Ivor_E_Tower

Oooops... should be 12.07 and 12.4 volts

Not been here for a while; spent a small fortune in keeping the Old Gal on the road with cambelt and water pump, 4 new tyres at the start of Dec etc etc and now this... Drove to local train station on Monday, no probs. Came back to car a few hours later, started and put heated front screen on to clear the frost. Fan would only got to half-way up the set of speeds. Then front screen started cycling on and off every second or so. Switched engine off thinking it was an electrical gremlin. Went to re-start, battery almost dead. Waited a few minutes, just enough power to get started but front screen heater would not work. Drove home, dash warning lights started to come on eg airbag, ABS. Called out RAC who diagnosed alternator fault. They followed me to local garage. Left car there. Yesterday (Tuesday) got a call saying the battery was dead, alternator OK and charging at 14.5 volts. Collected car in afternoon, drove for 5 or 6 miles to ensure battery was charged OK then put car in my garage for the night. This morning went out to get some food .. OK no problems. Get into car to drive home, and "alternator workshop" message appears on display, battery no-charge light is on. Got home; I had 14.07 volts across the battery terminals and 14.6 when I switched off. Left the car for 2 hours, same issue if I start it (but there is enough charge in the new battery to start it OK). The heated front screen will not come on even with the engine running. So what do I do? What is the fault likely to be? I have disconnected the battery for now (approx 12.8 volts across the terminals) and connected up a battery charger. EDIT: Note 14.07 and 14.6 should read 12.07 and 12.6; typo (I'm annoyed as you may have guessed!)

I wouldn't buy a Mk3 as it has no spare wheel/tyre. Ever had a flat with 7 people on board? It's no fun waiting for a breakdown service, I'm assured. Someone at work with 2 young kids had a similar thing happen a few months back - just popped out whilst Sunday lunch was cooking....... got back 5 hours later to charred roast and had to phone work on Monday to take the day off to get a new tyre sorted. Sorry, but for me a family car just has to have a spare

Take the thermostat out and drive the car. If the temperature gauge stays near the bottom, then the thermostat is faulty. If you still get a problem with overheating, either the temperature gauge/sender is faulty, or the waterpump needs changing - can probably be determined by feeling the hoses and judging how hot they are

All the pads on mine wore out at around that mileage. Not sure but it sounds like you are quoting thicknesses including the backing material, in which case it appears that they all did need changing ..... with most vehicles only getting an annual service, it's not worth the risk of trying to last another 12 months with marginal pads. Lipping of the discs is allowed up to a point... I was told when the pads on mine were changed that the front discs would probably need changing next time that the pads were changed; with modern asbestos-free pads, that's not too bad; I've given up on trying to get over 100,000 miles from a set of discs. The rear discs should not need changing for a long while either. I think your only gripe is with the charges; a quote is a quote, whether it was given in person or over the phone. If the person on the phone did not know what he was talking about, he should have made it clear that it was an estimate or approximate cost. Discs and pads are a safety-critical item, IMHO always best to get any work on them done ASAP. Don't forget to drive gently for a couple of hundred miles now, to bed the new pads in

Dave - where do you get them from? I've not managed to get any brand anywhere near that price; it's usually over

It's almost certainly a write-off. Mind you, not very clever to park it so close to a tree in a storm

I want to know where all those bags of sand come into the equation !

Yes, but the ones for the house, not the car. Didn't take any photos so I guess that this won't be much help to you :)

Play it safe with a manual! The auto box on the diesels is notorious for problems that prove expensive to fix. The reason that you may have been told to go to VW is that the Galaxy was developed by VW and uses their technology, apart from the Galaxy 4-cylinder petrol models which use a Ford engine (but still use VW for almost everything else)

I'm having problems. Not enough money, teenage kids who think they are right almost all of the time, nobody to love in my life ........ :16:

The "all items flashing" is just a general fault warning. You will need a diagnostic check to find out why, and to reset the system

If you're a new member you will not be able to post yet. IIRC you need to post 10 replies... should be in the Forum Rules somewhere. HTH Ivor

My Gal is (over)due for a cambelt change so I've been asking around for prices (including tensioner): For main dealer:

It's been a damp day here (Surrey-Hants borders) but not an excessive amount of rain. However I heard on the travel news on my way home that there is extensive flooding of roads in/around the Forest of Dean and there are many traffic jams. Take it easy out there.........

I don't see a mention of the rear licence plate lamps - have you checked them too?

I wonder if the Environment Agency could benefit from the Flood Control thing?

I think he means matress, NOT matelo

Maybe we need to get one thing quite clear - in the Mk 1 and Mk 2 facelifted Galaxy, all the diesel engines are made by VW. It's only in the latest Mk 3 (the one with no spare wheel) that the diesel engines are made by Ford. The auto boxes fitted to the diesels have a bit of a reputation for expensive failures. The 115, 130 and 150 bhp diesels all produce the same amount of torque (pulling power) and there is little to choose in acceleration differences. It has been said that the 115 runs smoothest of the 3, with the 130 and 150 having "rough spots" in the rev range. The Alhambra and Sharan are basically the same vehicle with minor trim/specification changes. All facelifted (mk 2) Galaxy Ghias come with cruise control; the Alhambra SE also has these; the Alhambra SE underwent some updates and IIRC went from 15" to 16" alloys on the manual transmission versions around the time that the SE gained the 130bhp engine instead of the 115 that continued to be fitted to the lower-spec S version. Then SEAT mucked up the trim levels by giving them weird names. VW - I think they updated their specs several times too since they didn't used to fit parking sensors as standard but then made a decision to fit front & rear sensors as standard on all trim versions (again, IIRC).

So why is it that some days I have to re-sign in when I visit this site, and other times even if I've not visited for a few days, I automatically get signed in? I always tick the "remember me" option when signing in. (I'm using Firefox v2.0.0.11)

Aye, Happy New Year to all from me, too

Last time I was off sick from work was Sept-Oct 1999 when I got flu and was in bed for 4 days. So far this autumn-winter I have avoided all the colds, coughs, flu etc going round... ...and someone at work who got ill has, I think, given me the reason...... says most nasty germs are passed on by kissing. So there ARE some advantages to being loveless !

If you don't use the aircon, you don't get the pool of water. If you use the aircon, the pool should form when the car is at rest, once the engine is switched off, under the heater matrix area - so sort of under where the middle of the centre console is. I have to say that mine has never left much of a puddle (and I run with the a/c on all the time) whereas the Scenic I had before (and which is still in the family) leaves a small pool very quickly, AND also leaves a nice dribble when moving slowly

Yes - Lucas used to do them back in the 1970's when most cars had round or rectangular headlamps. My dad bought a set for our family Volvo and they just clipped on and off in seconds, so easy to do dock-side when waiting to board the ferry. With every car having different shaped headlights these days, there is just no money to be made from tooling up to make so many different shapes/styles ...... also the car accessory shops would need a mile of shelving to stock them all! Hence the stick-on deflectors that are now on sale.