Range Rovers World (South Africa)

Hi fellow Range Rover owners.

This blog is about Range Rovers, the information provided along with pictures in many cases will be of immense help in not only getting the best for your Rangie but preserving it for future use.
Here you wont find info on how or why the P38 came about, that info is already well documented on the net and in print.
The information provided by me and others may not be used for personal gain in publications be it in print or paying for info on the net or otherwise, its here and its for free. (copyright applies) both info and pictures

Why this blog was started:
I bought a P38 some time back after aborting my Range Rover classic project due to rust problems, pity really as it would have been a good 4x4 vehicle but all good things come to a end and Its now in about a million pieces
And so the P38 came home and I started my tinkering....yipe, in no time I discovered how a perfectly good 4x4 was converted into what I can only describe as a glorified pavement crawler like those Samtungwang Rectums we see all over the place not to mention the very over rated Hyfungis types
The P38 demands and commands respect where ever they go (and so rightly so) and at the same time require repairs to be carried out with the highest standards possible, this includes parts, lubricants and physical work
The dreaded Air suspension is the talk of the all those non Range Rover owners, little do they know what a difference it makes off roading with such a set up, the Rangie still and does turn circles around even modern day 4x4's of serious makers out there, though I would agree that the Land Rover Defender, Range Rover classic's are also very very serious off road 4x4's.
The starting point here is about mods to the EAS system, be it compressors, layout etc. and other detailed repairs or mods as time marches on, where it will end is anyone's guess, I hope you enjoy and can benefit from the info provided, and yes I repair P38s for a living and can do 70% of repairs mobile fully equipped
I'm a fully qualified mechanic so rest assured quality is 2nd to none.

As my saying goes "To know one is to own one" and now I'm looking at buying the new RR3, donor RR3 welcome, seriously...
Parts supplies are well covered, be it genuine Land Rover, OEM or after market parts, new or quality 2nd hand units meeting only as new conditions, anything less is not considered as usable
At present repairing P38s has taken a whole new twist as I have begun the process of no longer accepting 'other' vehicle brands for repairs, in other words I now specialize on Range Rovers only of the Land Rover range.

A cautionary note on repairs to Range Rovers:
These vehicles demand workmanship of a high standard and so time is of a critical issue, many times we regret but delays do happen if a booking is made, so far delays of up to a week can be expected but not always so, vehicles requiring extensive repairs can take between one to two weeks to complete.
At present this blog will be updated as time goes on to bring it up to full operating capacity.

P38 Lube specs

Been asked many times what Lubes to use and so here is the correct specs for you to see.
If you recently bought your P38 and was told that its been fully maintained to a high standard either by a independent or dealer I highly recommend changing ALL fluids, every drop as I have seen so many of these so called well maintained vehicles with extremely out of date and heavily contaminated oils.

Bags of old

Air bags/air springs or bellows call them what you like but another odd area that is over looked.

Regular inspection of these items is required as to is a thorough check for leaks on the rest of the system.

A soapy solution is a great aid in a squirty bottle to determine leaks on the EAS system, spray away and be dazzled by all the bubbles..

The below pic shows that the previous owner (Was sold to present owner like this) wasn't prepared to spend

on the car so opted for a partial spring mod......

crazy as this is very dangerous

Here it is in picture, believe it or not people do utterly dangerous mods to there cars as many buy them for the bling factor, bad move as the P38 is no bling car for those who cant afford to maintain them, I get calls from owners of P38s saying they cant afford to pay the money required to fix them.

Its bizarre how so many say "I picked it up cheap".......I wonder why it went cheap in the first place

Air leaks repaired with glue......yeah right

Air filter replacement

Air filters, and we all thought simple enough just replace every now and then.
Well not so as believe it or not there is a art to carrying out such a simple task.
Recently whilst carrying out a full service on a Rangie it was the air filters turn so off comes the cover and low and behold it had one but....it wasn't the right size and was sitting all comfy at the bottom of the box allowing dust and all manner of debris to collect up against the fine mesh screen located in front of the MAF sensor (Air flow meter)
As pictured this was the correct size filter but whoever replaced it didn't make sure it was installed correctly
And keep away from those so called Performance filters, yeah those so called cleanable re usable 10 million times rubbish as they are nothing but trouble on everyday use cars, worse so on 4x4 applications

And to cap it off, somewhere some how somebody has to break the rules

This filter was removed from a 2001 4.6HSE P38

Watch out, this is what happens when you don't carry out regular servicing

Seeing this abit to frequent and can do some serious harm to your engine

Bad oils and fluids

Oil is a item many owners or garages seem to ignore, why this trend is increasing I'm not sure but its not a good sign, every Range Rover I have carried out oil changes on has been very disappointing.

Firstly transfer box oils are not being changed and if they are changed the wrong type of oil is being used, I've drained out SAE90 oils on many a transfer box (P38) and with very high metal content, not only is the wrong oil damaging but its effectiveness to be cooled is not going to happen.

The correct oil for the transfer box is ATF (Automatic transmission fluid) Dexron III.
ATF is used in the transfer and auto box along with the power steering but check with supplier if it can be used in all as some are listed not for power steering use.

Engine oils:
I Prefer to use ELF or TOAL 10W40 or Shell Helix 10W40 HX7 as they offer great protection on the Rover V8 motors with its flat faced hydraulic lifters.

Another good oil is the Castrol Magnatec, along with the Shell Helix HX7 they are both Part synthetic oils.

Ever walked into a spares shop and noticed the odd cheaper oils on offer vs the known brands like Shell, BP, Castrol, Mobil, Caltex etc, compare the prices and you'll notice a substantial difference, now ask yourself why....... Many cheaper oils out on the market are simply junk and contribute to carboned up piston rings and valves, Its one of many reasons why I insist on a good branded oil in any engine.
You cannot use a additive and expect it to work miracles, lets face it the oil companies invest huge amounts into oil research, all these additives are nothing more than SNAKE oil, its a huge industry revolving around those who know no better.

The pic below is from one of the many Range Rovers axle oils that has been drained. YES it is highly contaminated with metal, this will be a bearing failure.
Here again a good quality oil does wonders.