BrianH

Others have managed to purchase them, but have posted with problems (generally when its a VAG sourced bit going onto a Ford, or the other way round, due to small differences between the looms - some of the later VAG models have the indicator on the mirror not the wing for example, and this bit of the loom is only there where thats the case). I found that replacing the dodgy section of wire, and keeping the solder joints out of the door hinge where possible (join to wire inside the door itself on the door side) and keeping any joints as short as possible (soldered wire will be stiffer than unsoldered and resist bending, stressing the wire elsewhere) worked fine on the mk1 on everything except the boot. The boot was fine for about 2 years until one day the thick brown wire broke again, so everytime I pressed the brake pedal the dashboard illuminated. Resoldering the wire back together works but only for a short time (as you end up with it shorted than when it first broke as well as stiffer), replacing the dodgy section is the only way to get a long term fix If your dead set on keeping the connector (I can understand your reasoning for doing so) then the only thing i can suggest is find a cheap loom on eBay and try to see if you can do anything with the connector (Its been so long since I've done anything on mine I can't remember if the connector is pins or flat blades, if its the blades you can usually remove them with something to press the retaining latch out of the way).

I believe they do, the op should be able to confirm if he does by the extra mounting points. I don't know on the lap belt for the centre without looking, I never sit in the back to tell you! I think its a lap belt in mine, might have changed later in its life though as mine is an early mk1

Good stuff, but would be useful to know if vcds now works to speak to the gearbox?

check this ebay listing for example of a full seat set https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-GALAXY-VW-SHARAN-SEAT-ALHAMBRA-COMPLETE-SET-OF-5-REAR-SEATS-IN-GREY/173329269484

If its a mk1 or mk2 then there is a center seat for them, its possible to put the two seats that are on the left or right into two different positions (as long as you mean the middle row - the ones between the rear doors). I'd have to check to be sure, think the centre seat is a lap belt one. You can have 7 individual seats, this is the normal spec for them (think some may have left factory as 5 seat versions but have fittings for the rear pair in the boot all the same).

Theres a few, Imgur being one of them

Its impossible without special equipment to do a full fluid change in one hit (some of it will remain in the torque convertor and other bits). The usual way to do it is change as much as possible, run it (can be better to run it for a few weeks in this state) then repeat the drain/refill a second time (this allows the new oil to mix with the old stuff and break it up somewhat, as well as circulate it as far as possible). A low level of the oil won't help either though, if its leaking anywhere it will get progressively worse as the oil drops, So checking the actual condition and level of the oil now would be the best start, That will give you an idea where to go (if it looks like tar then it certainly won't be helping any). There is some info on checking the oil in the faq section here, it may be worth a read of that?

Its detecting something wrong - it should be possible to read the power steering system with diagnostics to find out what exactly is actually wrong. Not sure if Focom could do this, but would feel that would be worth a try? I've not got a MK3 to try it with to confirm if it works, but it may be worth either considering getting the dealer to do a code scan or seeing if you can do some diagnostics on it rather than throwing parts at it hoping it will fix it. You'd need something more capable than a standard obd reader which will only look at the engine (like the coverage VCDS has on the earlier vehicles).

yeah that would be photobucket wanting people to pay for 3rd party links (and not a little amount of money either). They must have changed tactics as i doubt anyone was silly enough to take their rather expensive offer up.

Check out the dryer cap - it will take you about 20 minutes to get to it, its accessed from the front grille area. I've filled mine with Araldite as the cap wasn't shifting, its held for 6 weeks now without a problem. (others have used hot melt glue and reported success with doing so) Otherwise if you get it regassed it will work, but only until enough gas leaks out to stop it again. The correct way to fix it is to replace the unit, and replace the dryer cartridge every couple of years, but my experience with aircon is the more you distrub the more of a problem you cause!. A/C specialist might be worth a try, I don't know how far Halfords AC will go into it, would suspect it may be a case of leak test and either confirm it leaks or can't find any leaks.

yep, or Diesel if your doing it on the cheap!

If you can find the aircon pulley (its the lowest one if its a mk1 or mk2 your posting about, closest to the front end of the car) see if you can see the central spindle on it turning as you click it on/off. If it appears to be clicking on/off check the temperature of the pipework either side - one side should be hotter than the other if its working. If that is the case then it may be a fault with the flap mechanism inside the heater box - If you can feel the pipework round that area again it should feel cold to the touch.

Also road debris can hit the condenser and puncture it. any damage of that sort could cause it to suddenly stop due to lack of gas. though would expect you'd have heard it happen (I've had a hose pop off under the bonnet where the spring failed, it made a noticeable bang on doing so, and the smell of gas was noticeable for a few minutes afterwards)

You don't say which one of the galaxy's you have, Some of the diesels have a pipe that can snap, the mk2 has an occasional slow leak by the dryer assembly. Can you hear it clicking the clutch on/off (loud clicking from drivers side end of engine). Any signs of bright yellow oil under the car?

Even changing it twice doesn't do the whole lot - If its been allowed to get to a point where its closer to Tar than oil then twice would be the minimum required to get somewhere close to reasonable. Though if its already that bad it may be too late. Because of the design of the torque convertor its impossible to empty it without pumping new fluid into it - a specialist setup where you can pump new fluid in would have more success at this, but provided you change it before it gets too bad it shouldn't be a problem. Of course where that doesn't work out is when people only do something about it when it stops working properly - When it can be much worse to try and fix. Does vary depending on the transmission in use though as well- Some are better than others for reliability, some keep the fluid in better condition for much longer than others (generally as they cool it more effectively though not always the case)

I think from what others have said you can see if the clutch is engaging by watching it (the spindle at the end is visible, you need to see if that tries to engage. If they didn't remove the gas, then they have no way of knowing how much gas is there. There may be some pressure, but that doesn't mean theres enough. The mk2 has a common failure point - if you look in the top of the dryer (on the end of the condensor up at the front of the car, you can see it by removing the cover that covers the front of the radiator (you don't have to remove it completely, but the four fixings in the top are enough to get it open far enough to see) theres a cap on the end, under the plastic cap theres a metal disc held by a circlip. This allows a slow leak of gas once its corroded, If the previous charge has had the UV dye put in (which it should have had) then you may be able to see signs of leaking there. Even without the dye, if you fill the top with some water you may be able to see occasional bubbles of gas leaking. If that is leaking then a regas will work, but stop working after a couple of weeks (as the pressure has dropped too low to activate the switch) I found a low charge (around 300g) was enough to activate the a/c but you'd hear the compressor clicking in and out all the time, and whilst you could feel the aircon working, it wasn't working as well as you'd expect. How often are you hearing the clicking (which should be the clutch clicking on and off)?

Which system do you have? MK1 or MK2? It can have pressure, but not enough pressure/charge, that could mean the pressure switch isn't being activated so it won't switch on. There is also a manual control system (with rotary dials) or a climate control system (with buttons) as well as single or dual zone. The charge required for the dual zone is higher than the single zone as well. If they have done it correctly then you should have an idea what they removed and what they put back, though given that its not working at all suggests its something besides the charge itself. Depending which engine your using you may be able to get vag-com to speak to it, It would be worth a try to see if you can get any response.

Same way I tackled the one on my MK1, Best not to move the heater box as you have the aircon matrix still there anyway!. Hardest bit we had was finding the second bolt that held the dash in place.

The only time i've had the dashboard out to look at anything to do with the heater (replace the matrix) is on my old MK1 petrol - I'd imagine the basic heater is the same, the only plumbing is the feeds in and out of the matrix which run in on the top of the matrix. The matrix is arrowed here. There is nothing on the bottom of the matrix, Though it may be able to leak if its faulty of course. I wonder if thats what is happening. Would suggest as a first troubleshooting step to disconnect the matrix and link the two hoses together, then see if your leak stops. If it does I'd suspect you will need to replace the matrix (possible that you might be able to fix the leak, you won't know until you can see whats going on). The dashboard isn't too horrible to remove if you have someone else to help you if you do need to go down that route.

Given theres no pressure in the header tank I'd have thought it unlikely you've blown the head gasket, I can't make out from the photo where your leaking bit is, but there are some plastic bits in the cooling system, its possible the frozen water has split one of them. I'd suggest you remove the leaking bit from the car and inspect it closer to try and see where its leaking from/which bit to replace. Have you got any of the other signs of hg failure - White spots in oil etc? There is also a run on pump fitted to most, this is likely to make more water flow out around that point as its somewhere close in the pipework, Those appear to me to be the pipes that feed the rear heater.

Also the posts don't appear to actually post - they sit on saving posts even though they have posted.

Good stuff - mostly working and at least he is still about! The post counts bit doesn't work properly (check the mk1/2 tech area - all posts show 0 replies even when there are replies)

Post counts don't work, but the old topics are now accessible at least, as well as new posts possible

Testing To See If New Topic Fixes The Database Errors

yeah the forum doesn't work properly! hitting refresh after posting should show your reply. Other aspects don't work properly either like showing new posts. I'd suspect the insulation may have broken apart on the wires rather than snapped, if they touched where insulation was missing from both that might be enough to cause it. And its a galaxy so broken door wires highly likely! In which case also the screen would still work as well.