Ivor_E_Tower

You need to bite the bullet and take the car to a dealer; the sensors can be re-programmed to take account of a towbar/ball - and to cut out in reverse when a trailor is fitted.

If you can find the right phone number, someone at Ford's warranty centre should be able to tell you if there was any warranty work done on the vehicle. Other than that, could phone the supplying dealer if it wasn't Gates to see if they have any info. Then, just check everything works before paying your money - all electric items especially (eg windows, fan on all speeds, lights, horn etc). Good luck!

Sounds like an odd one! If engine really turns over OK sounds like cambelt will be OK, but best to check just to make sure. Next thing is that fuel cannot be getting through. Oil warning light was presumably triggered because of low oil pressure as engine had stopped. Is the fuel pump working (any whirring noise when you turn the key, before engaging starter)? Then we may be down to engine management computer.... Do you have breakdown cover?

Does it flash all the time? Not found anything in the TIS CD on this, and mine flashed on-and-off for a few seconds last month on one occasion only, so I'd be interested in knowing what it means too.

Definitely not built in Germany. All Galaxy/Alhambra/Sharan are built in Portugal in a factory called Autonova (I believe)-a joint venture between Ford and VW neither of whom wanted to fully pay for R&D plus building of an MPV. Ford have subsequently sold their stake to VW, hence recent threads that Ford will be producing their own 7-seater at some stage in the future.

This is always a tricky one. What else may need erplacing after 200k miles? If it's now going OK, it may be worth holding onto it, certainly in the short-term to see if it's now going OK. Beware if switching to a Voyager - the insurance costs are much higher than for Galaxy, Espace etc! Apart from Galaxy and Espace, the only other serious contender I looked at was the Hyundai Trajet - TD new at just over

Doubt that you will average 50mpg. Take into account much higher consumption in general driving until you get to the point where you can drive at 50 mph, and this will lower the average consumption considerably.

Glad you've got it back on the road at last but... Sounds like it may be time to part-ex it for a better model, or better the devil you know?

SA I - are you sure? Do you work for a Tier 1 or Tier 2 supplier? None of the motoring mags are indicating that a replacement is imminent. I thought that the new VW Microbus, due in about 2 years was going to replace the Sharan with the new Touran being a lower-priced 7-seater Zafira rival; SEAT will allegedly drop the MPV from their range as they concentracte on sporting cars and Ford must be developing their own 7-seater.

Yes, thanks Fredt, for saving me the effort as I didn';t get back to the site until late. As for the bike racks - the Halfords ones may fit, could be worth asking to try them but you may need a new rear number plate depending on where the bikes sit, relative to the existing one. Also, a minor point this, but if you strap the bikes on, make sure that one strap goes through their wheels to stop them rotating when you drive along ...and after you've driven a couple of miles, stop and re-tension the straps. It's surprising how much slack creeps in when the bikes move around as the car goes over our lovely rough roads!

Can't believe that the Galaxy is about to be discontinued. Focus C-Max goes on sale soon with only 5 seats, no 7-seat option to rival the Zafira since Ford consider that those who really want 7 seats will buy a full-size MPV such as the Galaxy, their (Ford's) only 7-seater.

I have to admit that one inch above max on the dipstick sure is overfilled! Don't forget that oil level will vary as vehicle is cornered at speed, so there is obviously some leeway between top of normal level in sump, and contact with conrods on crankshaft. Crankcase ventilation will also suffer, affecting EGR and possible other nasty side effects too. Are there any baffles in the sump?

Have you got a cheap voltmeter (Argos or Index used to sell them for about

1. Engines should be deisgned to be over-filled (to a certain extent) without damage - worked somewhere once where a guy thought he'd do his own oil change, but he drained the gearbox oil then put c4litres back into the engine. Didn't bother to check the oil. Drove into work on the Monday followed by one of my then-colleagues who had the same type of car as "Mr Oil-change". He remarked that the car was throwing out lots of smoke. "Well which bolt did you undo to change the oil? " said my colleage, and when shown, he said "But that's the gearbox". Mr Oil change had been driving with no gearbox oil and twice the engine oil, and had his car recovered by the breakdown service he subsribed to, back home so he could correct his mistake. As far as we are aware, no engine or gearbox damage was sustained. I've also had the sump over-filled with previous cars that I've owned without any resulting problems (other than taking the car back and asking for the excess to be drained). If the garage is really smart, they will use an electric pump and tube arrangement inserted through the dipstick tube to suck out the excess. Biggest damage when overfilling, I believe, is if conrods hit the oil in the sump... 2. Few diesels are fitted with cats, but the 1.9TDI is one of them. 3. Black oil after oilchange seems to be a characteristic of diesels - had the same event with my previous car.

Suspect it's read the flippin' manual ...which is usually the last resort However, on the Gal it seems almost a prerequisite for almost any task!

What.. the dealer still has the car after one month. You should be phoning Ford's so-called customer assistance centre and demanding action from them to speed things up - your vehicle is off the road. Consider contacting TV companies, What Car magazine and local press too. This is disgraceful treatment presumably by a so-called main dealer. Do you belong to a motoring organisation who may be able to offer you legal support/assistance to get compensation etc etc? Have you been provided with a loan vehicle whilst the work is being carried out?

the Vee-Dub figures look correct - I have a facelifted model with the 215/55 tyres and from memory they're supposed to be at about 44 front, 38 rear for normal driving - I remember pumping loads of air into them just after I bought the car! Tyre pressures are always for cold contitions; the manufacturers take into account the change in pressure with temperature rise from high-speed use. This is one of the reasons that F1 cars have such poroblems when changing or inflating tyres, a small pressure difference when cold makes a lot of difference when running at 200mph with high cornering loads!

Yes, I saw that too. Now all we need to do is find somewhere to store the german helmet with the spike on top (remember 'Allo, Allo?).!!!

On facelifted models, each side of the dash-top central storage "bin" has a serrated vertical "partition". It looks as if some sort of accessory should fit into it - perhaps a pen holder. Does anyone know what these serrated bits are?

My second-hand Gal came with 4 nice, kerbed alloys. You can try www.wheelrefurbishing.co.uk but you will need to send the wheels (prices are per wheel, assuming min of 4 wheels sent) leaving you with no transport(!). Cost seems to be about

See my "oil be enlightened" posting. DO NOT use Castrol SLX II (or any other 0W30). Use a 5W40; probably best to use a synthetic oil if, like me, you plan to keep the car for a while and prefer to use a good oil for peace of mind. Haven't checked out the grade of Mobil 1, but this may be suitable.

Hmm, if the fuel cut-off was disconnected, I'd walk away from it too. I used to work for the co that made these cut-offs and they are extremely reliable. We had a few problems on various cars but this was caused by manufacturers fitting them in inappropriate places where they could be triggered by vibration - the classic being the Sierra where Ford at one point fitted it in the spare wheel well. After a puncture, most people threw the flat into the boot, which triggered the switch, so having had a puncture, the car would then not start ! We took to insisting on validating the installations after that. The info I found on the Aspen last night suggests that the later ones were missing alloy wheels, swivel seats, heated seats, some interior lighting, CD player, parking sensors etc, though 7 seats were supplied and some had ABS (may have been an extra).

First thing that springs to mind, assuming you have power to your new head unit, is that you probably have a separate amplifier that also needs powering up, or a signal to switch it on. Have a look at the Ford Scorpio site I mentioned to Sarah Seahorse somewhere a few weeks back. It's full of great info. (I take it you've connected a speaker or two straight to your new unit to verify that it is working OK).

Phoned Castrol and had an enlightening conversation: Engine specifications for the 1.9PD engines were changed when the Audi A2 was introduced to this engine (or the other way round) circa May 2002. The 505-01 spec oil can be used with all the PD engines, including the 130PS variants on variable interval servicing, so long as the oil is changed annually or every 10,000 miles (ie so long as you don't use the variable servicing capability). It's 5W40, same as the Ford spec M2C917; Ford don't use the variable interval servicing, which can go to 2 years or 30,000 miles, hence no need for Ford to consider using SLX II. But, don't use the SLX II 0W30 oil (VW spec 506.01) in pre-May 2002 engines as they do not have the relevant engineering modifications to use this oil; it's too thin and they need a thicker oil due to the high pressures imposed by the PD injector pumps. So, SA Intruder and other 130PS drivers, if you stick to fixed servicing intervals, you don't need to use the mega-expensive SLX II stuff, which has characteristics suitable for extended drain intervals. All clear now? (Oil clear now?)

Try "yellow pages" - I don't know your area. Just been quoted