Herts Hammer

Thanks for that. Do I need to take the door card off to get at that connector? I tried gently pulling on the cable to see if I could pull it up and out, but there's no give at all.

Anyone done this before? Some scrote knocked my driver's side one off today whilst the Gal was parked in the street. Interesting to note that the housing was held onto the bracket with what appears to be araldite, so someone's bodged a repair on it before my ownership. This is a little concerning as the side indicator clips on the same side were noticed to be broken when I bought the car - The dealer replaced it within a week. I'm now wondering whether the previous mirror damage and indicator clip damage means that the galaxy had some sort of whack on that side with a previous owner. Anyhow. I've undone the 2 bolts on the inside of the door frame, and the whole mirror assembly now comes loose. What should I do with the electrical connections? Are these best diconnected inside the mirror, or do I need to remove the door card and find a connector hidden inside the door. The objective tonight is just to get the old mirror off to stop it wrecking the body work whilst I source a replacement. Talking of replacement, would a pukka ford one come with all new wiring? I'm tempted just to cut through the wires, which at present, are the only things holding the mirror assembly to the rest of the car.

Several years ago the mrs took her 1.3 fiesta to Dagenham rapid fit for a routine service. When I got home I saw her receipt and had a little chuckle... The next day I called in at the rapid fit, clutching the reciept and asked to see the manager. When he arrived I thanked him for upgrading the engine to a new experimental type, and asked him if he had any performance and economy stats for it. He looked at me blankly. I explained to him that during the service they must have replaced the engine with a new and experimental one. He continued to look blank and asked what I was talking about. I showed him the receipt. He still looked blank. Well, if you didn't replace the engine with a new experimental seven cylinder model, why did you charge my mrs for seven spark plugs I asked. He looked at the receipt again, and this time his face showed some trace of understanding. Oh, I see, he replied.

Well, I'll admit that I didn't know at the time that a ford dealer doesn't have to have a parts department. However, the offer for them to fit the bulb was like rubbing salt into the wound. Not to mention the misleading "parts opening hours" note at the bottom of the dealer's webpage. http://www.evanshalshaw.com/v2/dealer_details.htm?ref=673 I get a ford privilige discount on parts, so they're probably going to be cheaper than halfrauds. Speaking of which, they were the next place I went to get a bulb. I referred to their chart in store and selected the right bulb. Unfortunately, I was driving the mondeo at the time, so couldn't check straight away. And wouldn't you know it? The chart in the store recommended the wrong bulb. A single filament instead of the required dual filament combination bulb. Someone, somewhere, really doesn't want me to get the damn thing fixed. Next job, once the bulb is resolved, is to find out why the dual aircon controller is flashing at startup, and why there is no discernable air conditioning cooling. Having looked at the other threads on that subject, I think that's going to be a massive can of worms.

Amazed. Just went to my local dealer to pick up a couple of bulbs for my gal. Evans Halshaw Ford in St. Albans. Won't sell me original ford parts, or any parts for that matter. Only if their service department fit them they say. What a load of bull. I get a ford privilege discount on parts, so have to buy them through a dealer. And I'll be damned if I'm forking out for a main dealer just to change a brake light. I own a Galaxy and a Mondeo. EH will now be losing out on any service custom that I might have had for them from now on. Anyone else experienced this? I'm hoping its not common practise across all ford main dealers.

Definitely the bulb failure warning - Its the one that usually goes out once you've pressed the brake pedal. Ivor - I've over looked those, will check them later today. If that's not it, I'll have to take them all out for a closer inspection. Sounds like the brake lights are the most likely candidate, so I'll start with them.

My bulb failure dashboard indicator has recently lit up on my dash. Trouble is I can't find a blown bulb anywhere on the car. Front Indicators, both sides - Check Front side lights, both sides - Check Front dipped headlights, both sides - Check Front main beam, both sides - Check Front foglights, both sides - Check Midline indicator repeaters, both sides - Check. Rear driving lights, both sides - Check Rear brake lights, both sides - Check Reversing lights, both sides - Check Rear indicators, both sides - Check Rear Fog lights, both sides - Check. So what bulb has failed? I'm damned if I can find it. Is a false warning light a common fault? Is there a bulb not inluded above that I should check?

My 2003 53 Ghia has the following... Full leather seats throughout. 6CD Multichanger with AM/FM Cassette head unit Heated front screen Tiptronic Auto Box Electric offside rear quarter window opening and closing. Electric windows all round with Global open/close via remote. Multifunction leather steering wheel (Audio and cruise controls) Dual zone climate with vents in roof in rear Trip computer Front and rear parking sensors Heated and electrically adjustable wing mirrors, but not folding. Heated front seats. 16" Alloys. Front Fogs. I think that's about the long and the short of it. Interesting how the spec is constantly increasing - We just bought a new model Mondeo, in Zetec trim, which is below Ghia and Titanium, and it has most of the features in the Ghia Gal from just 4 years earlier. Only things not present are the heated seats, leather and the multichanger, although it does have a single slot cd player.

I think my bank manager might disagree with you. I do feel slightly foolish commuting round the m25 in an empty galaxy though.

A Vectra? Did I mention that I hate Vauxhall? Apart from having an old man that worked for Fords his entire working life, I might have considered a Meriva or whatever its called to solve our people carrying issues. But the horrible adverts with the fat northern monkey kids being all stereotypical prevented me from ever considering one seriously. "Ah, they're tired...Don't mind if I do.....Might join you." - Load, aim, fire. Galhambrans, RenaultFiatCitroen things and Crystler Grand Voyagers made the list. The Galaxy, mostly through my brainwashed Ford is great upbringing (that, and the old man's employee discount benefits), eventually won out.

Yes, I bought from a dealer. 3 months engine and gearbox warranty was mentioned, nothing more. I'll give him a call and see what he says. Do you think they should cover it?

Ouch. Your VR6 user name isn't making me feel any better. I've got a plan though. The Mrs gets a cash allowance in lieu of a company car for her job, and a fully expensed fuel card. Only thing is, the car has to be under three years old, and must be a diesel. She's currently got an 07 mondeo, and we wont finish paying for it for 2.5 years. So the plan is to get her used to the comfort and convenience of the galaxy, such that when she has to replace the mondeo, she choses a new Galaxy to do so. That will then leave me free to sell my Gal, and replace it with something a little more fitting my style. I'm currently envious of every Mazda RX8 that I see, but in three years time it could be something completely different. The Nissan 380zx looks rather smart too. Dad's not ready for his slipper fitting quite yet...

Job done. Where do I define my signature. Can't seem to find it.

Just a quick thought - Do you have an auto box? If you do, are you sure you're not confusing the turbo coming in with the kick down function on the accelerator? If you're doing 85 then the turbo would surely be running very well - I doubt you'd have the power to get to 85 without it.

Thanks for the responses so far. One thing troubles me though. Forgive me if I sound contradictory or anything here, I just want to be sure I understand things correctly. If I was out of gas could I not expect decent airflow through the vents? The logic in my head says that out of gas = diminished cooling capacity, not lack of air flow. If I turn the panel to econ for example, and set the heating to hi and the fans to max, there is still very little airflow through the rear vents - Surely this setting would cause the system to run like a traditional car heater, without the aircon being engaged? If my logic is correct, it would tend to rule out low gas as a problem (at least to the low airflow issue). Thanks for the info on the rear unit. Does this have its own evaporator too, or does it route coolant through the front unit condensor? If so, they presumably have a common gas supply? I've seen references on here to VAG - Com. Could this be used to query diagnostic codes from the AC equipment? If it can, I'll get it and have a go. I'm a computer techy so no troubles expected on that part. Talking of which, I'm unsure which lead would be required to connect? Can anyone recommend which lead I should purchase to use with my Galaxy?