Blanco

That'll teach me to chip in without reading through! Sorry I missed it really.

Tears for Gears

Crown of thorns/torns/tears

Its part of the UK, just take the same precautions you would buying a second hand vehicle on the mainland, and get the necessary insurance.

First instinct says the airbags probably aren't fine.... unless you have just changed them. Mine lasted just under five years, looked OK, sprayed for leaks etc. found nothing but the wear section of the bags where they roll effectively ends up porous, you don't see a leak as such but the air bleeds out. Your new pump is now at risk because it will overwork. If you want to double check the airbags then get some Schrader valves to fit the pipes (ebay from about £8) and pump them up by hand (I slipped the individual pipe out of the valve block rather than cut anything). It doesn't take long to do and it will tell you whether you are right about the airbags.

I love the idea in principle. Just developing muddy's 2p worth, that centre bar could have the lifting arrangement on rollers (I have a roller carriage that goes on an rsj, must be possible to do something with radiused rollers for a tube) then the length of the bar (if it aligns vertically) would give the slide required.

I have had a longstanding issue with the headlining in my D2 de-laminating as the foam layer ages and turns to dust, The proper cure is to dismantle the interior, remove the headlining panel complete and glue new fabric on (or better, pay someone who is experienced to do it for you). When I bought my P38 recently even though I knew about the problem I was chiefly concerned with mechanical and structural and I never did 'look up' until a couple of weeks later. I was annoyed that the headlining if anything was worse than the D2, but had been crudely 'lifted' with a staple gun. The fix worked, but it bothered me that the staples might rust in the temperate climate and I have been pondering the replacement of the staples. Yesterday in the post I got this; And replaced the staples, it worked well enough that I have also done the D2. The plastic attachments that come with it are too small really and a larger t-bar would be better, but it has made a satisfactory repair, you end up with a 'quilted' look, with fewer fixings or a stitched look if you go every 1/2 inch or so. If anybody else wants to try it, consider borrowing the gun (Amazon £16) if you can and spending the dosh on TP028 attachments. The trouble with the 'micro' ones is that they are fragile, very small compared to the open weave of the fabric and I learned that it helps to push with a lolly stick or similar when withdrawing the needle. Or tell how you fixed yours without pulling the whole shooting match apart! Rob

Can't help on the revs issue but the clutch noise is classic DMF wear indicator, any history with it regarding the clutch / DMF?

Well, driving around testing the newly rebuilt A/C it was obvious the sinking when switched off was getting worse so took courage in both hands and got out the new seals. Spent Tuesday evening doing a marathon o-ring and seals job on the valve block, there were several issues inside the valve block, most notable was a rusty solenoid internals on the exhaust, some white dust as well, have ordered new dessicant for the dryer. All that and it still took 40mins plus to reach working pressure so I thought I would have a look at the supposedly 'new' compressor. Guess what lads?... your initial thoughts were spot on, compressor was shot. Dated 2004, might have been a genuine reconditioned unit originally but the state of the reed valves tell me there is some age to them so somebody isn't telling the whole truth. Rebuilt that following some of the many utube guides and it pressured up in about 4 minutes (airbags left inflated, not recommended I know). Looking out there this morning to find it sitting exactly as left yesterday was very satisfying. How long will a compressor rebuild last do you reckon? Anybody had cause to revisit one? I've not had any experience of the alloy cylinder and plastic piston before.

All good!, Just been out this afternoon, and the handbook symbol has gone. Tried the above scheme to see if one side or other produces anything and can't seem to get it back. Happy with that

Thanks Davo, I could hear the gas and I guessed it was a dry, possibly inert charge but a vacuum would have sounded the same I guess. Passed the vac test and gassed up, ice cold at last..... Handbook symbol is still on the display though, is that a 'reset' job, or is it a sign that something needs looking at still?

Well, finally sorted this out, you need; (assuming yours to be like mine) Pipe from compressor to condenser (up to 99) AWR5075 Genuine only. Condenser (up to 99) STC3679, I used Nissens 94257. Receiver dryer AWR1374 (optional), I used Nissens 95223 a couple of green A/C O-rings. To install it you need to get rid of the old mounting, the tray unbolts from below but the bracket is welded. I used a dremel style grinder with a slitting disc to remove them in situ. The hardest part is replacing the old compressor pipe, in hindsight I should have left all the rad and such off (water leak repair) till the A/C pipe turned up but I thought it was doable..... it was but access is a swine. Also the new pipe has an open port on it, you need to swap over the excess pressure valve from the old pipe. On the other side the dryer, is awkward if you have the transmission oil cooler like I do, it has to be dropped down on its hoses to access the bolts. The little bolts for the fan are more accessible and I was tempted just to remove the fan but they are severely corroded and so small I went for the whole mount. The pressure switch you see on the dryer doesn't come with it and mine was really tough to remove and clean up, if I were to do another I would buy that as well. The problem is alloy corrosion/weakness. Just visible above if you look closely the collar is beginning to split, I cleaned it up inside with 400 wet and dry and hope its fine (not tested yet!) but it took time and care to do. By the way when the dryer is delivered, those caps you see are pressure caps it has a bit of positive pressure in it to maintain the dessicant, obviously you have to remove the caps to fit the pipes but leave it till the last moment to make sure no unnecessary moisture gets in. The new Pipe comes with new O-rings but where you are refitting old pipes you will need new O-rings in my case the two ends of the short pipe between the dryer and condenser and the outlet that goes off round the engine bay. The new condenser is in, you need to find bolts and fixings as they are all different. The top bolts to the intercooler that's easy, and I made spacers out of rubber hose. The bottom mounts have locating pins still in place but no clue as to what the brackets might have been. It would help here to have an older model as a reference (or even to rob the bits from in the first place). Until I find one I have used tie wraps at the bottom just to hold it onto the pins. The fan mounts are also different, you'll need 4 M6 set screws and large washers. Well I am off this morning to get it tested and re-gassed, so far I have spent €336 on the A/C ! more than I meant to but you could do it for a lot less with a donor vehicle and if you lived somewhere where you didn't have to get absolutely everything couriered to you. Two weeks off the road, mainly waiting on bits, for this! As a footnote the new pipe AWR5075, I don't think it is stocked anywhere anymore and has to be ordered in from LR whoever supplies it. I got the best price from LR Series, but had to wait. C'est la vie..... Rob

Mine is a bit the same (not quite as bad by the sound of it), the pressure in the accumulator pushes the fluid back into the reservoir, worn seals I guess. Haven't yet looked at what the fix would involve. Not sure it wouldn't happen anyway over time. My pump runs for about 40 secs if its totally flat, I guess a worn pump would take longer? Don't you get more issues from disconnecting the battery than not?

Well Edward .... its a big subject, and you've covered most of the difficult starting choices in 3 lines. Really people will help out when they can but they can't help much when you haven't really got started yourself. It doesn't sound like you have an existing vehicle, we don't know why you want the conversion or what you propose to use it for and we don't know what your skill-set is. All of that makes it hard to answer. Just to try and be helpful though there is no need to go for the mechanical pump unless it offers something you need/want. If you start with a whole donor car you will have everything you need engine wise. Manual transmissions are open to a number of solutions depending on budget and skills/resources, personally I favour the auto and if I were starting from scratch for a first project I can only recommend you look at the commercially available adapter; If you read the OM606 thread here you will get a feel for the options and links to the obvious suppliers. HTSH

Silly me, I was looking in the International Forum. .......

@Arjan, I can't find the moved post did the title change??

Only slightly off-topic, on the replacement key front I got a D2 style (non-folding) 'Avon' key from David at Mobile Tuning in Spennymoor (no connection) and it works perfectly. It cost £99 including his tracked deliveries (one for the capture device and one for the key). He is very helpful (much more so than the dealer!) and it was easy. Big relief now having two keys.

Great it is nice to know there is a fall back position,..... like you, I like the air too much to get rid and at the moment I am committed to fixing the existing system which I am slowly getting my head round; Can you give us some idea what the ballpark spend on these valves is?? I fancy doing air on the back of the 130.

Thanks for that supaimpy, I didn't realise the dryer would be compromised. Regas can be done locally, there is a Pole with an all in one auto 'dalek' just down the road which seemed to work well for the leak finding and so on. If it comes to cutting hoses up I'll give Coldchain a shout. I suppose most people with this model just accept the loss of the A/C?

Ok so had the P38 a couple of weeks now and getting down to fixing its only known fault when purchased, A/C not working, got the thing tested and the condenser is leaking. Mine is a late model diesel so the 'short' condenser is no longer available. The best alternative seems to be the earlier pattern 'deep' condenser, for which the mounts are still there, the unknown being the pipework. I had a conversation with an 'expert' at Rimmers and he said that if I went that route then I would need to physically alter (as opposed to swap) pipes. Looking at Rave the dryer seems to be in the same location whether V8 or diesel so I guess that the pipe for that could come from anything pre YA prefix. The other pipe goes to the compressor which is in different locations depending on V8 or diesel, but is there any reason why this pipe can't be sourced from an early diesel? Anyone looked at this before me? If pipes have to be altered are there any good dodges for doing it on the cheap? Snap shows the short condenser removed, its mount is at the bottom of the oil cooler. Any ideas gratefully received.

Thanks for that, simple when you know. Vehicle has moved does seem to have an adverse effect on mine though!!.

Looking for the correct O-ring for this steel water pipe, please. RR P38 2.5 DHSE, runs from the front of the block where it is retained bt a bolt, just by the w/puimp and just under the top hose housing also bolted to the block, can be seen here as a black pipe behind the shinier EGR pipe.. It turns through 180 deg and then runs backwards (Drivers side) along the top of the exhaust manifold and joins a tee into what look to be heater pipes . Just taken out a yellow one that is so damaged I have no chance of measuring it. Thanks Rob I need to sort Microcat if I can, but many of the stickies here seem broken, and I need a clear head I think to embark on what sounds a bit of a fiddle

Well, we made it back from Scotland in one piece, the suspension did give us a couple of bad moments, going for a ferry (Fishnish / Lochaline ) it got the hump that I didn't wait for it to sort itself out before driving off and bled itself down to the bump stops while on the move..... once reset it took about 15mins to get to ride height again, just in time. That happened once more and then its final effort was without warning on the A9, it unilaterally decided it was going into bump stop mode at 60mph! The ferry run reset showed two faults ' Vehicle moved' and 'RR valve stuck', subsequent resets showed only the 'Vehicle moved' fault?? Anyone know what the RR valve might be?? (this is the EASunlock freeware I am using) Anyway, picked the warmest week in recent history to go to Scotland and really wished the A/C was working, so started yesterday to find the problem, local garage pressured it up for me with dye and we found the condenser was leaking......... guess what the 2001 year diesel condenser is different to all before and no-one makes them. Glad I started on it really, found a water leak, and discovered the recent radiator had been fitted somewhat loosely to say the least. Going to remove the EGR while I am in there and clean up the mess. I am trying to find the part no. for the o-ring that seals the heater pipe to the block between the pump and that top hose housing if anyone has microcat open. Middle pic. Not the shiny EGR pipe but the grimy black one behind it. Also very interested to hear if anyone has retro fitted the readily available early style condenser. it means lopping off that mounting at the bottom of the oil cooler (LH pic) and apparently altering the hoses as the terminations are different.

Thanks lads for the latest ideas, I am currently in Scotland with the p38. It has performed pretty well, as long as I don't lower the suspension it has gone down very slightly over night but responded instantly on firing up. I have tried to call Tom Martin before leaving but now it's best left until I get home I think. Great on motorways, I reckon it needs radius arm bushes though, the twisty bits were occasionally twitchy, all in all very pleased.

Thanks elbekko, all sorted.