Scorpiorefugee

Against all odds I am still living with my now 4 year old MK3 Titanium but as the warranties are now running out I'm getting nervous so I'm looking for a usable interface to the electronics. Having had a quick browse on ebay and Amazon but the best advice is from other users so I have 4 questions. 1, Which is the best one to work with a laptop as most seem to be aimed at tablets with bluetooth and I have no intention of using either? 2. I have now started carrying a spare and trolley jack. Does anyone have useful experience with using a trolley jack and adaptors for jacking points? Just for the record, I bought a new Ford alloy for about £190 delivered and fitted anther Landsail (see Q4) for £50 which still saved me £25 on the dealer prive for the alloy alone. 3. This damned motor is still a pain to drive in slow traffic due to it's tendency to surge as engine speeds of 1400 to 1800 rpm and it has a growing, albeit intermittent, tendency to hunt slightly at some speeds. There were other comments on this from others 3 years ago but mine seems to be getting slowly worse. Is this a fault or a yet another "feature"? 4. Having found it undriveable with the original runflats I dumped them a long time ago and fitted 4 Landsails at £50 each whichgreatly improved things and have now done 20,000 miles of mainly long distance driving with 5mm tread remaining all round although both nearside tyres are feathering on the outer edge and the front offside seems to be wearing on the inside edge. Taken together this makes no sense to me so any thoughts on this would be appreciated. The car has still ony 29,000 on the clock. Sadly, I still believe the MK1 was a much more enjoyable drive and ride but the alteratives are no better and at 6' tall I am finding that most new showroom cars are near impossible to get into because of ever reducing rooflines and all round visibility is getting dangerous for tall drivers..

Hi Dave, if you're still there. I have been absent for many months and just catching up - wondering how you're getting on with your Turbo lag or whatever it is - feature??? Mine went in for a service a year ago and actually came out worse so I've lived with it but it is getting annoying. In motorway hold ups it's a nightmare as you never know when the bl00dy thing is going to surge.

I've just picked this up - don't get out much these days. :mellow: Methinks you've been going round in circles. If it was mine I'd try to measure the output of the alternator but it is likely to be ok anyway. Going on I think it is likely to be a sticking relay somewhere but I don't have the old Gal or easy access to any service information now. Forlorn hope, it might be worth connecting the meter to the battery so that you have your hands free and try giving the fusebox a wee tap. on the MKI there is a panel with a load of relays carefully hidden 3 layers deep behind the fuse panel by your right knee. I should have thought someone out there with more hands on should have been able to help by now but they've all probably either retired or just given up an Galaxys.

Hi Acecard, Mine came with run flats which were lethally unstable and I replaced them with cheapo Landsails about a year ago. I reckon I've done 9K on these and they are looking fine although there are signs of feathering on both NS tyres. Based on this I expect to get another 20K at least. The feathering was also evident on the run flats so there may be a problem there as I replaced them at about 10K ( I bought it at 9K) and we now have nearly 20K on the clock. For comparison I always aimed for about 40K fronts and "Die of old age" on the rears on the previous MK1 and MK2. Just for the record, it now seems to be returning 44 mpg reasonably regularly although this is reducing as the temperature falls. One question please. I've just replaced the wipers and the replacements are 26" and 28" and the originals were 30" and 26". As yours are probably originals can you say what size they are? Ron.

I had this on my MK1 and one other effect which I didn't tie together immediately was that in cold weather (-2 or worse) it took 5 seconds ish to fire up. To cut a long story short it turned out to be the coolant temperature sensor. It is in 2 parts. One seems to be used with the temp gauge to indicate the engine temperature and the other seems to be used by the ECU to control lots of other things to do with the engine performance etc. In my case the second of these had failed indicating that the engine was overheating. The temp gauge was showing normal. Replacement solved the starting problem and the fan overrun probably together with some other undetected side effects. This was a recognised problem with this engine and may possibly be the same with the 115 BHP unit as they are both VAG units. On mine the sensor was located above and in front of the engine in one of the coolant pipes and was a simple clip and pull out fixing (if the car is pointing uphill to stop the coolant pouring out) and cost about

Silverbeast is probably on the money with his comment but I am a little puzzled about the battery voltage falling to 8 V when trying to start. If the battery really is in good condition then there is no way that the voltage should fall that low when starting. For that to happen either the battery is in very poor condition or there is an awful lot of current going somewhere. At 8V the quality of the ignition spark would be seriously compromised and it is possible that the radio might forget everything. I'm guessing that you are checking the voltage somewhere other than the battery terminals.

That headlight problem cannot be as bad as our Picasso. The rotary light switch is on the same stalk as the dip/indicator lever with the pip in such a position that if either is operated slightly off centre the switch rotates and all lights go off which can be terrifying if it happens as you dip the lights on a dark country road approaching a sharp bend. Not too bad the second time but the first time......... :28:

I think a bad throttle position sensor puts the engine into a constant 1100 rpm mode - which can be damned dangerous if it happens while overtaking! As far as I know it is the only cause of this particular effect. I've had this several times and cured it by stripping and cleaning - carefully. If it does happen at an inconvenient time and you have the presence of mind you can leave it in gear and switch off and on quickly and you are away again without stopping. Just don't let the steering lock activate or you will be in serious trouble. :wacko: :wacko: :wacko:

Trying to adopt a simple approach..... When you lock/unlock the driver's door it should be possible to activate global opening/closing (Windows - does that happen?) The same switches probably activate the central locking and probably have linked feeds and outputs from a common source. Is there a test point handy? Similarly, power is needed for central locking so it could be a fuse or more likely a broken wire or more likely a loose or corroded connection. More simply, both of the above are dependent on switches linked to the key lock mechanism so a combination of the above may help to focus on the starting point. Your description favours a poor connection somewhere - dry joint even or a loose mounting plate for switches but a wiring diagram would help. I should have a TIS disc copy somewhere but someone else may be quicker unless you already have one. There has to be a point at which it is possible to test for switch operation or control outputs without taking door panels out. I frequently use a test meter with leads with sharpened points to poke into a wire to test without breaking or stripping wires. A trained helper (The wife..) is often useful. :glare: Good luck and don't give up just yet. I note that you have already covered some of these points but it does sometimes help to start again

I've just had a browse through the tail end of this topic - now 10 years old!! I used to run 2 Gals together a MKI and a MKII. I agree with an earlier observation that the MKII was better than the MKIII (on just about every aspect as well as air con.) but the MKI was way ahead (also on just about everything even in some aspects over the MKII). Sadly both suffered pipe failure on the one which runs down and across the front of the sump within a week of each other and both after a visit to the garage, which was a bit suspicious, with a combined bill of about

Far too many complicated electronics and not enough common sense. If the damned thing is clever enough to detect a faulty exhaust system why can't the bl00dy thing just say so? :wacko: :wacko: :wacko: OK. I know it's not quite as simple as that but if it's clever enough to detect a problem and do something possibly dangerous to the driver's ability to stay safe why can't it give some meaningful warning first or at least as well.? A prime example is the way it cuts off all power if the throttle control goes just a tad intermittent instead of giving some early warning. The control system knows exactly what the problem is because it stores an explicit error code for the mechanic to find if he has the gumption to go looking for it so why can't it notify the driver in time to avoid an accident? It's a bit like the saying "Sudden death is nature's way of telling you to slow down."

Thanks again, that thought occurred to me so just been out and checked and the battery was flat (ish) so it's on charge and back up to 12.4 V but the fan has now stopped????????? Bl00dy cars!

Thankyou Silverbeast. That is highly possible as the connector is behind the aircon pipes where the man was apparently looking for leaks. Unfortunately it's dark and looking like rain........

This problem has now gone away. The story so far ... It had an MOT which flagged a hole in the Cat. This was welded up and a full service. Fault now clear. No fault codes detected afterwards - possibly battery disconnected for welding hence fault codes cleared. Also possible that the problem was caused by the leaky cat. I was in that car before the service/MOT and detected no sound of exhaust blowing so it couldn't have been much of a hole. Any thoughts?

Typical problems on eve of holiday. My old MKII has just come home briefly en route to a holiday and the engine fan has just decided to stay on permanently. We have fault codes 1570 and 1672. both now cleared but the fan is still on. It seems that 1672 is probably a clue. Can anyone help before tomorrow morning please. The Air con has also packed up for the second time in a few days. It seems to be losing gas but there are no detectable leaks. Could this be linked?

Thank Paul, I do tend to be an at or just above the limit cruiser increasing only in short bursts to get out of the way of idiots and we only use the Gal for longish trips. According to my understanding this should keep everything clean. Certainly, my old MKI and MKII seemed to thrive on it. However, we have been looking seriously at petrol lately, especially as a replacement for my wife's 10 year old 2.0 L diesel Picasso. From what you say it seems that the 1.6 version of this may have been the engine in question. Do you have any thoughts or info on the benefits of using the higher grade fuels with the particulate filter problems? The fuel consumption does seem to be improving on the Gal as it is now registering 44mpg over 700 miles but that is probably the warm weather. On a trip around Lincolnshire country roads it actually went above 50 for about 100 miles but it soon dropped as soon as I hit a motorway. Ron.

After what's been going on lately about problems with particulate filters and knock on effects I'm beginning to worry about all new diesels. In spite of claimed improvements in CO emissions the fuel consumption seems to be going up not down.

Quite right about the Nissan. I'm amazed how small some of these MPVs ans SUVs are once you get in them. I remember getting into the back seat of an early Nissan Micra and being surprised at the amount of legroom and that there was more headroom than in the back seat of my Granada Scorpio. The Fiat 500 I tried yesterday had loads of headroom and was easy to get in and out of. Having recently driven a Mercedes Sprinter and a LWB transit I found the ride and driving seats better than the Galaxy. Maybe thats because the designers realise that they are going to be used for more than posing or going to the shops. I guess I'm getting more like my alter ego below. :lol: What's a fooksall antara?

Thanks Gregers, I've sat in both and neither generated any desire to take them off the forecourt. I may be a bit old fashioned but my preferences are a comfortable seat with a pleasant interior and very, very few cars these days do much for me in that area. I find most interiors bring on a wave of depression, especially those with the blacked out windows, and the most comfortable seats are very often in the smaller cars. On a trip yesterday to a large car supermarket I found a staggering no of cars I just couldn't even get into and a lot more I didn't want to stay in for long once I had . Specifically a Vauxhall Insignia - the roof line hit me just below the ear with the seat fully down, and a Mercedes C200. It even included a few of the cars of the type you are suggesting and, yes, I am just 6' tall and for a 69 year old quite fit and flexible. The most memorably comfortable seat was in a Fiat 500. I could get into the BMW 3 and 5 series estate but neither was an interior I should like to spend much time in with my backside 6 inches from the road. OK for haring up and down motorways or round blind corners in country lanes at irresponsible speeds but no good for spending 8 hours a day in. I got into a Mondeo but in the passenger seat I had to duck my head to see out of the front window and the back seat was still like a park bench as well as being depressingly black. The Galaxy with with Cream leather did make the interior much more pleasant but after a very short test drive we both got out with our T shirts sticking to our backs. This never happened in our old Humber Super Snipe or any of our other earlier cars with leather seats, all of which were quite capable of exceeding the speed limits by a considerable margin but coped with rough road surfaces way way better than any car I've been in recently. OK, they wouldn't have been much good at crossing farm fields but the passengers generally enjoyed the ride without the need of in car entertainment because it was possible to be sociable during the journey. We did visit a Seat/Kia dealer and found the Alhambra better without the dubious benefit of the Ford sports seats and the interior seat fabrics designed to hang onto any hairs or fibrous material like velcro. The Kia seats were comfortable and the designs of some very practical with loads of headroom.They also still had a spare wheel and a 7 year warranty. In fact, about the only manufacturer who still makes cars with non-black interiors is Citroen and we've already been there on a previous topic. The state of our roads is not in any way like an F1 track and I do not understand why the tyres and suspension of modern cars should be designed for the race track. I think I'm getting close to be able to tell the difference between a match stick and a cocktail stick by driving over them. :wacko: In all of the cars I've been in recently the old MKI Ghia is head and shoulders above them all for comfort, driving pleasure and common sense practicality and the current Galaxy we have comes second but a long way back. I guess the missus is going to have to get her sowing machine out to make some cushions. :P Perhaps I should try a VW Camper. :lol:

Update - I drove a 1.6 Titanium X today with only 12K on the clock and it was dead. Not as lively as a MKI and nowhere near a MKII, both of which I have driven recently. Is that normal?

I am close to giving up with my Titanium as no one in my family is happy with it. We've been looking at other options but they are rather limited. One thing I have noticed is that the main issue with my Galaxy is the horrible seats as the seats in just about all other manufacturer's cars are much more comfortable. The strange thing is that the seats in the more basic Galaxies are also more comfortable. Unfortunately, they all seem to work on the notion that everyone wants all black interiors - AAAGGHH! I have to say that the Alhambra was much more comfortable although the second and third row seating suffered from a lack of headroom as my head was jammed against the roof. ( I am just 6' tall) I have no wish to be seen in one of those horrible butch off roader things with enormous wheels which people seem to go for either. Way back I looked at a Titanium X with off white leather so I am now looking at a couple of 1 year old versions with the 1.6 diesel engine. Any comments on this model or anything with that engine would be very much appreciated. The reduction in BHP is not an issue as I always found the 115 engine in the MKII and the 110 in the MKI had all of the power I needed.

Another thought... Wouldn't the sensible and practical immediate solution to Isambard's problems be to do an oil change and recommend use of a known good quality fuel and monitor the situation? Given the new information provided by SparkyPaul that seems an obvious first line of attack.

I've just had a thought on this. If the problem is a result of regeneration of the particle filter, does it help to run the car on the expensive high grade fuels?

"THIS might be worth a read". I'm beginning to wish I hadn't read it. I had heard of the problem on my son's Mazda 6 but I didn't expect it on a Galaxy. In his case the problem was partially blamed on a problem with the EGR but it meant that he just handed the car over to the Garage to do whatever they wanted with it as a result of an estimate for

I think it's time to go back to petrol. Whatever made me give my MKII away? Ain't progress wonderful!