PaulP38A.com is a bit of fun for me and hopefully of some use to other Range Rover owners.
While the content here is of my own creation, I do not claim to have discovered or invented all of the methods and tools described in the guides. I credit this to the various Land Rover/Range Rover online communities that exist to support enthusiasts of the model and brand, and to help those poor folk who misguidedly purchased a bargain price P38a Range Rover thinking it would be a reliable car with minimal maintenance.
They are fantastic cars, don’t get me wrong, the P38a was the last of the ‘proper Range Rovers’ with solid axles and separate body on ladder frame chassis. The 4.0 and 4.6L V8 models were the last versions of the original Rover V8 from the first Range Rover, before LR switched to BMW/Ford/Jag engines. The smooth air-suspension ride and the drivers ‘command seating’ position, especially when off-road, is superb.
Most of the mechanical aspects of the P38a are fairly straightforward other than the suspension, steering and diff offset considerations associated with variable height air-suspension. The electronics however are particularly evil, even after ‘Lucas – Prince of Darkness’ components made way for more reliable Bosch components in later models.
Don’t get me started on the location of the most important ECU’s and BeCM on or near the floor. Having lost my first P38a in a failed water crossing, I consider this to be the biggest flaw in the P38a design… and that LR never made a snorkel for the P38a.
Please do not consider long term P38a ownership unless you carry your own diagnostics gear such as a FaultMate or Nanocom. A simple OBDII scanner is not enough, you need something that can read/write/reset LR specific codes.
I have learned much in my many years of ownership of Range Rovers (and Freelanders), thanks in no small part to the generosity and patience of the online enthusiast communities. This site attempts to record some of the knowledge gained through community, and a bit of my own trial and error.
After 10 years of running the site for my P38a Range Rovers and other cars, it was ‘downsized’ in June 2019 to just include the most popular guides for the P38a.
Other than security and module updates, no content will be added, and the site may close down without notice.
A copy of the guides will be made available for personal use and not-for-profit organisations upon request, and have already been uploaded to https://www.facebook.com/groups/RRP38/
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