john1doherty

A few more words about the symptoms. All is OK if you keep the power down, easy journeys..it only overheats when under prolonged load. Local boiling causes the pressure to build, beyond that one normally gets with hot water, and if it not too much it pressurises the system and stays there...hence the expansion cap `popping' even the next day when cold. However if it is too much pressure the cap vents and water is lost...hence the level going down. You don't get either of these all the time, and sometimes you get both, depending on the journey and conditions....(not too sure about this but it sounds good :-). mashbury refering to your above post , i had the same symptoms as described and thought along the lines of the water pump and thermostat so i replaced both but just got back from a long journey were the car overheated going up quite a steep/long hill pressurised the system and dumped coolant out of the cap. the "popping" noise is still evident when the engine is cold and has been even after i changed the stat, my thoughts are now with head gasket failure. So confused with the whole thing as people have so many different opinions on the same subject. After looking around on different forums i am planning on getting a bottle of k-seal to see if i can cure the problem cause at the moment i cant afford to get the gasked done, alough i am dubious about adding k-seal i dont see any other way out. I also get loss of heat from the blower and a temp guage that goes up and down, sometimes depending on wether the car is going up hill or down hill. I dont think its a simple case of air in the system as when the coolant blows out of the cap i would expect the air to be forced out as well and the problem resolved but it is back the next day. Heres hopeing k-seal will do the job.

Hi welcome to the world of galaxys and their heater problems. Mines was doing the same and still does , loads of posts on here in relation to this the run on pump is under the bulkhead just above the expansion tank and if you cant hear it running put your hand on it after you switch the engine off and you should feel it running. this wont affect your heater though as far as the other posts say and my pump runs and i have blower problems, most lokely its an air lock but as i have found out not always if you read the posts on here you will find that quite a few of us have the same problem and where some would say it points tho hg failure there are none of the other symptoms, oil in coolant or coolant in the oil and no coolant in the exhaust gases. so good luck and keep us posted on how you get on john

normally i would agree with that higs but who knows whats going on with the galaxy, the hose i am refering to is actually above the expansion tank above the engine block in the middle and is on the return side of the cooling system so in theory it could be pulling air in and not letting coolant out. makes sense to me anyway ?????? havent had problems like this since i owned a discovery. i will try replacing the hose in question and see how i get on

makes sense, one thing i do have is a hose was split and it was repaired with a 62length of copper pipe and 2 jubilee clips there might be a chance for air to get past this and into the system , i will check it out and get back to you . anything is worth a try rather than changing the head gasket.

higs all your symptoms are mine as well down to a tee, no oil in water no water in oil no water in exhaust gasses but overheating and loosing coolant when this happens but no coolant loss otherwise driving me madi had been thinking there was a blockage but how would that keep the expansion tank pressurised ???likewise any advice or an explanation as to what is going on is welcome john

cheers chris thanks for all the advice i will have a word with ith brother i law and see if he is up to the task.he should be , he is a cumbrian man worked on fords all his short life so heres hoping for the best.again thanks for all the help on this john

thanks for the advice chris, so it looks like head gasket failure then i had been thinking along this line for a while now but hopped for the best, can you advise me on the best course of action to take now ? my brother in law is a fairly competent at home mechanic is this somthing that can easily be tackeled or is it best to go to a proper garage where responsibility can fall on them for any mishaps ?? would it do any good at this stage getting some wynns head gasket sealent and trying that ? how does that work ? cheers

chris when the engine is cold and i remove the cap it does indeed give a release of pressure , i thought this was normal as the system was pressurised when it became hot ?

update. i just went out to the car to head to the shop and found the water level was low and it has just taken 1l of water to top it up no sign of coolant anywhere around fillercap, it went up to high temp alarm last night on the way home and this is the first time i have driven it since. any advice welcome please

chris the water level is higher when the car has been sitting overnight and the engine is cold , i check the water level every morning before going out in it thats why i have noticed it i would expect it to be higher when warm but cant explain why its high when cold ????? thats whats been doing my head in, i dont think the faulty temp sensor would cause the level to be higher sometimes even when the engine is cold ?does it looks like the thermostat might indeed be sticking ? could this cause the level to be higher ?? cheers john

hi my 01 tdi has a red line outside the silver tdi letters its around all 3 letters and i was told it was a 115bhp model its got the 6 speed box in it and is a giha model. not sure if this is the 115 as it does not say on the v5. if you go to the ford etis web site and enter youe vin it will tell you all the details of your car and the bhp john

cheers mate , i replaced the thermostat at the same time as the water pump to be on the safe side but it was still happening. i will pick up a new temp sensor and try that. thought it might be air in the system but i blead it loads of times after temp shot up and it was fine for a while but then back to "normal" pain in the a**e. any idea why the water level would be at the full line some times and above it on others ? seems a bit strange to me ? Oh the thermostat i removed i tested in a pot of water and brought it to the boil and it opened ok so i guess this wasent the problem, the water pump was ok as well , it was the plastic impellor one but it was ok

Hi been having problems with my 01 1.9tdi galaxy for a while now , problem is when going up a hill SOMETIMES the temp guage rises all the way to the top and the warning light and beep come on, if i pull over and sit for 5 mins it drops back down to 90 and the car will runn on at 90 for however long the journey takes . water pump has been changed and coolant levels are normal alough sometimes when i check levels in the expansion tank the level is normal other times it is above the full line and no water has been added in between times !! havent a clue why this is but the coolant level can be normal again the next time it is checked. anyone any advice for me ? thanks

hi all i had a problem with my 1.9tdi 01 galaxy overheating , it first happened going up a steep hill with a full car, temp shot up and STOP lit on the dash,pulled over let it cool down and then drove home (1hr away) and then was fine for a while . next time it happened my wife was going on a long journey and it happened a few times on the way there and the way back, so i changed the water pump and the thermostat and it was fine.that was last week and my wife went on the same 3 hr drive and she got there without problem however on her way home the car temp guage shot up to high and STOP flashed on the dash with the audible alarm, so she pulls over and switches off the car,sits for 5 mins and starts the car back up again and temp is normal she then headed on her way with the ac switched on to keep the cooling fans running just to get her home as it was rural roads and it was dark. Can anyone tell me what the hell might be happening ? it is pi***ng me off at this stage not to mention the missus as she needs it to head to work 3 hrs away. Cooling fans are working ok when the ac is turned on but i dont loke having the damm ac on for long journeys as it is winter and fuel economy suffers. When i changed the pump etc i let the car run with the filler cap off and then checked heater was blowing hot air so i would not appear that it is an airlock. Anyone any ideas

hi can anyone clear this up as there is different views posted all over this site. Does the bottom hose of the radiator get hot under normal operating conditions , this is the hose that comes from the thermostat housing and goes to the bottom of the radiator, or will it only get hot when the engine is under pressure, ie going up a hill or going over 65 mph ? Any views are welcome john

cheers mate ,does the vibration occur when the belt is too loose or too tight ? car has manual ac not automatic and the ac dosent seem to work as when the fan is in positions 1 and 2 there is no fan blowing it only works on speeds 3 and 4 and when on these speeds the ac will not come on ???????????????? some posts point to a dead hedghog and i changed this with one from a breakers yard but it made no difference to ac or fans , i also replaced the comtroller on the dash but no change here either - do you know anyother way to test the cooling fans are working ?? thanks

Hi all i have recently posted on here about my car overheating going up a hill etc, problem is i have changed the water pump ( was ok when i removed it) and thermostat. I replaced the stat with a firstline make suitable for audi, ford and RELIANT of all things. problem is when i was on my first journey after changing these on my way up a hill the temp guage started to climb over the normal 90 degrees it went to 110 and then started to fall again back to 90, is this normal ? After i changed the stat etc i ran the engine up to temp, the bottom pipe was cold, when i got home after the car went up to 110 i felt the bottom pipe and it was warm. am i right in thinking that the bottom hose heats up after the stat opens pushing water through the radiator ? what temp should the stat open ? Also does anyone know what temp the cooling fans will kick in at, and if there is a way of shorting somthing out to test they are working ? also when i put everything back together ,belts etc all back on i now have a vibration and noise coming through the power steering as if full lock is on this happens when i move the steering wheel the smallest bit and vibrates through the whole car any ideas ? 01 1.9tdi

hi this has happened to me as well and as the above post said it turned out to be the impellor in the water pump my car overheated as well and the water bottle was full and there was no air locks either, check out the water pump before you cook your head and do more damage. the water pump impellors are plastic but the pump can be replaced with one with a steel impellor these can be picked up for around

it was changed june/07, or so it says in the service history that came with it when i bought it was going to change the pump myself as i woukd be confident enough to do this but i would leave the belt change to someone who can be held to account if somthing went wrong in the future like the local garage, can i assume that if i remove the belt if i mark it with tipex and fit it the same it will be ok ? dont want to do more damage than good to save a few quid.

hi all the water pump on my 02 1.9tdi galaxy has started to fail and i have to change it ,can anyone tell me if i need to change the timing belt at the same time or can i just change the pump ?? belt was changed at 45,000 and theres only 67,000 on her now so if i can avoid changing it i will if not then no option. john

hi simple question here guys, when i first turn on the ignition on my 01 galaxy tdi zetec what lights apart from the usual oil light etc should light ? specifically the engine management, traction control, abs etc ? the reason i ask is this morning before i started the engine when the key was in pos 2 i noticed a new light on the dash that went out after a second , it looked like traction control but it never lights any other time the only light i get is the abs and this lights in pos 2 then goes out. electrics seem a bit dodgy on the car at the min and i only have it a few weeks so wondering if there is somthing going on with it . i have checked the fuse box at the battery and it is not burned but it looks new as if its been replaced lately. cheers

mikef the resistor pack is common to galaxys, alhambras and sharans with vw being the cheaper of the 3 at only 26 quid so you could save a few quid here john

well, checked the battery when the wife came home and voltage was 12v engine off and 14v engine running- all electrical equiptment off (window demisters lights etc) and stayed at 14 v with all electrics on ,looks to me like the altenator is working so i guess i am looking at a new battery ????? removed the ac register pack/ hedgehog and checked the thermal link by puttint the meter accross it and it is ok, alough from reading other posts the pack its self can go faulty, when i removed it the fan only worked on speed s 1 and 4 from what i gather this is normal as the resistors are only used in positions 2 and 3 , so i guess i need a new one of these ? anyone know hwere to get one apart from a stealer :D ?? thanks john :(

thankg bigjeeze can you tell me where you got the brushes from ? cant locate a dealer here in northern ireland thanks

thanks chromedome i will get a look at that and the battery and see what i come up with