall just buy a new cooler rad.

Just out of curiosity and when you did yours, did you lose much of the red oil out of the cooler and the pipes when you took it apart??? i know afterwards to top up via the gearbox filler until it trickles out the filler hole like on the diffs.

Cheers.
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I didn't loose a lot mind you I've got a manual.;) Remember there is or supposed to be a "top hat " washer on one of the mounting bolts,this allows some lateral movement when the cooler gets hot and expands ;) check the oil temp and select each gear to fill the torque converter before you get the correct level.:D I'll include the black ones if you replace the cooler. ;)
 
Enthusiastman said:
Cheers buddy, i was thinking of changing the fuel filter again just to rule that out. Its only been on 3 weeks now and i always fully prime it with fresh fuel before re-fitting them. She fired up immediately and still does to this day BUT for the price of one its a no brainer TBH so i will order another and change it again.
I have also been putting quite a bit of fresh diesel in the tank over these last few weeks and a total of £100 has been added of V power shell diesel along with a a bottle of fuel cleaner and a bottle of turbo cleaner which were both recommended to me by a chap on here who uses them all the time in his P38 TD. They could also still account for a fair bit of the smoke still being emitted on start up and when i rev her up.

I changed the batteries in the remote key fob this morning after my fob kit arrived. What an absolute PITA job that was too as according to the UHB you only get 1 min to do it and yes, guess what, i got disabled out of the car and she would not start. I was tearing my hair out ( i still have hair BTW ) and i just played with the new back cover a bit and then the remote started to work again and the car started up. Remote now locks and unlocks and the little red light emits too on the remote fob again and the message on the dash has gone now which said remote fob battery low so at least i have managed to get one job done.

Regarding the rough running issue which still is there, she starts fine from cold and starts ok after about 5 cranks from hot which i can live with for now. I may get the hot start kit fitted when she goes in the specialists as its only about £50 for the kit.

Again i have no warning lights and never have had any either. If i rev her up she sort of struggles like a duff spark plug feeling and the same if you drive her and with smoke emitting. All the fluid levels are fine and remain fine as i check them daily. No loss anywhere and no leaks underneath either apart from the 2 x gearbox flexi oil cooler pipes which are weeping on the crimp joints. I have 2 x new pipes to get fitted in readiness along with a new full exhaust system when it all arrives. I have decided to fit the middle silencer delete pipe too for that straight through flow of the gases. If i find its too loud then i can just fit the new middle box i have.
Its cold and wet outside today and my arthritus is playing me up in my hands so i am done now for today and back in the warmth of the bungalow.

Will P38 ownership always be like this i am starting to ask myself with mine being plagued with issues??? I am particularly interested in all views from my fellow 2.5 TD owners and they are all and have faired with theirs over the times??? I decided on the 2.5 TD as i wanted longevity and good MPG over the V8's. I already have 2 other classic V8 cars in my little collection along with my classic Vespa mod scooter so did not see the need for another gas guzzler on my driveway. At least my P38 is under cover as i had a new carport fitted 2 months ago so at least she is protected from 90% of the bad weather we get on this island. LOL. If i could get her in my mancave she would be but not enough room in there for 4 toys sadly.

Praying she will come good for me so i can enjoy her.
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Nice collection there.

My DT is the older engine without EGR. If I do lots of short journeys it does start to smoke. A good blast down the motorway or an oil change and it disappears. +1 on Shell V-power. It definitely smokes less on that stuff.

Starting. Sounds like there is a bit of chain stretch there. If you want to drive up to Bucks I can plug my Nanocom in and see.

What colour is the smoke coming out the back?

In the back of my mind I am thinking just because the injectors are refurbed doesn't mean they didn't drop a clanger. All it takes is an interruption at the wrong moment and anyone can mess up.
 
RangeRoller dt said:
It’s on bottom of fuel filter (if you have one). 106k fully serviced would run perfect wouldn’t you say
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Should do. Guess he could unplug the MAF (not MAP) and check the MAP nipple isn't blocked but I am guessing someone already suggested that?

Where's Wammers? Is he OK? Thought he'd have flown in in his cape and underpants by now ratger than watching us guess. Or is he social distancing on here?
 
Enthusiastman said:
Yes buddy i am aware of that dissimilar metals problem. Had it on my DB7 also. Stupid idea it is. I have been spraying the unions with WD40 these last few weeks hoping it will soak in to the threads to aid removal as you say. My car being a TD model didnt come with front foglights as standard BUT in the past the car was upgraded to have them fitted and the oil cooler was relocated behind the left foglight with a small fan on it to aid cooling so because of this modification i am hoping the unions will indeed come loose and not strip the threads like they can do. If they do i shall just buy a new cooler rad.

Just out of curiosity and when you did yours, did you lose much of the red oil out of the cooler and the pipes when you took it apart??? i know afterwards to top up via the gearbox filler until it trickles out the filler hole like on the diffs.

Cheers.
Click to expand...
Enthusiastman said:
Yes buddy i am aware of that dissimilar metals problem. Had it on my DB7 also. Stupid idea it is. I have been spraying the unions with WD40 these last few weeks hoping it will soak in to the threads to aid removal as you say. My car being a TD model didnt come with front foglights as standard BUT in the past the car was upgraded to have them fitted and the oil cooler was relocated behind the left foglight with a small fan on it to aid cooling so because of this modification i am hoping the unions will indeed come loose and not strip the threads like they can do. If they do i shall just buy a new cooler rad.

Just out of curiosity and when you did yours, did you lose much of the red oil out of the cooler and the pipes when you took it apart??? i know afterwards to top up via the gearbox filler until it trickles out the filler hole like on the diffs.

Cheers.
Click to expand...


The oil cooler with the fan is standard on the auto`s and can be expensive the manuals had the cooler in front of the rad.
 
DanClarke said:
Turner Diag are rip-off merchants (IMHO) they pretend to know the P38 really well, but in fact they know diddly-squat. They stung me for a few bob too :mad:, before I cottoned on. I then sent my BeCM to CallRover who got me sorted immediately.
I wouldn't touch Turner again with a 10-foot pole. :D
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I had a decent chat with Elliot on the phone a few weeks ago who was very helpful albeit since reading their reviews online it appears his dad Eric ( the owner ) is a C**t and has upset alot of folk by all accounts with his rudeness.
 
Grrrrrr said:
Nice collection there.

My DT is the older engine without EGR. If I do lots of short journeys it does start to smoke. A good blast down the motorway or an oil change and it disappears. +1 on Shell V-power. It definitely smokes less on that stuff.

Starting. Sounds like there is a bit of chain stretch there. If you want to drive up to Bucks I can plug my Nanocom in and see.

What colour is the smoke coming out the back?

In the back of my mind I am thinking just because the injectors are refurbed doesn't mean they didn't drop a clanger. All it takes is an interruption at the wrong moment and anyone can mess up.
Click to expand...
The injectors were done by a top firm in Bristol who came highly recommended to me so i trust them 100%. The owner Chris was a real gent too. The smoke out the rear is difficult to diagnose as its a mixture of grey/blue tinge albeit i am putting most of it down to the treatments i added to flush through. Its not as bad as it was initially but its still not right IMHOP. I cant drive it to Bucks sadly but thanks for the offer. I bought one of those Hawkeye scanners but i think its rather ****e and difficult to use so i will send it back for refund.
Would have no idea about a chain stretch.

She starts up fine all the time and instantly from cold and about 5 cranks when hot which i can live with for now.
 
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