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The Galaxy compressor runs at

I ve just re read your post, correctly this time. How often does the clicking occur? You say it has been recharged recently. A symptom of too frequent clicking in and out of the compressor clutch and the fans running at full speed, is an over charged system ( too higher condensor pressure). Rich

From what you describe I would say the drone is from the rad fans running at max speed, they are noisy and not always well balanced; this is not really a problem. The click and working for a short time sounds like the system is working buit low on refrigerant charge. Is there a slight hissing noise while it briefly works? Run the blower at the lowest speed when yiou switch on the aircon. If you can detect this hiss which will probably disappear when it goes warm then the gas charge is too low. Note that the hiss is not always detectable. Rich

Just check the throttle cable as well. I had a problem with the cable routing preventing the throttle from shutting fully when released to idle. It would stick anywhere between 1100 and 1500rpm. The solution was to loop the cable around the protrusion on the cam cover where the breather pipe comes out. A loosly fitted tie wrap around the loop formed by the cable as it emerges from the bulkhead and returns to the throttle mechanism, and breather pipe hose holds it just right. The problem has never re occured. When this problem became evident shortly after I got the vehicle, I was initially convinced it was a sensor or EM problem. It reminded me to look for the simple things first. Ill grab an image tommorrow and edit/post it on this thread. Rich

(Bozzy) The system will work quite well until there is insufficient liquid refrigerent at the TEV or controller device at the input to the evaporator. As the refrigerent leaks away there will become a point where there is not enough being condensed back to a liquid in the condensor to be presented at high pressure to the expansion valve (TEV) at the evaporator. At the evaporator refrigerant output, a sealed phile is strapped to the return pipe to the compressor. As the phile gets warmer its contained refrigerent expands; similar to a thermometer bulb. The expanding refrigerant is allowed to pass along a capillary tube to the TEV, the controlling valve. The TEV is at the refrigerant input to the evaporator. As the refrigerant expands along the tube its action is to progresively open the TEV more. The action of the TEV opening more allows a greater volume of system refrigerant liquid to be release into the evaporator. As it is released it turns back to a gas and expands absorbing huge amounts of heat from the air that is passing throught he evaporator fins. The TEV could be likened to a large aerosol nozzel that is releasing liquid into a spray or vapour within the tubes of the evaporator. If a system leaks there will become a point where there is not be enough liquid to keep the evaporator at the correct temperature. The phile detects this and opens the TEV even more, demanding even more liquid. At this point the fridge cycle collapses because the valve fully opens, the condensor pressure drops therefore the refrigerant cannot be condensed to a liquid. The compressor then simply becomes a gas pump, pumping the remaining refrigerant gas around the system. To answer Bozzies question. Yes generally speaking a half charged system might work quite well but it depends on the design. A hypothetical system that holds a 1000 grams of refrigerant. If this charge were reduced to 700 gram it would probably still work just as well. Reduce this charge another 50 gram to say 650 gram and it wouldn't work. That how it is with fridges; they reach a certain point and the whole cycle collapses. When charging systems on cars they tend to start working when they have reached 400 to 500 grams of charge. This varies from model to model. The Gal is no different. The charge level is very small between when it will work and when it wont. The symptoms are hard to detect as well. When a system is in a low charge state it can be detected sometimes in the following way. A hissing noise from the evaporator; this is when the TEV has opened fully. Sounds like a spray nozzel, not always detectable. Also when first switched on the system works momentarily and then warms up; sometimes accompanied with the hiss. Note that this is a dangerous time for the system survival because the refrigerant oil is not being transported around the system correctly.

2.3 petrol, 80,000 miles. The air con has never faultered. Agree it does take a while to cool things down on hot days but coped adequatley driving through france, 35 C. Its just a big volume with lots of glass. Rich

Read the threads and somewhat confused. I've got the 2.3 DOHC gal and would like to use a modern laptop to read codes and do all the other things you can with the proper interface (USB and PCMCIA, no RS232 though) My questions for the knowledgable is where and what kind of interface cable do I need and what and where can I buy, download trial, beg, steal or borrow the software? Costs? What depth of information can be retreived from the system? Cheers Rich

Ask a question eh and look what happens. A string of sensible answers

A colleague of mine had a head on with a Galaxy in Lincs when driving to work; he was in a Mondeo. Needless to say apart from shock he was in a wheel chair for 3 month with broken legs, ankles and smashed ribs. Very serious but luckily fully recovered. The Galaxy was a left hand drive driven by a British chap thats works in Belgium. He had just left home to return to the ferry port and was on the wrong side of the road during a forgetful momment early in the morning. The collision speed was calculated at 47 mph. Both cars were close to the national 60 limit on realisation of the situation. This was calculated from the mondeo's tyre marks Every air bag went off in both cars and both cars were scrapped. The Galaxy driver suffered from severe shock and a bruised knee. I suppose a lot depends on what you hit and Newton's laws of motion.

Seatkid I concur with Nimrod's comments. A purge using inert dry nitrogen depends on how long the system has been left over a period of time. Using a high quality vacuum pump with a fresh oil change will allow the system to be evacuated (<=3 millibar) to a level that will allow any water, moisture or water vapour that has got in the system to flash or boil to vapour and be sucked out by the vac pump. Water is a killer if it gets in a system, the reasons are firstly it can freeze, ice = iceberg, compressor = Titanic. Ice particles will also block the orifice on the TEV this is the device that meters the refrigerant into the evaporator. Lastly water reacts with refrigerant and it's oil to form acids which erode the system internally. The dillema with the need for purging with nitrogen is how much moisture has got in the system? A good vacuum pump will always turn any water to vapour and suck it out but never all of it because a true vacuum can never be acheived. A proportion of the residual air left in will contain a small amout of moisture. Purging with nitrogen allows the residual air and any moisture to replace the vacuum. This could be repeated several times if desired (a technique called triple-vacuuming) to acheive a theoretically totally dry system. The saviour here is the system's filter dryer. A system that needs recharging after several years use, and has been reported as getting slowly less effective will probably just require a small top up with gas. A system in this condition would always have had a greater pressure than atmospheric so no air or moisture would ever get in the system. A system that has lost all of its gas in a relatively short period has a leak which needs rectifying. When rectified consideration should be given to replacing the filter dryer as moisture content ingress is unknown. If the system has been left open to atmosphere for any length of time (repair to a front end crunch for instance), then changing of the filter dryer plus a purge with dry nitrogen is certainly good practice. A reasonable benchmark is that the filter dryer has the capacity to catch any residual moisture in the system after a good vacuum session on a leak free system that has not been open for a longer period than necessary to change a system component on a dry day in a garage. So in the case of your leaking evaporator, tread carefully. At least after changing it, which is a marathon I assume behind that dash, change the filter/dryer unit. Then give it the best vacuum you can with a pump that has had a fresh oil change, for as long as you can. As a footnote keep everything as clean as possible, don't shipwreck the compressor. It is more than likely that many garages would not have the facillity to purge with nitrogen. A specialist installer of split fixed systems would be you best bet because they purge copper refrigerent pipes with nitrogen while brazing them to prevent oxidization. Best of luck behind that dashboard Rich

Vodkas Sorry to here your tale of woe. I'd be very depressed by now. From your description of events I think there are two possibilities. First if the system has been charged 3 times then you could have lost a lot of refrigerent oil. This loss then causing a seizure of the compressor. Secondly, the lack of cooling has fooled you or the repairers to thinking there is a leak and thus re charging several times. If there isn't a leak then there would be far to much refrigerant in the system and "whammy" the compressor could find itself trying to compress a liquid. In the latter case, too much refrigerent, you may get away without damage to the compressor, however as you point out the electric clutch might need attention. A lack of oil in the first case will probably be terminal, new compressor required. I agree with the comments on the electrical system that there may be a fault affecting the fans. I don't envy your situation. You need to firstly to somehow establish and repair the compressor, then evacuate and purge with dry nitrogen. Recharge with no more than 800 gram of R134a refrigerant and establish whether there is a leak. If necessary firstly leave charged with nitrogen overnight at around 12 bar to see if there is a fall in pressure before introducing the gas. Prior to this and especially after such a catastropic failure I would change the filter dryer and check the TEV on the evaporator is working correctly, as this could also give a high condensor pressure as you mentioned. Also do a visual check for leaks before charging. Signs of this are oily dirty patches on pipes associated with the aircon. I don't know about the V6 but the diesel gal is very prone to cracking aluminium pipes at the top of the condensor. This sounds like a bad failure that will be hard to find the cure for cheaply but the car car sounds worth it. Hope this helps, best of luck with it. Rich

Hi folks The gals developing a misfire which is slowly getting worse with time. Presently, and only occassionally under hard accelaration when the engine has been worked hard and very hot. If you slow down and drive carefully again it will be ok. It will still be ok if you then drive it hard again for a short time then it will return. I don't get any loss of power or excessive fuel consumption. I suspect that the spark plugs are getting ready. I suspect they may never have been changed (79K!!) although I have a service history, there is no mention. How much is a set of plugs for the 2.3 and is there anything you need to be careful about when changing them? The plug leads seem fine and don't arc and spark when you watch them in the dark. The engine is generally very smooth, quiet and healthy. Any comments welcome. Rich

Charles Mine has a similar mileage but no problems with a stiff gear change. The linkage from the gear change to the box is all done with a series of bowden cables, it might be worth checking their condition it could be lack of lub or cleanliness on their part causing your problem. A stiff gear change could be due to the wrong oil in the box especially from a cold start. If the problem exists all the time and it has oil in the box I would take a close look at the cables first. Good luck Rich

jimmythegimp Just re read your last and realised you don't have cruise. I would therefore be more concerned as it sounds as though the problem is with the brake servo. The wandering pressure in the vacuum system is more than likely affecting the parameters used by the engine management system which could be why your revs dont stabalise quickly. Rich

There is a hiss associasted with the cruise control; usually when disengaged. I have had this since acquiring my Gal and have always assumed it to be the norm. I just think its the vacuum being released that holds the throttle open when the cruise system allows it to relax. If the hiss is continual while the cruise control is engaged then there is perhaps a small leak in the contolling servo or associated pipe work. I would think that if the cruise system works correctly then this may be of little concern. I would be more concerned with the revs dropping late however because this could be associated with a vacuum leak. Does the cruise use the manifold vacuum on the petrol version or does it have its own electric vac pump? I assume the diesel must have one. This is one of those problems that could be dead cheap to fix or really expensive ie a perished pipe or loose joint or a new servo!. Certainly worth investigating. Rich

Thanks folks, I've found the template instructions on the TIS cd. Set my 12 year old on with the scanner, printer and scissors. I'll certainly have a look for those deflectors on the ferry, it does seem a better idea, defracting the beams rather than blocking them, and I suppose you can use them again. Appreciated Rich

Italistar I have a TIS disk and it never crossed my mind to look on there, so i'm about to do so. I had a look at the dipped beam directions and height last night in the dark and when set low I don't see them causing a problem when driving on the right to be quite honest. If i can get hold of the templates however I will fit them. Thanks for the gen anyhow Rich

I'm driving through france in May. What happens these days with the headlamps? Do we still paint them with that yellow lacquer stuff and stick those black shapes on? Or can something different be done with the gal? We will be driving through the night so I thought it might be best to seek advice. Thanks in advance Rich

Was there a version made with a belt? Am I correct thinking that the cam belt is in fact a cam chain on the 2.3 DOHC petrol? Therefore if it runs quietly it should need no attention? Rich

Fuel consumption 2.3 petrol DOHC, 22-25mpg school run tescos etc. 25-27mpg hard motorway driving. 30mpg careful steady long runs. 32-34 if you really go for the planet saving driving style ( but its hard work). Rich

Yep cassette adapter cheap and cheerful but does the job. Not cd quality but better than FM stereo. On quiet passages with the volume up you can hear the cassette motor running noise through the speakers. The fidelity is better than expected. Absolutley perfect for watching the DVDs in the back thats the kids sorted for the trip in Europe at Whitsun. Just need to secure the laptop somewhere now. Got a big black roll of gaffa tape in the garage Rich

Thanks for that one Howard, yes I use the ATI radeon on the Desktop and I have seen that facility. I think Nvidia graphics do the same thing. The laptop seems to be less superior in terms of graphics drivers and card so hence my asking. Thanks anyway. Rich

Specsavers? Could be an switching or earthing problem. Was it raining? Had you been through a car wash? Rich

Thanks Ivor. I've got the picture now. I'm sure I saw one that transmits somewhere on the net, I'll look again. It does suprise me that no body manufactures one that uses a low power radio link; like the video senders you could or still can get hold of. Anyhow i've got hold of a cassette adapter as suggested by Nmirod. Halfords 14.99. Helpful chap said bring it back if its not what you want. I'll report on how good it is shortly . Cheers Rich

Am I incorrect in assumming that these FM modulators convert audio into a weak radio signal which is then transmitted over a short distance to the cars receiving aerial. You can then tune your radio to pick up that signal. Does the modulator have to be plugged to the radio with a dual adaptor with the regular aerial feed? . Thanks Nimrod, I do know what you mean with the cassette adaptor. I'll have browse at those. The only thing that puts me off is wires trailing though. Rich