insanitybeard

Are the bushes definitely correct for the vehicle? If the hole in them for the bar is too small that would explain it, likewise if the outer diameter is too big and the clamp won't go over them properly.

I can't imagine any power loss issues like you describe to be caused by a manual gearbox fault, the gearbox will either transmit drive or it won't, unless the clutch is slipping, but I'd expect that to be apparent in the lower gears. You need to determine if it's a mechanical fault or electrical, if it comes and goes I'm thinking it's more likely to be electrical or related to turbo boost control than a mechanical issue. Can you find out if it's stored any fault codes?

If you've only got one key now unfortunately you've no choice but to get Ford to do the programming unless you opt to try to get a locksmith to clone a key for you, if you had two keys you could DIY at home. Ford will likely charge you an hour labour at whatever their labour rate is (prob in the region of

Is there any chance the clutch is slipping in first gear? I assume it's a manual box? If the clutch is on it's way out it's going to slip in the lower gears where most torque is being transmitted to the wheels. If it's a manual gearbox it's unlikely to be a gearbox fault, it'll either transmit drive in first gear or it won't.

The servo pipework should be pretty much the same for any 1.9 diesel Galaxy, the servo pipe runs from the vacuum pump which sits on the right hand end of the cylinder head (as you look into the engine bay from the front) to the servo itself (the large round metal unit behind the brake fluid reservoir) which bolts to the engine bay bulkhead on the left hand side (again, viewed from the front). You will need to remove the scuttle at the back of the engine bay to get decent access to the servo though. The pipe itself should be a fairly large bore rigid black nylon tube.

Intermediate driveshaft and gearbox stub shaft? A common issue unfortunately......

That's a bummer, sounds like the selector fork itself for 1st/2nd gear has come adrift from the selector shaft or something like that, which will require the gearbox to be removed from the vehicle and stripped to access/replace, hence the cost. Sometimes the forks are secured to their shafts by means of a roll pin or the like, and if these let go the fork is free to move on the shaft when it needs to be fixed rigidly.

I think it's unlikely that the plugs are rusted in because they seat in an aluminium cylinder head, more likely a combination of heat and differential corrosion has caused them to become very tight. Are the exposed parts of the spark plugs you can see rusty? As you say your best bet is going to be to soak 'em in penetrating oil for a bit and then warm up the engine, probably a few times if necessary to allow the oil to soak in fully. You could even try some freeze spray and alternate between warming them and cooling them, hopefully with persistence they will eventually loosen up.

If you can locate the compressor (the pulley driving it is below and forward of the crankshaft pulley), the connector should actually be directly on the compressor itself just inside of the drive pulley, it should only have a couple of wires going into it.

If the compressor (and possibly clutch pulley) has been changed, then regardless of whether the air con works or not, there should be no further issues with the starter motor trying to turn the engine over against the resistance of the seized compressor (which is presumably why the starter gave up in the first place). If there is a leak and therefore insufficient gas pressure in the air con system, the control electrics should disable the system anyway, to prevent potential damage. If you are still worried, you can disconnect the electrical multiplug which goes into the compressor, this will prevent the clutch from 'switching in' the compressor, so it will not work in any circumstances.

You wouldn't be able to see the state of the actual brass contact pins in the multiplug until you actually separate it. They can be a fiddle to get apart, what is meant to happen is that you push in the raised lug on one side of the mutiplug and pull the two halves apart, but with a bit of dirt from the road and the resistance from the dry sealing rings they can be very tight. It's very hard to explain in words, a picture would show better but the site won't let me upload one. If you need me to send a picture you'll need to message me your email. If you can see evidence of previous tampering and the cable is a bit too taught then that's where I'd start looking.

If it's a wiring fault, it's far more likely to be either corrosion at the multiplug where the body wiring loom meets the external wiring loom for the rear parking sensors or broken/ shorted wires, I think there is possibly a bit of tension (i.e, not enough slack in the cable where it emerges from the body in the vicinity of the spare wheel) which could make the external loom susceptible to broken wires also.

At some point they did change the rear auxiliary sockets from 2 in number down to 1, my '54 plate only has one in the rear. Not sure what you mean by a bulge in the roof though? The rear compartment cover wasn't standard equipment but you should be able to retro fit one, check this out (you'll need to register to see the images though).

Could the thermostat be at fault? If it's not working properly it could be preventing proper coolant circulation around the cylinder head causing overheating in that area. Is it a petrol or diesel?

That's exactly what you need, it's just a little plastic stud that pushes into the hollow wiper spindle- the wiper spindle doubles as the delivery tube for the washer fluid.

The amount of work required to do it is likely to be prohibitive- not only do you need to install the compressor, condenser and all associated pipework and wiring in the engine bay (possibly with different drive belts and pulleys to drive the compressor, different brackets, mountings, radiator fan etc), the heater box will also be different as the air con version will have an evaporator in it, the body/ engine bay wiring looms are also likely to be different, the switchgear needs to be installed on the dash..... You'd have to dismantle a lot of the vehicle to do it, it isn't worth it in my opinion!

Sounds like it could well be a misfire, in which case the coil pack could well be at fault, and/or plugs and leads- see the below thread also: http://www.fordgalaxy.org.uk/ford/index.php/topic/26374-23-petrol-mk2-car-shaking-at-idle/ A misfire, depending on how bad it is could cause the vehicle to judder/ run lumpy and make it run roughly, especially on acceleration.

I can't see anything too untoward in that video, any airbag problem is unrelated to engine starting/running issues. You need to check to see if the coil pack/plugs and leads are at fault, that's one of the likeliest and easiest to sort problems, other faults causing low compression are much more serious and expensive to fix and are related to actual engine wear or damage, which depending on how much you love your Galaxy could be terminal because of how much they will cost to repair. Check the easiest options first, either try a substitute coil pack and leads etc or perform a compression test.

Do you mean remove and reinstall the camshaft and the hydraulic tappets? To get the main camshaft out I believe the unit injector rockers/shafts will also require removal. In any case I reckon it's got to be a 5-6 hour job as the timing belt will also require removal and replacement to do this, so it all depends on the garage's/ tech's hourly rate! What's the issue with your current setup?

Unless the tape was substantially reducing airflow into the engine I don't see how it could cause this problem. Have you tried it since removing the tape?

You have to remember that a misfire is just that- it's (usually) an intermittent, not continuous loss of spark to one or more cylinders, sometimes a misfire will only happen under load, e.g, on a hill with heavy throttle, not just coasting on the level. So in most cases removing the spark completely by disconnecting the plugs should still result in a worse running engine! I'm not saying that it can only be the coil pack (and maybe plugs and leads) at fault, but in most cases it is the culprit.

I would say that the coil pack is prime suspect, don't run the engine or drive the vehicle until you get it sorted, the unburned fuel can damage the catalytic converter. Also, it may well be worth changing the spark plugs and leads at the same time, they can also break down over time and not in a way that you can tell just by looking at them. It appears that Ford used both configurations of coil pack on this engine, the other type sits directly over the spark plug and uses 2 coil packs per engine.

Sounds like it could be the early stages of a wheelbearing on the way out or a driveshaft/ CV joint problem, can you feel any roughness or hear any noise when you spin the wheel by hand? When my front wheelbearing went recently the noise was unmistakable. The only other thing I can think of is that the brake caliper is binding slightly on the one side making the wheel harder to spin, it could possibly cause some noises if it's seizing up and not releasing with the brakes off. Are the brake discs and pads in good condition?

No worries, possibly two different types of coil pack were used on the 2.3 engine then- a single one mounted at the end of the cylinder head (exposed) and the 2 separate ones mounted under the removable cover going directly onto the spark plugs. Both types can fail, if yours has done 92K and not gone yet it's not done bad! The one I had on the Ford Ka I had before the Galaxy went at 50K, and when that went it sounded like a boat, it was chugging so badly!

So you had a misfire before the oil overfill incident? I know that the type of coil packs fitted to the 2.3 petrol engine are prone to failure (as are most eventually to be fair) so there is a good chance that the coil packs could be to blame (there are only 2 HT leads if I recall correctly as the engine has 2 coil packs under the removable cover with the 'FORD' logo on it and each one connects directly to a spark plug leaving just 2 separate leads for the other 2 plugs). Hopefully the oil overfill has not caused more serious damage! How somebody with that kind of mentality got in to the AA beats me! :wacko: