[Countax]

It looks like my 1999 P38 4.0L has sadly come to the end of its economic life. I took the heads off to investigate water loss and sent them away for a 6 thou skim to clean up the area around the water ports, but it looks like my real problem is the block. The area between the water port and the top hat liner of cylinder #2 is badly corroded. I have tried polishing this area to reduce the corrosion but it seems too bad to ever give a decent seal and it will just leave the firing ring to create the seal on the liner. What really frustrates me is the cost of trying to keep a P38 on the road. This morning i went to buy a thermostat for the rebuild and the local dealer wanted 61 pounds for something that other manufacturers like Merc charge 25 pds for. If i look at replacement engines then the UK vendors want 3 thousand pounds or more for a new or remanufactured one. Comparing this to the current market value for the vehicle of about 3.5 to 4k pounds its just not worth the bother of trying to fix it. So i have some soul searching to do this weekend. I either scrap the car or bite the bullet and spend some more money in the feint hope of fixing the rig and having a car i can rely on. Its been a great car in the 2 yrs i have owned it, but parts are simply far too expensive to make this a financially viable car to own.
If anyone has experienced the same doubts of P38 ownership and decided to scrap or repair please shout now as the scales are currently leaning towards scrapping it.
Nigel

 

[tonybig666]

Nigel
give Joe a bell on 07785240021 he is a P38 braker just deals in P38s. I have delt with him for parts for mine just got a set of wheels from him yesterday. He is a stright guy and good to deal with. he may just have a block or compleat engine
Tony

 

[rtkraken]

Mechanical skills, wallet size, garage set up, etc. aside...

Owning a P38 is a hobby that requires a certain passion to endure the breakdowns and hardships. If you're looking for a reliable daily driver, then try something Asian. Nothing compares to the feel of driving a P, but also nothing compares to the hardships in keeping it up. Based on my experience, (others might argue) I would anticipate a significant repair every 6 months or so on a P that's driven daily and over 100K miles on the OD. I personally enjoy the challenge of, "beating the horse into submission"... but I'm a tool wrangler by trade (and still on occasion get my ass handed to me). If you can afford the luxury of a daily driver and keeping the P as a weekend warrior, that's probably the set up to go with. That way you don't leave yourself without a ride when the P's not feeing well. Unfortunately P's suffer from a curious degradation from lack of use also...
There's lots of ways around the high expense of OEM repair parts, it just calls for some significant interest and time in searching them out. The internet and this website is the best start in your search.

 

[pegasus]

My p38 is a 1996 and is worth a little over £2000 at best. i have already rebuilt the engine, air suspension and cooling system plus a lot of other things. I have been getting a bad vibration lately as well as the clicking brake pedal,suspension bushes, steering damper, an lpg system that packed up 18 months ago, an unusually uneven idle and the cheque book on the heater. So a couple of weeks ago i started looking for another car, i looked at an x5 (a horrible car), a kia, a vw toureag and a mk3 range rover (beautifull but a bit more than we wanted to spend) and between my wife and i we made a list of to do`s on the p38. Its going to cost another £3000 to put this car right so we decided that this car was far better than all of those we looked at (with the exception of the mk3) and we have now started repairs. in the next few months it will have a new lpg system and tornado chips fitted suspension bushes and brake set up and propshaft and whatever the gearbox/axle needs.
I know this car and all of its faults, with another car would i have to start all over again????
Good luck with your decision
All the best
Mark

 

[Scotty]

I'd keep it, look for a wreck you can take the motor out of and have a spare.
Just thinking..

Scotty

 

[lrscott]

I have a 2 car setup with my range. Its actually a VERY nice configuration. Of course I don't get to drive it as often as I like... thats the only down side. Do you have any pictures of the affected area of the block?

 

[nipper]

Get a block that has been rebuilt with top hat liners and rebuild your engine.You will get out for under 2 grand. Turner Engineering do a block for £1250 with a 3 year garantee! That's the way I went and am well pleased with the result.

 

[TheoR]

Before you give up, have you considered going the metal brazing route? If you have surface porosity issue, you may be able to fix it with the following material:
http://aluminumrepair.com

Now, I have not used this material on engines to be quite honest, but I have used their products to fix aluminum tooling at my work.

Good luck.

 

[Countax]

Update: I have decided to scrap the P38 and have ordered a new Freelander 2 as a replacement. Its been a very enjoyable experience owning and driving the P38 for the past 2 1/2 years and it will be a very sad day when the vehicle goes off to the scrap man in a few days time. If only LR had maintained the engine reliability when they increased the capacity i would still be driving it now. The members on this forum have helped me diagnose faults and kept my repair bills down, but its now time to bite the bullet and move on. I will keep my eyes on the forum for sure as who knows, one day i might be back. For anyone wanting spares i have posted an comprehensive list over on LR4x4.com.
Best regards and take care. :clap:
Nigel

 

[Rich998a]

Some (like nipper) see it as the perfect excuse to spend out on something which will give much pleasure. However, I can see the point of view with money.

I bet you'll be checking out Range Rover's on the road while driving the 'Freelander'. Na, doesn't have the same ring to it... :lol:

 

[detroit_pierogi]

Albeit an unhealthy attachment, I just can't see parting ways with my P38. My current 'daily driver' is, I suppose, a nice car. It is, however, just a car. If I totaled it tomorrow, it would be an inconvenience. I can't wait until it warms up, so I can get to work on my P38, though. To me, it's not just a car. To each his own.

 

[Chris X]

^ X eleventybillion

I got my P38 knowing full well I will develop an unhealthy attachment to it. I will spend lots of money. I will spend lots of time. I will curse it and maybe kick a tire. But every time I drive it I will smile, I will think about driving it when I'm driving my Jaguar, or Jeep, or Saab....when I park it I will take a last look before I go into the house.....Some people do boats, motorcycles, fast cars, build wooden ships in a bottle.....all wastes of money. We just happened to pick P38's. There is no economic sense in owning one. That is assumed and understood when you first get the keys.

I'm not picking on the OP at all, he needed to make a difficult choice. I have a 3 other options in the driveway, so its easy for me to say. But like detroit said, to each his own indeed.

 

[NachoMan77]

^ X eleventybillion

I got my P38 knowing full well I will develop an unhealthy attachment to it. I will spend lots of money. I will spend lots of time. I will curse it and maybe kick a tire. But every time I drive it I will smile, I will think about driving it when I'm driving my Jaguar, or Jeep, or Saab....when I park it I will take a last look before I go into the house.....Some people do boats, motorcycles, fast cars, build wooden ships in a bottle.....all wastes of money. We just happened to pick P38's. There is no economic sense in owning one. That is assumed and understood when you first get the keys.

I'm not picking on the OP at all, he needed to make a difficult choice. I have a 3 other options in the driveway, so its easy for me to say. But like detroit said, to each his own indeed.

Chris, you read my mind. I agree 100%. I'm 6 months into P38 ownership, and already paid more in parts and repairs than what I paid for the Rangie. And you know what ? I don't regret any of it. Once I get done with the mechanical stuff (almsot there), I'll hit the body shop for some beautification.

N.

 

[detroit_pierogi]

I refer to my P38 when asked about 1. hobbies 2. what i like to do for fun 3. what i do with my free time. I think its status as one or more of the aforementioned permits it to run afoul of all financial good sense. It is a waste of time and money only if you don't enjoy it.

 

[rtkraken]

It is a waste of time and money only if you don't enjoy it.

Bingo :thumb:

 

[diff]

x2

 

[Scotty]

x3