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To be honest, the only problems i heard of are with the VR6 motor(and this was from doing a google on the subject), could this be related to the dodgy thermostat housing? I believe the problem is that the corrosion inhibitors in Monoethylene glycol dont work too well with aluminium. And also noteworthy, until a few years ago most radiators were made from copper, now aluminium is the most common type, providing a problem more with radiators than engines.

Green or Blue antifreeze are G11(Mono)ethlene glycol base and can not be mixed with other colours. Pink is G12 which can not be mixed with G11. Purple is G12+ which is fine to mix with G12 (VW are phasing out standard pink G12) but can NOT be mixed with G11(blue/Green). IIRC (dont quote me!!) orange is Monoethylene glycol based with "organic acid inhibitors" in place of the silicone based inhibitors in standard monoethylene glycol antifreeze and should not be mixed with either type, however as I have no experience of orange coolants i can not be certain. Mixing the types does not(contrary to popular opinion) cause gelling, but can cause a frothy header tank deposit, what it does do however is destroy the corrosion inhibitors that are all the more important now that engines have a large amount of aluminium in them. Also to be notes is the fact that now the majority of radiators are being made from aluminium(or at least have a lot more al' components) corrosion inhibitors are all the more important. Blue/Green antifreeze maintains its antifreeze properties for life but does lose its corrosion inhibiting properties over time, however the pink/purple varieties lose their antifreeze and corrosion inhibiting properties much quicker. hence the fact that for newer cars it is recommended that antifreeze is changed between 3-5 years dependant on manufacturer. ELIZE, please post your exact model of car so that we know which type coolant you should have, adding it to your signature is best. As a rule of thumb <99 cars have G12/G12+.

So can trading standards, if all else fails give them a ring.

Personally I'd rather have seen a pic of your capri!! Had several over the years, but admittedly not for the last 15 or so (or as quick as yours), still think there awesome motors though. The only problem is they seem to magically come out of corners facing backwards, at least mine used to, still got the scars! Tickford eh? rare as rocking horse sh1te, whats the other?

is that on a new machine?? No/Yes/Sort of!! I had a bit of a disaster with my PC, PSU burnt out and took the motherboard and CPU with it so I did a little upgrading. 650w PSU, SLi mobo, 2 gigs DDR2 a couple of raptor HDD's that I had lying around, and a 3800X2 CPU which was a temporary measure as my local supplier didn't have any faster ones in stock. The plan was to swap it for another, but i think im probably gonna wait as i quite fancy going intel. So the PC is mostly new but with my existing optical drives and graphics cards (till I get some DX10 ones), ive left out my audigy 2 sound card at the moment as Creative have yet to come up with a proper driver (if they even bother, its getting on a bit now) Ive had no issues with software either, although admittedly i havent put a great deal on here.

Im sure on an old peugeot of mine, one of the pistons wound in clockwise but the other side was anticlockwise. Does this help?? Rock all to do with a Galaxy though!! Ive got my pads to change so will be interested to find out how you get on.

Theyre gonna be the same shell, i mean there isn't technically a Mk2 anyhow, the "MK2" in reality is a facelifted Mk1 in the way that the Turbo in your signature isnt a MKIV, according to ford its a MK3 face lift! - Im gonna get slagged off for saying that!! Sounds stupid I know, but ford actually call the rounded escort that came out on a H plate the MKIV and the very last escort (1998/9) model was a revised MKIV as it was still based on the 1990 shell even though its commonly referrred to as the MK7 Anyhow im way off topic so i'll (try to) get to the point. What I was trying to get at was that as the shells are the same then in theory panels should be interchangable, but theres always gonna be details that will catch you out a bit like the windscreen scuttle panel on an early MK3 escort having a slightly different profile on the angled parts to the later face lift model (MKIV??) The bonnets would be interchangeble if the wings and slam panel/crossmember were also changed but the profile on the scuttle panel would be way different. There may be similar subtle changes in the MK2 Gal shell that would not be immediately apparent until the donor panels were offered up to the MK1. As far as the dash goes, you would have to change a complete interior as all the panels blend into each other, dash to front door cards, front cards match rears, rears match rear quarter inserts and so on. Then theres the equipment level which changes between the 2 cars so you would have to wire in the latter instruments and equiptment to the earlier spec carjust to make the dash work. This all sounds like an intresting project, but unless you have a donor MK2 sitting beside your MK1, then its gonna be one hell of a ball ache. But hey, it'll make one hell of series of posts as you talk us through the work to date!

Ive been using it since its release, and have no issues with it whatsoever.

They sell on ebay too

Unfortunately exhausts are (IMO) very rarely worth repairing, usually your chasing your tail fixing one part after another. There are however various "cures" available for repairing exhausts and i have at some point or another tried then all! Things such as exhaust bandages, and repair pastes(do they still make Gun Gum?) can produce reasonable results but its hard to say without seeing the damage! You could try getting it welded, but unless you know a friendly welder you could end up paying as much as a new pipe.

Short journeys are often the hardest on an engine, they are just getting upto running temperature when thing are switched off and left to go cold again. However, modern oils are much better at coping with such running conditions and performance of quality lubricants varies very little throughout the temperature range. I have no idea what the intervals are for Galaxies but usually they are stipulated as XXXXX miles or 12 months whichever is sooner. I personaly think that mileage is much more important than a specific time period unless you do very few miles, not a problem in your case. I would stick to the recommended service intervals (your warranty is probably dependant upon this!) and make sure that servicing is done with the correct lubricants. This point in particular is very important for PD engines such as yours.

To remove the radio try using a couple of lengths of wire coat hanger bent into U shapes with "legs" about 8 cm long and just far enough apart to insert into the 2 holes on the side of the radio. Or any car audio store will sell the correct tool for about

Ive got the ebay ones,

lol, im in Carlisle, and only getting 470k (AOL) despite my line being "alledgedly" capable of sustaining 2mbps. BT have confirmed my line checks out, im in the process of trying to get an improvement now through aol's customer services dept. The problem is they offered me a free wireless router back in october and by accepting their "kind" offer I have inadvertently signed myself into a 12 month contract (Ive been with aol for 6 years). If I cant get it sorted i'll be buying myself out of the contract and looking for a new isp. A large part of my problems with aol seem to be communicating with the indian call centre that deals with tech help side of things.

Cheers for all the good advice so far folks! So question: File down the pads to fit (which should take about 300 years) or buy new ones and the anti-squark clips? Just read through my last post, I sound dyslexic -No offence intended, just had a few beers last night :lol: You dont need file the pads down, they will fit, if they do not then there is a problem somewhere. Check that the piston is fully retracted, and the handbrake is fully disengaged - not just the lever, but the self adjust mechanism too. How exactly does the handbrake engage? check that all moving parts move freely. The pads should be a snug rather than tight fit. As I said previously I think the brakes are the problem, let us know how you get on. PS, add your car to your sig.

I think youve got it there, You know how if you drive along and pull the handbrake on to slow the car, the back end dips down? and likewise if you attempt to reverse with the handbrake on the rear end rises? Well if one side of your rear brakes is binding then that side will be pulled down giving the lopsided apearance you car has. Going forward should pull down the side that is binding and in theory reversing should force that side up! Are you sure that the drivers side is low or is it the passenger side is high after revering into a parking space? I think you need to remove the rear pads again and refit them making sure you the piston retracts fully into the caliper and that you replace all shims or clips as these are fitted to eliminate squeal (often referred to as anti sqeal shims/clips) . Then make sure any self adjuster on the handbrake is moving freely. I have not had the brakes to bits on my Gal' so I cant be precise with instructions. If you do this and make sure that both sides are identical and parts that move on one side move on the other and also check the pistons retract to the same degree. Then I think you may just cure the problem. At the vey least you will have eliminated a few possibilities! You should maybe rub the surface of the firction material on the pad with a bit of emery paper before refitting as a binding brake may cause the pad to glaze through overheating. How do the pistons retract? Do they screw in or just push? You should always release the bleed nipples before you retract the pistons as you can damage the seals in the master system and ABS components if you dont.

Thats in line with trade factor prices, whilst cheap pads may not be as good as OEM stuff in terms of lifespan or have the same antifade properties etc, they are still made to strict standards. Look for E (E11)? markings on the back of the pads Fitting cheap brake pads is little different to fitting cheap tyres I would recommend checking they have been fitted correctly though, it IS possible to fit a brake pad backwards! (lining to piston) As I found out in my early years with my first capri!

Note to self, pay more attention! Sorry i thought you were refering to the front.

It could be that the bottom of the shock absorber is incorrectly mounted in the hub carrier. When you mount the bottom of the shock in the hole in the top of the hub carrier, it is possible to let it push through too far before tightening the pinch bolt. IIRC the difference can be upto about 40mm. Have a look and compare the two sides, If youve just had the struts out then this is a highly probable scenario

Some people may take offence at posts like that. Think about it, my basic petrol doesn't have a dodgy booster heater (like a high end diesel). My GLX (2nd lowest spec) doesn't have the extremely dodgy air conditioning, so no worries there either. Oh and the petrol MAF is pretty trouble free compared to the diesel models- there are quite a few on here have said the diesel MAF could be considered an annual service item they are SO UNRELIABLE. Lets see now, for 6k you could get a much newer, lower mileage petrol than the equivalent model with a diesel engine. Sure the diesel running costs are lower, but you must balance out the additional cost of buying a diesel with your expected mileage. Or you could find you have wasted a shed load of cash. For the above reasons some might say "Go for a basic petrol model, the diesel ghia's are crap!!!" No offence to the less opinionated Ghia TDi owners out there

They seem to have had a slight name changeSerck intertruck

The Pink type antifreeze is G12 spec and must not be mixed with any other types. The blue and green varieties are G11 (monoethylene glycol) and should be ok to mix Never mix G11 with G12 as there is a chemical reaction that causes foaming in the header tank. G12 (IIRC) is the spec for all VW engines from 1999 onwards. Some people have said they cause a gel to form but I personally think that is just a 'net rumour. As for the radiator, have you tried an excnange unit? Serck Marston is the company I ussually deal with and it seems every rad ive had from them is around the

Both imports, eunos being the continental model name for the mx5(km's a bit of a giveaway), the barchetta will be LHD as they dont make a right hooker(correct me if im wrong). Interestingly TopGear did a test on these 2 and an MR2 and (IIRC) the MX5 came out on top, but 3K seems a bit steep for an import. Its worth checking insurance out on them as imports are often expensive to insure as a lot of mainstream insurers dont like them (especially in LHD).

Towing speed can be easily gauged by the length of queue behind you car- 1-5 cars = 10 mph faster than current speed 5-10 cars = 20mph faster 10-20 cars = 30 mph hour faster 20+ cars = foot flat to floor, top gear. Should get rid of a few caravans! Oh come on its only a joke!

Nope. Failed senders very often give abnormally high readings once warmed up.