The Range Rover P38. Are they worth it?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ส.ค. 2024
- The Range Rover P38.
If you have one of these, the Range Rover P38, then I reckon you have a great vehicle.
That brilliant 4 Litre V8 engine, the great pulling power, plus a luxury ride make it a car well worth having and makes me think they're a fantastic bit of kit!
But things like the air suspension misbehaving, the BECM doing what it wants and the earth points causing things like uncommanded engine cranking with the battery going as flat as a pancake overnight, can make them a tad undesirable for some people. I wouldn't swap mine for anything.
But let me know your thoughts in the comments section
Thats how I feel about my 1996 Ford Explorer AWD. It has the venerable 5.0 V8, a 8.8" 3.73 limited slip traction lock differential, body on frame construction. The only electrical gremlins are in the power door lock and window system, I know what it is, I know how to fix it, but man what a bugger of a job. It would cost more than the vehicle is worth to have a shop do it as well. Best Wishes and a Happy New Year dave!
Hello IS, great to hear from you. I just googled your motor and I think it's obvious where Toyota got the idea for the Amazon, the lines are very similar. My RR P38 is also a 1996 and it must have been a good year to produce such iconic cars. The fact about the pulling power of a RR P38 is not a fanciful idea either as some critics might likely claim and this video will frighten the doubters although it's a Disco doing the pulling, same car basically with the P38 being its granddad Lol. th-cam.com/video/9DsK0SH0h9s/w-d-xo.html
I've towed an eight legger tipper truck (all up about 22 tons) that was full of sand when it conked out a few years ago. Oh and a single decker bus stuck in the snow year before last.
Strange too, that the RR suffers very similar door and window issues that your explorer has. Again, maybe a 1996 issue on these cars. The RR has a viscous couple connected between the gearbox and rear drive shaft that gets rid of diff wind up and makes it a true 4WD with a rudimentary go at swapping power from front to back when needed. It also has a quite unique characteristic known as long throttle pedal travel. Basically the throttle can be pressed all the way to the floor without the kick down coming in and the road speed increasing without high engine speed. Basically when the revs get to about 1600rpm, the revs stay at that rpm and the car will accelerate quite slowly to about 40mph with maybe only a rev increase of 100rpm or so. Handy when it's a tad snowy. But there is always the low range box too.
See this video too. th-cam.com/video/gR0_V6H3Jk4/w-d-xo.html
The downside to a P38, is that when they go properly wrong, they go properly wrong. I've been lucky with this one as it is an ex police car from Scotland and I'm the 4th owner from new and only 127000 miles on the clock.
We don't see many Explorers this side of the pond, as the frenetic snowflake brigade get their pants in a twist over emissions.
The RR P38 was initially built for the American market and as such has very low emissions for a 4l V8. In fact the emissions on my RR are lower than my wifes' little tin, a Hyundai i10 1.2 petrol (gas)
I've just realised how far I've rambled here, oops!
Best wishes to you and yours too IS and have a great New Year
Regards
Dave
Had my 1998 for 16 years. Yes, I've spent money on it but do most of the work myself but currently she's taken me and the family beach camping several times, never any roadside breakdown stops. I'm in Qld Australia, underside absolutely no rust anywhere, no oil leaks, runs and drives so well and comfortable. Don't understand why so many write negative things about these. Take a look at how many newer vehicles say 5 years old have failures, transmission cracking up, hardened hoses that crack if touched, plastic bits around the dash break etc and for a vehicle that you can buy for around $5000 in good order, what a bargain, So what, spend the odd few hundred now and again, better that paying that each week for a newer car. I'm 80 and still do all my own work, air bags, air compressor, shocks, trans filter, brake rotors and pads etc. Maintenance, really important as with any vehicle. Love mine.
You need to be an enthusiast with a reasonable amount of mechanical knowledge or have very deep pockets? I haven't found the P38 any less reliable than other 4X4 I have owned and unlike other makes the P38 parts availability and tech knowledge is second to none. I also own an L322 which I do prefer but when you are a LR fan you can never have too many.
Never convert to springs
Had mine for 16 years, yes the air suspension can be a pain but no way would I go for coil springs.
Hello, thanks for watching and commenting. I had the springs changed because the EAS was failing constantly. But when I changed the suspension to coil springs, I was amazed at how much better they were over the EAS. Just my opinion of course as a friend of mine wouldn't spit on coil springs. :)
Cheers. Dave
@@DaveysStuffwhat kit did you use?
@@lizzybabich8166 just a generic kit from paddockspares at Matlock £265. And postage to the US or Canada is very reasonable if you live that way.
@@DaveysStuff is 140k miles a lot for these beast? Just curious, can the engine last 2-250k ?
@@vlrdmtr 140k is low for these vehicles and some only have 60 to 80k on them. But a car with that mileage is quite rare. The usual mileage on these cars is normally between 200 and 280k and because they tend not to be rust buckets, will last for years.
The highest mileage I know on a P38 is 350k and is still going strong. Keep them maintained and they’ll keep going.
To answer your question: Some days I can say they are but most days I'd say NO. Too many brittle pieces of plastic that are hard to find close by (I'm in Canada) I'm always ordering parts from the UK. They also have too many electronics that are of poor quality. Unless you have a theability to do your own work,STAY AWAY and RUN.or be willing to fund your mechanic's college fund for his sons...
I have the Black Box Nanocom, makes life so much easier when a fault turns up. Sometimes just clearing the fault makes a few other things work as they should too. And I like doing most of the work myself as they are of an agricultural type of vehicle, you can see everything you need to.
Try paddockspares.com for your bits if you're stuck and they ship to Canada
My catalitic converters where stolen where can I buy parts for my p38?
You can buy spares online at the link below and they ship worldwide
www.paddockspares.com/parts-and-accessories/range-rover-p38.html