Dodger

My 1999 110Bhp 73k miles tripped out again this morning. It's fine thrashing it up through the gears but come to an incline and it fails. 2000-2500 rpm, 40-50 mph in 4th gear, full throttle and it pulls fine for about 10 seconds and then there is a loss of power. Switch off the engine and restart and normal power is restored. MAF was replaced 3 years ago so should be still OK. Is it likely to be the turbo at fault?

Yes the 110 bhp does have a variable vane turbo but can anybody confirm that it suffers from the same problem as the 115 bhp?

Does this apply only to 115bhp engines. I have a 110bhp tdi, AFN engine, 1999, with similar symptons. Could it be this?

For anybody in the Surrey are I would recommend KP Tyres in Ewell.

I had something similar on a VW Transporter TDI. It turned out to be the sender unit which detects the position of the throtle pedal. If the ECU detects an impluasable signal from the sender it puts the engine into fast idle. In my case the fault was correctly diagnosed by the VW dealer by reading the fault codes from the ECU. I would suggest that you need to get the fault codes read before you go any further. Roger

I prefer to match the original tyres if possible. Just bought Dunlop Reinforced at

Only too pleased to share my experience. In my case the switch itself was not faulty but had moved on its mounting. I think it is a very common problem.

My tdi 110 had a sticky thermostat when it was brand new. Symptons were hot top hose, cold rad and bottom hose, temp gauge at high end but not into red. The coolant never actually boiled and ford garage informed me that all this was normal. After 600 miles from new the engine got so hot that the oil pressure went and a warning buzzer sounded (but coolant still did not boil). Car was towed back to Ford garage who were eventually pursauded to replace the thermostat and the car has been fine for 4 years since. At no time did the car refuse to start or go into limp home mode. I think you need to get the engine's fault memory read before you jump to any more conclusions. I think it may be normal for the rad not to get hot if you just leave the engine at idle but certainly the tdi engine should not be radiating heat that you feel it in your face when you open the bonnet.

Check the brake lights are working. This can be caused by a faulty brake light switch.

Porker, How many miles do you think the car has actually covered? I would like to think that the TDI engine is easily good for 120K. Then when it does wear out the symtons would be big end failure and worn bores. Also ancillaries like the water pump and altenator fail. I would not expect the first sign of a worn out engine to be the cam followers to start disintegrating. If the car is still under 100K miles then I think the warranty company are being very unfair in putting this down to normal wearing out of the engine.

Surely it's not going to be the compressor either. The technician has broken something related to the air-con during the service. Apart from the flashing light it's working isn't it? Have you had a good look yourself for a wire pulled off? There is air-con related wiring and relays near the front of the engine that might have got disturbed whilst changing the oil filter. Does anybody else know if there are any air-con related sensors in the vicinity of the pollen filter. Perhaps an ambiant intake air temperature sensor that could have been broken when the filter was changed? There is nothing wrong with the Galaxy. It is just Ford main dealer servicing that is a nightmare.

I vaguely remember reading in the handbook that there is a device which cuts power to these sockets if the volts drop, to prevent you from completely discharging the battery. I may well be wrong but perhaps this has failed?

I once had the glowplug light flashing. I believe it means that the ECU has detected a problem. In my case it was a faulty brake light switch. I take it the ECU needs to know when the brakes are applied so takes a signal from the switch. If it doesn't get the signal for a while the ECU decides there is a problem. I can't quite make the connection with your hazard lights flashing by themselves but I guess it might be worth checking that all your lights are working correctly. Perhaps you have a short between indicators and brake light circuits??

On my Galaxy the fuses for the rear power sockets are under the driver's seat, not on the fuse board. There is a seperate fuse for each socket.

When I bought my T reg Zetec TDI central locking was a standard feature but the remote control was an optional extra. It was part of the "convenience pack" that also included the luggage cover which can be used with the rear two seats out. The pack was only an extra 100 pounds so I imagine most private buyers like myself would have added it.