Ivor_E_Tower

Just got back from taking one of daughter's friends home; blown front offside sidelamp bulb; should be good for a laugh tomorrow if I can work out how to open that sliding hatch in the front wheel-arch! ....and the bulb integrity sensor hasn't reported it as a failure yet ....

Black tape, especially electrical insulation tape, is going to leave one hell-uv-a-mess on your plastic headlamp lenses, and if you use a strong solvent to remove it, you risk disolving them (or worse :D ). Better to spend a few quid on the proper deflectors, which came off a dream on mine last year.

My Jan 2001-registered Gal has aspheric glass in the driver's door mirror, so Ford must do it !

I could do with 2 new front tyres at

Why never buy a Ford again? The Galaxy is a VW design and is built in the same factory on the same production lines as the Sharan. Ford entered into a joint-venture agreement with VW to produce a 7-seat MPV. All Ford have done (in general terms) is to have some different body panels, light clusters and parts of the dashboard manufactured to their designs. The cars are assembled by AutoEuropa, and Ford sold their share to VW a couple of years ago. Hence the next Galaxy due in 2006 will be a completely "Ford" vehicle, likely to be made in Belgium and not in Portugal (where all Sharans, Alhambras and Galaxys have been made to date).

JBrannon - a bit off-topic, but .... last year my parents had a brake light blow on their Volvo 850 estate. Dad went to Halfords and bought a bulb, paying the extra for someone to come outside and change it (he's in his 70's and not too mechanically minded). Bod in overalls-type costume duly appeared, struggled for about 15 minutes, claimed he couldn't do it as the entire lamp cluster had to be removed, refunded my dad's labour charge and left. Dad went home, studied the situation for a minute or so, and changed the bulb in about 30 seconds. And the moral of this story is ........

Shouldn't take more than 30 minutes to change the blown bulb. Don't get a Touran - it is also a VW (the Galaxy is designed and built by VW under a joint venture agreement). Anything wrong with a V70 after an S80, or do you need more than 5 seats?

Do you mean the mileometer lcd under the total distance recorder resets to zero each time? Sure that the reset button isn't stuck in, and that the bonnet is closed properly .....

Do what Steven suggests - I bought a set last year including magnetic GB plate; full instructions tell you exactly where to stick the deflectors. Black tape is now considered to be "old fashioned"

Yes - mine went a couple of months ago; You need to remove that black bar. IIRC 2 screws, not easy to get to the head of the one nearest the bulb holder. Empty out the rear storage area, also IIRC you don't need to remove the jack as this bar passes above it. You will NOT be able to change the bulb until you have removed this bar, trust me ! ... and don't bother re-fitting the offending rearmost screw afterwards, so that the next time, it is easier! I left the screw out and have not heard any rattle from the bar (yet). Good luck.

Brakes may be OK but check that (both) brake light switches are working before you do anything else.

Tyres going "square" through lack of use; takes a while to get them back to "round". Leave plenty of air in them when the car is going to be left unused - best to jack it up and support it on the chassis (NOT the sills :blink: )

Nasty things, posts. Remind me to always keep my foot on the brake, or use the handbrake, when manouvering and changing from reverse to forward gears. Just rolling a few inches whilst changing direction did this in the spring. (Looked far worse before I got the touch-up paint out)

Diesels have cam belt, the Ford 2.0 and 2.3 (and the VW-sourced 2.8) have chain-drive cams. Check for working aircon, no leaks under the front seats, regular servicing, all electrical items work etc etc.

AFAIK, the safety system is not designed to operate with the passenger airbag turned off or disconnected - there is no switch with which it can be de-activated. Do not attempt to drive with a baby seat on the front passenger seat with the passenger airbag operated - it can result in death in the event of a crash where this airbag is deployed. Sorry but it looks as if your baby seat will have to go in the middle row (or the back row).

506.01 is not suitable for an X-reg either; must be 505.01 (I have spoken to Castrol on this one !)

Because not everyone has a pair of suitable tinsnips :blink:

Eh? The diesel engines fitted to all Galaxys have always been made by VW.

Trouble is, if the washer is of "soft" material such as copper, it has a nasty habit of deforming (the inner diameter becomes small) so that you cannot unscrew it past the threaded part of the sump plug, hence you need a new plug to go with the new washer.

Give us a clue - any symbol? Low oil pressure, low voltage, beware of escaped tortoise in the boot ???

The central locking thinks that the door is open - the door has to be closed for the CL to work properly. I suggest that something needs adjusting - maybe the "throw" of the locking actuator ? Not too sure of the exact construction of the mechanism myself; fortunately not yet had to dismantle the door trims etc on my Galaxy !

Galaxys have never had the 6-clock display. Don't know if they are pre-wired (or if extra gauges just work off the databus etc); probably needs someone with VAG-com to find out.

...and if you have lost the right-hand channel completely, it may be an amplifier problem within the head unit; can you remove it from the dash and wire up a temporary connection to a spare speaker that you may have lying around somewhere to test it? Be careful, because if the amp has gone, it may blow the speaker up Have had this on a domestic hifi unit. Had to get both speakers repaired and bought a new o/p transistor stage for the amp. It lasted about another 7 years then did it again. This time I didn't bother re-testing the channel. I just binned the amp and bought a new one (and used a spare pair of speakers; anyone need one speaker ? :angry: ).

Mine's an older model with the 5-spoke Ghia alloys, which have been scratched to death by the previous owner and/or their dealer(s).

If anyone knows what glue will stick the plastic that Barbies are made out of, my younger daughter will be most grateful. Have so far tried general adhesives like Bostic, hard plastic glue, polystyrene (plastic model cars), hot-melt glue gun ......