Ivor_E_Tower

I really hope tha you don't need to remove the wheel to do this. If you extend the steering wheel as far out as it will come, you should be able to remove the lower part of the shroud, and the upper part without disturbing the wheel - will check on mine later this afternoon to confirm this. Have you tried asking at your local dealer - when they look at the microfishe or computer to get the part number for the switch, you should be able to see the "exploded" view that shows how the column shroud comes apart. Oh, and welcome to the site, by the way.

What's the 30,000 mile service on the 130 supposed to be, major or minor? Ford quote major service every 30,000 on the 115, which seems to run out at

Shouldn't be lying in the bed watching TV whilst driving at the same time! I know that the Gal's a big car, but to put the bed in there as well,........

I hardly ever touch mine - leave it on auto all the time except when getting into it after work if it's frosted over when I just press demist before driving off. A few minutes later, just one press to Auto and it's fine. Much easier than "normal" system with fiddly buttons or dials to keep adjusting.

As per Andy F - it's definitely not as big as 23mm. Got mine in Tesco for about 6 quid. Locking wheel nut adapter is same size as the normal wheelnuts.

iain - are you planning on using the same dealer (clowns?) as SA I?

I wouldn't trust Matador tyres - they may encourage a bull to put its horns through the rubber! Were the AA prices for a pair of tyres or each?

Too true...

Hello Pablo and welcome to the site! Do you work in the water industry (H2O)? The forum is a great source of help and advice, hence many posts are problem related. If you can afford to go for a facelifted model (late 2000 onwards) they are supposedly much improved over the early models. Aircon system is badly designed in all models/versions, hence numerous problems although some people have had little or no, trouble. Electrical gremlins also persist -eg wiring loom through tailgate often breaks, brake lamp switch on brake pedal is prone to failure etc, but I suspect that all cars have their own peculiarities and problem areas.

The car must be "fit for purpose" and of "merchantable quality". It may be worth having a word with your local Citizens Advice Bureau, usually staffed by ex-solicitors. Good luck - and as for Renault, I had a Scenic before with similar problem - it was recalled the day before I took delivery. Renault UK would not help or loan one of their press fleet to me, but the local dealer went out of their way, hiring a Mondeo for me until the replacement part was delivered and fitted about three weeks later.

...platinum plated plugs perhaps?

Magantec 505.00 is NOT suitable for PD engines; call the Castrol technical helpline (number is on the oil packs) for more info.

The first-to-second change on my 3-year old 6-speeder is fine. Sounds like you've been unlucky and got another duff 'box. Do you want to risk another one, or press for your money back? The choice should be yours.....

Generally the larger wheel sizes makes ride worse but may improve grip when cornering due to lower sidewall hence less deflection. Motoring magazines tend to report this in their road tests. You may also find that 17inch tyres are more expensive to replace. As to DAB - a couple of years ago Ford promised that DAB would be fitted to all their new vehicles by 2004. They appear to have broken this promise but your dealer should be able to offer the Blaupunkt Woodstock DAB unit at a very competitive price. Check with the DAB coverage maps first before going ahead though - I can tell you from in-house experience that DAB is not all it is cracked up to be - bandwidth is narrower than FM and sound quality is therefore worse than FM too. Try www.simplyradios.com and their DAB forum to which I've posted under my same alias of Ivor. HTH Chris

Yes same thing, and Ford schedule shows pollen filter should be changed at EVERY service. See Seatkid's new postings for photos of what to do.

ISTR that once a battery has gone completely flat, it sometimes will not recover with conventional charging. A high current charger may do the trick, if the battery is so new (1 year old) - alternatively get a jump start and then go for a long drive - say 40 minutes; the charging from the vehicle alternator is better than from a battery charger. Good luck.

Brilliant, Seatkid! Thought of compiling an alternative to the "Haynes" manual? Good pictures are worth thousands of words.

Call "Chips away" or equivalent! You'll either need to drill a small hole, fix a screw and pull the dent out, then fill the hole, or else take the door card off and push the dent out from the inside. Apparently the Galaxy door cards are not that easy to remove.

Agreed - longtitudinal bars must be secured by bolting through the roof otherwise air resistance etc will tear them off. As has been said, there is a thread that needs locating which will give clear instructions on what to do. ISTR that those rails were obtained from a scrappies.

Should be paying about

(1) Glad you've got the MAF sensor sorted. (2) Doors should only lock themselves if you unlock, then DO NOT open any door for 30 seconds. If you have opened the back doors to strap kiddies in, then the fronts should not lock, and the alarm should not activate. Something strange going on....

London Transport are selling off old Routemaster buses at the moment - there was an article on the bbc websire a couple of weeks ago. Starting price is from about

T Hee :(

I'd still like to know the results of the compression test on a cylinder by cylinder basis; should be able to rule some things out from that alone.

Not used one myself, but previous postings suggest that fuel consumption will suffer marginally, perhaps 3mpg maybe more at motorway speeds. The frontal area of the Galaxy is already large, and it's not that streamlined either, so the extra frontal area of the roofbox is disproportionately small when compared to "normal" cars. The extra drag will take its toll though. Fixing it could prove interesting: Usually a two-person job with step ladders etc for safety, unless you have access to a high-roofed garage in which case you string the roofbox up, drive in underneath it then gently lower it down on ropes. Are you using genuine Ford bars or have you got something else (eg Thule)?