Range Rover P38 4.6 HSE

For a long time I've wanted a Range Rover to smoke about in. I came close about 3 years ago when I considered one for the wife, so we took a 2000/X 4.0 (Ł10K at the time) for a test-drive - very nice car, but it felt very slow and wallowy - so as a daily driver for the missus it was binned and we bought a 325 instead.

Then this year when getting my Dakar MOT'd - I noticed the garage owners 1995 P38 4.6 HSE sat in the corner, it was available for Ł2000 - suddenly my interest was sparked again but not as a daily driver this time.

I checked out the insurance situation - Ł280 for a 1998 seemed acceptable. So I started looking on Autotrader for 4.6HSE's - there's lots of choice, so don't rush into buying the first one.

Buying

Andy Cuningham's Landywiki provides a wealth of information including a buying guide which was spot on - I came across:

Damp drivers footwell

Rusty tailgate underneath the Plastic flap

Boot full of water

Perished Air springs

Rough interiors - look at the handbrake gator - is the leather worn off, check state of headlining

Leaky engines (sump and rocker covers)

Radios not working, HVAC display not working

Gaps in service history, missing documents etc

Car checking:

Use the following link to research your car. The MOT history one is good, ask the seller for the MOT Test Number.
Year and emissions and is the tax disk due
Find out if your car is insured Askmid
Find out the MOT history of a car
Full HPI Check

P38 walkaround Checklist

Ideally when you arrive, the car is cold and hasn't been warmed up before you arrive - be suspicious if it is.

Unlock the door with the blipper

get in the car, start it up - look at the dashboard for messages - the only one that stays on is the ABS light- which will go out only when you pull away.

Next close the drivers door and press the up button on the suspension so it goes to maximum height - it may take a while if it was down on the bumpstops. (The Suspension wont operate with the drivers door open or your foot on the brake) - leave it on "high" so you can inspect the air springs.

check that the display for the aircon/heating works - if its warm day, turn the temp down to cool and see if it works - I couldn't really tell if any of the ones I looked at worked or not - but the compressor did click on and off. The A/C button when pressed (amber) turns it OFF

check all the windows open and close, along with the sunroof.

Note how worn the handbrake gator is.

check that all the electric seats work

Now the biggie which sees to be very common. Open the door and feel the carpet against the transmission tunnel - is it wet and does it taste sweet? - If so, the heater matrix seals are shot. Discount accordingly.

Now pop the bonnet and have a look round. Rocker covers can leak oil,Pull the oil filler cap and look inside, how gunged up is it?,Pull the trans dipstick - should be red and not smell burnt

Listen out for the compressor constantly running or coming on and off and constant adjustments (Black box with EAS left hand side of engine bay)

Now look underneath at the air springs (Suspension must be on the high setting) - These rear ones are OK, the front ones are tired by still OK. I saw a few that were clearly knackered.

Look at the chassis for damage from off-roading

Walk round to each door, open it up inspect seats and carpets etc

Next open the boot and drop the tailgate, Lift the black plastic flap and inspect the lower lip of the tailgate for rust or corrosion. Whilst you are there, lift the spare wheel cover - the well can fill with water due to faulty seals

So should you buy a P38 with faults ?
If you are prepared to fix them yourself using the information on the internet you can reduce the cost of ownership, but if you are going to pay someone else then I hope you have deep pockets.
In other words at this age and price level you either need to be rich or an enthusiast. (I'm not rich, so I guess that makes me an enthusiast then).
They all have faults - so you need to decide whether you are getting a good one or a unloved dog. Personally I wasn't interested in blown engines, as to repair it properly you either need top hat liners or a CosCast block which is Ł1500.

Diary

24/2/2009
Insurance came in at Ł214 - My insurers "mirrrored" my existing NCB into a brand new policy covering me and the missus fully comp - so I was pleased with that.

So the day after purchasing my "good-un" - it had a flat battery. Uh-oh, I've bought a dog I thought. I've read several articles about mysterious battery drain problems which can be traced back to the RF receiver waking the BECM module up every minute.
A quick surf over to rangerovers.net revealed what to do, namely measure the current with everything off. Sure enough it kept waking up going from 30mA to 500mA every minute or so. I disconnected the aerial to the RF receiver and it stayed asleep - so I need an updated RF receiver Ł150 - doh, one week of ownership and it started to cost money already.

UPDATE: You dont even need to use a meter to spot this problem. Sit in the car with everything closed and turned off (you dont need to set the alarm) - and look very carefully at the LED behind the "P" symbol on the gear selector, you will notice that it glows very dimly. When the BECM goes to sleep, it will go out - I also noticed a slight wirring or humming noise from behind the dash stops at the same time.
In my car after sitting there for a couple of minutes - it wakes up again. If you disconnect the receiver aerial - it stays asleep. Proof that you need a new module.

To avoid that expense for now and actually prove the fault, I've left the aerial disconnected, 5 days later started up from cold perfectly. There are two drawbacks though:
1) You have to place the blipper right next to the rear window to unlock the car - not a problem TBH.
2) If you don't start the car up within a minute of unlocking it will say "disabled" on the dash. So you have to get out and press unlock on the blipper and then start the car up. So not a huge problem and something I can live with for now.
Update:
3)Also if the key gets out of sync (because the kids have been pressing the button?) - it wont resync when you put it in the ignition because its out of range or the reciever. (plug the ariel back in)

1/4/2009
I recently changed all the lenses to the MY2000 clear versions. I got them from Here.

The Radio Receiver problem

Saw a cheap YWY500170 receiver on ebay for Ł60 - Bargain I thought. When I received it, I opened it up to make sure it was the correct part - as people have been known to swap the parts out.
Turns out I had been sold a very old one - So here we have, probably for the first time ever is all three versions side by side:

If purchasing a secondhand one, make sure yours looks like the one on the right - you need to open it up to be sure.

Sept 2009

I sold it to fund a replacement car for the wife sadly. Didn't feel that I owned it long enough to get the P38 bug out of me though. I would like another one, but perhaps with a blown engine which I can swap for a chevy lump.