tim-spam

Castrol Edge 5W40 sold at Halfords - a bit expensive though.

I also think that you do not have a problem. The bottom hose will probably only get hot when the engine is working hard. As soon as the engine returns to idle, the radiator and bottom hose will cool down very quickly - by the time you have access to feel it, it will have cooled down. If the heater is working well, the water pump is too. If the engine temperature is constant and correct, the thermostat is also OK. Remember, the radiator has to be large enough to cool the engine at maximum load in ambient temperatures in excess of 40 degC.

But for how long?

Most likely a CV joint - is it worse under power?

One more thing.... I have timed the retraction of all the second row seatbelts in my car. The two outer belts take around 1.1/2 seconds to retract, and the effect is quite gentle. The centre belt takes around 2 seconds when guided and aound 3 seconds when left to swing - the slight swinging to and fro tends to slow the retraction down. Again, the effect is quite gentle. In other words, on my car there is no significant chance of the retraction mechanism 'snatching' the buckle from anyone's grasp. However, one thing has occurred to me: perhaps different manufacturers have different ideas as to what constitutes the best retraction force and speed. It could be that the VAG group cars have lower retraction forces and speeds than Ford cars, and it may be possible that the Galaxy is different in this respect to the Sharan and Alhambra. This would be surprising, but it is just possible.

In France, the speed limit on the Autoroute is the same whether towing or not - ie: 130kph or 81mph. As regards which gear to use, 5th is ideal for towing at around 70mph - just above 2000 rpm, and any incline or other increased resistance tends to pull the engine back into a higher torque regime (max. torque is at 1900 rpm), which tends to self compensate. In 6th, the engine is working below its maximum torque, and any increased drag will pull it further down the torque curve. A TDI 150 should be a very good towcar and return good performance and economy - in terms of performance and economy, it should be better than a Landrover TD4.

I agree, and I am not presuming to tell others what lifestyle to adopt. All I was pointing out is that accidents happen, and that sometimes no-one is to blame. We are sometimes very quick to point out when we think that the manufacturer should be exercising reasonable care, but sometimes very slow to accept our own duty of reasonable care. The retraction force and speed of seatbelts will have been the subject of numerous FMEA's and safety considerations in the design and development of seatbelts fitted to any make and model of car, but to make it impossible for someone to get hurt is itself impossible.

What all this really boils down to is exercising reasonable care - my very lively 10, 8 and 4 year old boys have never had any problems with the central belt hitting anything or anyone. Reasonable care also extends to all of the other seatbelts, doors, tipping the seats forward and back, opening and closing the tailgate, climbing into and out of the car, etc., etc, etc..... and the biggest hazard of the lot........ driving the thing. Accidents happen - it's a fact of life - and the best way of minimising the likelihood of an accident is exercising reasonable care, and not in finding someone to blame. I bet more people have trapped their fingers in the door than have been swiped by a seatbelt buckle. In fact, it is quite possible that more people have been seriously injured or killed today on our roads than have been swiped by a seatbelt buckle.

I tow a 1200kg caravan and cruising at around 70mph in 5th, I get around 27mpg, although when the maf started getting weak and I was having to use 4th gear more often, it dropped to around 23mpg. Now back up to 27+mpg with new maf.

That's one of the problems with maf faults. If the problem is contamination of the thin film causing an insulating effect, the engine control system thinks it's fine and so no fault codes are logged. It just behaves as if the air density is extremely low and reduces fuelling accordingly, hence the lack of power. I'm glad the maf change has resolved your problem.

It's the negative terminal that is smaller.

The 2.0 TDI will be available in the Alhambra, but I doubt if it will be in the Galaxy, as there is a new model soon (this will not be a joint venture, but will be Ford's own work). There is also an all new Sharan in the not-too-distant future based on the latest Passat platform, which should be very good - we'll see. As regards the 2.0 TDI, this is a stage IV emissions compliant engine and will therefore be less efficient than the current stage III 1.9, so expect worse fuel consumption. I'm told that refinement is better, and that efficiency is still class best (but not quite so good as the 1.9).

Yes

Disconnecting the maf made no difference - therefore it's faulty. Change it, and the chances are that bliss will return. By the way, the TDI 115 was not introduced until late 2000.

We also have the central lap/shoulder belt and 3 young children, and have had absolutely no problems whatsoever. Accidents happen and always will - it is a real problem in today's society that we're always after someone to blame (and sue if we can). If a damping mechanism was incorporated on this middle belt (totally unnecessary of course), someone else would be sueing the company because of the belt retracting too slowly - the scenario is this: the middle passenger leans forward and then back again just as the car has an accident, and is injured by the slowly retracting (and hence still slack) belt. An easier solution is to return to the lap only belt, but I know which I prefer. The manufacturer is really in a no-win situation! One of my relatives had their kneecap damaged (requiring minor surgery) by a car door being caught by the wind - perhaps the manufacturers should apply damping to doors as well. Oh yes, and how many people have caught their fingers in the door? etc., etc., etc....

Try Eurocarparts (0208 956 5000) or German Swedish and French (0208 917 3888) both of which are based in London. They do a very efficient mail order service and sell quality parts at considerable savings over main dealer prices.

I don't.

To change a cam chain, you can indeed do it by splitting the old chain and drawing the new one in with the old one. However, by the time the chain needs changing (about 200,000 miles on my old 190D, although it had been noisy for a while), the tensioner slipper and hydraulic tensioner will almost certainly need changing as well - this was a cylinder head off job.

No, it's definitely the intercooler. I should have said CCV instead of EGR - the CCV system is upstream of the intercooler, and is responsible for the oily liquid. By the way, the oil consumption is very low (at least 5000 miles per 1/2 litre). As I said, the amount of liquid is small, but is enough to make the upper surface of the undertray dirty. My main concern is that small leaks have a nasty habit of becoming larger, so if there is a way of resealing it (by, for example, squeezing the crimping tabs a little), I'll give it a go - it's just that I don't want to make it any worse, and was wondering if anyone else has had a similar problem.

A bit fiddly, yes... but not that difficult.

I guess that using only good quality oil would help with tensioner life?

New pollen filters are a dirty grey colour, although they obviously shouldn't be loaded with contamination.

Recently had a stone (or something) clout the intercooler right next to the header on the offside. It appears to have sightly dislodged the header, because an oily liquid drips out of it (this almost certainly comes from the EGR system) - just enough to make the undertray dirty, but not yet enough to be visible underneath the undertray, although it seems to be getting slightly worse. The leak is not enough to cause the oily liquid to spray out under pressure, and there is no measurable loss of boost pressure. Due to the

It may well do - as I said, I'm sticking to 505.01. As regards Castrol's hype, Magnatec contains a small quantity of ester based synthetic, which does cling to metal surfaces - so, Castrol's claims have an element of truth. However, what Castrol has been rapped over the knuckles for is not this claim, but their claim or implication that this is a property unique to Magnatec. The simple fact is that any oil using a proportion of ester based base stock will exhibit this property.

I was talking to a work colleague yesterday who does all of his own maintenance, and used to be in the car servicing trade. He runs a Golf TDI 130 (PD engine) and has used Castol Magnatec since 20,000 miles - car now has 120,000 miles and has been absolutely reliable, and there is no sign of any abnormal wear having taken place. Apparently, there are many in the garage trade who rate Magnatec as the best semi-synthetic on the market (although I guess that they may have been a little taken in by marketing hype). He was totally unconcerned by the warnings of catastrophe and impending doom in his owner's book. However, I will still stick with using a 505.01 oil in mine, as he may have just been lucky.