Thanks to everyone for the welcome and for the friendly replies, even if I was a little puzzled by one of them.
Yes indeed, a P38 4.0 SE of 98 vintage. Sorry I failed to mention it in my post it would have helped wouldnt it ? I had just finished entering my profile details in which it was mentioned and I must have thought it was also in the posting. Ho hum.
As suggested, here it is, all slung in together:
For those who do not know Mr Barry Chantler and his team at Dakar in Dartford, Kent, (
Dakar Home), let me say that they well deserved their Garage of the Year Award in 2009 and it would surprise few people if they got it again this year. They remove the traumas of P38-ownership.
Now if I can only find a Dakar here in France all will be well again. There is a sort of grouping of independent specialists but unfortunately there are none within a hundred miles. I live in Le Lot, Dépt 46 which is in the Midi-Pyrénées just in case there any other members nearby or who can help. If you think UK main agents are expensive, you aint seen nuttin !
Roof rail fixing slots. When not in use these are closed with sliding covers. Recently when fitting my cross bars one of the sliders jammed and dislodged a narrow strip of plastic, which seems to function as a sort of bearing. I cannot persuade it back into place and without it the slider is rattly loose. I think that it may mean removing the full-length plastic trim from the roof first. Problem: how does the latter come off ? The sliders are only really cosmetic because they certainly would not keep the weather out, but the roof just looks tatty without it.
Cruise control. Several months ago my cruise control became randomly non-functional. Most days it would work perfectly and then occasionally it simply would not set. When it was working it was perfect, none of that struggling to maintain/increase/decrease speed, which I had read about, so no apparent problems with pipes or actuators. The light on the dashboard master switch was lit, but the steering wheel buttons would do nothing. This led me to think that it was purely electrical, possibly a loose connection to the master switch. Then few days ago the light on the master switch disappeared and now I can get no cruise function at all. In case it is a problem with the master switch, is it possible to get this out without removing the entire dashboard ? I have seen these out and as you will know, it is not a pretty sight and certainly not a task for the faint-hearted (
me).
Door locks. A few days ago, I opened the drivers door. It was on my driveway so I had not locked it. The alarm went off, so without pausing to wonder why, I cleared it by putting the key in the lock. A couple of days later both front door locks ceased to function on the remote. Back doors and tailgate are OK and the alarm is set. I now have to lock or unlock the front doors manually. I know about the mega-expensive actuators and the horrendous job of dismantling the doors to replace them, but before I go down that road or send the main agents down it, I wonder if there could be any other reason for the lack of action.
I know I am clutching at straws, but it seemed curious that both doors failed at exactly the same moment, suggesting something common to both rather than two actuators failing simultaneously. Probably no connection and totally irrelevant, but the day it happened I had just had my tyres replaced and while the care was on the lift I had left the doors unlocked and the tailgate open so as to lock the suspension.
Well that should use up all my credit on here for a while, but please accept my thanks in advance.
