xavier

I had an odd experience with a garage last week where they told me the engine management light wasn't coming on. I've taken a short video of the start up sequence, but I can't see anything amiss, looks the same as it always has. What do you guys reckon? I'm hoping this works as I've had problems with links on other forums! https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=FBB09F44DA161DD5!2597&authkey=!ANdiE0VPd5aFD4g&ithint=video%2cmp4

Doh, probably no point posting my suggestion then, but then why not. I had a bad wheel speed related sound coming from the rear on another car, started after I had the tyres changed. Anyway, it turned out that one of my wheels had a dent in it (probably from a pothole) and had been moved from front to rear as part of the tyre change. Anyway, moving the wheel back to the front fixed the problem. Maybe this is something similar, look for a dent in the alloy, also look for a "shiny clean bit" on the body / caliper / hub where it's been rubbing.

I was looking at a Bosch Silver on carparts4less, 101 then deducting their £15 off for spending £100 is 86. Had a good experience with Bosch silvers in the past.

Thanks for this, been looking to replace the battery in my new motor in the run up to winter, 7 years old and no history of it being done. Do you have to remove all the filter or just (what I assume) is the top half? And can you remove the earth before the positive, I thought that was the way we were meant to do it to eliminate the risk of short circuit between tools and body.

I have VCDS lite. Start off by checking for fault codes. When I had a turbo issue, I asked for a fault scan to be done while I was getting something else checked. They used a cheapo reader and it didn't find anything. However when using VCDS lite there were fault codes stored. What RPM are you doing when this happens? Does it happen at different RPM and same speed, or same RPM different speed? Or neither!

Remember you can buy the ebay lead but use VCDS lite from the thread I posted above - the hardware - the lead is usb and should be compatible with all versions of windows. VCDS lite is compatible with windows 7, so you can use the ebay lead with the downloaded version of VCDS lite.

VCDS is basically the same software as VW have. If they're going to charge you £45, I'd try the cable. A colleague of mine has the ebay one and finds it works well, you can get the cable and try it with VCDS Lite.

I have windows 7 and use VCDS lite. I got mine from Gendan rather than from ebay, hence the £20. https://www.gendan.co.uk/product_VAGUSB.html You can get vcds lite from Ross tech. I can't see anything on their website about it not working with windows 7, it appears only VCDS is incompatible with windows 7. http://www.ross-tech.com/vcds-lite/index.html

What do you mean, cheapie machine? Do you have a laptop and VCDS? If you get a cable for ten to twenty quid, you can install VCDS lite which is free and get a far more detailed information than you would from an OBD2 scanner.

Is the corrosion not mainly superficial though? The age you're talking about, cars could still have problems, is it proving more expensive to MOT than to get another one that could have other problems?

By aux heater I mean the thing under the rear passenger seat that makes your car sound like the batmobile, not the fan in the back. When it works it sounds like an F16! Well, a small one! Mine is doing this at the moment and needs the fan loosened off I think.

have to agree, get the disc off and you'll get more to work with. One thing I'd say is be very careful not to break off the drill bit in the bolt, could cause you a whole world of pain that. I did the rear discs and pads at the weekend, took some pics too. Though your discs look great compared to mine!

My 2001 has a DMF.When I go into euro car parts, put my reg number in and go to flywheels, they're all dual mass. There is also a second category for single mass conversion kits.Wonder why the 2005's don't have them, seems a bit unusual. Anyway, hope the tensioner fixes your problem, would be great if you could report back if it works or not.

Have you googled for the instructions?

re clang / bang, I once test drove a car that gave a almighty thump when going over a pothole. Basically the battery was loose. Actually thinking about it that car should have been scrapped! So many things wrong with it!

ooh, you got a new car?!

Phone VW, you'll get the same part but without Fords margin.You may also find they have it on the shelf. Though to be honest, I'd stick with the 11.50 one, if it's from a motor factors it'll probably be pretty good. You have a galaxy, trust me there will be plenty of broken stuff to fix without changing working stuff! Put it this way, if your air con and aux heater both work, you've found a diamond.

yeah, great education in being a machanic, the ford galaxy mk 2

Interesting, I fixed my cable today as part of my MOT fail (caliper not effective enough with h brake). Cable is the problem, caliper mech is fine. Unfortunately garage had a look and reckoned pads needed done. Figure while I'm at it will do the discs too. Have to say replacing the cable today was a breeze. Top tips: Use mole grips on the clips holding the cable in. Set them to about a cm and then bend the clips open. If your cable is siezed in the bracket just before the spring bit, use a chisel to break the corrosion by opening the gap. Last time I did this I used heat, but didn't need to by using this method. The metal will bend and you can re-shape once the cable is free. If you need some extra slack, actuate the caliper opposite to the one you're fixing and wedge it down, alternatively, pop the cable out of that side for maximum slack. Not that relevant to the cable but last time I changed the caliper I put a dollop of copper gease on the mechanism where the handbrake seal is. Interestingly the caliper I put a dollop on (2 years ago) has a smooth action. Another caliper fitted by a garage a year ago is far stiffer and appears to need freed off.

Also if your car doesn't have a dmf, it's because it's been replaced with a coversion kit.

why change the belt? I had a rattle in my mgf that baffled and worried me. I tried to find it myself and couldn't, even tried to get a garage to locate it and couldn't. One day I had her in for a service and when I got it back the rattle was gone. Turned out it was a bit of loose brake pipe from a repair a garage had done a year previously!

mot garage? there is a way to do it if you point the car at a wall but I can't remember the measurements.

No problem, I'll be doing some car stuff myself tomorrow. Pity it's the galaxy though rather than the mgf I've been working on the last couple of weekends.

I wouldn't replace, if you know your current turbo is ok refurb is the way to go. Might be worth trying the innotec first, but if you were getting a garage to do it probably the full refurb is the way to go. If you can do without the car for a bit, another option is to get a mobile mech to take the turbo out for you, you send it off. then get mobile mech to refit. Having said that, I'm now looking to sell my galaxy and the 3 cleans have cost me 1/4 what the "full monty" cost. Excluding my time of course!

There's a how-to on here somewhere to strip down and clean - note you only strip down the exhaust side, not the inlet side. I've used a chemical cleaner. 3 times. 1st time lasted a year, second time 6 months, last time is up to 8 months and looking good so far. I think it's critical when using the cleaner that you can get the end of the tube in amongst the vanes of the turbo and get enough of the stuff where it's needed. Also try not to just do town driving, you need to get the turbo hot to burn off that carbon. I've also got a friend who has used a company based in glasgow to recondition the turbo. He was happy with them and they recommended a local garage who removed the turbo and sent it off for refurbishment, then fitted it again when it arrived back a week later. I was substantially more expensive than my diy clean however.