Sher

Today I made an 8 mile journey into and out of Delph in Saddleworth and at no time could I get the car to enter limp mode. Starting was not instantaneous from cold as I have had to turn it over for 3 or 4 seconds. It was -10C overnight. I will try and check that all glow plugs are functioning tomorrow i.e. check the resistance is around 1 Ohm in situ. If the problem is solved I suspect a fair number of limp mode probs are caused by failed glow plugs.

Today the temperature overnight was -10C, It took 5 or so seconds of turning over and it fired up lumpily for a few seconds and then settled down. Progress was slow because of the conditions. Eventually the car reached 90C some 7 miles into a 10 mile journey but however hard I tried I couldn't get it to go into Limp mode. Hopefully I am clearing out the soot and that problem may be fixed.

@chrispb123456 Are you saying that the Glow plugs should not have loose soot on them that can be wiped off on your fingers?

Sounds very similar to the intermittent power loss problem I have had since I allowed the main agent service and MOT it for me whilst in hospital. Switching off and then on seems to clear the problem. I don't dawdle, I tow a large Caravan sometimes at 60+mph and travel upto 600miles in 8 hours through France without it 4 times per year. I found that the Glow Plugs were all shot during the recent cold spell. They were very sooty like over rich mixture on spark plugs. Suspect they were shot last winter but I was in Spain most of Nov-June. Also on the MOT report I noticed the smoke emissions were high. Is it possible that the lack of glow plug operation may have caused the excess soot or are the plugs always dirty?

The thing I like best about our forum is exactly whats happened here, I

Sorry cyborg and zorgman it is not oil burning. Changed 4 glow plugs as all were open circuited (burnt out) with a very high resistance measurement. Can be measured in situ. New plugs measured less than one ohm. meaning they take a lot of current and get hot when operating. Needed to buy a 10mm deep socket to extract and refit. In the recent cold weather, (I normally miss this as I am usually in Spain caravanning at this time of year) not only has the car been difficult to start but also would not pull below 2000 revs for some time whilst cold. The temperature up here on the Pennines has not been above 2-3C degrees recently. I kept thinking that it could be the MAF, I had bought a spare one about 40,000miles ago, or the brake switch as mentioned elsewhere. I have read somewhere else that these plugs keep operating when the temperature of the fuel is low so the symptoms mentioned make sense. Have not been able to check the fuel consumption yet. Next problem is the auxiliary heater glow plug. That has not worked for at least 2 years.

I'm having very similar problems. Think I need to change the Glow plugs at 118,000miles. How do I release the 1 piece bar that seems to connect to all 4? I'm worried about breaking it if I pull too hard without some advice.

I noticed something similar during a cold start the other day, like something catching momentarily. When I moved the gear stick accidentally to the left whilst in neutral I could hear cogs grating. Perhaps the reverse idler gear? Movement to the right stopped it

When the "Alternator Workshop" flashed up 4 times in a couple of hours and after reading this topic (1.9TDi 115bhp 2002 Ghia with 104,000 miles) I had the pulley changed here in Spain. Rather expensive Total cost of 103

Well I've searched and searched. I'm unable to find any pics anywhere that seatkid mentioned he posted. Some instructions about reaching up from underneath. At my age looking into dark recesses is difficult. Must be old age! :D

VW got it wrong, that is why Ford kicked the deal into touch and now make their own version My 2002 Ghia 115bhp 1.9Tdi is the MOST unreliable car I have had since my first - Hillman Imp. Most of you won't know what that is. The Galaxy from new performed well until 53,000 miles when it left me stranded with a caravan on a Spanish Motorway, failed Slave Clutch Cylinder/ bearing. 63,000 miles drivers side CV joint and worn teeth on the transfer shaft from the gearbox. I spent ages getting a Ford Garage to agree it was not the gearbox. 73,000 miles water pump impeller (plastic) detached itself from the knurled metal used to attach it to the shaft. Again had problems getting a Ford Garage to agree it was not the thermostat. 97,000 Noisy/ worn drivers side Front Suspension top bush/ bearing passed MOT but wore out a tyre. All VW specified Parts. I have spent far more on Service Parts and repairs as a proportion of the purchase price than I ever did on previous First cars - Cortina Mk3 and 4.5 Estate, Volvo 240GL Estate, Rover 2.7 Stirling, Mondeo 1.8TDi now Galaxy. The most reliable second car we have owned is without doubt the Nissan Micra 1.0 manual. I have some other gripes about the VW Galaxy but they are minor in comparison NO AC Problems why? Answer I use it. If the AC system is switched on it will not function unless the temperature selected is low enough to switch the solenoid so that the Pump actually turns and fluid moves around the system. Have it checked every 5/6 years. Having said the above, the Galaxy does most of what I want and is now at 97,000 miles and I intend to run it to about 150,000 miles or 11 years unless something major happens. P.S. I'm still on the original Front Brake Pads and disks which I think proves I do not hammer cars when I drive them. Rear changed at 75,000 miles.

I was reading this today http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/u...icle5574430.ece which states that the latest Galaxy is based on the the Mondeo platform. Is there anyone who knows definitely the base platform? I was under the impression that the S-Max shared the Focus platform. Elsewhere I read some time ago that the Galaxy was based on the S-max. I may well be wrong What disappointed me most about the new Galaxy when it was introduced was the reduced towing capacity and lack of spare wheel. I put this down to the base platform not being as sturdy, since the engines on offer give performance as good as the VW based units. If the Mark III is Mondeo based I may look again at the Mark III as a possibility, once I have worn out my present 2002 1.9TDi Ghia

I think this page may be useful to those having a problem with regard to information about the Glow plug for their Auxiliary heater http://www.beru.com/english/produkte/produ...p;action=step02 http://www.beru.com/english/produkte/produ...p;action=step02 http://www.beru.com/english/produkte/produ...p;action=step02 The specific part number can be identified from the length of the plug on my 1.9Tdi. Once it is removed that is.

I had read it was 10litres. However, as time went on I found that often even though the tank warning light had been on for some time I would not be able to squeeze in more than 63litres. The volume is said to be 73litres. I now no longer worry until I have travelled 100 miles+ ( without caravan) about filling the tank. The Maximum I have ever managed to put in the tank is a 68litres. If figures are correct then I could still manage about 50miles.

This has been discussed before here:- http://www.fordgalaxy.org.uk/ford/index.ph...entry4901 and http://www.fordgalaxy.org.uk/ford/index.ph...entry4777

It is not common and I would expect it to be repaired without cost to you. Less than 40,000 miles GONE!!! Too many Ford Agents here pedelling nonsense. 3 Years Warranty!!!! Pity my Clutch Slave cylinder went US at 73,000 miles and 4 years. German friend had the same 3 WEEKS within the 90,000km warranty. He had no problem. I wonder why? Seems there is a problem of EPIDEMIC size on Galaxy MK2s and Mondeos as regards these items.

From the prices quoted it seems that Ford and Volks are responding to the fact that the after market sector are happy to produce the outer section of the driveshaft ( on exchange) at a much lower price Ford/Volks at first offered last year. The Inner Stub axle is still as expensive, I presume since it is not able to be re-manufactured/ refurbished and needs a lot more original metal to produce. As far as I know the Stub is Still a Manufacturer's part only but the Outer is freely available elsewhere at 1/3 less. This is one of the Common Problems that makes The Galaxy II ( and I presume the Alhambra, Sharan) the most unreliable car I have ever owned. Why did Ford go to the in house Galaxy III otherwise?

Self levelling suspension is not something required on the Galaxy I and II when towing. The standard suspension setup copes better than other cars I have used for towing in the past, including my Rover Sterling which had self levellers as standard. This is just to give a positive reinforcement to previous posts.

This is NOT true. I even have a Bumper protection plate attached and two plug sockets sat there all the time. By bending the Socket plate TOWARDS the Bumper and the Protection plate as well it is possible to find a position were the Parking sensors work as normal. It is only when a trailor is attached that I must manually switch of the sensors with the facia switch.

Do not forget to change the water pump on those 2002/2003 or whatevermodels which have the plastic impellor. If it is a metallic one I would not bother. until every 2nd belt change. Don't ask me how to tell which it is without removing it first. Best to assume its plastic to begin with. Any decent waterpump seal should last 2 belts i.e. 120,000 miles. Pity the plastic impellor's attachment is so pathetic it does not and can only manage 73,000 miles in my case. Dreadful VW Audi parts reliability! (40,000 miles for a Cambelt!!!) The most unreliable car I have ever owned. 63,000 miles Clutch Slave cylinder. 65,000 miles Off side half Shaft and Output shaft from Gearbox 73,000 miles Water Pump failure

The extra load of the caravan will be more than enough to simulate the bags of sand. I tow and have no experience of this, apart from a poorly connecting MAF once. From previous posts it seems you only need to switch off and the fault is reset, so it can be run up again towards maximum revs. I seem to remember one experienced early member of Ford Galaxy Owners Club, now retired, recommending running the engine upto near maximum revs about once per week or two. Easily done just stick in a low gear upto 4000revs/min. The MOT test involves running upto the Max anyway.

My Aux Heater stopped working whilst in Southern Spain in November. Well its rather warm daytime but cold at nights, thats how I knew. Before I returned to the UK a few days ago I checked the oil and for the 1st Time ever I had a small amount of creamy deposit on the inside of the filler cap showing that the oil had to do some work at removing condensed water from the oil. Personally, if you expect to keep the motor for some time, I would recommend fixing the heater if its only the Glow plug and as for disconnecting it to save such a small amount (if at all) it seems short sighted to me. Note:- I think the consumption figures are in Litres/hour (and it switches off after 10 minutes or so in my experience)

My grouch is not with Plastic as such, but the method of engineering used to attach it to the pump shaft. When I inspected my failed unit I was amazed, to say the least, that the original fitting consisted of a knurled cylinder to which the plastic impellor had been attached, which in turn seems to be heat shrunk onto the shaft. I can only presume that the Knurled cylinder was heat shrunk onto the shaft and then the Plastic impellor was forced on the knurled shaft. The actual connection between the two, on the plastic side, was now rather worn since I had driven some hundreds of miles with it inoperative. The initial failure was almost certainly due to the differential expansion of the metal shaft and the plastic which caused the original bond formed on fitting to open and eventually fail. The actual plastic impellor blades and surrounds were in fine condition and had not failed in the same way as a friend's BMW 2.5Td mounted in his Omega. The blades on his had broken with the central attachment still operative but the outer part now in the form of an outer ring no longer connected and forced to rotate. On mine a screw thread of the correct size in a direction to oppose the rotation or a notched fitting would have sufficed to improve the mean time between failure for these devices to be such that it wold outlast the engine itself. Perhaps Ford and Vauxhall/Opel have solved these problems.

SO THE v6'S HAVE THE PLASTIC IMPELLOR AS WELL! Well done VW Audi if that is the case for the most crass bit of automotive engineering since the Rootes group produced the Avenger or BMC the Allegro. No wonder Ford have dropped this model.

My Plastic Impellor came adrift at 74,000 miles. 2002 Ghia 1.9TDi 115bhp. Following the last post I was planning to change the water pump at the Cambelt change at 80.000 miles. Unluckily I was not able to do this as it failed last week whilst on a French motorway South of Dijon towing a 1600kg Caravan. I only discovered the problem as the inside windows started to mist up ( Steam from Pressure relief on the filler cap?) and then the Car started to beep at me to switch off and check coolant levels.. At 60mph I just took my foot off and coasted to the next refuge/rest area with the heaters full on. By this time the collant temp had dropped from 130C to 110C so I allowed it to run on whilst I checked coolant level which was Ok but slightly lower than it had been. Checked before I left UK! I then drove off at 50mph with both front and rear heaters full on and front windows open some 4/5 inches with rear sides ajar. Thank heavens the outside temp was only 12C even though it was bright sunshine as it was rather hot now inside. The good news was that I was able to continue on for 350km with the temperature rising over 110C one one occasion up a very long steep hill when I stopped to allow the engine to cool down ( whilst still ticking over) The Temperature was between 90C and 95c at all other times. This convinced me it was not the thermostat and must be the pump. I dropped the Caravan off at the planned campsite and visited a Ford main dealer I have used before for my Mondeo and told then "Pompe de l'eau". The local expert said "Non! Thermostat!" Two days later ( In the mean time I drove the car awaiting the part) he said " I know nothing!" having changed the stat and we awaited the temp to rise above 80C. I had to force the temp to rise by holding the revs at 3000+ for over 15 minutes when I finally got the temperature to rise to 100C. This proves the engine has a large degree of overcooling available to it and provided the inside heaters have fluid in them the 1.9TDi can be driven with care without damaging it. Since the car was only a 6000 miles from its cambelt change I had this and the idler+tensioner done as well. All parts are clearly marked VW Audi. The timing belt was perfect as it had been at its 1st change. Am I wrong in thinking that VW/Audi may have gone to the 40,000 mile belt change because of this water pump problem? No wonder Ford no longer market this Model. I have never had such an unreliable car since 1966 when I started driving. Clutch Slave cylinder 63,000miles 12 months ago at 4 years and now water pump 73,500miles at 5 years!!! A German friend of mine since I saw him lats year had the Slave cylinder fail at 50,000km on his 130bhp Sharan and 1 week inside his 3 year warranty. Last year he was ecstatic about VW autos this year he's a bit more like me. These are basic parts that always lasted longer than this on past cars and did not take hours of labour to change if they did need replacement. Poor design and corner cutting on costs means that VW will go under against Asiatic manufacturers if they continue in this way. I only hope that my replacement pump was the sintered type. I will find out at the next (unwanted by me) cambelt change! Assuming it gets there of course!