snapper

A little bit of wrong oil will make little or no difference but it is not recomended, as you are going to change the lot soon, put it down to experience and make sure you check your fluids specifications next time. Some engines like standard oil, some semi synthetic and others fully synthetic, so the premise of more expensive fully synthetic is not necessarally correct, if in doubt put in what the manefacturer says for they no that well serviced there engines will go on for hundreds of thousands of miles. Oil is the life blood of an engine and if you did nothing else then an oil and filter change at the correct intervals will keep the engine fresh, if you want to keep it going for a good few years and/or give it a thrashing now and then, its worth changing the oil more frequently.

I currently use a part worn tyre fitting company, they have proper tested and stamped tyres, usualy good makes, prices from 35 pounds, puncture guranteed etc. Make sure you check for the yellow circular stamp on the rim. Oh by the way H rating is upto 130 mph, V to 150

A friend of mine finaly narrowed it down to the injectors sealing O rings, air was sucking past one of them. Also check the MAF as i had black marks on the ground and lots of smoke until i changed mine (on a V6 petrol). I know what chasing problems is like so take my advise and start with the cheapest option, well worth the investment is a diagnostic with someone who a. has the right kit. and b. knows what they are doing.

I thought i would give people the benefit of the solution to my overheating problem. I approched it from an advise point of view and not from experience and common sense, the advise was good and proper but i went about the solutions from the expensive way first. AA man said "probably the waterpump, it has a plastic impellor that breaks off" The V6 has a metal impellor and rairly fails.... that said the bearings were a bit notchy after 140,000 So i replaced that first. The car boiled over in 7 miles. Next try thermostat Advise on this site for which i am greatfull for said that the thermostat housing should be checked for cracks, so i took the front left of the car apart just to get anyware near it, i still needed mirrors and lots of extention bars to get to the last bolt. Then took the housing apart and replaced all the O rings and any other part i could buy (i was not going to do this again in a hurry) Now i have to put it all back Total time for this, as i have not worked on the car to this level before... 4 days.. 20 mile drive and no problems so far.. we will see trommorow Now to my conclusions... V6 overheats..... Cheack thermostat,just remove the 3 bolts off the housing boil in wifes best pan and observe thermostat, you should see it open befor the water boils vigerously, if no movement then replace thermostat and O ring, torque nuts to 7 ft/lb or about 0.9Kg/M. If it still boils, get it gas checked for head gasket, if this is negative then you may have a water pump problem but i would think that you would hear the aux belt screaming if the pump was stalling. Just my opinion but after 4 days chasing this problem, i fell pretty stupid finding out that if i had just replaced the thermostat and O ring the whole job would have been complete in and hour .

This week off to do the Kit Car and change the water pump on the Galaxy has turned into a marathon. Whilst following another thread on the vacuum pipe for the cruise control it pulled off from under the battery tray. !/2 day on the kit car, 3 days on the Galaxy no time on the diesel and now i am running out of beer but have drunk to much to drive to the offy

V6 Galaxy 1997. I want to remove the battery tray but it looks like the 4 bolts and washers are directly connected to an engine mount. Any tricks to get this off or do i have to drop the undertray and support the gearbox just to get the battery tray off.

Same problem as eupho, can't see enough of the thermostat housing or feel enough to get at the bolts that hold the housing to the block.

Job now complete after removing the under tray and shaving a couple of layers of skin of each arm. If the car still overheats after this then its a new thermostat and housing followed by a huge tantrum

Had the same problem, replaced the water pump yesterday put it all back together today and took it on a run... guess what still gets very hot after 5 to 7 miles. Fitted new drive belt and will test again tommorow. I can let it idle all day but as soon as i drive it temp just keeps rising. Thermostat and housing for me then see what happens. I am not loosing any fluid and the oil seems clear, no abnormal smoke as far as i can tell in this cold weather.

I have changed the water pump and before i put all the trim back i want to put the new drive belt on. When i tried to get it off i found what felt like a cover over the crank pully and could not pull the drive belt off. Is it just a fiddly job or does the cover plate need to be removed, as i could only feel and not see i did not want to get the belt off and have no way of getting the new one back on.

Check for any blows from the exhaust manifold, the noise from a blowing manifold is a common cause of a strange noise and the same sound was put up as a problem on a kit car forum i use and the problem was an exhaust blow. Worth a check.

Replaced the pump yesterday using the PDF found on this site, worst bit was getting the headlight shroud off then having to jack the engine up and forward. Otherwise 4 hours so far now to put all the trim back. Thanks for the help and advise

Thank you mk2vr6 that is exactly what i bought. Got a week off soon so Kit car pedal box and front wings, Vaxhall diesel clutch and trackrods, Galaxy VR6 water pump and i told the misses i would do the bathroom. Well a water pump is plumbing related ;)

I have returned with water pump now with metal impelor and large O ring 29 pounds and a new drive belt 17 pounds. Is the rubber O ring the only water seal or are there any other gaskets or seals i need?

I have downloaded the pdf of how to change the water pump on a 2.8 V6 Mk 1 97 and am now off to source the parts. Off the top of my head i think i will need 1. Water pump and gasket 2. correct antifreeze to make near 8L fluid 3. new aux drive belt while i am at it Anything else that you people can think of and any pitfalls i may fall into? All help appreciated

I now have access to the required info and it looks like a job i can handle myself so off to find the parts.

Now if the Galaxy was Pinto powered i could rebuild it in my sleep, not looking forward to the skinned knuckles working on the V6 again

Thanks for that stevie m i will post a couple and see if i can download.

I have searched the forum and found a downloadable pdf from 2006 but cant download it. Do i need to post several messages befor getting full membership or is there another way to the heady heights of member? I threw serious money at my R reg V6 Galaxy a couple of years ago on a recon auto box and i am dammed if i am not going to get my moneys worth out of it until a couple of the 4 kids have left home. Fitted new vacuum pipes (silicone) everywhere and a new MAF last month and cured the terrible running, felt quite smug then the car boiled over for no reason. The AA said probably the plastic impellor has sheared from the pump, engine stinking hot, top hose warm, bottom hose same temp. I could do with 2 bits of help please. 1. how can i get to the pdf of how to change the V6 water pump? posted circa 2006 2. from those that have done it DIY is it seriously worth the effort or do i have to throw yet more hard earned cash at it (well whats left after the 4 teenagers have had a go at it) your help is appreciated and any knowledge gained will be passed on.