caiss4

Sounds similar to a problem I had a few months ago. The box would default to safe mode for no apparent reason. The temporary cure was to stop, turn off the engine and restart. This would reset the auto management unit and worked almost every time. Eventually I took it to an auto specialist who plugged in the diagnostic unit and found that there were 8 error codes most relating to one of the hydraulic sensors. As these codes were not time and date stamped he had no idea which one had occurred when so they were cleared. He also reckioned the most likely cause was corrosion of the electrical connections or a break in the wiring loom. The connections were all cleaned and checked and I was told to come back if it happened again and then they'd be able to see the unique error code. Good news is it never happened again and after 3-4000 miles all is well.

Just had the very same sensor replaced in July by the local Ford dealer. Sensor cost

Inclined to agree with Nikpv's comment regarding Mike48t's problem. Just recently replaced the foot brake switch after having problems selecting drive (auto). On two occasions the glow plug light flashed for several minutes whilst driving (ecu fault) and then went out; no apparent problems with the engine itself. Since replacing the switch have had no re-occurrence. As for muppetofdoom looks like it's a bona fide engine issue.

All good points from johnswlondon but IAM advice is that one should make the best progress, within the speed limits, to suit road conditions. Driving at 45mph on a dry clear single carriageway is likely to cause tail-gating and frustration to following vehicles so if you want to apply this tip then make sure your not holding up the traffic that isn't co concerned with fuel economy.

To Bleeno, I agree with your description of what the 'battery' light means. My point was that ola stated it goes out before the engine is started and the alternator is 'self-exciting' (it'll go blind :P )

Been following this thread. I noted that ola said that when he turned on the ignition the battery (ignition) light came on and then went off; it shouldn't do that, it should remain on until the engine is started and there is a charging voltage on the battery (which there clearly is as when the engine is running he has 13.7V across the battery) The question I have is what is the battery terminal voltage when the ignition is switched on but the engine not started? The fact that the ignition light goes out suggests a major current drain from the battery lowering the battery voltage - hence the light goes out (although this would be extreme as experience says the light dims before it goes out altogether) The battery voltages he's measured seem to be OK but the 12.72V is without load - measuring the voltage with ignition on should introduce some load but the reading shouldn't drop below 12V. The engine running voltage is a little lower than you'd expect (no load I'd look for about 14v at idle) and so insider could be correct, there's a voltage drop in the cable possibly made worse by a defective battery as seatkid suggests. Looks like replace the cable anyway and replace the battery - can you borrow one to test?

Yet another one of those annoying faults with the Gal! I, too, have the failed auto selector light syndrome and when I first saw galaxy-one's post I was going to reply but then I realised I couldn't offer a solution. I had to dismantle the selector lever some months ago to adjust the inhibitor switch (the button on the lever would not depress) and in doing so looked at the light assembly and decided it just didn't look simple enough to worry about changing. After having read the previous e-mail thread by gregers I think my decision was justified! Ultimately you know where you are in the gearbox whether it's day or night; you can't move from P to R without your foot on the brake, R to N is not a problem and R to D requires the foot on the brake again. So if you're driving along and you're not sure whether you're in D (as opposed to 3 or 2 or even 1!??) just push the selector forward without depressing the button - you must be in D!

SP, I just checked what happens when the car is unlocked by c/locking, the fuse removed (equivalent to blowing). Whilst you can manually lock the passenger doors the tailgate is most definitely unlockable. Turning the key c/wise - nothing happens, turning the key ac/wise the tailgate is released. Does this mean: 1. there is something wrong with my tailgate lock i.e turning c/wise should disengage the latch or 2. should everyone note that in the event of c/locking power failure (or no power at all) you can't secure the vehicle?

Can anyone confirm whether you can lock the tailgate if the c/locking and/or power has failed? With my recent experience of blown c/locking fuses my wife maintained that whilst she could manually lock the doors the tailgate could not be locked which presented big problems for security when we couldn't deal with the blown fuse away from home.

Having spent many happy :rolleyes: hours dismantling the wipers I concur with seatkid that the place to go is the control module on the wiper motor. The only other possibility is the wiper switch (does this operate the wipers normally BTW?) If cleaning the control board and checking the connections don't work then start scouring e-bay as I managed to get a replacement motor for about

Bleeno, thanks for your welcome. When the c/locking went wrong the first time it coincided with the passenger footwell filling with water. My first thought was water getting in the control module so I duly pulled up the carpets to discover that there was no control module on the floor. You guys probably know better than me but it seems that around '99 the electronics were moved behind the dash (because of water ingress). Of course with water running down the inside of the bulkhead who's to say water hasn't got in to the control module behind the dash and maybe, as it's been dryer for a few days/weeks this explains why the c/locking has behaved since. :rolleyes:

Thanks Seatkid. I have looked at the references to the door wiring but as a newbie I can't access the detailed info. Sounds like it's a weekend job to go round all the doors. Do you know which side of the tailgate the c/locking wiring runs through as there are two gaiters?

Firstly, hi to this forum. I have spent the last day or so reading past threads and two things struck me: 1. a sense of deja-vous regarding the issues Galaxy owners experience - drop links, brake light switch, wiper motor, seized wiper linkage, speaker covers, MAF failure - the list goes on. Been there, done that. 2. I wish I'd found this forum before! I have been a Gal owner now for more than 7 years ( 1999 1.9TDi auto Zetec). Actually it's the family car used mainly by my wife but we have found it absolutely indespensable. We bought it as an ex-demo model and it now has around 105k miles on it - been regularly serviced and cost shed loads of cash (mainly in tyres!). Just recently though we have been beset with a whole raft of problems - brake light switch failure (can't select Drive), ABS wheel sensor failure, defunct AC, water in the footwells, auto problems (limp home mode- it's currently at an auto specialist with 7 recorded faults - likely to be corrosion of the wiring connections) and finally the central locking! First reaction was let's get shot of it but with that list of problems it was basically scrap value only. Ultimately, however, we couldn't decide what to replace it with so we decided to plough on and get it fixed. The brake light and ABS issues were sorted by the local Ford dealer at a very reasonable cost. They were both jobs that I would have tackled however the labour charge of