ridway

Cruise control - yes and working Multifunction stick thing -no Cruise control light -no (have had a look this morning) ??? Rich

Hi T120 Diesel engines do tend to feel flatter at the top end of the rev range, even turbo variants. If your new to diesel engines this is maybe what you are experiencing. You imply a knowledge of motor bikes, I would imagine that the power delivery of a bike is pretty much the same as some of the modern 16 valve petrol engines in cars. That is to say all the umph! comes with the revs. My experience with driving both big turbo charged diesels and high performance petrols, the modern 16v type, is that they feel completley different in their delivery of power. The way to confirm whether you have a problem with your diesel is to safely check out the top speed performance if possible. If your Gal reaches Ford's top mph figure and the accelaration time is close as well, then I don't think you have a problem. Alternativlely have a chat with your local ford dealer and have a drive of a similar vehicle, see how it compares. Driving a diesel can be a strange sensation if you haven't done it before. If you do have a problem I concur with the other comments that it may be a governer problem or air getting into the fuel lines or even just the throttle cable adjustment. I think a comparison is the best answer. Best of luck. Rich

My gal has an aftermarket tow bar fitted and the dash lights do everything the spec says it should do, including the bleeper Rich

Sher, is Towsure near Crystal Peaks in Sheffield? I got a tow bar fitted to a Pug 405 a few year ago near there. They were very good as I needed it in a hurry and it was a Sunday. The things you remember eh!

I can confirm Sher's findings. You need to just push the support plate a few mm towards the rear of the car (forward), this stops the sensors picking it up. I bought my gal with the tow ball fitted and all was fine until a took the trailer to the local refuse a few times. Removing and reattaching the trailer plug a few times was enough to bend it sufficient to be picked up by the sensor. I suppose a more rigid plate would permanently solve the problem. Rich

Your problem sounds remarkably like a fault I had with a 205 peugeot a few years ago. New glow plugs made no difference whatsoever. I found the fault was in the diesel feed pipe to the HP pump, a minute leak was allowing air to be drawn in when the car had been stood for any length of time. Trying to start the car would always prove difficult until the air had been purged out of the feed and return system. Just like your car I would have no problems during the rest of the day. I had learnt to live with the problem for a couple of years until the leak developed and I could smell and see diesel on the drive after parking up for a while. Replacing the pipe, purely for this reason, I was quite chuffed when it also cured the starting problem! Suggest you have a really close look for cracked pipes or perished rubber pipes used in the fuel feed system and any evidence of diesel leaks, however small. Best of look. Rich

You don't say which vehicle you have but it is obviously not a Galaxy. I have a 4x4 Ford Ranger which I use frequently both on and off the road so I can tell you that having a mismatch of tyre types should not harm the transmission. Legally I think you have to have the same type and make on each axle. That is to say dunlops on the front, Firestone on the rear. What you should'nt do is put dunlops on the left and firestone on the right. Other readers please correct me if I'm wrong :P

The latest manufacturer's brochure shows an anchor point in the roof lining for the middle seat in the second row. This allows the seat belt to operate normally like any other 3 point anchored system. My gal is the latest shape but has only a lap strap for this seat, no point in the roof. The TIS CD gives no info, or I can't find it. Does anyone know if this has been a recent modification on the latest model and if so when? Rich

Your car will have two wires somewhere in the central locking system. If one of these is pulsed with 12v it will lock the doors and the other when pulsed will unlock them. This is the hardest part - finding which is which, a good auto electrician would be useful. If you've some electrical knowledge and a multimeter you may be able to identify the wires yourself, maybe around the IR receiver, be careful however you don't earth any supply wires when trying. Once you're sure you've correctly identified these Central locking/unlocking signal wires the job becomes quite easy. You will need at least one two channel transmitter fob ( the bit you attach to your key ring ) and a two channel receiver unit. The receiver unit which comes with a diagram has two volts free relay contacts. You can utilise these contacts to pulse the door signal wires, one channel for locking and one for unlocking. There is a firm in Guilford that can supply these fobs and receivers at a reasonable cost they are Crown Axxess. They specialise in automated gates and vehicle barriers but stock these fobs and receivers which are ideal for what you want to do and they are suprisingly cheap. My Webpage 01483 450011. You could get all you need for less than

Thanx for that guys Seems I did ok at 29.1. 20mpg @110 sounds interesting, suppose it shows the engine runs more efficient when operating at full load :D

Did a tour of Scotland (1075 mile) recently during the really hot spell. Used the aircon the whole time. The Gal 2.3 petrol averaged 29.1 mpg overall. I thought this was a fair figure to acheive given two kids the wife, luggage and the Scottish hills. Some of my colleagues thought I could have acheived more. I would welcome comments from 2.3 owners/users on how their vehicle relates to this figure. I adopted a style of driving to try to acheive the best figure without becoming painfully slow to other road users, sensible driving I suppose. Rich

Possibly a plug breaking down if its a petrol model. Diesel system maybe drawing in air somewhere into the fuel line. I'd go for these first

Yes in a word. The engine brakinging is useless. My 2.3 is exactlly the same. Good job the real brakes are good!

Interesting, I suppose when I get a min I'll have a look behind the panel, see what really happens. :)

Does the rear heater draw in outside air or is it just re circulated? I have looked carefully for an exterior intake all around the back quater but with no luck. Either way it seems ashame there is no control of this mode for the rear, on what otherwise is a clever system. Rich.

Usually a wheel sensor problem. A good check is to make sure that each one has the same impedence. I don't know what it is for the Gal but Peugeot are usually around 1Kohm. The important thing is that there all more or less the same value. Trace the cable back from each wheel until you reach a suitable connector where you can check it. Use a multimeter to check all the values are the same, the odd one out is the little blighter causing the problem. Bear in mind it could be a bad connection. Hope this helps Rich

There is a small electric pump that keeps the coolant circulating after the engine has been switched off. Even with the car car locked and bolted it runs on quietly for about 5-10 minutes. The only reason I can see for the use of this is to allow the heater to be used with the engine switched off for several minutes after - perhaps to save fuel? The system obviously cools the engine quicker using the stored heat in its mass to keep you warm. Apart from this, which seems a quirky extra to have, does anyone know if there is another reason for this? Richard

:D Sorry about the typo in the last. http://www.coolconditioning.com

It could simply be the compressor electric clutch cycling. Do you feel or hear any extra load on the engine when you hear the click? If you do then this is the cause of the noise. It is quite normal so long as it is not every few seconds (say less than 10 secs), this can mean a lack, or in some cases an overfill of refrigerant gas. You say yours is very cool however - this is a good sign of a healthy system. Have a look at my website for some more info.www.cooconditioning.com regards Richard

The Ford TIS CD gives a detailed explanation of how to swop headlight beam angles for continental driving. It uses the method using masking template cutouts. I thought, before reading your post, that there was an easier way of doing this by way of some switch or built in mechanical method on the headlamp assemblies but I cant find any info on the CD that refers. Richard

Has anyone had their petrol 2.8 or 2.3 converted to dual fuel? Has anyone done any cost research? If the conversion has been done , where have the tanks been fitted? Can anyone recommend a good installer? What sort of results are you gettting? Richard, Derbyshire

Thanks for the info. I am going to go for the e-bay option. Richard

Is this "infamous CD" downloadable? :D

Does anyone know where I can obtain electrical diagrams of the Galaxy? (latest shape). It is just nice to know how all these extra electric bits interact with each other. :D Thanks in advance, Richard, Derbyshire

I have a small family business that install air conditioning systems in offices and other buildings as well as re-gassing and repair of car and lorry systems. I would like to tell everyone a tale of one of my customers, a Galaxy owner, and his experience when he took his MPV to the main dealer. To keep the story short he took his car to the Ford agent to ask if they could identify the fault with his Galaxy climate control; it had stopped working. Collecting the vehicle later in the day he was presented with a bill for