Grumpy

Hope you get it sorted soon

I remenber when I bought my car the dealer said that the company fitting the towbar had to add something (I have no idea what this something was) to prevent the parking sensors seeing the towbar.

I guess its the luck of the draw, however it does seem that 2001 tdi's seem to crop up regularly for auto box failure (mine had just under 70,000 miles). A used car warranty is a good way of preventing large bills and therefore good for peace of mind.

If an unused one has charred then definatly leave it for an expert

Sorry if this seems obvious, but its either a fault in the house wiring or in something plugged into a socket. What I would do is unplug everything connected to the affected sockets and replace the fuse in the fuse box (or reset the trip if you have those). Then if the new fuse doesnt blow plug things back into th esockets one-by-one until the fuse blows again, then dont use that item again until checked. Hope this helps

Update I recently spoke with the garage that reconditioned my gearbox and was told that there was an aluminium drum within the gearbox that contained the clutches for 4th & 5th and that this component was prone to cracking. Once it cracked, it reduced pressure on the clutches for 4th & 5th and that caused these to start slipping, resulting in loss of drive in these 2 gears. The replacement part is made in steel so should not suffer this failure (so I am told!) This could explain auto failures happening to the same year cars.

Walz In the owners manual (01/2001 p164) it states:- "The sensors in the rear are automatically deactivated when driving with a trailer" My towbar was not fitted by Ford and the sensors do not turn off when towing, its annoying when towing my caravan having to switch off the system everytime I select reverse. If the manual is correct then there must be some sort of system that detects the presence of the trailer lights and interfaces with the parking sensors.

I believe that a proper "Ford Fit" towbar detects when a trailer is connected and ignores the rear sensors. I would have thaught there must be a way of doing the same with an after market towbar.

Walz I may be wrong but I think that the sensors learn so should ignore the connectors after a while. I added a stabaliser plate to my towbar and that resulted in the sensors "seeing" part of the installation after a few weeks it all settled down again and started working fine. This subject reminds me. Does anybody know if you can set the system to ignore the rear sensors whilst hitched up to a caravan?

OK OK, I am paranoid and you are all correct. It seems that it was the slope that was to blame, it seems to be working fine now. Cheers for the replies

If it is a clone of yours then you must be to blame!!!! I'm sure its a great car (at least I keep telling myself that!) Oh well, mines a pint

When I first checked stock this morning 2 of the 3 local stores showed stock. When I did a check again after posting this thread, they all showed no stock. I have had a drink but am still:- a) p!$$ed off :ph34r: totally without a washing machine c) getting ready for another drink Cheers!!

My washer/dryer started to play up, loud banging noises and a puddle on the floor. So I got the tool kit out and had a peek inside, the dryer had snapped its mountings, lost most of its fixing screws and punctured itself on a sharp bracket. It looked like a major strip down to get at all the fixings so, when I saw an offer on a Hotpoint in Currys, I decided to replace it. I got on the Currys website and found that my local store had stock and that I could reserve one and collect it. So I did (reserve one that is) The father-in-law came over and we loaded the old machine into the back of the Gal and took it to the tip. Then we called in at the Currys store only to find that the only stock was a display model with scratched front. The assistant was unhelpful and did not seem to care at all that I was now left without a washing machine becaus of their balls up. Here we go again, letters of complaint on their way. I am getting so p!$$ed off, I need a drink.

This car is beginning to try my patience. Just went out and as soon as I started her up I got a "Please Refuel" message and the gauge was in the red (it had been appox 1/3 on the previous journey). After being parked up, the next time I started her up the gauge was reading at the first division from the red. Now it was parked sideways on to slope (offside to the low side) but I would have thaught that the gauge would have recovered once I started driving it. I had to have a new instrument panel fitted last year so I hope that this isnt the problem again. Any sugestions as to things to chack. PLEASE. Or am I just getting paranoid Tales of woe to date:- "Check Pads" warning - eventually got the supplying dealer to replace the instruments Smoking aux heater - not sorted yet Slipping auto box - warranty company had box reconditioned - UPDATE it now has a ubrupt change from 3 - 4 Air con panel flashing - not sorted yet Key stuck in ignition - the car was innocent (blame the missus) Fuel gauge inconsistent - just started happening

Saturday morning 6:45, wife is up, kids are up, they all get in the car to go shopping. I get a lie in. 7:20 phone rings, its the mother-in-law. Wife has a problem with the car, the key is stuck in the ignition and the remote bit has come off. Great no lie in for me then. Up, dressed and a 10 mile drive over to the in-laws in the spare car. Wife and kids and mother-in-law have left the Gal and gone to the shops in mother-in-laws car. Gal is parked up with key in ignition. So how long to fix it? Well repairs went as follows. 1) Open door 2) Sit in drivers seat (optional) 3) Put atomatic selector in PARK 4) Remove key 5) Have a cup of tea with the father-in-law Perhaps I will get a lie in next week then. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

As a design engineer, I agree that running anything mechanical up to its limit is not a great idea, so by doing so on this car, Ford/VW/SEAT have made a design error, a gearbox should not fail at such low milages, in the USA cars are now sold with manufactures warranties of 100000 miles+, what a laugh that would be here. As you will remember, I have had the instrument panel failure, I have a suspect aux heater, an aircon system going belly-up and the auto box failure. For all its good points, I couldnt really reccomend trhis car to a friend.

I have read several instances in these forums regarding auto box failure on 2001 diesels. Guess what, I have joined this (exclusive ?) club. Is there a design fault on this box or does the diesel Gal overstress it? As the box is uesd in Freelanders I cant see why the Gal seems to suffer. My box started slipping in 4th, it originally hapened after I re-engaged the cruise control whiilst climbing a slight hill, it was as if the box had gone into neutral I normally drive on light throttles but the cruise was a bit more enthusiastic, after this the box regularly slipped in 4th. Fortunatly I had bought a used car warranty and this has proved to be a godsend, for the cost of an excess (the quote was around

I assume that you have checked that the pads actually do need changing. The "Check Pads" warning on my Galaxy required a new instrument panel to fix (brakes were fine!)

Yes, but from what I read, you do need some sort of ir transmitter (pda, laptop, mobile phone etc) and a downloadable program to work with the hacks for the Sony DAV range. I may have missed the obvious of course :)

I have a Sony DAV-S500, when I looked into moding this I could not find any sites offering a code to unlock it but only sites offering a remote control to do the job which I didnt bother with. However to date I have not found any DVD's that wont work, I have bought several region 1's from the USA (intending to play them on the PC) so I am guessing it was supplied already converted.

I had a problem with mine with a "Check Brake Pads" warning which only occured when the bonnet was closed! This eventually required a replacement instrument panel. See thread entitled "Fight For Your Rights, My lights now flash!" in "Dealer Service and Reliability (Galaxy)"

Some interesting links http://www.ravenfamily.org/andyg/vegoil.htm http://www.bio-power.co.uk/ I havent tried it yet but my Xantia is fairly worthless now so I might give it a go.

I once forgot to disconnect the breakaway cable after unhitching an old caravan. It certainly breaks away with a bang when you pull away.

When going away with your caravan, always replace the oil filler cap on your engine after you top it up before setting off!!!!!!!!!! It will save you a trip to the nearest Ford dealer. Oh yes, and after winding up the jockey wheel remember to raise the whole assembly other wise it makes funny noises as you go over bumps and dips.