picked up another p38

So i bought another p38 2.5 whilst the disco is going to be coming off the road for its head gasket to be done (or more likely a new head!)

Found it on ebay the othey day for £950 with mot until dec, looked reasonable (from a distance) so after a bit of a haggle, got it for £800



The reversing light bodged onto the tailgate is a bit "wtf" but otherwise ....


anyway went to pick it up last night.

Runs reasonably well other than a distinctive ticking noise from the injector area. Something to investigate. Main issue being the seller claiming he was selling it because it was too slow.....

Thats because its either the egr is stuck open (if these early ones have egrs? I didnt check under the bonnet for it yet), maf failure or map sensor. Its fine then hits a wall at 60mph and starts to loose speed.

Ill have a looksee tonight. These engines are great and i love them, very easy to work on. Other issues...

• Interior roof lining is drooping
• Fan coupling is seized so its overcooling and its noisy
• Some minginess on the b pillar trims
• textbook thingy on the ac controls - blows hot and cold fine but wont blow through the vents towards the driver. Motor seized? I think someones fitted a dash from a better model though as its handle a cruise control switch fitted, but no cruise controls on the steering wheel.
• Some rust and the paints a bit cack on the tailgate.
• Wobbles a bit... feels like panhard rod issue.
• Rides bloody harsh.... despite beings on 16" wheels. Ill have a look at the dampers. Thankfully its still on air and it works.
• ****ty aftermarket stereo - looks like the inside of a halfrauds store
• tailgate trim is missing.
• Front bumper looks cack
• headlight guard fittings are installed but.... no headlight guards
• However its got loads of service history, both keys and even the eka code.
• Its a bit of a bugger to go from 5th to 4th.Fine the other way. It'll sometimes go it with a wiggle. Otherwise its 5-3-4! Seemed to be getting a bit better on the way back though.
• Split my knuckle open trying to check the oil, tuck a right good tug on the dipstick and smashed me hand into the fuel filter. Cue bloody trail!
• couple of the mudguards are hanging off.
• oh yeah... and the seller admitted to me that i should drain the tank as its full of red diesel....... Brilliant....

Plan is to tidy it up for minimal cost use it as a ****ty run around until the mot is out, then probably rob the engine out of it for my csw 110.

Still, onwards and upwards. A few small jobs will have it driving much better

Well it doesn't have an egr ir a maf.

Pulled the map pipe off and eugh.... it could barely move.

Going to change filters fir a start and drain off the crap red diesel in the tank

Found the air filter was one for a later year which means it's too small and falls out of place.

Some owners are just. .... argh!

Good buy at that price. It's even got refurb potential even if you take out the engine.

As it only takes a couple of hours to swap a head gasket why do you need to buy another vehicle? You've got to much money pal

I suspect the heads gone bud.do bit more effort.

I've never done any work on the td5 engine do I'm cautious of taking my time doing it.

Besides. ... I want that 6cyl in my 110

Well air filter replaced abd intercooler hose changed and it shot up to ... illegal speed... ahem.

Still not quite right, after a while it starts struggling and feels like it's being starved of fuel. I suspect the filters blocked so will change as soon as it arrives.

Got the viscous fan off and it's so much quieter now. I need to replace it though.

Found the cause of the rock hard ride, some bell end had the tyres at 65 psi!!! Reset them to 38 / 32 and comfort has been restored.

Have it a clean and refitted some of the loose trim. It's getting better and better. Be difficult to restore without replacing several panels, front wings have big rust patches. Also found loads if silver overspray all over it. Need to get something to get it off as it looks cack

New fuel filter and replacing the hose to the MAP sensor sorted it. Its back to full power.

Quite like the P38 Vogue, but finding a good one can be a struggle.

Got another D2 V8 for now....

Peter