me myself and I

Thanks Mauser, Am sure I have all concievalbe sockets.Will drop it onto trolley jack and chock the wheels.Thanks for the advice.Dont think I dropped the Mondeo when I did them hence a pig of a job.

ok inspected drop links and the rubbers on both are split.Ford prices arent bad so will go with them. Now from memory on doing the Mondeo they were a pig to do in my driveway. Any helps tips on doing these i.e wheel on or off.Wheel off but siiting on lowest point of axel stand etc etc. 1997 2.0ltr DOHC petrol

Good points. Can I add something to it. If you do have air con it actually use less fuel with the a/c on low than if your windows are open which creates a huge amount of drag.This has been proven and is not a product of my otherwise empty head. What Oil is reccommended for 1997 2.0ltr DOHC petrol.

For what its worth: I had a year 2000 (dont know what letter it is in the UK) 1.8td Duratec Mondeo.It had 297,000 miles on the clock when the (original) clutch went.Was too much hassle to get clutch done so got shot of it.But the engine was sweet as a nut at that mileage.Emiisions low with (shamefully) little serviceing. As said above its all about personal economics.If you get a good rebuild with a decent clutch at the same time engine wise you should be looking at the same mileage again.Dont know about suspension etc. Regards belts IN MY OWN OPINION I always specify Gates made belts.A few quid extra but have never let me down.Proof......re shamefully bad serviceing above.I have so much confidence in gates belts (and my mechanic) that I put 100k miles on above Mondeo with a gates cambelt and new Ford pulleys. :P

Just a thought! If the ecu is being told that the engine is still in this cold area will I be getting bad/worse mpg

Sal I leave the engine idle for 15-20 mins the needle rises and the fan kicks in.Would this not be an indication that the thermo is working.Dont wanna put the thermo into a pot on the stove for my darling wife to come and say "My good pot what the f**k have you got in there". ^_^ Not worth the aggro.

This is where the temp is at when driving.

Really depends on your personal finance situation.If you can afford to settle privatly I would do so.But it may be too late as you have already informed you insusrance of the incident.

Heating seems to be a bit slow but ok.Will post a pic later after I drive up to the local Ford dealers to get a reverse light switch.

OK.No water in the 'basin' under pass seat.Dry and dusty.A good sign. Went on to check door connectors and found this. Will be phoning breakers in the morn

Problem 1: Both passenger doors not locking. Problem 2: This has only started to happen.The interior lights come and stay on if not switched to the middle positon.I no they should stay on in 1 pos but seems like the timer is not working for both front and middle lights. Problem 3: The elec windows will operate even if their is no key in the ignition. Problem 4: The temp gauge on the dash drops back to the white when driving (see previous post) Is there any way that these could be related by a dodgy relay/earth.............!!!!!!!!!!!!! :(

Have been informed that small brass temp sender maybe caput as it was/is a common thing to fail on Fords.Would this cuase above symptoms and does anyone have pic or diagram where this is located. What is this TIS cd I have been reading about?

Your sig says you have an Auto.If so then I wouldnt be too worried about your clutch but I would start to be concerned about your gearbox.Make sure you have enough Auto transmission fluid in your gearbox.Dont know how to check on Galaxy but on my other car there is a seperate dipstick in the engine bay.Also when was the last time the fluid was changed? When I developed a leak in the Auto transnmission cooling pipes (in my other car) the gearbox started to "search" for gears and then nothing.ATF is usually red in colour. HTH

In Ireland this model is 44000 Euros or

ok.Went again this eve (Thursday.meccy fixed on Sun afternoon).One of the gear cables has/had worked free from the "socket" that it sits into on top of the gearbox.Looks like either the socket or the part on the cable has worn.Something simple can cause so much aggro and (amateur) mis-diagnosing.

And there is water in the expansion before you ask.

For defo put the new one in.Old one doesnt look suck open.Had a quick look see at the hoses to see if i could see any "spots" on the hoses and doesnt look like there is any.As a galaxy newbie is there a rad cap on the rad as I am starting to think there may be an airlock in there but dont wanna drain until I now how to fully refill.................

Ok Turned the new thermo the other way round............But it is still happening?????????????????? Temp rises fine at idle but when drops goes right back down.Pin hole in the hoses.....maybe....?

problem solved.Wasnt clutch failure after all.A mechanic friend came down today and had a look.Said clutch was fine BUT the gear cables/linkage had worked free (worked free as in I shouldnt have went near them in the 1st place looking for the reverse lights switch ;) ). He said that the gear box was stuck in 3rd and then did some jiggling on the linkage and voila.Problem solved. See its not always as bad as it seems but I am doubtful about the quality of the clutch since reading all the related topics on here.

It seems ,after speaking to a trusted mechanic, that there is a certain make of clutch/slave cylinder that are/were supplied to main dealers (mods:will not name make to keep the legal bill down) but could also be bought from counters.I have just got less than 500miles onto a new clutch/slave cylinder before it packed up.My mechyy told me that this particular make was complete muck.On one occasion he said that he was driving a car off the ramp when cylinder went POP.Just thought I would let you know

Judging by searches I have done it is beginning to sound like slave cylinder and to avoid the Ford ones.

Hey guys, Well I had a 00 Mondeo 1.8tdi and it went forever until clutch went.So with 300,000 miles on the clock it was time to put her out to graze.So went and bought a 97 Galaxy which needed an engine.Got the engine done and while it was being done decided to get a new clutch in at the same time.Drove lovely with only minor faults (well it was sitting for 8-10 months beforehand).Anyway new clutch and guess what after less than 1000miles it seems that the new clutch has gone on me.Got a new hydraulic bearing done as well.I mean what is going on.Did I get a duff clutch or what.....???? There is one 1 thing......while looking for reversing light sensor on top of the gearbox I handnt got the gearbox properly supported and it dropped bout an inch.Would this have damaged the "clutch" in any way? Now after sitting for a few hours went and started her up engaged first - it bit - slowly released clutch while still in first and it conked out.Either the clutch is gone or its not!! Whats going on :rolleyes:

Good point.Put it in the same way as the old one came out so maybe the old one was in the wrong way.....

Thats what I thought as well so put in new thermo.Still happening though.............

Hey people just a quick question from a newbie When starting and left to idle the temp gauge on the dash goes to normal and fan kicks in etc. etc. but when driving the temps drops right back to the white area as if the ram is bringing the temp down!!!!!!!!!!! Is this a normal Galaxy thing................ Oh yeah! 1997 2.0 petrol