Dally

familyman Yes it happened on my previous galaxy. All 4 had to be drilled out and replaced withe the newer type. Done under warranty. With my current galaxy, this was one of the first things I checked!!

fredt "That's the misunderstanding we all fall victim to" - so sayeth the man at VW. The rotary manual dialed aircon is actually semi-automatic and is what I've been talking about. That's what I had on my zetec and that's what the top aircon bloke at the vw dealer told me - makes sense as to why my a/c was misbehaving. Shame I didn't keep it to see if the suggested cure would have worked.

ketchup Yes, I was told that the control panel contains all the electronics and is integral. Fredt What you say may be valid but I went to visit a local VW dealer from where my brother had just bought a new car and got to speak to their aircon speacialist - he seemed to know what he was talking about and took only minutes to conclude what I posted earlier (after playing about with the aircon) - it does make sense and what ketchup describes is very similar to what I was experiencing. He was sure that the ac control was cycling far too often and not allowing any cooling effect. It was with the VW diagnosis that I managed to get the ford blokes on board.

davec You didn't happen to take any pictures did you? I'm still awaiting the brackets from VW!

The clicking sound is from the 'thermostat' which is integral to the control panel. Contrary to what many think, the aircon on the non ghia models is not completely manual it's semi automatic. The 'thermostat' regulates extremes of temperature and tries to maintain a certain amount of temperature stability. It also tries to reduce excessive use of the compressor to aid economy. The click sound is the 'thermostat' switching on and off and causing the magnetic clutch to engage and disengage the compressor. I had a problem with my old 2002 model zetec where the 'thermostat' was faulty and kept clicking on and off too quickly and not letting the car cool down enough. My Ford dealer was due to change this but I sold the car before I got round to it. During the on cycle, the air got very cold but then would switch off too early.

The Halfords 28ltr is a very good size and shape but just slightly too big to fit in the back with 3rd row seats pushed back. With 3rd row seats pushed forward, it fits in perfectly but seat is unuseable. I suppose it's better than the ford effort whereby you have to remove at least one seat. Just bought one -

It's easier if after inserting the U shaped tools, you pull them apart (outwards of the stereo) to release the locking mechanism before pulling the unit out of the dashboard. And if you get the stalk to work, let me know as I would like to fit one on my standard ford (VW) sat nav radio unit.

vw failed to obtain the brackets - on back order and will have to wait. However, I have found a picture that shows what they look like.

Thanks guys. Went to VW again today. After much discussion and persuasion by me that there must be something in between,, they have now ordered acouple of brackets that they think fit on top of the seat side and they say it is colour coded according to their parts system. They now accept that this may be the bit that the armrest pushes into and clicks in place. Will get them on Monday. No such luck with ford though on their version. Showed them the stripped down seat and they have concluded that as there is no captive nut welded to the seat, only the captain seat option will have them. Suggest personal innovation as to how these may fit. Still thinking. Cheers

Fredt As promised - a pic of the vw spigot version is attached. I took the plastic cap off and there is no hole or screw underneath it. It appears to be an all in one piece jobby. There has to be some interim part that fixes to the seat backrest and the armrest pushes into it. Help! BTW Fredt - what is a N 013 971 3 OVAL HEAD PANEL SCREW B4,8X22 ? what might it look like? Am I being stupid (perhaps been stupid buying these!) Cheers.

iainkirk Agreed! But I feel that the air is much much colder when the outside temperature rises above about 26 degrees. The effect is further noticeable when the sun is shining strong on the dashboard sun load sensor (As Mr T says). I have also noted that the air con compressor is working much more often under these conditions and my mpg is effected somewhat.

fredt, How did you guess that?? The one on the right is from him but the one on the left was purchased from my local Ford Dealer. The Ford ones fitting is integrated into the armrest and I have the torx bolt and cap with it. The torx bolt is supposed to screw into a captive nut in the side of the seat backrest but no such nut is there. With the VW one, the spigot assembly is bolted by a similar torx bolt but I could not rationalise the holes and slots in the side of the seat back with these. It looks as if there sould be a further plate that should bolt onto the seat backrest into which this would clip into for easy insertion and removal (note the indent on the large spigot - this suggests it may push fit as Richmond suggests). Will try and post some pics tomorrow. The TIS disc is useless on this issue. Thanks so far guys.

Hi fred. Nice to have another V6 er back! We were beginning to get out numbered.

Help! Have gone and bought some armrests. Problem is though I'm stuck about how to fix them. I've stripped the seat and there is no captive nut there. In fact there are just a number of holes and slots - none of which will hold the armrest fixing on its own. I have been to ford and VW both say there are no further fittings available - all is on the armrest. I am in possession of two types of armrest (see pic). The on on the left is from ford and is the only one they do. It is intended to fit on permanently. The one on the right is a vw one and I can only assume is a 'removal' one as is described in the sales literature for the sharan. Nimrod, you indicated that you saw one being fitted at a ford dealer - can you give any more info on this please. Anyone else out there who may have tackled this one??

The vent in the rear which is on floor level is not air conditioned. The only way to have cold air conditioned air in the back is via dual air con. The vents for this are located in the roof.

Denis Absolutely!! I find that it sounds best at about 3500 to 4000 revs in about third gear and is pushing up that speedo needle somewhat!

BDM2510 Sorry to hear you are still having problems with this. It would be useful to hear from someone who has the standard factory fit to share any info as to how this final connection is made to the head unit. In the mean time, you could connect a live supply from your battery (or cigarette lighter) to both the permanent live and switched ignition live and connect the ground pin to the negative terminal on your battery (or cigarette lighter) just to test the unit. Personally, I am not convinced that all the power to the multimedia setup comes from this final connection to the head unit - remember you need power for two 7" monitors, the av switching box, the dvd player and of course the cigarette power socket that is built into the headphone panel. Added together, I think this is just a bit too much to be drawn from the head unit. Have you thought about just bringing in a new power supply and forget about the head unit connection? Best of luck ps thanks for the pictures you emailed me.

Being a V6 owner, I really ought to put my tuppence worth in too! Agree with everything Richmond has said. Whilst fuel econonmy is not good, I do feel, on balance, it was the right choice for me and my family. Why? Well I was looking for a pre reg model to save a few

My Steering wheel started to creek but this was resolved by Motors Coalville Ford dealers - Don't know how though!!

Ivor If the Cover is the same as a V6, then it just simply pulls of! The cover houses some rubber grommetty things that snap over some ball type connectors bolted to the 'rocker' cover. Be gentle though because just last week I pulled off the cover and caused one of the rubber grommetty things to slip away from the cover and it fell into the engine bay and is now rolling about on the tray. On a V6 it's impossible to retrieve it from the nether regions and ordered a new one from VW (Ford don't do them separately - you have to order a whole new cover!!!!)

All examples quoted - wifes admitted doing it! But I have a story to tell- The Friend with the new C class was peeved when his wife did in the alloy a couple of weeks ago but his brother borrowed it 3 days ago and smacked into the back of a vw passat - livid he is!!!!

Richmond, I agree with your sentiments - My wife drives well too but I have several friends whose wifes have just recently knackered the alloys on their cars. Just in the last two weeks, a friends wife badly scraped their new c class nsf alloy and my wifes cousin ruined her husbands nsf 4 month old alloy on a V70. I do admit that I scraped the nsr alloy on my previous galaxy!!

How much does the Seat sports pack come in at then Nimrod?

That lot is too advanced for me - wish you luck in the search of UK stockist (lots of it).

You can get access to the screws, but it looks like there is a recess around the screw holes and there aint enough space to lift the cowling out of this recess because the wheel is in the way. Slackening the wheel to give 3 or 4 mm clearance may do the trick but I gave up and got my ignition live from the head unit.