what engine should i go for (p38)

jdennington said:

Gomog : Good write up, made for interesting reading.

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Yes it was, mostly correct apart from the usual bit about lean fuel maps - its just not true.I think it was dreamt up up by companies selling chips that promised everthing but garranteed nothing.If you watch oxygen sensor activity on any of the closed loop LR v8's you will see why,any of them are very willing to switch rich and go open loop under anything like heavy load or a wide throttle opening.At cruise they happily switch - which is what closed loop fuelling is all about.

david451 said:

So am I right then to say that it's a lottery in relation to a good one or a bad one, and in the worst case scenario an lpg conversion will kill it, and best case the extra heat might shorten it's life.

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That's a pretty good summary. However, the lottery odds are on your side. Though they will all end up with the same issue, it will normally take a longish time. And when it does happen, you will have two excellent solutions at a reasonable price.

david451 said:

Any way to determine which ones were bad from engine numbers.

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Not that I know of. Perhaps "they" would know as they were testing all the blocks the last few years and deciding configuration based on those tests. I often mused whether they kept the test results on each block.

jdennington said:

Gomog : Good write up, made for interesting reading.

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ty

Gomog, very interesting account of the V8. not sure about the block testing though, I have a 2000MY 4.6 which had a short engine before I bought it. If they were only putting good blocks in the bigger engines, mine certainly slipped through the net.

Dorset VogueSE said:

Gomog, very interesting account of the V8. not sure about the block testing though, I have a 2000MY 4.6 which had a short engine before I bought it. If they were only putting good blocks in the bigger engines, mine certainly slipped through the net.

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Agreed. Don't get me wrong, the incidence of block problems was the cause of the withdrawal of the engine from mainstream production (after a four decade history). However, even if 20% of the blocks crack or slip their liners before they have 50,000 miles on them, that means 80% don't. (Which is admittedly not much consolation if you are one of the 20%).

It IS true that despite segregating the better tested blocks for a 4.6 destiny, the 4.6s have problems more often than the 4.0s

This problem was not caused in 2004, it began with the move from the 3.5 configuration in 1990. However, most of the sad effects only appeared years later as combustion chamber heat rose with the thinner mixtures.

It is often asked why they didn't have new molds made as Coscast has. The answer is simple, it is much less of commitment to have a couple of great molds made to supply the replacement aftermarket than it is to have scores made to supply a whole current model production line.

After all, we live in a world where other 2000cc engines regularly turn out 240bhp and a complete crate LS2, (full engine and fueling) cost £3300 for 405bhp and 400 lbft of torque.

so if i go for a 1999 onwoards it should be ok and most of the ones i am looking at are 90k anyway, i wouldnt minde the bmw 2.5 but i have heard they are underpowerd off a lot of people and the differeance in petrol and diesel 13p! it wouldnt make much differance and id have the extra powere and not the train sound. as some one said get a disco or a defendy i already have a defender and was looking at discos but the rr p38 are cheaper than a td5 disco so thourght id go for one of these and they arealot nicer. is the 4.0 or 4.6 that troubblesome of an engine
? thx JP

I would agree with JP. i decided to go for a 99 to 2000 model (Thor)to get the newer model and avoid the higher tax on the > March 2001 models.

I have access to a 300TDi Disco which is is more expensive to run than mine on gas!!

£30 to do approx 200 miles.

I paid a little more and purchased mine from a dealer with Warranty, I do think that the P38's in general have an unfare repuataion.


I love my P38 V8, the only car that i would sell it for is a Disco3 or New RR. Unless gas went to £1.50/ltr.

Are there things you can do to help reduce the chances of this block problem? My 1998 4.6 has just done over 80,000 with no problems. Would hard driving and foot to the floor a lot contribute to the problem?

What are the first signs of this problem anyway? I don't notice anything unusual about mine. It starts great, no loss of water, temperature is rock solid in the centre under all load conditions, no loss of power or unusual noises from the engine.