Land Rover Range Rover P38 dse voque
MY1998
312Kkm on the clock!
As I mentioned before in one of my previous post I bought this car in May 2023 . I was looking for something cheap and easy to work on.
This particular car was not working, it was very difficult to start and the EAS (electronic air suspension) was not working either. The car was sitting on its bumpstops for who knows how many years.
Note to self: never ever buy a car you cannot inspect from underneath.
On the upside the paint was looking good on the outside, it had some nice rims and the interieur was still complete. Over here they are often converted to 2-seaters due to the high amount of taxes that need to be payd to get them on the road.
So when I went looking I was able to get it started but there was air bubble in the diesel feed line to the injection pump.
It turned out that somebody also forgot to put the rubber o-ring on top off the diesel filter😖. It was also smelling a lot like diesel from the exhaust.
Anyways I made a deal with the seller and he would deliver is as well because it didn't have plates anymore.
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| P38 freshly delivered |
Well, I first wanted to make sure it ran, in order to do so I bought a new battery (1st expense). Than I put some 30liters of diesel in it. During the first attempts to start with the old battery I got a whole bunch of faults from the airbags, auto box everything electronic really. That went away with the new battery, but after cranking it a few times it depleted the battery rather quickly. This 6-cylinder requires a lot of starting power.
It would take a long time to start it because of the air in the feed line. I tested the in the tank fuel pump (by bridging relay 12 in the fuse box) and found it was not working.
I ordered a new pump after a bit of searching from here: landroverparts (to avoid customs fees). And just to be clear I pay for everything myself.
My first job was the replacement of the fuel pump, it seemed a bit daunting at first but it is certainly do-able.
In the process I replaced, the connecting hose from the tank to the filler pipe, the connectors on the fuel lines and the pump seal where it screws in the tank.
There are different ways of doing this including cutting a hole in the trunk floor. I preferred to remove it from under the car and not cutting anything.
So after replacing the tank I was very anxious to start the car, I first primed the fip (fuel injection pump) to make it easier to start It's alive!!!😂
I was so happy it started almost instantly!
Time for a closer inspection now it is running, what did I find:
- EAS still not working
- Push button for the tank flap broken
- Aircon not working HEVAC has little book sign on the display
- TC traction contol lights up when pressing brake pedal.
- Engine is a bit noisy and smokes a lot
- Fuse box smells burnt
- Rear window wiper wash not working
- some dead bulbs in the dash
- head liner sagging a lot
- O-ring dipstick Leaking
- Overflow tubes injectors leaking
- Engine not getting upto temperature
- leaking cylinderhead-cover gasget
- jumping locks
- radio (audiosystem) not working
- heater core leaking coolant
- RUST!! (Only found this later on)👇
Now that I've taken a better look I also noticed that somebody already spent a bit of money on this car. It had almost new brake discs and pads, starter motor and cooling radiator, the fip also looked new for the mileage of the car.
Also the auxilary belt looked new and I'm even convinced someone put a new head gasket in. Although I'm not sure of the quality of the work.
But the car starts now and it shifts in all the gears also the low gearing works.
I decided to do a good maintenance first, like filters and oils and go from there. Installed new oil filter, air filter, glow plugs, pollen filters, diesel filter (here I discovered the top rubber o-ring was missing).
I also flushed the cooling system, installed new thermostat and waterpump. After this the engine reached normal operating temperature.
Concerning the engine noise
I never really found the source of the problem, it was difficult to pin point the exact location but more on this later. I replaced the oil and filter more than once to flush out any sludge in the engine. Take a listen maybe you can tell me what's wrong with it?
It is also for this reason I installed another engine.
Concerning the EAS
After some reading online I decided to replace the timer -relay underneath the driver seat (left side in Europe).
At first nothing happened, but then the compressor started working and all of a sudden the car started to rise!!
At this point I was over the moon, the car runs an now even the suspension works😊💪.
Time for an inspection under the car
I honestly don't know. A part of the sill is hidden away behind a plastic cover and if you are under the car the ladder frame is hiding it well. This sucks...💩💩 big time.
I don't know how to weld car panels and so I'll need someone to do that for me. It was at this point I thought: what have I done 😞😞
Heater core leak
As it is often the case, the heater core also had a leak. In most cases its the o-rings that have deteriorated over time and start to leak.
Heater core leak
As it is often the case, the heater core also had a leak. In most cases its the o-rings that have deteriorated over time and start to leak.
It is a bit of fiddly job to say the least, acces is limited, in my case of course the problem could not be remedied by the o-ring replacement. The heater core in itself had a crack....
The only way to repair this is to take out the dash board....😈💩💩💩💩💩😈
The more I continue the more problems I seem to find, and then there is still the engine noise. What to do? Do I continue to invest in this seemingly endless moneypit?
I guess I'm taking the dash out. Guess what... more problems.. inlet flap motor gear is broken.
Unfortunately I do not have good pictures of the radiator and the installation of it. It is not complicated it is jut a bit of work to get the dash out and back in.
EAS maintenance and repair.
With the EAS finally working I decided to inspect the airbags. I noticed on the front left a different type/make airbag was installed. The rear ones seen better days, they lost air and they were cracked at the typical places from standing too long in the same posistion.
I decided to replace all of them with new dunlop airbags. I also replaced the air lines going to the rear bags, I've cut them a bit to short during troubleshoot for a leaking bag.
The valve block has been inspected as well and I installed all new o-rings, diafraghm and exhaust filter. At the same time I installed a new piston and piston sleeve in the compressor.
I did find a bad connection between the block and the driver pack, I aslo took care of that. There was one of the pins that dislodged from the socket so this was an easy repair.
The previous owner or the garage also butchered the power cable to the compressor, I had to buy a 2nd hand connector and solder it in the existing loom to tidy things up.
I wish I didn't touch the height sensors.
I thought it was going to be a good idea to go ahead and replace the height sensors as well while I'm at it. First I could not get the existing sensors in the rear out without cutting the bolts due to rust.
Cutting them out also broke 1 of the mountings on the sensors, it renders the sensors useless because they attach with only 2 screws.
I bought 4 new sensors but not oem. I bought them from a company that specializes in air suspension components.
The original sensors have a bit of resistance when you rotate them resulting in stable readout values. The new sensors don't have that feature and so the slightest movement changes the reading and this is confusing the EAS. I ended up replacing the 2 rears with 2nd hand sensors.
To complete the EAS I also replaced the dessicant in the dryer.
EAS repairs until now:
- 4x airbags
- overhaul valve block and compressor
- loom repair
- dessicant replaced
- 2x airlines replacement
- 2x rear hight sensor replacement
- re-calibration ride heights
Concerning the calibration
I bought calbration blocks via Etsy from Pitbullparts. They broke after 1st use. So don't bother spending 120$ on this they are not worth it.
Instead make your own blocks from 30mm diameter broomstick. You 'll need the below lenghts:
HIGH
2x 145mm rear
2x 140mm front
STANDARD
2x 105mm rear
2x 100mm front
LOW
2x 80mm rear
2x 75mm front
ACCESS
2x 40mm rear
2x 35mm front
I used the nanocom to perform the calibration.
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| Nanocom EAS standard height |
The anti vibration rubbers for the compressor still need replacement because one can hear and feel it when it is running from inside the car.
I also like to install a backup solution for the air system so I can inflate the bags with another compressor. But that's going to be a project in itself.
What will I do about the engine...
I've been given this a lot of thought what to do about the engine noise. I have liitle to no experience with car engines. However I did do some work on bike engines before but never a car.
I still wanted to be able to move the car, ones the engine is out the car that's not possible anymore. So I bought another engine from a BMW 525tds.
This would allow me the time to inspect the engine and to prepare it for installation when the time came.
The engine I bought had around 200000km. Difficult to verify if you can't see the car where it was installed in before.
I took of the parts I didn't need such as the injection pump, turbo air filter, cable loom, egr valve and vacuuum pump. I also noticed the sump is different.
My car engine has the metal air intake, this is the later engine with a plastic inlet and the bolt pattern is not the same to attach to the cylinderhead.
A few weeks go by and I decided to take the engine apart before I would install in my car. I did not want to take the risk having another issue with the engine.
Long story short, I replaced the following parts on this engine:
- Timing chains, guides tensioner kit
- crank oil seals on both sides
- piston rings
- rod bearings
- connecting rod bolts
- head gasket and bolts
- valve stem seals
- cylinderhead cover gasket
- exhaust gaskets
- air intake o-rings
- turbo hoses
- all water cooling hoses
- heater plugs
- auxillary pulleys
- crankshaft pully
- Hydraulic valve tappets
The injectors were send to a company to check them. Of course the results were not good they all needed new nozzels. This is quite expensive too. The 4th injector I bought new since it is a special one with the coil.
The diesel overflow lines were also renewed of course. I used my existing exhaust manifault so I didn't have to blank off the egr port on the newer one. Took if of the old engine and put some paint over it to freshen it up.
I did have to buy an EGR delete kit for the plastic inlet to be able to attach it to the intercooler. I modified the plastic inlet to receive the IAT sensor(intake air temperature). Cars with the later plastic intake usually have a MAF sensor, mine doesn't.
Time to take out the old engine💪
I swapped over some parts from the old engine just before installation like the turbo, wiring loom and exhaust manufault, eventually it looked like this.
In with the new! 💪
Later that evening tadaa!!😇
To be continued👊
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