LAW632

New Member
HI, Has anyone done a engine change on a p38 2.5DSE 1996 and replaced the engine with the unit from the vauxhall omega 2.5td.

did you have any problems with the oil pressure, as the mechanic doing mine has run into a problem as the engine has no oil pressure, but was great when it was in the omega.
He's had to change the sump, a few other sump pan bits but cant understand whats gone wrong.
any help would be appreciated, also shouldn't the immobilizer stop the engine from starting as the omega injection pump is now fitted to the range rover.
thanks
 
Make sure he changed the oil pick up pipe in the sump if the oil pipe is to long it could foul on the bottom of the new sump and could cause low oil presure.

regards bell
 
The pick up pipe is almost certainly the problem as already suggested, if the sump was changed to the original item get him to replace the Omega's pipe with the one from your old engine.
 
Thanks for all your help, and it was a problem with the pick up pipe, thats all sorted and we have oil pressure.
the r/rover now starts and runs, but there is just one more obstacle and that is the engine management.
my mechanic has drove the car, he says it is 'flat', and very underpowered , a light on the dash is on (the 1 that looks like an injector in amber next to the glow plug light) which i assume is the engine management tell-tale light.

the only big worry left is if the injector pumps are compatible, they look identical and i think they have the same part number from Bosch.
any 1 with any info please get in touch.
thanks
 
I think that the engine ecu's can drop into "safety mode" if they think there is a problem.This cuts the power right down , and prevents you from reving the engine hard. Would be worth a check up at a dealer or specialist with a Rovacom or similar, who could intergrate the ECU to see whats going on.
 
Give me the numbers from BOTH ecu's and ill chq the software versions on them to see if they are compatable with each other this will eliminate the need to swap pumps hopefully
 
i said it was the same engine, i didnt say anything about ancillary components. the bmw m51 2.5TD engine was fitted to 3 and 5 series bmw, opel/vauxhall omega and range rover p38.
 
The pumps have now been changed over, also the injector with the sensor wire on it, so all the fuel managment is the original landrover spec.
 
The mechanic told me that after he had fitted the pump, he started it and it was just the same as before as the light was on, but he took it a half a mile up the road and during this time he said the rev counter stoped working and the vehicle suddenly had a surge of power and pulled extremely well, only on the way back did the rev counter start working again and it went flat.
during this time then management light was on constantly.
Tomorrow there is a guy going to the garage with a fault code reader in an attempt to read any trouble codes that are present, and i will keep you posted with what he finds.

does anybody know if the ecu will be confused from the swapping of the pump, and also how fine is the tolerance on the distance between the crank sensor and pick-up pins on the flywheel as this has also been changed.
I'm trying to avoid landrover/landrover specialist diagnostic equipment due to price and that the car will have to be trailered some 20 miles to the nearest to me, but its probably inevitable.
you live you learn.
thanks bellautos for your offer with the software i will find out, but its all the same again now?
thanks
 
Did you manage to resolve this issue as I have some fairly serious crankcase pressure issues on my P38 and am considering all re-engine options!
 
THE management light is now off, as it was a bad connection on the injector plug.
when running its ok, but is a pig to start, the glow plugs are fine and working.
the only other problem is that it seems very under powered when pulling off in 1st, you have to rev it hard otherwise it will stall, unless the turbo has kicked in.
 
I'm new! Help! Just put omega unit into p38 seems to run fine but sharp throttle increases give me top end rattle/pinking sound! Not there with steady push. Not there at all in car! Help how can I stop this? Have all bits from both vehicles.
 
I'm new! Help! Just put omega unit into p38 seems to run fine but sharp throttle increases give me top end rattle/pinking sound! Not there with steady push. Not there at all in car! Help how can I stop this? Have all bits from both vehicles.

check your oil pressure,it might be not getting to the top end,or very little oil anyway.
 
I'm new! Help! Just put omega unit into p38 seems to run fine but sharp throttle increases give me top end rattle/pinking sound! Not there with steady push. Not there at all in car! Help how can I stop this? Have all bits from both vehicles.

On a diesel that could be a cracked piston ring.
 
I have a P38, and it is also it typically knackered, engine has had new turbo, diesel pump, still not running. Not to mention the auto gear box going. From what I have read, the M51 is comparitively, not a good engine
I was considering changing engine from an Omega 2.5, but it sounds like it will also be riddled with problems undertaking this job, a proper pig !
Buying a P38 has been a very dissapointing experience considering the sheer amount of unreliability. I'll probably go back to japanese now.
 

Similar threads