alan_131

Ahhh... interesting. On mine (late 99 110 with climatronic) the plastic pipe has two rubber lines branching off it. One is a short rubber/cotton connecting to a thin (think capri sun drinking straw) hard plastic pipe after a few inches which then loops up near the top of the bulkhead before dropping down and disappearing through the bulkhead. I assume this might be something to do with something vacuum operated in the heating/ventilation system. The other branch runs up to the egr control solenoid where it connects to a rubber splitter - one branch to the lower connection on the solenoid and one heading off to the same point on the N75 for the turbo. This is connected via a non-return valve. Another splitter here goes one to the n75, and the other to the vacuum reservoir. My car has been messed around with a bit before I got it, so not an absolute guide, and I've taken photos but not clear enough to be useful really. Unless your line is the one which goes into thin plastic, you should find the missing connection on the bottom of the egr solenoid valve via the rubber splitter (connection is conveniently placed behind it so it can't be seen, only felt!)

This will be the vacuum side of the feed to the solenoid valves that control the egr and turbo (hence your loss of power). The valves are mounted on the bulkhead under the windscreen and look very similar - three pipes and wiring connection to each. The pipes are vacuum, clean air at atmospheric (via a small connection on the main air filter box on yours I think) and a pipe that runs to the turbo/egr to control it. On some models there's also a vacuum reservoir (looks like a ball) - on mine it's behind the battery, not easily seen. Unless your car has had the pipes replaced, they'll be a black rubber covered in cotton. The pipe from your fat plastic vacuum line splits via non-return valves IIRC to feed the others. If I can I'll post a picture later today...

MAF could still be less than perfect, but if it all gets that much worse when you unplug it I'd suggest that this isn't the main problem. If you can get the obd port to work with your vcds cable, one of the live data sets you can get is the flow reported by the MAF and what the ecu expects it to be. You may well have a simple code just waiting to be read that will be a big pointer. With the 110 engine, you have the VNT turbo. This has some moving vanes inside which regulate the boost level under the direction of the ecu and if this isn't working properly (lots of possible reasons, they gunge up, or the vacuum pipes crack/block, or the sensors fail, or the solenoid valve that controls the vacuum goes faulty, or the wiring to it, etc etc ......).. Basically lots of things that are probably not terribly expensive/difficult to fix (unless turbo is really on its way out) but can be a bit of a sod to diagnose. Search the forum for "limp" and you'll see what I mean. Meanwhile, if you're still on holiday, I can't think of much else to suggest other than perhaps check for any pipes that are split or cracked. I'm only a newbie compared with the others who've replied so they may have a much better suggestion...

Been a good while since I did mine, but I think I tied a string to the end of the cable on the inside of the car, then pulled the old unit off. Of course, electric may plug into the loom somewhere deep inside the door - manual is the same for both doors and just comes out at the knob....

Hope sticky external selector is the problem. The loose/missing bolt sounds not too bad - and I don't think it is, from posts here, if you can lay your hands on the bolt either before it falls out completely or by fishing inside the box. Problem comes when it's missing and you can't find it - IIRC one member said the bolt came out right through the side of the gearbox....

Thanks for that, pretty solid then. Ordered an elm327 to try with ford. Hopefully here next few days...

If it's leaking to the point where the compressor refuses to kick in then I think you should see the display flash on startup - mine certainly did. VCDS was reporting a code for the tri-state pressure switch too. You'll not regret spending the £10 to get a lead as SilverBeast suggests - best diagnostic tenner I ever spent - and then check for codes. Many vws apparently use a variable compressor, don't know if I read about this here re galaxy, but they can be modified to work in a fixed mode if the problem is this part is flaky. I would have thought that the engineer should have been able to tell if the system was asking the compressor clutch to engage; my guess would be that this is on or off, with maybe a reduced holding current once the clutch engages. If so, maybe fairly simple to test for voltage or current at the connector? System won't ask the compressor to run unless it thinks outside temp is above a certain level (5C?). Not sure on the climatronic if there is a separate thermoswitch for this, or if it uses the ordinary ouside temp sensor that feeds the display. ...

There is an entry in the FAQ (look under door card). Not done an electric mirror on Galaxy but the manual ones can be done without removing the door card, though it's a bit of a fiddle. Be surprised if electric not the same....

Not as good as the substitution test but you could try unplugging the maf - if it gets better, maf is u/s. I'd assumed that garage would have done this, looked for pipe leaks etc already but then I've just read the Gates post.... Is it gutless all the time, only when towing, or does it start out ok but then you feel it go when on a hill/overtaking and it stays that way until you turn the ignition off and on again? It will be a lot easier to rule things out once you have the obd working - may even get a straight error code. Which engine/gearbox do you have?

I'd agree that wd40 probably not the best long term lube, it was what I had to hand and I wanted something that would wash the gunge/mud whatever it was off as well as lubricate. If it is the external part of the selector gunged up, you can reach this without getting under the car or disconnecting any pipework, at least on my mk1 110... Quite good access to spray by moving the expansion bottle, fuel filter and battery/plastics. If you need to get the selector out, then you have to get under the car to drop the undertray. I was hoping to get away with supporting the gearbox from above, by replacing the standard bolts that hold it to the battery tray mount with much longer ones, but didn't need to go this far so don't know if it would have worked. I couldn't actually see much of the mechanism, but worked by feel. Alternatively, without removing anything, I can get a hand on the selector from the front of the engine and change gear by holding the large round rubber lump on the selector. I would think (though I haven't tried this, because I was getting ready to take the selector off the box and had already moved stuff as above) it might be possible to get the cleaning agent/lubricant of your choice in the same way. If the linkage is ok, moving the selector under the bonnet moves the gear lever to match. Hope this is your problem - I'd guess everything else is harder....

Like seatkid said.... to look on the bright side, you may have the wd40 fix....

You'll find lots of help here with vcds. I've no experience on the turbo replacement front (been lucky so far) so not the best person to answer this, but guess it depends on your breaker. Probably rather rebuild my own, unless it was damaged, or get an exchange unit, but as I said, others are better placed to advise. Hope you get back ok. Very economical on fuel travelling on the recovery lorry....

Noisy turbo a worry, but there's a really good topic (you may have aleady seen it) in the faq ... cleaning intake and the difference it can make. There's lots of good stuff on here about limp mode.... BTW, just a thought, sounds like the garage was giving good advice but it might be worth trying a cheap ebay/vcds lead when you get home - there was recently a long topic on here where the op was using a more expensive lead that worked on other vw's but not his mk2 (don't know which model/variant you have....). If you come across the topic, you'll see why it springs so readily to my mind... Otherwise, maybe obd down due to fuse or cable fault....

Elm327 ordered.... I was wondering if there was something around that did the protocol translation inside the laptop (good grief I'm mean) or if it differed too much at the physical level, you've saved me wasting a goodly number of hours digging around trying to find out - thank you!

With my old 90bhp 97 aspen I towed my boat back from Scotland to Essex. I suspect that all-up the trailer/boat combo is a very tight fit inside the 2000kg limit plus I had a load of gear in the back of the Galaxy. I'd normally describe the car's performance as less than sparkling but the extra weight was hardly noticeable even on some really steep hills - towing probably the thing it did best. At the time the Gal only had about 130K on, a fair bit less than yours I know, but i think you have something wrong there - could it be dropping into limp mode? If you tell us where you are, some kind member might be near enough to scan your car, or even, dare I say it, might be worth getting it scanned by a garage...

Interested to hear about the U585 - if I ever decide i need something self-contained I'll consider it first - thanks for the info lle. Sparky Paul - would you advise me to go for an elm327 based cable to read ford codes? I've looked for something that will work with my kkl lead (which the ad claimed would work with "many other softwares" - I've only found Fiatecuscan) but no joy unless you have any suggestions?

Topic from the FAQ http://www.fordgalaxy.org.uk/ford/index.php?/topic/11659-anyone-know-of-electrical-issues/page__st__30__p__97793#entry97793 page 3 on - post #44 might be your error code ?

Is the software you download vcds-lite? Interested to know if you've tried to read trouble codes or done any diagnostics from your engine as elsewhere I've seen that this can be tricky with Ford engines, and I haven't been able to find any software for Ford that works with this cable - only VCDS and FiatEcuScan.

I don't think anybody here is arguing that a properly done lpg conversion is unsafe, just that for reasons they don't go into Eurotunnel won't take lpg/cng powered vehicles. This link ... is from a google of eurotunnel and lpg. Why it's ok to lug 50kg of bottled gas in a camper but not 50kg in a car fuel tank is anybody's guess.....

Read a writeup a while back on a vw forum where after doing a lot of extensive diagnosis the guy spotted diesel bubbling round the glow plugs - he'd only done them up finger tight after a rebuild... Maybe that plug has had very little duty because it's poorly connected or dud. Assume the PD is the same as older engines and the ecu runs the glowplugs for a bit after startup (not with the warning light on). Suppose if this is so, and you have one gp not working, might not run very smoothly at startup - whether this would be enough to flag a fault, no idea. I thought glow plug faults were monitored and flagged a dtc. Compression or leakdown test sounds like a good idea for peace of mind, if you're confident the issue isn't the loom/injector. As each injector is independently controlled, there's a fair amount of wire from ecu to injector and I think I recall (seatkid?) saying it's easy to nick it getting it through the holes.... not long since somebodyelse had this here. Is this fault bad enough to detect with the human senses? Might be interesting to clear faults with the engine fully warmed up, then see if it comes back.... Other problems with early pd engines include lube issues with cam at cyl 1/2 causing extensive wear affecting the pump for that cyl, but I'd have thought that would have surfaced long ago and probably visible in a much bigger way...

There's some stuff called durafix easyweld, although despite the name it seems to be more of a solder/braze. I've never used it, don't know anyone who has, but demo shows "welding" aluminium with apparently good results. Because it works below the melting point of aluminium, fewer issues in some respects. But it requires a gas flame, so pipe still has to come off, and if you only find out it hasn't worked when they recharge you could be out the cost of the regas... Just a thought...

Ah ha - success. Chalk one more up for seatkid and one for yourself for persistence. Actually that should probably be more than one for persistence 5 pages and lots of experimentation in... Misfire I think usual advice is start with loom section from injectors to plug & associated connectors and cyl one is indeed cambelt end - but after this you might want to wait for seatkid....

For full product, if you have a real ross-tech cable you can download updates free for the life of the cable. (from ross-tech.com who are the developers) If you have an ebay cable you can download the latest vcds-lite free from the same place. I did this and it works fine on a samsung q210 laptop running vista home premium. If you have a registered version of vcds-lite iirc, updates are free but you can only change the pc it runs on once, then you have to buy a new licence.

My late 99 built mk1 tdi will not crank if the chip is missing. If an unregistered chip is present, it cranks, starts and dies at once. (Immob reports weak signal or something to that effect). If you wait a minute, the door led flashes a number of times to diagnose the fault. (iirc, and quite probably not, 13 in one of these cases). I understand bypassing the immob is not easy (pointless if it was) though some ecu's can be reprogrammed to delete it. Don't know if galaxy is one....

Quick look - it's here http://www.myarchive.us/richc/VW_TDI_with_PumpeDuse.pdf and cps failure stops engine.