silversurfer Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 Currently own a 1997 P38HSE. Went to start it on Friday morning and nothing! not even cranking over, battery is fully charged. Had the AA out to it but they were as baffled as me. He has told me it seems to be an immobiliser problem which I'm not convinced 100%. Got the car home this morning and noticed a strong burning smell from the fuse box. Also my 'Check Engine' light does not illuminate when the key is turned to position II. I have heard that it is a common fault on the P38s for the fuse box to develop problems. I have ordered a replacement box today but was wondering if there is anything I should be looking out for whilst replacing. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Sparkes Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 .... I have ordered a replacement box today but was wondering if there is anything I should be looking out for whilst replacing. Thanks. Collateral heat damage to the connectors plugged into the bottom. Heat causes the metal connectors to loose their 'springiness' so they no longer tightly grip the fuse box terminals. These loose connections becomes hot when current passes and so re-create the original problem. Note I'm not saying this WILL happen, I'm just suggesting what to look for, and why. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silversurfer Posted March 21, 2010 Author Share Posted March 21, 2010 Thanks for that. Don't suppose if you know if its just a case of 'plug and play' so to speak. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bille Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 Currently own a 1997 P38HSE. Went to start it on Friday morning and nothing! not even cranking over, battery is fully charged. Had the AA out to it but they were as baffled as me. He has told me it seems to be an immobiliser problem which I'm not convinced 100%. Got the car home this morning and noticed a strong burning smell from the fuse box. Also my 'Check Engine' light does not illuminate when the key is turned to position II. I have heard that it is a common fault on the P38s for the fuse box to develop problems. I have ordered a replacement box today but was wondering if there is anything I should be looking out for whilst replacing. Thanks. That's interesting that the AA mentioned something about the immobiliser because I know someone who had a problem with a P38 each time he took it to Fremantle in Western Australia and had to get it trucked home, next day it was fine, after this happened a couple of times he mentioned it was the third time to the AA driver who drove a couple of Klm out of town and suggested he try it and it fired up no trouble, driver said it was a fairly common thing with RR and a couple of other makes and he thought it might be something to do with the frequency of the Police radios in the vicinity interfering with immobilisers. Good luck hope you get it sorted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Sparkes Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 Thanks for that. Don't suppose if you know if its just a case of 'plug and play' so to speak. Thanks again. Yes Maybe. If there is nothing else wrong, and you have caught the problem before the connectors on the wiring loom are damaged. then yes, I think you could describe it as Plug and Play. As well as Setting the windows, I assume you know your radio security code, as that will need resetting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Sparkes Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 That's interesting that the AA mentioned something about the immobiliser because I know someone who had a problem with a P38 each time he took it to Fremantle in Western Australia and had to get it trucked home, next day it was fine, after this happened a couple of times he mentioned it was the third time to the AA driver who drove a couple of Klm out of town and suggested he try it and it fired up no trouble, driver said it was a fairly common thing with RR and a couple of other makes and he thought it might be something to do with the frequency of the Police radios in the vicinity interfering with immobilisers. Good luck hope you get it sorted. This means the owner needed a new (improved) Receiver, which has better rejection of signals that are close but not close enough. Currently the correct signals from the keyfob transmitter are being swamped by the signals from the radio mast. I THINK I'm correct in saying you need a different receiver to the one used in the UK, as Australian controls work on a different frequency. Just take care if someone merely quotes you a part number that they have picked up from another thread that it might be the number for a UK spec receiver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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