acecard

Hi guys, I have a MKIII 13 plate titanium with auto wipe. The handbook (pg53) clearly states that vehicles without autowipe have lengths of 750/650 mm but that with autowipe its 750/700. I searched everywhere and cannot find anyone selling this 750/700 combination, even searching with my reg number. Can anyone clarify this? Handbook is clear that the wrong length will result in autowipe malfunction, by which I think it means that with the shorter length rain would remain on the screen causing autowipe to be on continually. Thanks, Casa

thanks gregers, will just have to get used to more frequent tyre changes. On the old mk2, wear on the rear pair was so minimal that I often changed them with 7mm left simply 'cos the sidewalls were tired and cracked. Glad I don't do a lot of mileage in the gal - must use the punto more except it makes me feel claustrophobic.

Yeah, I've tried suggesting things to the Voice Command Girl, but she always keeps her cool and replies with "valid options are...." :)

Now done 5500 miles in a new MK3 on Michelin Primacy which I believe have a reputation for being hard wearing. Fronts are now 5.5mm and rears are 6.5mm, all evenly worn across the tread. The gal is also driven carefully, with love and understanding. This is a big surprise to me. My old mk2 galaxy still had 7-8mm on the rear after about 3 years on Michelin pilot (iirc)! True enough, the front tyres wore quite heavily with that big diesel mass on top but not as fast as this with the mk3. At this rate, any cheaper tyres on the front would last about a month! Anyone with similar experiences?

Thanks for that

Hi guys, not been on for a while - the mk3 has been mostly behaving itself apart from a creaking clutch pedal which seems to respond to a heavy dose of WD40 but the squeak reappears after a couple of months. Not in itself a major issue though b***y distracting every time you change gear. Anyhow, while sorting out the clutch pedal, I noticed I could press the brake pedal (with my hand) further than i expected so I pumped it a few times and lo and behold, it became firm near the top of its travel, much like what would happen if there was air in the system and the brakes needed to be bled. However, while I was doing this pumping, there was a sort of 'hiss' noise like air was involved somehow. I left it a few hours and then checked again and the pedal wa still firm - but as soon as I started the engine, it returned to its 'spongy' state (not that I am having a problem with brakes, all seems fine). When engine is stopped I can go through the process of pumping and hissing again. Is this normal or is there a problem here? Thanks in anticipation for advice Cheers

Nice one

keeping on topic- the Alhambra comes with an AC inverter so could run a washer in he back of that,

yep, move it, the subject and content must be confusing ne1 searching anyway

gregers, would that be to help find the ball? :16:

our tumble dryer plays a tune every 30 seconds after its finished- we soon put a stop to that! it is now very difficult to get inside these white goods or even to work out how to get inside, the chassis appears to be welded together after the motor, drum etc have been put in place. Maybe the manufacturers do use Ford advisors after all.

Wouldn't expect Ford dealers to do software updates unless requested. From my experience, as little as possible is actually done and as far as 30 point checks etc are concerned, you could do most of that visually in a matter of minutes yourself. My experience with Ford dealers is poor unfriendly unwelcoming service, not knowing sufficient about their own cars to be able to answer anything other than the most basic questions and in the case of my local dealer, when you collect the car, you are handed the keys with the dismissive comment "you will find it somewhere out there in the car park". When you do find it, it is usually blocked in by several Ford vans and they cannot find out who has the keys etc etc. On the other hand, in recent years i took my mk2 to the local VW dealer which seemed to make sense anyway as the important bits were VW anyhow, on arrival at service you were offered a seat and a coffee, and on collection the car was driven round to the door for you. Don't know what to do with the MK3 having the Duratorq engine. If VW were to get something wrong, Ford could say it invalidates the warranty.

Can't even agree about greger's dirty washing. Our washing machines also suffer abuse (who needs to be kind to a washing machine?) and they repay this by breaking relatively frequently. They usually last for 2 or at best 3 years and then its the scrapheap.As Scorpio indicated, its a throwaway socirty and who wants to spend time and money on repairing a device which is almost as expensive as the latest souper douper model. Same goes for kettles, ours failed again yesterday. They usually give up the ghost after about 12 months. Tried buying more expensive models but they do the same. Just buy the cheapest now and replace it. you'd have thought kettles with the limited scope of their purpose and without any ecu would last longer..

The prospect of losing both on the same trip is a bit worrying especially because of the insane way the things are made making roadside replacements a joke. I believe that it is illegal to drive a car with any headlight bulb faulty. and when you must legally carry spare bulbs like on the continent, what could you possibly do if one fails on the road without several hours of daylight at your disposal!!

I can honestly say that she has never worried about how much air is in the tyres

Thanks Scorpio, I just thought I had gone daft. Actually put the car details in FordEtis and it confirmed rear quarterlights do not open in the minor features tab. Just don't see the point! I noticed too that the radio antenna wires are now in the nearside window rather than offside as in the mk2. I would have thought offside would be marginally better for signal reception, is this another improvement :blush:

I wonder if the guys on the space station floating around in zero gravity face similar difficulties when repairing stuff. Or didn't Ford tender for that job?

I think they must design it this way. Exactly the same happened to me with sidelights on the mk2 - changed one and tested ok only to find inexplicably that the one on the other side which was working fine had blown. I just wonder if the new bulb changes the dynamics of the circuit causing overload for other components. When first switched on a bulb will have low resistance causing a surge but this happens every time you switch on - maybe possible that the new bulb causes an initial higher surge which then blows others in the circuit. Having said that, iirc the left and right circuits are separate i think for safety reasons. Just clutching at straws.. Or maybe Ford have it hidden in the software - "new bulb detected" - "randomly blow another" :lol: mk3 update - I like the DAB radio - if I'd have bought the alhambra it would only have been FM

i can see that solves the problem when pottering about locally but on long journeys wouldn't you normally want the recovery people to take you to your destination rather than back home?

I've been playing with the voice controls. She's the only woman with whom I can have a decent conversation. It never works when I say to the missus "RADIO", "PLAY" etc

Well, I don't know about technological progress. I once had a car. so many years ago I can't recall what it was now. Maybe the Anglia 100E. You turned on the ignition and then pulled a knob to start it - ok so now you push.. So far as the seats are concerned. they may be less comfy but its a good trade off as far as I am concerned. Sick of lugging those damned heavy items in and out of the car and finding somewhere to store them. Blame them for my hernia in 2009.

acecard, on 22 Feb 2014 - 01:01, said:http://www.fordgalaxy.org.uk/ford/public/style_images/master/snapback.png hi crispb - must have missed this somewhere quick answer is I don't know and how would I find out? ta... scorpio this is the reason why i post about the on board diag check. :26: hard work sometimes :rolleyes: AH- this was a reply to me gregers- didn't realise - posts were gettng complicated at the time!

theres quite a lot of things I like about it in comparison to the Mk2, especially the folding seats and I particularly like the SEAT pack which is why I bought this particular one. I wanted the option of folding mirrors and the seat memories, also the starter button as I could never find the ignition lock in the dark (illuminated lock would have been a nice touch. Climate controls seem good so far but I do miss the illuminated rear heater switch at the rear of the mk2 - don't know why, it just looked pretty On the downside: It certainly isn't as perky in low gears as my 130 mk2 and what happened to those dashboard compartments - they were really handy. I know there are compartments under the front seats but try getting something out of those on the move! Interesting trip computer - if you set it to show the instant mpg rather than average - it tells me I am doing somewhere between 0.1mpg and 0.2 mpg when the car is standing still idling - that used to blank out on the mk2.

Well, this sounds like fun. I thought I had put behind me the dreaded sidelight change on the mk2. I certainly don't miss that as mine used to blow every few months. Having said that. there was a certain smug satisfaction of finally extracting your hand after getting the bulb fixed in place, yes your hand may have been covered with blood but at least you got one over on the car designer. It now appears the mk3 will provide similar challenges. So much better than Sudoku.

You can be sure the wife would never be bothered by the green arrow..