P38 2.5dse 1997 MOT

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This is the man that put his gearbox in with one hand while tightening the bolts with the other :eek:
Jubilee clips is possible but not entirely easy. @kermit_rr changed his not long back also

@Flossie I been thinking about you saying Dutchess is slow/hesitant. Can’t work it out with everything you’ve done she should shift pretty well. Have you had a looksee at your turbo/wastegate under the fibreglass heatshield yet? Can get crudded up over time and seize up.
New intercooler, plugs, VDO pump, superior spills, EGR done, drivetrain, Modulation at about 50%, cam cover gasket/breather - theres something simple overlooked or autobox is goosed? If she’s not running hot in the peak of summer perhaps compression/leak back test for ocd sake
you should be good to chip and take it up a notch. Best to do any adjustments before remap get the most out of it.
 
Grrrrrr said:
I did a How To in the Technical Section on how to replace the CV boot.

@EntropyUK made some sort of alignment tool to check all still good after doing the ball-joints. Worth searching his posts.
Click to expand...

I didn't make the tool, I found it on YouTube. Here are the links. The first one should be irrelevant if you do not adjust the collar as advised earlier.


 
RangeRoller dt said:
This is the man that put his gearbox in with one hand while tightening the bolts with the other :eek:
Jubilee clips is possible but not entirely easy. @kermit_rr changed his not long back also

@Flossie I been thinking about you saying Dutchess is slow/hesitant. Can’t work it out with everything you’ve done she should shift pretty well. Have you had a looksee at your turbo/wastegate under the fibreglass heatshield yet? Can get crudded up over time and seize up.
New intercooler, plugs, VDO pump, superior spills, EGR done, drivetrain, Modulation at about 50%, cam cover gasket/breather - theres something simple overlooked or autobox is goosed? If she’s not running hot in the peak of summer perhaps compression/leak back test for ocd sake
you should be good to chip and take it up a notch. Best to do any adjustments before remap get the most out of it.
Click to expand...
I'm happy with the performance overall, goes well on kickdown, starts instantly hot or cold, gets up to temperature quickly, doesnt smoke or overheat, love her to bits.
The only thing I don't like is how long it takes to shift up to 2nd on a cold engine, around 2750 rpm, I cringe every morning with the noise, my attempts to gradually build up speed with the revs low result in a very slow pull away off my drive into traffic which usually results in being tailgated by some dick in an audi.
It doesn't seem so bad once warm as I suspect the viscous fan is adding to the cold roar.
My pal who has recently got a 38 diesel says his changes up at about the same revs and also doesn't like it on a cold pull away. However, his goes like stink without kickdown and it had a leaking leak off pipe, a blowing downpipe flexi and a split map pipe. Replacing those didn't improve performance though which I thought would.
His puffs out black smoke on cold or hot starts though and that, along with his power, makes me suspect its chipped.
If the box changed up at say 1750 rpm I would be happy. Full fluid and filter change and valve block bolts nice and tight too. Being as his changes at the same revs points to it being a character or both our boxes are faulty.
 
I've read on here somewhere, think it was @Datatek , who said a proper chip reduces the torque? or something ,that the OE chip does during autobox gear changes, something that a powerbox doesn't do. Endtuning are mentioned as good to deal with.
I'd like to drive a non chipped non powerboxed bus to compare ideally but don't know anyone remotely near me.
 
Flossie said:
I'm happy with the performance overall, goes well on kickdown, starts instantly hot or cold, gets up to temperature quickly, doesnt smoke or overheat, love her to bits.
The only thing I don't like is how long it takes to shift up to 2nd on a cold engine, around 2750 rpm, I cringe every morning with the noise, my attempts to gradually build up speed with the revs low result in a very slow pull away off my drive into traffic which usually results in being tailgated by some dick in an audi.
It doesn't seem so bad once warm as I suspect the viscous fan is adding to the cold roar.
My pal who has recently got a 38 diesel says his changes up at about the same revs and also doesn't like it on a cold pull away. However, his goes like stink without kickdown and it had a leaking leak off pipe, a blowing downpipe flexi and a split map pipe. Replacing those didn't improve performance though which I thought would.
His puffs out black smoke on cold or hot starts though and that, along with his power, makes me suspect its chipped.
If the box changed up at say 1750 rpm I would be happy. Full fluid and filter change and valve block bolts nice and tight too. Being as his changes at the same revs points to it being a character or both our boxes are faulty.
Click to expand...

Diesels do not go well when cold, 2750 is about normal, in fact going up the hill from my house in winter, if I want to go faster than 20mph, it will rev to over 3K so I always crawl up the hill.
Has you mates P38 got a MAF or is it the earlier version with no MAF.
 
Flossie said:
I've read on here somewhere, think it was @Datatek , who said a proper chip reduces the torque? or something ,that the OE chip does during autobox gear changes, something that a powerbox doesn't do. Endtuning are mentioned as good to deal with.
I'd like to drive a non chipped non powerboxed bus to compare ideally but don't know anyone remotely near me.
Click to expand...

Most powerboxes just trick the ECU into throwing in more fuel all the time. Tuning is a bit more subtle. Most maps are a balance between power and economy and emissions regs. You can look at the maps and just ease up the fuel in specific areas short of causing too much smoke or stressing components. Remember the Land Rover guys had to make it work in high and low range, on and off road conditions and hit emissions targets around the globe. That's going to incur trade offs. That said, you need to be pretty knowledgeable to tweak it without adversely affecting one of those areas. Beyond my ken.
 
Grrrrrr said:
Most powerboxes just trick the ECU into throwing in more fuel all the time. Tuning is a bit more subtle. Most maps are a balance between power and economy and emissions regs. You can look at the maps and just ease up the fuel in specific areas short of causing too much smoke or stressing components. Remember the Land Rover guys had to make it work in high and low range, on and off road conditions and hit emissions targets around the globe. That's going to incur trade offs. That said, you need to be pretty knowledgeable to tweak it without adversely affecting one of those areas. Beyond my ken.
Click to expand...
A power box does not "trick the ECU" it simply modifies the ECU output to the FIP to give more fuel. It sits in the cable from ECU to FIP, at least the one I had and others I have seen are like that so the ECU is unaware of it.
 
Datatek said:
A power box does not "trick the ECU" it simply modifies the ECU output to the FIP to give more fuel. It sits in the cable from ECU to FIP, at least the one I had and others I have seen are like that so the ECU is unaware of it.
Click to expand...

The effect is that it puts in more fuel than the ECU thinks is going in. That's a trick in my book.
 
Datatek said:
Diesels do not go well when cold, 2750 is about normal, in fact going up the hill from my house in winter, if I want to go faster than 20mph, it will rev to over 3K so I always crawl up the hill.
Has you mates P38 got a MAF or is it the earlier version with no MAF.
Click to expand...
Mine sounds normal then. Just been out, ambient quite high, 21 degrees, and a notable improvement with the cold engine, changed up at 2500 too.
Mates is the same as mine 2001 with maff and egr, higher milage, 175k to my 108k.
I've only driven his when hot and it flew, mine goes well when warm just needs lots more pedal movement to get the same thrust as his. Almost like a 1/4 turn throttle like my dirt bike had (on his bus).
 
Mine doesn’t shift til it’s warmed up chimed in. Doesn’t warm up quickly either but I have biased it to overcool.
Wonder if having the exhaust practically disconnected is the equivalent to a decat + straight through, that would be noticeable gain against stock
 
Flossie said:
Mine sounds normal then. Just been out, ambient quite high, 21 degrees, and a notable improvement with the cold engine, changed up at 2500 too.
Mates is the same as mine 2001 with maff and egr, higher milage, 175k to my 108k.
I've only driven his when hot and it flew, mine goes well when warm just needs lots more pedal movement to get the same thrust as his. Almost like a 1/4 turn throttle like my dirt bike had (on his bus).
Click to expand...
They do seem to be quite variable, my higher mileage 99 project car feels as though it goes better than my 2000 original since I got the modulation exact:)
 
RangeRoller dt said:
Mine doesn’t shift til it’s warmed up chimed in. Doesn’t warm up quickly either but I have biased it to overcool.
Wonder if having the exhaust practically disconnected is the equivalent to a decat + straight through, that would be noticeable gain against stock
Click to expand...
No viscous fan on either of mine so they warm up quite quickly, they are set to run at 95C:D
 
Considering what I payed for what turned out to be a bearmach viscous that locks up bit too much imo, I am wishing I’d gone down your route. Less strain on the water pump and few revs woke up. The neighbours do say about the noise. Mixture of turbo spool and viscous sounding like a challenger 2. I’m thinking I’m lacking bit of power and making bit of noise due to leaking exh manifold gaskets. Not had time to investigate yet
 
RangeRoller dt said:
Considering what I payed for what turned out to be a bearmach viscous that locks up bit too much imo, I am wishing I’d gone down your route. Less strain on the water pump and few revs woke up. The neighbours do say about the noise. Mixture of turbo spool and viscous sounding like a challenger 2. I’m thinking I’m lacking bit of power and making bit of noise due to leaking exh manifold gaskets. Not had time to investigate yet
Click to expand...
Apart from a short lock up when cold, the viscous should be disengaged when the engine is cold. The cars are however a lot quieter without the viscous.
 
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