Andrew T

Obviously the Ghia has a built in smugness detector as well........

Mine too. Wonder if they know there's a little wire loop with a hook clipped to jack just crying out to be used ?

In the last series of Top Gear they showed how a Fiat Stilo Estate was "quicker" from 60mph in fifth gear than a Mitsubishi Evo. 30-70 through the gears is the best measure of performance as it illustrates real world overtaking ability.

I've had similar problems but not identical. Didn't lose the instruments. Battery light came on at startup, but went out with the engine running.

Your problem sounds identical to mine, including (I'm sorry to say) the cost. The additional issue with the compressor was because the Aircon had failed months before and had therefore seized through lack of use. The Ford dealer who diagnosed it got the compressor running but reckoned it was on it's last legs. The Aircon specialist who did the repairs reckoned it might be OK but because the vendor was paying for the repair I didn't want to chance it breaking in a few months time and me having to pay. There do seem to be a number of people on this site who have had problems with the condensors on 2000 models which supports the theory of a dodgy batch of items.

Because I captioned the figures Arse about Face ! Parkers Prices MK1 2.3 Zetec W reg Cost New ('00)

My money is on a mark 1 as well, but has the dealers priced it as a mark 2? How much is he asking? Parkers Prices MK1 2.3 Zetec W reg Cost New ('00)

Is it to account for the difference between 6 and 7 seat versions ? The Ghia (Ford) mats only extend forward of the rear seat mounting plates so it doesn't make any difference however the seats are configured.

Try here, and follow the 4 links on the post by LESMON

There was a thread about this a few months ago, I think member EVSS (?) contributed to it - try searching his posts.

Nice result. Sounds like what you were given Mechanical Breakdown Insurance rather than a warranty, however all traders are supposed to give 90 Days cover from date of sale.

I find this huge range of pressures quoted by Ford most odd, although the high pressures are consistant with the sort of pressures medium size vans require. Finding an airline capable of delivering that sort of pressure can be a problem, the ones at supermarkets which appear to have an internal compressor in their cabinet take several minutes to show 50 PSI, and then you find your own gauge only shows 38. Best are the ones that work off a garages compressed air system and only take a few seconds to deliver a genuine 50PSI.

On the way back from Half term Hols in France yesterday I made the mistake of thinking that nothing had gone wrong with the Gal for a few weeks and perhaps, after 11 months it was settling down to be a reliable vehicle. Big mistake. An hour later in a torrential downpour near Calais I was rewarded with the wipers seizing up. Oh great I thought the famous wiper linkage problem, however that's been covered on this site in detail. What happened later is what concerns me. After getting home and unloading I went to go out and found the OSR brake was firmly jammed on after releasing the handbrake. I crawled under the back and pushed the actuater arm on the brake caliper up and it came off. Now I had this prblem a few weeks ago when my wife had driven round for a week (judging by the fuel consumption) with the handbrake partly seized on. After investigation I found that the rear brake calipers were encrusted with thick mud. After hacking it off, spraying the actuator arm swivel joint with WD40 and manipulating the actuator arm by hand I thought I had restored it to working order. This time, although not clean, there is nowhere near as much muck on the caliper as there was last time, so am I looking at internal problem and an exchange caliper ? BTW, I think I now only need Coil Pack failure to have collected the full suite of well known Galaxy problems as, sadly, I lack an auxilliary heater to be tempremental.

That was the fault mine showed, and it was the beginning of a 3 garage

I saw a Galaxy recently fitted with 2 conventional roof bars that located in the top of the door apertures. Would that be any easier solution if you only needed to carry a Roofbox ?

I'd mostly agree with you, but I don't think it's quite as clear cut as you suggest because of the effect of head and tail winds. But somewhere between less than 70 and 80 there is a point where the Galaxy starts drinking a lot more fuel in relation to a small increase in speed. Problem is if you don't have a Fuel computer you won't know where that point is...... We had strong northerly winds up here last weekend, perhaps that had an effect on your fuel consumption coming back oop north ?

A lot of Forestry areas are open to cycling with marked out trails but are not ideal for learners due to the hills and rough surfaces. The best thing we have found are disused railway lines converted to cycle tracks, they are traffic free with smooth surfaces and easy gradients and are great for building up wobbly riders confidence in safety. A good one that springs to mind is the Tissington trail in the Peak district. Try looking up Traffic Free routes on http://www.sustrans.org.uk/ for more info.

That's good the hotlink isn't working. Search my posts, go to Page 3 and the second post down entitled "It Died" will lead you to the thread. Briefly, to the left of the washer bottle neck there is a small fuse box which has a 150 amp fuse for the alternator which had blown. You need to replace the fuse box if this has happened.

'Twas I, and the details are here. I don't think it's the same problem though, which is why I didn't reply. The fuse that blew cuts off the alternator completely, yours seems to be giving a small charge but nothing like the 14.5V you should be getting.

Ah, I do enjoy the cut and thrust of a good debate... I agree it's there it's in black and white, but it seems to fly in the face of common sense to me. The amount of wet road grip available is (all other things being equal)proportional to the depth of tread. If you take an everyday scenario - entering a greasy roundabout too fast, the loss of control speed may be 15mph on front tyres with 2mm of tread but 25mph on 7mm of tread, thus the extra grip may have saved having the "moment " in the first place. I agree with Mr Dunlop that older tyres are more liable to puncture, but I for one would far rather have a blow out on the back that the front. I intend to drive on confidently with my best tyres on the front, am I alone ?

Not at all, I usually zero the trip computer as I hit the Motorway and try to keep the MPH above 70 and the MPG above 30. As for the rest of the time, our nearest town is 10 miles away and even that has no traffic lights.

But we 're talking here about the handling in extremis, an event that hopefully happens infrequently. Having owned many cars of both types I think with oversteer you have a sporting chance of sorting yourself out, compared with lift-off-and-pray understeer. Every time you go out on the road you will benefit from the superior braking/roadholding/traction from having the best tyres on the front. At the moment I have about 6mm of tread on the front and 3mm on the rear, frankly the thought of swapping them around gives me the willies!

But surely if have the best tyres on the front you are less likely to get into trouble in the first place ? Agree on not letting tyres live their entire life on the back though. Bought a FWD car that had it's original Michelin Energy tyres on the Back @ 70K. Within a few months both had "bulged" and had to be scrapped, still had over 3mm of tread on them. I now try to get a new set of front tyres on at the beginning of winter, moving the old Fronts to the backs with 3-4mm on them.

I always do the opposite and put the new tyres on the front. I reckon having the deepest tread on the front will give the best traction on snow/grass/mud, give better wet road braking, better resistance to aquaplaning and higher ultimate grip on wet corners. I do remember C4s Driven arguing the opposite to this on the basis that having the best tyres on the back would guarantee the car always understeered, but I don't regard that as enough reason against the above.

Transit Brochure. This is what I was referring to. It implies that the engine has been modified internally to make it suitable for LPG operation.