newbieUK

well guys here's the update. I manage to win a fleabay auction so i am now the proud owner of a full set of polybush blue for a little over £50 so I'll be heading down the road of replacing the OEM's with these at some point when the weather gets warmer. Any tips on fitting these that could potentially save me a lot of heartache ?

Just to add even more confusion to the whole issue. I was at my local indepdent yesterday for an LPG problem so thought I'd ask them whilst I was there, and they told me they have started fitting the Britpart bushes and have no problems with them at all. I'd almost given up on poly type bushes, but now I'm keen again, although I think I would be more inclined to go for Polybush blue over Britpart for no other reason that no one has commented on the Britpart ones but there's plenty of feedback on the Polybush ones and most of it seems to be positive. Whilst on the subject has anyone got Britpart bushes fitted ??

thanks for the input guys, I guess I'm going to stick to OEM's then. I take it there a real barsteward to fit as a DIY job ??

If I were to go down the route of a poly type bush it would almost certainly be a DIY job, but as I don't have a dirty great big press if I stuck to the OEM it would be going into a garage.

Guys I'm looking for thougts / feedback. I've got a 4.6 P38 that is used primarily on the road but have an advisory on the MOT relating to radius arm bushes which I would usually take with a pinch of salt, but whilst servicing today you can see the standard bushes are showing signs of cracking so I guess I need to do something about it now. My question is this. What is everyone else using and the pro's and cons / good or bad experiences? So far I've looked at Deflex Polybush Britpart OEM I don't want (or need) a rock hard ride so whatever the choice should offer similar ride to the originals Landrover rubber bushes. Thanks Paul

If you can I'd be interested in knowing as last time I replaced mine it was the whole assembly for the cost of a small bearing......riddiculous

I had a similar problem not so long ago and it turned out to be a faulty MAFF sensor.

I run the 4.6 THOR and although it initially cost me a fair chunk of money due to it not be properly looked after by the previous owner, I can report in the last 2 years of ownership the only cost I've had (apart from the usual service items and general wear and tear things like track rod ends) is a new MAFF sensor at a cost of £89 which to be honest is pretty good going (although initially it did cost me £4k for a new engine and ancillaries) Again mine is LPG converted and apart from the anual LPG service at the same time as the MOT I've not had any problems. I use the car as my every day car doing some 20000+ miles each year, and she's currently sitting at 115000 miles on the clock. Starts first time every time and it's a really nice place to be especially on long cruises. They're relatively easy to work on (especially it you invest in a MSV system or something similar) the general wear and tear parts are cheap and easy to come by and the question Would I own another? ........most definitely..........which I think in itself speaks volumes.

At the time of looking a few years ago all the rebuilders were roughly the same price, I opted for a short engine from v8 developments (approx £2500)

# IMHO, I would seriously retink your plan and opt for an LPG converted V8, it'll be cheaper to run / maintain than the diesel and give you heaps more power and torque.

Having had a few LPG systems fitted over the years I can honestly say without any bias that the Nicholson Maclaren system is the most robust system I've had experience of. It's usually badged AG (autogas) and as a general rule is slightly more expensive than some of the other systems on the market.....but hey you pay for what you get Paul

I'd be inclined to agree with 6cyltdi (Daniel). IMHO you'd be better off getting a gas converted V8, the running costs will be cheaper, they're faster, they're quieter, there's infinitely miles more torque and low end grunt produced and nowadays you can get a late year one for sweeties. At least test drive both the petrol and the diesel versions first.....the differences will become apparant instantly and you'll change your mind regarding the diesel...i know i did and that's when diesel was under 80p not the £1.30+ it is nowadays Paul

I had the same problem on my 99 p38 that turned out to be the tyres even though they looked fine.... easily ruled out by swapping the 2 front tyres around to see it is starts to pull in the opposite direction.

thanks guys. I'll take your advice and opt for the 20-50 (probably the VR1 stuff) as the last thing i want is to have to replace the engine again. Next 3 questions then, 1.How does using the thicker oil effect cold starting performance seen as in winter it can easily get down to minus 10 where we live ? 2.Does anyone know where to get the VR1 cheaply either in Aberdeenshire or mail order, 3. Does anyone want to buy 8l of mobil 1 .....only joking I'll stick it in my other car !

Cheers Paintman, I don't know if this has any bearing on things, but I should of mentioned that the car is a 4.6 (thor) and used as my daily car averaging approx 75-80 miles/day

thanks for the speedy response Steve, in that case I'll be sticking to the Mobil as living in rural north scotland we had wide spread ground frost just this week. It'll be intersting to find out what others are using

I'm interested in hearing what you guys are pouring into the heart of you beast. Ever since having the engine replaced (porus block) with a top hat linered block I've been using fully synthetic Mobil 1 0-40w, but have always had a slight leak from somewhere, no big deal, loosing about a litre for every oil change (10,000 miles). I was wondering if I used a thicker oil say 10-50 would this help to decrease the leak, but could I get this as a fully sythethic oil, or would this need to be a semi ?? Anyhow, feedback would be appreciated as the oil service is now due (next weekend probably) and at the same time I was going to swap out the sump gasket, incidentally has anyone swapped one out and is it a straight forward enough job ? Should of mentioned the engine has done 26,000 mile since the transplant without any real hiccups so I have no real concerns over the Mobil 1 stuff, but I have read the dirty big V8 likes thicker blood.

Cheers David, had a horrible image in my head of being stuck in the middle of no-where due to a £30 sensor !

I heard that when swapping throttle position sensors on the p38 the car had to be hooked up to the testbook to reset the zero throttle position. I swapped mine out a few days ago, and after an initial few hours of over revving and fast idling, the car appears to have sorted itself out is now idling as normal. Can the BECM teach itself and recalibrate itself automatically, or am I just being naive and disaster is lurking just round the corner when i least expect it. Should mention that the car is 99 with the THOR / Bosch engine. Any assistance would be grateful.

Brad the for temperature sensor for 99 onwards (maybe the same for other models) is located attached to the front of the radiator. You'll need to drop the front bumper (fender) & valance on the front of the car to get access to it. If it's anything like mine, the seal will have gone and you'll have water in the electrical connections that's causing the problem.