P38A Thinking about buying a P38 - Should a new radiator worry me?

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rickead2000

Member
Posts
55
Hi,

I'm thinking about buying a 4.6 P38 for weekend use and occassional horsebox towing.
I've found a very nice one with impeccable service history at ~125k mls.

However, approx 4k miles ago it had a new radiator and new heater matrix. Having read a number of stories that once the 4.6 has overheated it'll cause no end of problems (slipped liners, head gasket) should I be worried as to what happened around the time of the new radiator? Eg. could busted radiator have caused it to lose coolant and overheat, or was it repeatedly overheating until a new one was fitted.

Is there anything I can look for that would indicate prior overheating, or anything on a test drive that would indicate an imminent liner or headgasket issue?

I intend to keep up with its excellent servicing but if the worst comes to the worst, what kind of cost is a rebuild/replacement 4.6? Some forums say the 4.6 is a beast and will do 200k miles without an issue if serviced; others say the tooling become worn out in the late 1990s but LR kept making it anyway and the engines are sure to die at 125k!
 
When you open the bonnet, check the coolant level, there's no excuse for it to be low. Have a look at it, should be clean and no evidence of stopleak etc.
Get the engine up to temp, it needle fully at 12 o'clock then let it idle for 10 mins, while it's running take the oil filter cap off to check for any blow by or gunge.
The top radiator hose should have pressure but easy to squeeze. If you can barely make an impression with your thumb then there's a problem

If the temp needle doesn't reach the middle of you see stopleak, or both! It's a sign of trouble
 
Have you asked the owner why they were changed (do you believe it?)
I will tell you a not so nice story:(.
Ours got to that sort of mileage and started having overheat issues, I was working away at the time so the head gaskets were done by a stealer.
All seemed good for a month or 2 then it started doing the same thing. End result was a new engine (top hatted).

But it didnt need at anytime a new radiator or heater matrix.

Of course on forums like this you will always here of problems, as its the may reason we ask for help. So you dont get to hear about the good 1s, and there are many:).

It really can be a lottery and nobody knows or can predict if/when it will happen. There are some here that will tell you that you can hear a slipped liner ticking (as it slips up and down tapping the head) I never heard any of that on ours in the early stages so maybe the head gaskets was the original problem which caused the next;).

There are many around so dont rush in. When you go and see it, see if you can leave it idling and wait for the Viscous fan to kick in and it doesn't overheat, sellers that know it has a problem will not let you do this;).

At the end of the day it could all be innocent replacement of failed parts, If it has good service history at least the owners loved it.
How long have present owners had it or is it a dealer?

Its worth a look. but towing will show up weak cooling systems quickly.

Sorry if its a bit long winded and maybe not all positive, but at the end of the day we still run 3 LRs:D, so where not put off by our bad experience.

@Henry_b May help what to look/listen for, but he maybe out blasting his own 4.6 so might be a while:D.

Good luck and am sure other will pipe up with 2p worth:D.

J
 
Thanks both for your helpful replies :)

It's at a dealer and they're claiming to not know much about it - but are very keen to keep referring me to and marvelling at it's service history!

The dealer seems very reputable based on their reviews, but interestingly are saying "due to the age of the vehicle" they can't put a warranty on it so it will have to be a trade sale (ie no consumer rights). I'm not really fussed about the silly warranties you get as they're not worth the paper they're written on and I can quite believe it's not possible to put one on a 20+yr old car. Although the cynic in me wonders if they know something "isn't quite right" about it and don't want me returning it to them on the back of a lowloader in 2 days time!

Anyone know the cost of a full headgasket job at a decent Indy? Seems to be quite a lot of reports of them needing doing around the 125k mark. I had the one on my TD5 disco done years back and I think it was around £800 (although immediately afterwards the car had circa 50 horsepower, 3 different specialists couldn't work out why so ended up scrapping it).
 
i dont know costs as i do that kind of thing myself, but if it idles without any hint of a blow on either bank and is quiet under acceleration with not coolant issues, then the gaskets should be OK
 
rickead2000 said:
The dealer seems very reputable based on their reviews, but interestingly are saying "due to the age of the vehicle" they can't put a warranty on it so it will have to be a trade sale (ie no consumer rights). I'm not really fussed about the silly warranties you get as they're not worth the paper they're written on and I can quite believe it's not possible to put one on a 20+yr old car. Although the cynic in me wonders if they know something "isn't quite right" about it and don't want me returning it to them on the back of a lowloader in 2 days time!
Click to expand...

Not sure thats really the case.

How much are they asking, if you dont mind me asking and what year?

They will point you to the service history as they dont know anything else. dont get me wrong it means its been loved a bit more than some.

J
 
marjon said:
Not sure thats really the case.

How much are they asking, if you dont mind me asking and what year?

They will point you to the service history as they dont know anything else. dont get me wrong it means its been loved a bit more than some.

J
Click to expand...
It's an 02 run-off model on at 7k
 
marjon said:
Not sure thats really the case.

How much are they asking, if you dont mind me asking and what year?

They will point you to the service history as they dont know anything else. dont get me wrong it means its been loved a bit more than some.

J
Click to expand...
Viscous fan failing is another cause for overheating, you should be able to hear a slipped liner tapping, put in your location, there may be a member close to you that can help. Who is the dealer? there are a few bull****ers selling and a few have been named and shamed on here. Someone may have had a good or bad experience with them.If it's a trade sale I hope it's at a trade price.;)
 
tomcat59alan said:
Viscous fan failing is another cause for overheating, you should be able to hear a slipped liner tapping, put in your location, there may be a member close to you that can help. Who is the dealer? there are a few bull****ers selling and a few have been named and shamed on here. Someone may have had a good or bad experience with them.If it's a trade sale I hope it's at a trade price.;)
Click to expand...

You know where I live:D:D:D:D. (you quoted me:))

And as mentioned let it idle till the viscous kicks in, if the seller will allow it;);).

rickead2000 said:
It's an 02 run-off model on at 7k
Click to expand...

That is not a "trade" price. And mighty expensive if you ask me;).

J
 
Enthusiastman said:
You are covered for 3 months by consumer rights on any vehicle bought weather or not it has a warranty or not given or implied. The law is the law and all dealers know it.
Click to expand...
are you sure about 3 months? I'm not.
you get 30 days to reject the car, after that, for 6 months from sale, you have to give the dealer chance to repair or replace
 
the red one? looks like the interior has been re-done nicely, though the HEVAC display needs doing. does the AC work?
no pics of the underneath or under the bonnet :(
 
kermit_rr said:
the red one? looks like the interior has been re-done nicely, though the HEVAC display needs doing. does the AC work?
no pics of the underneath or under the bonnet :(
Click to expand...
Yeah that's the one.

Bit more info, apparently there's a slight noise when turning the steering wheel at low speed. Sounds like it'll need a new steering box quite soon.

Might be going off this one!!
 
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