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p38 electrical gremlins


v8bobber

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Evening all,

It is slowly dawning on me that a few of the minor electrical gremlins are probably connected. It hasnt occured to me before for some reason. Possibly because i don't use the electrical items.

However, i noticed today that when i came to defrost the front windscreen only the passenger side (typically) is defrosting. Am i right in thinking that there is probably a fault in the screen itself or are the screens controlled independantly. I am having a job finding a proper wiring diagram.

Also, the heated seats are not working. The light comes on, on the switch but the seats do not heat. I always assumed that my P38 did not have heated mirrors but it now appears that it does, but they're just not working.

Has anyone had anything to do with these systems?

Hope someone can help before summer comes!

Dave

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I don't know whether it's a comfort or not, but you are looking at basic faults in the world of the 38A. They are not electrically connected.

The heated screen is wired and fused in two halves. Whether LH or RH drive, the LH side is switched on, via a relay, this in turn switches on the RH side, via anoher relay.

So your problem could be a faulty relay, or a wiring fault. Has the screen ever been changed due to stone chip or accident damage?

Heated mirrors are powered all the time the engine is running, whatever the external temperature. It could well be a failure of the mirror glass, but in an old vehicle, anything is possible. If the price of a Land Rover glass seems expensive, then look around for aftermarket heated elements, they are made for the truck world, but I think you can get smaller ones. I don't have any direct links though.

Heated seat failure is normally a physical break in the element in the seat base. As the base is wired in series with the backrest, althought I don't recommend it, you can short out the seat base connection and have a very warm backrest, but it's normally sitting on a frozen leather seat that causes the discomfort, so you haven't gained much.

Whether you need to buy a replacement element, or a replacement seat cushion, depends on your model, and availability, bearing in mind the cars are obsolete. If you are 'handy' I recommend going to a scrapyard, armed with a very sharp craft knife as well as your usual tools. Cut apart the seat cushions of any Volvo you find, as these people specify reliable heaters. Passenger seats for prefereance. Fitting this into the 38A seat is more involved, of course, but you get an arguably better product at less money.

Yes, you shouldn't think about self maintenance of a 38A without a Manual. There are links in the Tech Archive, but basically look for the Green Oval site and pick the appropriate RAVE download, although you will have to have the computing skills (or know someone who has them) to turn the image you download into a CD. Once created, you can place the image on your hard drive and run Rave.exe directly from there, as it's quicker than waiting for the CD drive to spin up everytime you change pages.

As you are finding out, a 38A isn't all about shiny paintwork :-))

Have fun.

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Thanks for the words of advice.

This is just a few more problems in a long line of other problems, i'm trying to keep on top of them however before they all get out of hand. I've had blend motor problems so far,along with an oil leak, rusted away brake lines (necessitating taking half the vehicle apart!), exhaust, rough running and some other little bits and bobs.

I think I will take your advice and download the rave manual from somewhere and go in search of the problems with a test meter. i should at least be able to find out whether the items not working have power to them or not, to give me a starter for ten. I could also not work out where the fuses were / are for the heated mirrors and seats, very odd!

Can you recommend buying one of the cheap RAVE discs of ebay?

Dave

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When power is supplied via the BECM it it often difficult to identify a specific fuse, sometimes I suspect there isn't one.

The seats appear to be powered via the 30A Fuse 2, but also note that power is withdrawn if the sunroof or rear windows are operated while the seat heater is on.

The mirrors get power from the BECM via the door outstations. Both fuses 9 (20A) and 22 (30A) feed power to both outstations. If you can adjust the mirror I suspect the fuses are OK. The electric front window power will come from the same fuses.

No, I wouldn't recommend buying a RAVE disc off ebay. The seller won't which version they are selling, it may well be the NAS version 16, with no Technical Bulletins and no diesel engine information.

Assuming you are not paying per MB download, or per minute on line, the Green Oval download is free (covered by the per month cost of your Internet Service).

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Hello all I'm selling my P38 Range Rover Westminster

I'm having problems with the windows not working going up or down properly and also heated mirrors and heated seats. ive checked all fuses etc.

the front drivers door window goes up and down but when going up if you hold the button in it keeps driving. you get a message saying window not set when trying to use the method in the manual for clearing this nothing happens still the same.

getting same message on front passenger window too except it doesn't try to keep driving.

Please help someone coming to see it in the morning.

Carl

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Re heated mirrors and seats, my earlier comments apply. You, or the purchaser needs a RAVE CD to take DIY any further.

Re the door windows, I've answered in your other thread, again the manual helps with DIY.

Re someone coming to see it, I suggest you spend today getting prices for having the problems sorted, so you can make an informed decision when it comes to negotiating the price.

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