SilverBeast

I think you will find that if the emergency key will start the car you will be able to use it as one of the keys to program a new key for the immobiliser.

Are you sure about this? When I replaced my faulty 2 wire temperature gauge/engine management sensor the glow plug light that always stayed on for 7-10 seconds reduced to a couple of seconds (even in the current colder weather -2C in my garage)

My 2005 MKII TDI (130) Ghia doesn't have them - I assume it is an option.

Flashing glow plug light on the diesel is the engine management fault indication. I suggest you read the fault codes with VCDS-LITE which will give you a better idea of where to look. It's going sluggish because it doesn't trust the sensors and it's going into failsafe or 'limp' mode

I ran mine for over a year with a faulty sensor, though mine only seemed to have an issue at certain temperatures. I wouldn't expect it to get diesel in the oil though I'm no expert. This is my first diesel. I would only expect this to happen if the engine was worn in some other way. Someone with more knowledge will be along soon. That's the good thing about this site. I would replace the sensor anyway, just make sure you get the right one as there are different types. I got mine off eBay for less than £15

On my 2005 TDI 130 the temp sensor is for both temp gauge and engine management. My glow plug light used to stay on for around 10 sec till I changed it, and temp gauge never worked until it was at 90C which was most of the time as I use it mainly for less than 30 min journeys

I understand that the mileage is held in the cluster and the engine management module. I believe it takes the highest value to use if there is a conflict. You need a lead (NOT VAG-COM) to dump the cluster values from the old one (if it will still communicate) and send them to the replacement - though I've never needed to do it myself. You need the correct cluster for your engine as there are differences between specs (Zetec, Ghia etc) and engines (TDI, 2.0, 2.3, V6 etc) due to differences in features (ie rev counter on diesel doesn't go as high as petrol models).

Obviously I couldn't say for certain as I haven't seen heard the car. There are FAR more experienced members than I who could diagnose it. My guess, and it is a guess, would be that it is the inboard triaxial joint (maybe the wrong name but it's something like that), the one that joins the shaft to the gearbox. If you look at the linked item above it's the end on the right. As I said for the price above it would be worth doing the whole driveshaft as this should eliminate the possibility it is the inner CV joint (gearbox end), outer CV joint (wheel end) and that the shaft itself is out of balance. Even if you get a garage to do it, you should be able to provide the part(s) yourself and just pay the labour. It should actually be a simpler job to replace the driveshaft than to repair/replace the CV joint. Good luck.

My MK II has the same length on both sides, there is an Intermediate shaft between the Gearbox and driveshaft on the offside (drivers). I replaced my nearside driveshaft with one of ->these <- from ebay as I had a vibration at around 20mph in any gear. I also did the lower balljoint at the same time, which was lucky as it turned out to have a split boot (even worse after I had seperated the joint!). It was a lot less faffing around than trying to replace/grease/get the boot on the CV joint and I have bought a second "set" for when I need to replace the other side. I did see a lot of forum threads that mentioned split inner tri-axial joints (the driveshaft joint on the "gearbox" end) and saw some in Galaxy's I looked at when searching for the vehicle I eventually bought.

I assume you have a MKII. If you get a wheel carrier from a MKI it will fit using the same mounting holes and has no plastic parts. I wire brushed and hammerited mine as well as greasing the mechanism before fitting. I got mine from ebay (new MKII ones are available from ebay too).

When it went into limp mode, did it just go to fixed 'elevated tickover' or did it still rev but was just gutless? If the engine management doesn't believe the throttle position and thinks there is a fault I understand it will put other engine at a constant speed so it can still be limped home. I recall reading that the throttle position sensor is actually 2 in parallel and if they disagree then the engine management assumes there is a fault. You could try searching the Forum for this if it sounds like your symptoms as if I recall then the sensor can be cleaned in some circumstances. I assume a wiring fault to the throttle sensor could also exhibit the same symptoms. As you have already spent so much, I would suggest you buy a VAG-COM cable from eBay (less than £10) and scan for fault codes yourself. Forum members will help interpret the results. I believe the throttle position sensor and over/under boost would show up on a scan.

You will also need to install the drivers supplied with the cable. I have used mine with both Windows 98 and XP. I understand it can be a pain with Vista or 7.

I know the Mk II's (with side airbags) have a connector below/behind the plastic panel on the edge of the seat back about half way up. I reset someone's light after this had been detached when someone had moved the backrest and heard a click. If you intend to keep the vehicle it will be well worth your money to get a VAG-COM lead anyway.

Are but can you ski? Seriously glad you are sorted. What would we do without the likes of Chris?

Still intermittent. Galaxy's at home so I'll be looking at it at some point. I'll probably remove it and strip it.

I've got -14.4 though it was -20 earlier (-38 with wind chill!). Then again I am skiing in the French Alps!

Mine have done this, and on other vehicles, it's basically a fine coating of vaporised metal from the filament. It's easier to change these bulbs by removing the headlight than trying to use the stupid little hatch in the wheel arch.

It happened to me. Particularly the not completing the sweep was a symptom of the spindles seizing, which you will have read about if you have been lurking for any length of time. You really need to strip and grease the mechanism,as detailed in the FAQ's, or get someone else to do it for you.

This is the best one I could find. Headlight is removed and this is taken through the aperture, white plastic is washer bottle filler neck. I think the two brown wires are bolted to the body behind the wiring harness sleeving. If I recall the battery negative wire is grounded under the dome nut in the centre of the shot, though it's not particularly clear (you can see the braiding of the conductor).

If the dash and all lights go out I would think immobiliser/key is unlikely as it should crank and then run for a second or so before cutting out (I'm assuming it's TDI). Is it opening the bonnet that fixes it or slamming it shut? If the latter it could be doing something with the ground straps, possibly the one from the battery to the chassis. (I'll switch to my laptop in a minute and see if I can find a photo, but if I recall you can,t really see it very well until you remove the battery) The only electrical connection that should change opening the bonnet should be the switch for the alarm (I believe it is operated by the hinge on the passenger side).

They will do, but you are better to get brushes where the braid exits from the side. Below is a picture of the original worn out brushes in situ and here the worn brushes with the ones I sanded down (mine are similar to those you picked but started off much bigger) The main thing you need to check is that the braid won't touch the outer metal casing when they are fitted.

If I understand correctly,you only get the second battery if you have a clock/timer by the rear view mirror that can turn on the booster heater and pump to allow the car to be preheated without being started prior to you using it. ie set heating to come on at 5:30 so car is warm when you get in it at 6:00 because you are a bit nesh.

Sorry, I don't have any more suggestions to offer. Googling threw up this link which does refer to causes of white smoke at start up that disappears when warmed up. When white smoke occurs at cold start, and then disappears as the engine warms up, the most common causes are fouling deposits around piston rings and/or cylinder glazing.

The temperature sensor is used by the engine management to determine if it needs to make the mixture richer because the engine is cold. It is also used for the temperature guage in the dash. If the guage is measuring the temperature normally (mine appears to do, but VAG-COM flags it as faulty) the the sensor could still be faulty. I only have knowledge of the Galaxy from reading this and other Forums, and they have saved me a fortune. I was aware of the majority of common potential faults through reading up, mainly on here, prior to buying. There are other members with a lot more experience of Galaxy's who will no doubt be around at some point to help you. (i) Are you absolutely sure that the white smoke is coming out of the vehicle exhaust? My Booster Heater exhaust blows on to the Rear Silencer of the engine exhaust. (ii) Is it possible you have white smoke (or steam) coming out of the vehicle exhaust and the diesel smell is still from the Booster Heater exhaust? (iii) I believe that the Booster Heater stops operating when the engine temperature reaches 75C so the smoke cutting out at half engine temperature seems unlikely to be a coincidence. Particularly if it has only just started when the weather has got colder, as it only operates if the air temperature is below 10C. It depends what code reader you have, I don't know how well they read codes from the VW engines the only other one I tried didn't connect properly to mine as I'm not sure if they are OBDII compliant. VAG-COM is used with a PC (or more usually a laptop) and does give slightly more meaningful messages. It can also diagnose other systems in your vehicle, including the Booster Heater, Parking Sensors and air-bags. It will also reset the Faults on those as well as the engine. The free version does all this, I doubt if you would need the paid for version.

I've just got a sensor (literally today) for mine as it has been faulty since I got it (a couple of years). It has never smoked and always started fine, it just takes ages to warm up. If I was you, I would get a VAG-COM lead from eBay for less than a tenner and download the free vcds-lite software. You will then be able to scan for errors (it does show faulty temp sensors). There are actually four different colours of sensor black, grey, blue and green. I think black and grey are the same, there are also blue and green. I have a spare of the blue one, as mine looked blue when I poked my digital camera round the back of the engine and took a photo. I got it from a forum member who also bought it in error and used it for a week. The green one has four pins I believe, all the others have two.