Ian in Northampton

Nope... [*Damn...*]

Correctamundo... :lol:

Just a note to thank all of you - you know you were - for your help when I was a Galaxy owner. After four successive Galaxies over a period of 15 years, I decided it was time for a change. You can now find me on the S-Max Owner's Club site, having just bought a rather nice 2.5T Titanium. Interestingly, I'm far from the only ex-Galaxy owner there. Anyway, like I said: thanks all. Have fun.

Thanks guys. Either way, it sounds serious, and as I'm no mechanic, it sounds like a trip to the garage may be in order...

One of the things I've always liked about my Galaxy 2.3 (2001) is how 'forgiving' the engine is of you being in too high a gear: you could be trying to pull away from 20mph in fourth, and it would be slow, but it would go. Over the past couple of weeks, though, it seems to have become much less forgiving - and I'm not sure whether my driving style has changed in some weird way, or whether I'm experiencing the early symptoms of a failure which I'd guess would be in the clutch or the transmission (it's just done its 100,000th mile...) The symptoms are that, if I try to pull away in too high a gear/at too low a speed, I get a juddering or a jolting or - well, I'm not sure how to describe it, but the car moves forward jerkily and only a rapid change down or a foot on the accelerator will pull it through. My assumption is, it would otherwise stall. Given its age, I'm suspecting that something, somewhere is starting to wear out, but I have no clue what except, as I said, to suspect something in the gearbox, clucth or transmission. Anyone have any thoughts?

How come I can't get the guy from Kwik Fit Insurance - who I don't want to deal with - or the guy trying to sell me a hovel in Bulgaria - who I equally don't want to deal with - off the phone, but the nice lady from Warranty Direct - who I might want to deal with - doesn't call? I'm certainly not going to call her and make myself look keen/enthusiastic/desperate...

MO4: not yet - I'm waiting for them to follow up with me so that we can begin the expected negotiation on price... :D If I call them, it'll make me look too keen. I have a target price of

All good - thanks guys and gals.

At 85,000 miles, I'm sorely tempted by a year's warranty from warrantydirect.co.uk. They're recommended by Honest John of Daily Telegraph fame, whose opinion I value highly. However, I value the forum's opinion even more than his... Anyone had any experience? It's going to cost me

Gregers - I'm ahead of you: actually, he will suffer even more pain than that. We run a little Citroen AX as a 'spare' and we told him if he paid for half the insurance (

Mo4 - sorry, didn't mean to ignore you. Bitter experience has taught me not to ignore ladies... :lol: I'll take a closer look. The mud/dust does tend to obscure things a bit, though.

Many thanks Willie/George. I'll give them a call.

Thanks all - that's very helpful. I used to do stuff like this on my first ever car - an Anglia - including filling the sills with newspaper and chicken wire and filling over them, but my days of messing with bodywork are long gone. Seatkid: so far as the bloody son's health is concerned, I'll just say that a) this was the latest act in a series of significant misdemeanours, and ;) he took the car without permission in the middle of the night. He's had all of three driving lessons (he's 17) and already thinks he's God's gift to the roadways of Great Britian. It's not metallic paint, I don't think - it's the rather common dark blue that you see on lots of Galaxies.

... was backing my Gal onto the drive and has caught the rear offside door on a stone wall. There's a dent - not too large, not too deep, at the leading edge of the door but the paintwork is well scratched through. My only dealings with bodyshops over the past few years have seen them insist that the only fix for this kind of a problem is a new panel (in this case, I guess it'd be a new door). That may be because they've all been insurance jobs. Does no-one beat panels out/use filler these days? Any recommendations for someone in the Northampton/Towcester/Wellingborough/ Milton Keynes area who'll do a good job but at an affordable price? Thanks! Cheers, Ian.

It's always fascinated me (but then, I'm easily amused...) 7/8 full: after 75 miles 3/4 full: after 125 miles 1/2 full: after 225 miles refuel: after 350 miles Within a mile or two, it's absolutely consistent. Not getting more than about 25mpg, though...

It was you Wolfie - I remember now. Many thanks. As a Galaxy owner, though, with the potential revenue/profit stream, I'd expect them to send me more than a card... Just out of interest: do you - or anyone - have any thoughts about the pros and cons of using a Ford dealer for service rather than a good independent? From 20,000 to 60,000 miles, I stuck religiously with Ford. 'Strayed' for the 70,000 - and wondering what to do for the 80,000?

A couple of weeks back, I posted (sorry, can't find the original post) about problems with my aircon, and ended up following the recommendation to try The Garage at Blakesley near Towcester. Anyway, the rather strange symptoms were that the aircon worked only on fan positions 1 and 2. If I turned it up to 3 or 4, the light in the AC switch went out and the aircon stopped working. The diagnosis was, and I quote: "Circuit test - cabin motor resistor open circuit on fan speed 1 and 2. Strip out and replace failed fan speed resistor." Hopefully, that'll help someone who experiences similar symptoms. And, whoever it was - sorry, I can't remember - many thanks for the recommendation of the garage. I was very impressed by their service, and will probably use them in future. Very professional. Only downside was, once you say 'aircon failure', it's an immediate

Thanks Wolfie. I work in Towcester!

Andrew, thanks. On the clock, can you be a bit more explicit about the 'it' that you lever out? And: can you recommend me a source of gypsies so I can get me some clothes pegs? ;) Good thought on the AC. Cheers, Ian

Hi there team - long time since I was here... A couple of questions that I'd be grateful for your learned thoughts on: 1. The dashboard analogue clock mounted on the fascia on the Mark 2: should it be illuminated? And if 'yes', but it isn't - how do I change the bulb? Is it straightforward? 2. My AC has packed in - again... Big surprise, I know. Symptoms this time are no cold air (of course) but the light built in to the switch doesn't even come on either. Just before I spend megabucks on it (does anyone know of a good alternative to a Fraud dealer for AC problems in the Northampton area?) - does anyone have any thoughts? Cheers, Ian

OK, guys. First, many thanks to all of you - this is such a great forum. In the end, my suspenders were killing me, and I wasn't sure I was going to get to it this evening - not having a garage, and it being freezing bloody cold - so I just nipped up the road to 'my little man'. And congratulations to all of you who guessed right. It was the damn bulbs. Counter-intuitive it may have been - to me at least (but Mr T's post made a whole lot of sense) - but that's what it was. It may have cost me a tenner, but seeing two guys strip the engine down - I exaggerate for effect, but you know what I mean - to replace the bulbs made me realise it was ten quid bloody well spent. Thanks again team!

Many thanks for the quick replies, guys. In fact, I haven't had a chance to look at anything yet - I was looking for clues and pointers, which you've given me. Yes, the obvious things are the bulbs and fuses - but I was just intrigued why both of either might go at eactly the same time... Greg: I meant to say - I wonder if it could be the dip/main stalk switch. That would explain it...

Can anyone think of any reason why BOTH my dipped headlights would have packed up on me at the same moment? Full beam and sidelights are fine. From memory, each dipped headlight has its own fuse, which makes it counter-intuitive that they'd both go simultaneously... (Unless, in classic Ford fashion, one fuse blowing causes another to go...)

Anglia: 1972 - 1975 Escort: 1975 - 1978 lovely metallic silver with a wood racing steering wheel Capri: 1978 - 1981 pride of my life - red, Mark 1B with power bulge bonnet, black vinyl, 'whip back' aerial Cortina: 1.6L: 1981 - 1982 first company car Granada 2.3GL: 1982 - 1985 changed companies partially to get a better car... Then a period of unfaithfulness - Rover 820SE, Carlton 2.2CDi, Volvo 940 estate Galaxy: 1996 - 1999 Galaxy: 1999 - 2002 Galaxy: 2002 - 2003 (all company cars) Lost job, bought aging Carlton 2.0 estate Galaxy: 2004 - today (the first Galaxy I've 'owned' - it seems a lot more expensive to run than the company ones... :ph34r: )

I think you may be right about the small claims route. At a guess - and it is a guess - the airlines almost certainly exclude responsibility for consequential loss, which is what I guess we're talking about here. I believe their liability is limited to feeding you, putting you up in a hotel and using all reasonable efforts to get you to where you wanted to go - but where I'd guess they draw a line is in being held responsible for losses incurred as a result of a delay or cancelled flight. As well as the email to Andy Johnson, however, you could also try writing personally to Stelios - he always comes across as a very nice man... -_-