Andrew T

I had exactly the same thing a couple of years ago, I replaced the fuse box and had a new alternator cable made up and it's been fine ever since. In fact it's still on its original alt' at 150K. The electrician showed me how he checked if the new connection was getting warm by dripping a droplet of water on the connection with the fuse box and seeing if it evaporated......clever eh?

I was told by Ford that looms are made to order on 12 weeks lead time. Can you be sure that the damage is confined to the engine loom - will it be found on stripping that it's carried on into the main loom?

I asked my insurance when I had similar problems last year and they weren't interested. They regard it in a similar light to a seized engine or broken gearbox - to be expected on an old car (and ours was only five years old at the time). I asked what would happen I hadn't disconnected the battery when it started smouldering and it had developed into a full fire......and they would have paid out for that. With hindsight disconnecting the battery was a decision I regret.

Are the electricians quoting a fixed price or is it on a strip it and see basis? what about a new ECU? It may sound harsh but you need to think about what this car is worth and whether this is throwing good money after bad. If you were to break the car up you could make a good few bob flogging the bits on here. Sorry to be the voice of doom. ;)

From what I can remember it was technically inconclusive anyway. It was said that there seemed to a pattern of engine bay fires in early Galaxy's and the OP was looking for some sort of redress from Ford. I think my valuable contribution was to say that if Ford didn't give a toss about problems on nearly new Galaxy's, then what would you expect them to do about a twelve year old vehicle that could be said to have had it's useful life? I doubt part looms are available from Ford, so you've taken the only course open to you. While the Auto electrician has the car I would get them to check the condition of the wiring where it passes into the tailgate, it may help to avoid another incendiary incident.

There was a post a few months ago on engine loom fires in early Galaxy's.Have a search.

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Wibbly, Like MrT I ended up with an oversize (Diesel) battery on mine when it was replaced under warrenty due to none availability of the oddly sized 2.3 spec one. I don't believe there is any harm in this, indeed the extra capacity has to be benficial. It may be that going to a larger more commonly used size may be cheaper or at least no more expensive.

Do you mean the alloy castings beneath the wiper spindles that's revealed when you remove the plastic trims? Sounds like you could have the usual corrosion problem in there.

Just tried the same on mine (2.3 with SCS allegedly) and got 14.2 as well. That said the battery should be in a good state at this time of year, with little demand being made on it with the warm weather. Could be after a cold start on a dark winter morning it would go to 14.8V.i

As said earlier I think only the 2.3 has SCS so quite possibly you can use a Pb batttery on a VW engined model and get away with it. If a Pb battery was fitted from new it could have been swapped by the dealer before delivery or early in the cars life. If you dig through the early posts premature failure of Ca batteries was common. By contast I replaced the Pb battery on my Honda at the start of its 11th winter!

I got mine from National Tyres, should have been

There is little difference in price between Ca and Pb batteries. For a 2.3 around

This is what I was told when I asked...................

I copied this from a very old post, this shows the state of the Ca battery with the engine off. at 12.6 volts the battery is 100 per cent charged at 12.4 volts, the battery is 75 per cent charged at 12.2 volts, the battery is 50 per cent charged at 12.0 volts, the battery is 25 per cent charged

The original equipment Calcium batteries on the MK2 Galaxy have caused a lot of problems and if you get 5 years out of one you're doing well. I'm on my third now having had the last one replaced under warranty. The problem I found was that although mine tested OK, it wouldn't start the car after standing for a day. The supplier denied there was any problem with it but having changed it out of goodwill (actualy he was pretty grumpy about it) I've not had another problem. If you test the voltage with the engine running and the headlights on mine shows 14-14.2 V. I think if it's only 13 you 're looking at a charging problem. As Mum says check the main fuse for the Alternator (under the battery cover by the washer bottle neck) which is a reasonably common trouble spot.

Yes it will fit. The winch system just winds up until the wheel's tight. When you put the wheel back make sure you keep the cable tight at all times and don't allow the wheel to spin around as you wind.

I think MK1s with none reinforced tyres used much lower pressures than MK2s.

Hello again Ian. Yes it is illuminated, I think you lever it out using the 2 wooden bits of a dismantled clothes peg. A/C Worth just checking the fuses before you throw money at it.

Loose heat shield on the exhaust ?

At the risk of stating the obvious, what about visibility of lights and Reg?

I've seen the power quoted as 145, 143 and 142. I think some of the Confusion comes from mixing PS (European) and BHP figures. Bhp to PS (hp DIN), divide by 1.0139, PS (hp DIN) to Bhp, multiply by 0.9863. So 145PS = 143 BHP. Not sure where the 142 BHP comes from them. Somewhere along the way the engine was tweaked to improve its emissions which may have lost another 1BHP. At this point the Combined MPG dropped from 28.2 to 28MPG. FWIW Autocar quoted 143BHP / 150lb/ft for the '97 2.3. They also tested it (rather than quoting manufacturers figures) at 0-60 11.1 Secs, 0-100 38.8 Secs, 30-70 11.3 secs, 60-0 3.7 Secs (that would bring your breakfast back!).

It seems like you've covered things pretty thoroughly but a couple of thoughts........ People who've had problems with the 02 sensor have generally been victims of an MOT failure on emissions levels rather than noticing any drop off in performance. You should have been given a print out as part of the MOT paperwork showing exactly what levels were recorded - were they near the limit? I recall that buying a none Ford sensor sometimes failed to cure the problem, so genuine part is the best way to go. As far is the MAF is concerned you really shouldn't be having problems with a petrol one at this mileage. They're a pretty long life item (mine is original at 150K) and I've rarely known them to be replaced. Because they are very different from the Diesel one in construction they apparently are cleanable! The instructions were posted a long time ago by Scorpiorefugee in one of his early topics. Finally an obscure thought, although it's unlikely given the age and mileage of your car, but I once traced a similar problem to a perished brake servo pipe which was allowing extra air into to be drawn into the cylinders diluting the Fuel/Air mixture, but still operated the servo.

Ours always had a hard pedal until the Master Cylinder failed. After it was replaced the pedal was very mushy with a long travel. I complained to the garage that had fitted it and they ran it through the brake performance test of the MOT which showed a pass. Subsequently it

An insurer will always ask if a car has been modified (or is to standard spec')and in this case he should have mentioned replacement alloys. He may also find his policy is now cancelled and he will have problems reinsuring in the future. When I queried the fitting of larger wheels my insurer at the time (Frizzell I think) were happy to allow fitting of the wheels from another model in that range, or ones from that manufacturers options list.