Richmond

I'm about 6'3" and have the same problem as psg225 (Iam not a name, I'm a string of characters). Mind you, when I lie in bed the top bar of the bed end goes right across the middle of the TV screen, so perhaps it's just me.

I had to replace the n/s wing mirror on mine. Ford dealer charged about

Piston rings worn? Sounds a bit old fashioned, but I presume that the Galaxy has them. If it wasn't for the black smoke, a small crack in the head or even a dodgy head gasket might explain it, no?

Some new or updated model or the other (Vauxhall?) has a glove compartment which can be cooled or heated, so you can keep your beer warm and your take away cold, or rather the other way around, although presumably not at the same time. This seems to me to be a damn sight more use than, for example, dual air conditioning (although I suppose it is a form of dual air conditioning) or front fog lamps :(.

Are you sure :angry: ? I think that both mine heat at the same time, although I haven't checked positively. If they don't, why don't they? Too much of a drain on the electrics?

It's probably a sensor problem but it's possible that the oil is so old and thick :angry: that it's not generating enough pressure. Highly unlikely, though.

So far as I can see, I have to have the front fogs on in order to have the rear fogs on. On the very few occasions when I have used them (in order to use the rear fogs), the front fogs seem to make no discernible improvement in visibility. I can just about remember driving in some really thick fogs :angry: when I was a kid (early 1960s) when front fogs were useful; I seem to remeber my mum walking in front of the n/s of the car because my dad couldn't see the edge of the road! Stopping might have been an option worth considering, but I suppose drivers had a more robust attitude then. They (front fogs, not my parents) seem to be a bit of a waste of money these days, thanks presumably to the 'clean air' legislation of the 1960s.

How do you clean the sun roof?

I find the noise in the V6 quite acceptable; the CD/radio is easily audible at speeds up to 100 (I haven't been faster). The ride comfort is fine in the front, although it doesn't seem to do the kids (in the middle row) any favours :lol: . However, the handling is not up to scratch for a car putting out whatever ridiculously high BHP it does put out :rolleyes: . The power is great for relaxed high speed cruising (which is presumably what the car is designed for) but it doesn't go round corners with any great style (not that its ever actually behaved badly, it just feels as if it might). Any ideas on the minimum suspension mods needed to significantly improve matters? I don't want a package which comes with all sorts of skirts and spoilers (I'm proud to drive a car which looks like a loaf of bread B) ), just a suspension upgrade. What effect might a mod like that have on the warranty?

Why are so many people so keen to put the absolute maximum amount of petrol/diesel in the tank, even to the extent of filling up the expansion space :wub: ? Unless you are driving across the Gobi, a normally full tank should get you from one filling station to the next, surely (even in a V6).

My V6 has Dunlops and was almost certainly supplied wit hDunlops. They are acceptably quiet (although pricey).

I've never experienced a bad smell caused by a new clutch, nor have I ever been advised to 'run in' a new clutch. Sounds as if you've found a bunch of cowboys. Not using the clutch when changing gear is perfectly possible and is useful when your clutch cable (if you have one) snaps, but its a good way to knacker a perfectly good gear box. Still, it's nice to hear that old timers are still talking the sort of drivel they were when I started driving; don't use the clutch, double declutch (usually a different old timer, but not always), reverse up steep hills, take out the rotor arm when you park, coast downhill to save petrol, add 10% water to your petrol tank, always wear a hat when driving and so on.

I'm glad to read that others have rattles too; I was ticked off :wacko: in another thread for saying 'It's a Ford, it rattles.' The implication was that Fords are essentially rattle-free, and that if it rattled it was due to me having been particularly evil in a previous life (or something of that sort). I have a number of rattles, only some of which are caused by bits and pieces (cassettes, shoes, lollipop sticks, toys, drink containers, football boots, bits of bike, locking wheel nut keys, fire extinguishers, torches, you name it) left lying around. It rattles a lot less than the Peugeot 306 cabrio, mind you. I used to fuss about rattles (this annoyed my wife intensely for some reason) but I've stopped, and things don't seem to fall off the car. There are so many bits attached to other bits that the chances of a rattle indicating impending doom :angry: are slight. In fact, I find that one can stop worrying about most things with no ill effects, so I've decided to worry only about things which I can sort out without much effort; car rattles are not in that category.

As you were. It's now booked into a Ford dealer after Xmas. No replies needed. I don't know how how to delete the whole topic.

Thanks, should have guessed. Typically American, I suppose; all torque :blink: .

Que? :blink:

Possibly, but i) he seems to know what he is talking about in general, and he was quite clear that the vents were on the floor between the 2nd and 3rd rows; and ii) the mat leaves an uncovered arc immediately behind the gear lever console. I was puzzled, as it fits well elsewhere; I don't have vents there. I have a row of 3 vents in the headlining to deliver air to the 2nd row of seats and another row of 2 vents further back in the headlining to deliver air to the 3rd row of seats. That's the lot (in the back). The vents can be individually opened or shut; temp control is from the aircon panel in the front; the rear temp can be set up to 3 degs C different from the front temp (it's dual air con, waste of money so far as I can see). All this is of no particular consequence, but it's interesting that Ford/VW/SEAT seem unable to fix on one design of anything for more than 10 mins at a stretch

Ours is called 'The Galaxy' to avoid confusion with 'The Peugeot'. Works for us.

When I bought a full length rubber mat for the back of my 2002 Galaxy V6 the other day, the bloke at The Roof Box Co warned me that one of his customers with a V6 had returned the mat as it covered some vents in the floor between the 2nd and 3rd row of seats. Are these the aux heater vents? I didn't know what he was talking about. I have dual a/c and no vents in the floor (unless the carpet covers them!); the only vents in the rear are in the roof above the front row seat backs (-ish).

I have a 2002 V6. There's no aux heater and no mention of one in the handbook so far as I know. The heating system provides adequate warm air very quickly after starting (does the air con rely on heat from the engine to warm up the air?).

All these variations appear to be at odds with the economy of scale benefits which I assume large scale manufacturers would want to achieve (see also the myriad different cruise control set ups provided). I would have thought it in Ford's/VW's/SEAT's interest to make differences between models the absolute minimum and to vary them as little as possible from one time to another. I suppose that they know their business best.

I'm astonished at how many minor variations there are on the Galaxy/Alhambra/Sharan, not just of the CC set up, but of loads of other bits and pieces; I would have thought that the economies of scale (which is presumably how Ford and others are able to give such fantastic value for money) would disappear. I'm also surprised at how inaccurate the handbooks seem to be; I don't think that I've ever experienced an inaccurate handbook before, but perhaps I've been lucky. I suppose they source these gizmos from the Far East or somewhere, and buy whichever is cheapest this month.

At least no Premiership footballer has been snapped driving a Galaxy (so far as I know), so that should keep it off the hottest end of the Clarkson cool board, and there's plenty of room to store our zimmers while we pootle along (not that the V6 exactly pootles, but all MPVs should pootle). Also, there's enough headroom for me to be quite tall and wear my flat cap while driving, an important consideration at our age. Obviously, the box of tissues on the rear window ledge has had to go, 'though. :rolleyes: Mind you, where J.Clarkson gets off deciding what's cool and what's not, I cannot imagine. He dresses like me (and I'm reminded daily (hourly at weekends) by my family that I'm not actually that cool :rolleyes: ) and he's an old fart - I know, because I usually agree with him.

Well, that's my tenner gone; I hope you're satisfied. B) To tell you the truth, the ECU keeps the revs up for an alarming few seconds after lifting off the pedal with the CC off (something to do with emissions, apparently), so my carefully thought out routine doesn't really work for me either. I find that I don't rely much on engine braking because of the delay in the revs dropping, unless there's a clear road ahead (in which case why am I braking at all?), so that the CC is switched off by the brake pedal most of the time. (Could that be why you find that at 20 mph lifting off makes little or no difference to your speed??) I haven't noticed anything dramatic when the CC is turned off, maybe because the revs on mine don't drop suddenly when I lift off.

I have developed this useful routine for determining whether or not the CC is on even without the benefit of a light on the dash. Other readers may find it helpful. 1. Remove foot from accelerator pedal. 2. Check senses and/or speedo for a decrease in vehicle speed. If yes, CC is off. If no, CC is on. Do I win