MrT

If you put the fans full on in a Galaxy, they are normally so loud you will not be able to easily hold a conversation.

The bonnet on my car being black is starting to spoil the appearance of my car due the frequent pebble dashing it receives from the roads. Nothing has penetrated to the metal, but there are many (20+) pinholes, some to the white primer and about three slightly larger (3mmx3mm) chips. Has anyone on the forum had experience of the quality of work and costs involved in either having the bonnet totally resprayed or being repaired by a company like Chipsaway?

Unless I am blind, they don't list the Galaxy parts in their store?

I got mine next day delivery for

I think it depends on the size of the clunk and bang. There is always a slight drop in revs when you put it into gear as the engine takes the load of the transmission and if you engine is running fast (more than 1000rpm) I would expect this to increase. If you rev the engine (say 2000-3000 rpm) then put it in gear I would expect and bit of a jolt and you should not do this. I take it your interlock is still working and you have to have the footbrake on to take it out of park. Again I never have found a use for neutral, if you use it when driving at any speed it can be tricky to get back into gear due to the footbrake interlock. I have driven several galaxy 2.8i automatics and on level ground they will always crawl off if you lift your foot of the footbrake and it takes a steep hill for them to roll backwards when stationary and in gear such as waiting in traffic and the handbrake off. I have had very few minor transmission bangs and these have always happened when coasting at around 30-40mph and you apply a bit more throttle, when this happens it is like a motorbike with a slack chain. I assume this is the box starting to change up then suddenly changing down. Normally its is only the change in revs that let you know you have changed gear with very smooth transistions. Unlike my wifes auto Fiesta, that can stall when cold and almost outpull the handbrake.

I like the new radiator grill that looks like honeycomb with a bit of chrome on the 2004 Galaxy. Does anyone know if they can be straight swapped with the larger diamond mesh on the 2002 models? Any idea how much they cost?

The climate control on the later cars also has a sunlight detector behind the clock in the middle of the dashboard. This detects the amount of sun coming in through the front windscreen and increases the cooling function in strong sunlight.

Thanks for the info on the checksheet generator program. I never knew that. Are there any other hidden depths to the TIS?

How do you find out exactly what is required in a service? There is a little in the service document and I cannot find (does not mean it is not there) any service recommendations on the TIS. I ask because I will shortly get the option to buy my Galaxy from the fleet management company and they are going to arrange for a final service in their own workshops just before I buy it. However I think they will give the minimum service possible rather than the full Ford dealer service a private owner would pay for. In the past the car was serviced by Ford on an annual basis (time rather than mileage) and will have done around 20,000 miles and be just over 30 months old. I don't want to have to pay for a full 3 year service (

Thanks Nimrod, it would be even better if you could tell us where! I have found Sunglasses for

Some time ago I saw someone on ebay selling a sunglasses holder for the Galaxy/Sharan/Alhambra that replaced the drivers grab handle in the roof. I have been recently trying to find one and cannot. Has anyone any idea where I can get one?

A couple of queries on dashboard warning lights, if someone could confirm that theirs is the same or different. The front fog warning light, on my vehicle this is an already lit (if sidelights are on) indicator with a front fog signal on the rotary switch that gets brighter. There is no in dash front fog warning light, only an orange rear. The instrument console according to the handbook has an indicator at about 10 o' clock on the speedometer to show that cruise control is in operation. Mine does not appear to have this indicator or it has failed. Just to confirm my vehicle is a 2001/2002 Galaxy Ghia 2.8i Auto.

Well I have been driving along on cruise control on a flat road at 70mph and by switiching the aircon off and on I could see no difference in my instantaneous mpg readings. To be honest on 204bhp of engine, aircon is not going to add much load.

I get similar in my Auto. I come off the motorway up the sliproad at about 30mph, see a gap in the roundabout traffic put my foot down a little and nothing happens as the car thinks I am drifting along the motorway in top gear. I shove my foot down hard and it drops a few gears, red lines, tyres spin, traction control makes a few bangs or if the steering wheel is turned the stability program turns the power off/down. Doesn't half scare you the first time you do it and that truck on the roundabout is fast approaching. There is a use for the up/down manual change at times.

My 97 Galaxy information console told you how many miles to go until you ran out of petrol. The 2001/2 model the gauge shows empty, the console beeps at you and displays "please refuel" and an orange petrol pump shaped light light comes on. At that stage it takes 60 litres of petrol.

The one hour function is built in to the radio. It has an "ignition" sense wire that senses when the key is removed from the lock. The Galaxy actually has quite a sophisticated power management system built in. It will actually start shutting things down to save power if you leave it for several weeks without touching it or if the battery starts to get low. If I left my stuff turned on long enough it would not flatten the battery, but I don't want the battery to get that low. As an aside, the centre console has four switches either side, the bottom right one is not used in mine and has a blank cover. Can you get a normal switch that fits in here or does it only come as one for a specific purpose and sign?

Does anyone know of a electrical device I can buy for my Galaxy which will turn power (12v) on the with the ignition, stay on with the ignition and remain on for a set period (up to an hour) after the ignition is turned off? I have accessories in the car (GPS, mobile phone etc. <2A) that I want to remain on when I turn the car off for brief stops, but not to remain on for longer periods that would drain the battery.

I had to add some wiring today and a bit fell out of the fusebox area and I do not know where it came from and what it is. Is is a large L shaped pice of rubber with two grooves cut out of the larger inside edge. This edge was stuck to something. Can anyone identify what this piece of rubber is?

I find it is the rings on the wife's finger that scratch the car near the door handles. Luckily the Galaxy is so tall, on normal cars the women in my family tend to put the handbag on the roof whilst they open the doors and put things in. They are aslo under the misconception that the glove pockets in the doors are litter bins. Fortunatley is was only in her Fiesta but she bent the alloy front wheel so much that the air came out, but she drove the 10 miles home as it was raining. The tyre was smoking when she arrived.

Some sites to start at: VAG-COM On Board Diagnostics Excellent UK Hardware Supplier I have used the demo of VAG-COM on my 2001/2 V6 Galaxy with SKPang's cable. I find VAG-COM rather pricey for what it is. I could not get Scantool to work, on my Dell laptop would not recognise any port on the car as present.

I believe that the pin outs in the plug are different for different systems. I have the same plug on my wife's fiesta but it does not even recognise it as connected, never mind read anything with software. Earlier Ford models use the PWM protocol as compared to the ODB-II. Some later Ford models use DCL. Has anyone found a good cheaper alternative to VAG-COM as it is rather pricey?

I thought that the captains chairs came with armrests, mine did? Perhaps someone removed them?

I saw on FixAFord that water on the power drive belt can cause this problem and earlier models had a problem with the low pressure pipe which caused knocking when cornering.

My older (97) Glaxy GhiaX used to do this and it was worrying in car parks when I had left the family inside. The doors would deadlock then the alarm (additional factory option of volume sensing) would go off. They were trapped inside as all windows and sunroof were electrical and disabled and the alarm drawing attention to their embarrassment. Of course I was accused of locking the car with the remote key. The 2001/2 Galaxy does not seem to do this.

Ever tried to adjust the rear washer jet on the later models? With the curved glass you can never seem to get a spread that enables the whole rear screen wiped area to be washed.