Ivor_E_Tower

Oh great! Another thing to try and do when/if it stops raining, after I've re-wired the outside house lights, mixed some sand and cement and re-fixed some loose bricks, washed down the driveway, swept some more of someone else's leaves off the front garden......... Happy New Year!

Depends on how close to 4 deg C the temp is - have been having fun with my ice warning chimes the past few days. Example - leave home, at 4.5 deg C, travel half a mile down road, temp drops to 4 deg C and ice alert chimes. Drive a bit further, warms up a bit, then a bit further still, and temp drops again so ice alert chimes again - even though journey started at well above zero, with no overnight frost so no risk of ice. It's just another quirk that you have to live with.

Rubbery interior trim on door handles flaking off is supposed to be a "known problem" and should be fixed for free if vehicle is still under warranty (less than 3 years old). Sorry, can't help with the other queries you raised, but search the site for "cruise control" - several likely causes especially split vacuum hoses. Happy 2004! Ivor.

The original Varta died in my Gal in early December 2003 - car was built in Oct 2000 but not first registered until end of Jan 2001. This is the earliest battery death I have experienced. It was replaced with an identical-looking Varta unit; both the original and the new replacement seem to be rated at about 70Ah though, not nearer the 90 Ah claimed by Seatkid. Previous car, now the wife's, is a diesel Scenic, still on original battery after 5 and a half years. Prior to that, 1985 Panasonic battery fitted to my Honda Civic lasted about 7 years. A lady at work has an MX-5 Eunos (Mazda imported from Japan) still on original battery after 13 years!

My twopennies'worth: I think if you boil a pint of water you'll have a large volume of steam and no water (?) Also, the coolant in a car's cooling system is under pressure to stop it from boiling at "only" 100 deg C (or whatever the addition of coolant may alter the boiling point to). Merry Christmas ! This is getting too technical for the festive season!

Radio aerial is on rhs of vehicle (offside) for rhd cars - not sure about lhd but suspect that it is on the same window - and it does open - there is a clever link that maintains contact with the aerial when the window is open. I suspect that you cannot use either of your existing radio/GPS aerials for a mobile phone and will need a separate one for that - unless the one in your phone works sufficiently well. Merry Christmas!

Problems, what problems - just things that go wrong, like airconditioning(!) and dodgy electrics often caused by water leaks. Remember that the Galaxy is a "premium" vehicle at the top of Ford's range and is therefore not the cheapest car to run. Make sure that routine servicing is carried out correctly. Petrol-engined versions do like a drink of fuel. Merry Christmas to you too!

Inline I've got 2020's on my Gal and there doesn't seem to be very much road noise from them. Not sure if noise is also related to running them at the correct pressure?

Fredt - have fun with XP! When we upgraded our PC at home last year, I ended up phoning one of the preripheral suppliers to get a file patch e-mailed to me to get the scanner to work under xp! Printer driver that we needed for xp was available on the net.

Another case of the b@*^% obvious: Zetec 1.8 = 1.8 litre petrol I think (L-reg is circa 1994?). The really hard bit was working out what the question was, from the word spacing, as you've pointed out. Quite what a tick-over valve is I dread to think!

I've got a rattle from the driver's side of the dashboard in mine. Doesn't always happen, and is not speed-dependent either. If I get the time, I will try dismantling bits of trim etc. to look for the source.

Exit vents at rear on most cars are now normally hidden behind the rear bumper (in the metal of the body, which is then covered by the bumper plastic). For Sharalaxy, on facelifted models, there are extractor vents in the removable rear panels that clip on to cover the jack/wheelbrace and rear lights fixed to the body (as distinct from the lights in the tailgate).

..and mine needed replacing when I bought my facelifted model earlier this year at just 17,500 miles! Obviously another weak point in the design.

Too heavy with your right foot! I also get about 55 litres in when the low fuel light comes on. So far, furthest I've gone after it's started to glow is 30 miles. Biggest problem is that I then tend to fill to the top, which means a second mortgage! Also, supposedly with diesels it's not good to let the fuel tank level drop too low because of the risk of condensation in the tank, particularly at this time of year.

You don't need to worry, only 2 main gases and the older one is being phased out due to environmantal reasons. All cars produced in the last few years have the latest gas (R134?). And do tell where you can get a gas top-up for

Start my unfolding the middle bit of the door pull handle, which should then reveal fixing screw(s). Then using a special tool (or pallette knife), start to prise the door card off round its perimiter. Don't have the TIS CD handy at the moment - hopefully someone with more exoerience will post the steps to take in greater detail soon.

I don't think we'll ever find out for sure, but when the Dealer Principal rings you twice at home in the evening, and the garage ends up sourcing a spare from another chain of garages because Ford in the UK have none in stock in their spares network, I think they at least deserve something for the effort they put in. Their concern etc certainly far outweighs that of Ford's so-called customer service/support/assistance centre, who just were not interested because the car was still driveable.

Check what Fredt has said - pre-facelifed cars are prone to damp affecting electronics boxes under the front seat. Post-facelifted cars (and maybe pre-facelifted ones too, I'm not sure) have a "global opening and closing" function - if the key is held in the driver's door lock when opening the car, electric windows are opened, and if the key is held when locking the car, the windows will close. If you have a post-facelift car, there may be a problem with the "delay" in activating this global function.

Tigger - the heated front screen does not always come on when you press the demist button, it depends on the outside temperature I think. With reference to the thread ref front screens sometimes coming on automatically when you start the car, it seems that the same sort of thing happens when selecting demist. Generally, I leave the Climate Control on auto and only "fiddle" with it to demist the front screen when it's steamed up on the inside when parked with the car empty in these damp weeks that we've had recently. Somehow it's not too good at switching to full fan speed and max heat when the demist button is pressed.

My facelifted Gal has Ford mudflaps front and rear. They are great - semi-flexible and with a good "lip" to catch mud, leaves etc. It looks like they fit with clips so that you don't need to drill the car.

Mine gets referred to as "my car" as distinct from "your car" for my wife's - either that or just "The Galaxy". Maybe I should call it Ivor too (Ivor D Engine as distinct from E Tower, as it has a Diesel engine). :angry:

I suspect that the first thing they will say is get the geometry checked - and for your own peace of mind, I suggest that you get this done soon. The real problem could be that you have out-of-spec bits on the car, but Ford may contend that you have damaged it on kerbs, speeed humps etc and may not re-imburse you if the geometry is out, unless an obvious manufacturing defect or assembly error can be found. Good luck in getting this matter resolved.

How old is the car, and how long have you had it? Thermostats can fail at low age/mileage, and if your water is not getting really hot, even after a long-ish drive, it sounds like the 'stat has failed.

That dooesn't sound right - if you put too much pressure in, the tyre "balloons" and the centre will make contact with the edges not wearing as fast. Sounds like the rear toe-in/toe-out is incorrectly set - could be worth getting a geometry check done, and scouring the supermarket car parks and checking tyre wear patterns on other, similar, Mondeos.

You'll probably find that it's a Ford Motor Company car and has spent most of its life sitting on an old airfield near Cambridge.........