to p38 or not to p38

[shaun and co]

hi there. Thinking of coming over to this side of the forum as i have been offered a 4.6 p38 for my disco. Its on an m plate with the full electric pack and was just wondering if anyone had any advice or had a similar one and any common problms with it? cheers, shaun.

[waveydavey]

I've got the Diesel and love it.
The back seats have more room than a disco and my wife likes not having a  wheel on the back door.

I understand the 4.6 is prone to slipping liners.

Some don't like the EAS I do, very much what you prefer.

[Range Rover Blues]

The cost of the electrickery going wrong put me off, but now I have Rovacom it wouldn't bother me.  I really like the EAS on the RRC ands the extra room from 108 inch wheelbase is great.  So it's just the extra cost/looks that's stopping me.

BTW Andy is selling his P38 Rovacom

As for the slipped liner, it's a common concern on a 4.0/4.6 but how often it happens I'm not sure.  I heard later cars were nikasil lined anyway.

[thermidorthelobster]

What's the mileage?  You'll find an astonishingly large number of 4.6s have new engines fitted at about 95,000 miles.

They're nice trucks but they are complex and expensive to maintain.  I loved and hated mine in equal measures.  In the end I reverted to Discoveries.

[v8kenny]

They're nice trucks but they are complex and expensive to maintain.

They are no more complex than TD5 Discos and can't agree with being expensive to maintain - consumables are about the same price as classic RR and there is no reason why you cant service it yourself
EAS components have dropped in price to the point where suspension problems are no longer an issue
£60 a corner gets you Dunlop bags and they are dead easy to change yourself - compressors can be refurbed for £30 or second hand ones are cheap on ebay (recently bought two for spares just in case - one was £20 other was £25 - daft not to at these prices )
Loads of second hand/cheap spares appearing on ebay now
Give the motor a good run and see if the temp. gauge behaves - if it even thinks of overheating then walk away
I would look for and expect a pretty comprehensive service history with receipts for any work done - listen for any cluncks/slack in the transmission and investigate before buying if you feel anything is wrong
Had mine since Oct last year and love it - can't praise it highly enough
If you have found a good 'un then go for it !  

[thermidorthelobster]

I'd say they're a lot more complex than TD5 Discos, having had both.  The complex web of electronics the P38 relies on (at least 9 interconnected ECUs) can be a nightmare to troubleshoot.  The EAS in the Disco is much simpler too.  AndyCWB is a P38 expert and I'd be interested to hear his opinion.

It's getting cheaper to service the P38 because of such things as being able to recondition the EAS valve blocks but they can still be very expensive machines.  The MAF on mine cost nearly £450 to replace.  If you need to replace the engine (which is not at all uncommon) you're obviously looking at thousands.  Mine burned through several thousand pounds in the 6 months I owned it, and it wasn't a particularly bad example, albeit a 1996 model.

[v8kenny]

I'd say they're a lot more complex than TD5 Discos, having had both.  The complex web of electronics the P38 relies on (at least 9 interconnected ECUs) can be a nightmare to troubleshoot.  The EAS in the Disco is much simpler too.  AndyCWB is a P38 expert and I'd be interested to hear his opinion.

It's getting cheaper to service the P38 because of such things as being able to recondition the EAS valve blocks but they can still be very expensive machines.  The MAF on mine cost nearly £450 to replace.  If you need to replace the engine (which is not at all uncommon) you're obviously looking at thousands.  Mine burned through several thousand pounds in the 6 months I owned it, and it wasn't a particularly bad example, albeit a 1996 model.

Well lets not start an argument or lose sight of the reason for the original post  :lol:
Opinions were sought by Shaun and that is what has been given - any input from Andy would purely be his opinion too - thank goodness we can all form different opinions or what a boring place the world would be  
I too have owned a TD5 Disco and find my way round the P38 far easier - mind you thats probably more down to the fact that I am not a fan of diesels and to be honest, didn't really like the Disco
I suppose I have made more effort to find out all I can about the P38 cos I plan to keep it for a while
Sorry to here you had all that bother with yours TTL , - touch wood I don't have too many issues or maybe my opinion will change as well !
I suppose it goes without saying that if you have had a lot of hassle with any car then the opinion formed will be different from someone who has had a relatively trouble free car

Anyway - just wanted to try and explain how I arrived at my opinion - not looking for an argument as already said