United Kingdom

United Kingdom
Click on pictures for larger view, contact me at williams4x4@gmail.com

21 January 2010

VCU failures (Viscous coupling unit)

In side all Range Rover Transfer Boxes (Including late Range Rover Classic) is a part called the VCU (Viscous coupling unit) failure of these is common as it has a limited life span, interesting to note it's not only Range Rovers that are fitted with VCU's but many other 4X4 brands.

How to tell if the VCU is seized up:
Tell tale signs are scratch marks on front tyres (P38 not L322)), heavy steering, high fuel consumption and lack of power.
Also steering shake can also sometimes be included in this failure but not always, worn wheel bearings can induce steering shake.

Jacking up one side of the front axle and ensuring the hand brake is on along with Park if a auto is the correct method, set a torque wrench to 60lbs and rotate wheel forward by placing socket on the wheel nut, you should be able to turn wheel 90 degrees in one minute.
If its failed you'll find it will move barely at first and then lock up say at 45 degrees as the slack is taken up, if so then it's failed the test and a new VCU is urgently.

If your VCU did past the test consider the following to make sure it lasts:
Avoid heavy acceleration
Make sure the oil in the transfer box is a good quality ATF Dexron III, there was a update from Land Rover with regards to this which indicates that the transfer box is lubricant and temperature sensitive.
Also read  "Bad oils and fluids" and "P38 Lube specs"

As the Transfer box has not been fitted with a external cooler it makes sense why ATF Dexron III is used.
At present we are investigating the possibility of adding a cooling system as these run to hot in high temperature climates like Africa and most parts of the Americas

The pictures below shows a failed VCU as removed from a P38, there is no visible failure to these as it is  internal, these units are sealed and repair is not possible.











































Brand new VCUs can be bought direct from Ashcroft Transmissions Ltd. vs Local and save yourself lots of money

 **HERE**

19 January 2010

The Range Rover P38 history (Mk2)

                 

By the mid-to-late-1980s, the Range Rover's transformation into luxury express was well underway; one only had to look at the success of the Vogue editions of it to see this. Cannily, Land Rover tapped into the healthy demand for increasingly plush versions of the Range Rover, and ensured that prices remained relatively high, but not hideously so. This pricing policy ensured that the Range Rover would always remain relatively exclusive, but accessible enough for aspirational customers to feel they could reach one. With this, the future for the Range Rover brand was set. With the lower-priced Discovery under development, the intention was to push the original (and best) increasingly up market, ensuring that the Range Rover would represent the absolute pinnacle of four-wheel-drive vehicles.


In the long term, planners knew that the 1970 original - as smart as it was - would need significant development in order to keep pace the development of rival cars. Work began on the project in 1988, with engineering and styling work being focused upon - but at this point in time, no deadline for launch was set. It was not until 1990, and with a budget of £300 million, that the project to replace the Range Rover was formally started under the codename of 38A. The launch date of late 1994 was set at this time. Technically, meeting the demands of the 1990s would be no mean task, but given the excellence of the original, a firm foundation was already in place. Also, because the relationship between old and new, it would be entirely possible to introduce features bound for the new car into the existing one. It was a ploy that had worked well in the past for Jaguar and Rolls-Royce, so in this respect, the Range Rover was in good company.



Of more of concern, however, was the new car's styling. Rather like the difficulties encountered by Porsche when it came to replacing the 911, Land Rover knew that a major part of the Range Rover's appeal was its styling - and it would absolutely need to be right. Therefore, a great deal of care and attention would need to be employed in the development of the 38A's look... it would need to look substantially more modern, yet be readily identifiable as a Range Rover. George Thomson, Land Rover's styling director was handed the project in 1988, and admitted later that he found the brief both challenging and intimidating. "Recreating a classic like the Range Rover is a great challenge - but not an easy one."



Design competition at Solihull saw a shoot-out between rival studies by Ital Design, Bertone, Hefferman/Greenley (they of the Ssangyong Musso) and Land Rover themselves. Only Land Rover's and Bertone's designs were considered worthy enough to be translated into full-size clay.


Thomson needed to weigh up the conflicting stylistic demands of the new project, stating, "We had to produce a familiar, yet contemporary design that would delight existing customers and attract new luxury car lovers." It seemed that there was no shortage of styling houses that were keen to undertake the task, and with the help of Pininfarina, ItalDesign, Bertone and British designers John Hefferman and Ken Greenley, Thomson's team produced five separate models, which all sat on the upcoming LSE chassis with longer 108-inch wheelbase. There was quite a range of designs, from the evolutionary in-house effort, to an advanced Renault Espace-apeing one-box.



Bertone's design was compared with a similarly coloured Range Rover in order to be evaluated for suitability.
Ultimately, only the Bertone and In-house efforts were developed into full-size models, and it was at this point, that market research and customer clinics were set-up in order to ascertain which would be the more suitable design. In one French clinic, which would eventually prove pivotal to the project, it became clear that the Bertone design just was not "Range Rover" enough. Programme Director John Hall recounted,

"...we showed one of the early design concepts where we put a lot of attention into making it compatible with luxury cars. This Frenchman said: "These carrr, eet 'as lost eets Wellington boots." At that time the rear quarter glass actually wrapped around the tailgate, which is a tremendous styling feature, but it wasn't Range Rover; it wasn't tough. The car also had body coloured bumpers which aren't practical, aren't appropriate on a real 4x4 vehicle."

Of all the prospective and existing buyers polled, the weight of support went for the more conservative in-house design, which came as no surprise to George Thomson: "The other designs provided a lot of inspiration, but our familiarity with the product and its customers gave us the advantage." The truth is that on this occasion, as on so many others, being led by customer clinic results led to a rather conservative car, and it has to be said that the final result was handsome, and it did grow on people - just as Land Rover promised it would - but it was not a leap forward in any respect.


It was this model, Pegasus, prepared by George Thomson's styling team that was picked as the winning design.
With the Pegasus styling scheme chosen, it was a simple task to transpose strong and traditional Range Rover styling cues onto it, in order to maintain that family resemblance so desired by the management. These cues were identified as a low waistline, straight flank feature-lines, dark window surrounds, floating roof and "castle" ridges on the front corners of the clamshell bonnet. This was a successful ploy - and anyone from 100 metres could tell it was a Range Rover... one disappointing aspect, however, was the deletion of round headlamps in favour of large, rectangular items that looked out of place on an expensive car, planned for the 1990s. In fact, they looked to be standard Euro-issue items from 1980 and give the front end of the car a look distinctly reminiscent of the Talbot Horizon.

Wind tunnel testing successfully improved the original’s brick-like aerodynamics from a cd of 0.45 to an acceptable 0.38; this was achieved by subtlety altering the rake of the grille, paying close attention to the glazing and adding small strakes on to the rear pillars.

In terms of body and chassis engineering, the P38A (an amalgamation of "Pegasus" and "38A") retained much of the originals underpinnings. The ingredients were familiar: a ladder-frame chassis (stiffened by 18 per cent) with the body compliantly mounted in the interests of NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) reduction. Crash worthiness was also improved, with front and offset impact resistance improved with further chassis reinforcement - the fuel tank was also re-located to beneath the rear seat, and side impact bars were added to all the doors... all in the interests of improved safety.

All of the engines were new: two versions of the Rover V8 were introduced, in 4.0 and 4.6-litre forms. Somewhat rather like the Irish hammer that had several new heads and handles, the venerable and constantly developed V8 continued - the 4-litre version developed 190bhp and 236lb ft torque, whilst the 4.6 developed 225bhp and 277lb ft torque. For the P38A, it was decided to look for a replacement diesel, as the old VM power unit would not cut the mustard in the larger car. Programme Director, John Hall's search for a replacement diesel engine took him to six manufacturers including BMW. "I don't think BMW realised what they had", Hall recalled, "It's probably because the majority of the organization was sporty petrol-engine orientated that the diesel engine is so bloody good." A deal was brokered, and Land Rover gained the right to use the straight-six turbo diesel - some tinkering to the ECU was made in order to give it a more favourable torque curve.




Info gathered from ARonline http://www.aronline.co.uk/index.htm?invoguef.htm

EAS (Electronic air suspension) problems and re-seal

Where do I begin.....with so many components just for the EAS its no surprise problems will arise like air bags leaking, pipe work been cut and re-joined (joins are a no no) air leaks on valve block, sensors out of range, solenoid driver pack failing  (Bad design due to transistor failing within) compressor wearing out etc.

To date here is a list of the most failed items popping up out of the wood work.

1) Worn compressor:  fair use, wearing out due to leaks or bad solenoid driver pack or both.
2) EAS valve block leaking: age and heat from engine bay are the main reasons for failures
3) Vehicle dropping: leaking air bags, valve block or a leak on connections and pipe work
4) Compressor working all the time: leaks in system or valve driver pack (attached to side of EAS block)
5) EAS computer failure, rare but they do go

The list could go on and on but over information can easily confuse.

The below pics of a bare valve block is provided for viewing pleasure only, many hours of research into the re-sealing has been done to be able to seal them correctly.

As this is a specialist repair there are few if any apart from myself that are fully capable of carrying out this repair, my past experience in the industry along with determination (Qualified) I can truly say I'm a air suspension specialist along with all Range Rover repairs.

W receive a lot of Range Rovers in for air suspension related problems and I'm often horrified to see the sub standard of repairs being carried out on the system from people doing it themselves or garages taking a chance, we've had 2002 models in with parts from a 1995 added in as they couldn’t solve the problem, the problem is not the item itself but the repair, there is no temporary fix with the system and the only way is the right way regardless of component age.

Upgrade compressor
Unlike the original compressor this unit has a internal overheat protection built in, we have managed to tap into this circuit so that it sends a signal back to the EAS ECU and allows the unit to operates as originally designed.
Note that piston and sleeve kits are no longer available for the original unit fitted to the P38


The new wire (Purple) being attached to the overheat unit within the motor section.
Attachment location not shown. 



























The above is not always required, depends on Driver pack




Any joins is a sure way to look for trouble, these so called emergency add on kits is not needed until problems arise and only then is the inflate add on kit needed, it doesn't take long so don't install them while everything is fine

Below is a list of items we keep in stock as they are fast movers.

Land Rover dealers retail these for R3600 if you are lucky enough to get a small discount or be charged the full price nearing R3900


The little black round disc is a cause for concern with leaks, even if you remove and inspect this diaphragm and find no holes/cracks it can still leak, the rubber over time shrinks and no longer seals effectively.



R2900, we prefer to repair your EAS valve block and offer exchange on these 

All EAS valve blocks are completely stripped down, parts are then chemically cleaned and inspected in high
detail, (A magnifying glass is king with the inspection)
Any defective valves are simply thrown away.
All O rings along with the diaphragm (additional cost if required) is replaced

Don't forget a new upgrade compressor is available, these are brand new units and we require your old compressor for the brackets, an additional charge is levied if you want to keep your compressor.

Please note due to the sudden Rand Dollar exchange the price of the upgrade compressor has gone up.

18 January 2010

Batteries are utter rubbish...when are we moving forward

Range Rovers require a good strong battery, there are many Ecu's etc in today's modern vehicles that demand a lot of power to keep things going in harmony and Range Rovers are not shy, in fact they demand it...

The specified battery for the P38 is a sealed maintenance free type with a amp rating of 72 amp/h.
The ideal and sensible battery is a 100~115 amp/h with 800 CCA (Cold cranking amps) this rating works well and is the same for diesel models.

The battery that we were supplying was the useless Probe, after many returns we consider this brand to be utter rubbish and regret ever selling them (Documented Proof). The owner of Probe Battery company is a Total KNOB head, no clue what so ever.....

Known faults we had with Probe batteries:
Total failure (within a year) without warning (Flat) indicates a bad cell = crap manufacturing....why else

Electrolyte leaks from posts and top cover, again bad manufacturing process.
Low electrolyte level, means faulty cell plates shorting and battery overheats but they say over charging, rubbish

On my very own vehicle the Probe battery packed up dead, not a hint of a glow of a light and with no smiting of a warning, had to be replaced 11 months down the line, what the hell.....

It now seems to be the norm for them to say that the batteries I return have been over charged, they must think we have no idea on how to test alternators when they come in for a failing battery so good riddance to Probe.

It seems their batteries come in from where ever in blank form, yipe not branded and stickers are applied by them when bought so they could even come from shitty North Korea for all we know...

If anyone from Probe ever reads this your batteries are utter crap, shit, junk.. now with the new consumer law in place we can merely expose such junk matters of suppliers and they are welcome to challenge us.
The public have a right to know and it cannot be hidden, the dark days are gone hiding behind the law of defamation.

While I'm on about the power source it's worth noting three things:
1) Alternator charge rate.
2) Alternator cable upgrade on the GEMS engine (Bosch injected engines do not require this mod but worth soldering as required).
3) Battery box and cover present, this is important to keep extreme engine heat away from the battery.
If you own a 1999 on P38 upgrading the earth cables does wonders, the crimped connection on the battery side tends to fail even though it cannot be seen.
A simple add on earth strap along side the original and bolted to another earth point is ideal, use heavy gauge cable for best results




Just so you know what a junk Probe battery looks like. 

I bought a deep cycle Probe battery and its no longer usable, this battery was being used as a source for LED lights in my van at the time and always questioned its ability to hold charge which I returned no less than 3 times for testing in the warranty period, each time they told me it was good but it wasn't so there you have it....useless to the core

National Batteries still seems to rule the market and come under the brands of Varta, Raylite, Exide, Bosch, Midas (spares Shop) 

Update 2019, it seems nothing has changed, their batteries are even worse according to people I've been chatting with regarding this junk brand.
I accept at times a battery will fail from time to time but not like thee above were

Buy National Batteries, you cant go wrong

Fresh air vent intake system (Below windscreen)

Ventilation intake (Below windscreen)

If your pollen filters look like the below picture its time to act




A critical area of importance to take note of and act on is the fresh air vent intake system, usually there is what seems to be a foam type of cover mounted from the inside part of the grill, this foam piece is a disaster zone as it's not compatible with the harsh work it has to do.

Pic below shows where it all ends up, note how its blocking up the water channel.

Ever got into your P38 and wonder why it smells and feels so damp.......as the picture below shows the foam that was originally placed just on the inside of the plastic grill piece is no longer.

What happens is leaves and other debris like bugs and dirt build up on the pollen filter housing and even though the housing is quite well designed and stands a good 3 inches higher so as not to let water in but if the water channel fills up it still gets in, this is just one of a few places where water makes its way in.
Between the pollen filter housing and the body it screws down onto is a good rubber gasket and this is where it seeps through, after all its not a submarine and was designed correctly for the use intended.
In a nutshell if the foam piece is breaking up this repair job is over due, your air suspension can be affected due to water running inside through wiring.






Note: There is a join in the channel to the fire wall, this join faces up and even though it looks flush its possible water may enter through this wide section, sealing up is a simple task using a good quality non acid releasing silicone.
Since doing this my left foot well is dry

Another very easy simple mod is to drill or slot the pollen filter covers, this will allow water that gets past the seal to drain away instead of making its way through the filters and into the cabin area



Pictures below are from a scrapped P38 and pictures were taken for illustration purposes



This picture shows another potential water entry spot (Left side)


View of drain hole from vent grill area, note debris build up

and some more...