Sher

What I can't understand is why is it looks so expensive? The Tax(VAT?) equivalent in Germany is 16%( yes we pay more than the Germans!). I beleive that as an HM service person you pay no local taxes on the car and after 6 months you can import back to the UK and Pay no Vat?

Between 0 and 8900 (1st service) I added 0.5Litres at 5000 miles to top it up to the full mark. From then to 19100 at the second service I got fed up of looking to see if I needed to top up. Just before the service I checked and it was 1/2mm below the top. After service ( and 3rd lot of oil) its 1 or 2mm above full. Oh 115 1.9TDI Sept 2002 Galagy Too difficult to get out!! :rolleyes:

The answer to the Question about oil for Fords 1.9TDI (according to the photocopy in front of me of Ford's recommendations to Dealers Pg 71/72 ) is SAE 10W-40 (Spec ACEA A3/B3) but an alternative is SAE 5W-40's. Perhaps it is the older handbook? My Car is the 115bhp 1.9TDI 2002 August Model. I prefer 5W -40's ( + fully synthetic ) because I obtain it at a reasonable price ie less or the same as the the 10w-40's. Otherwise the 10w 40's would have to do. Even with Fully synthetic I change earlier than 10,000miles. The Local Ford Dealer Service manager has now supplied me with information with regard to the replacement oil at service for my Galaxy. The oil used in the workshop would have been automatically have been selected by the servicing mechanic, no matter what it says on the invoice and should have been the correct one. I tend to believe him as I have a friend who works there. Also (from the Photo copy) the Formula E 5W-30 is in fact a diesel oil used for Transit 2.5l diesels so my intuition that this was a possible multi engine oil was correct(?) if this is used in Petrol engines also. On the same sheet it says that below 10C this oil can be used for all 1.9TDI engines (Galaxy) except those with unit injector systems. This makes sense since at lower temps oil becomes thicker and a thinner oil will allow engine to turn over faster when starting and get to those drier parts quicker when cold. At worst I will have run the engine in a slightly thinner oil than specified when it was upto temperature for 9000 miles. Hopefully this has not happened but one doesn't pay main agents fees to have this happen I could have done without the problem but compared with the nightmares I have had with Main agents of Volvo and Rover when servicing my cars in the past this is small. They also refunded me the cost of my own oil For this reason I prefer whenever possible to do myself or my friendly Ford mechanic to do the work involved. Then I know it is done. Any faults or problems are down to us. :D Its only when the vehicle servicing was out of my hands that problems have arisen in the past.

This has been talked about before under the topic "Witter Towbars". I fitted a towsure bar with a bumper plate and by doing the items mentioned I have no problems except the documented prob in the handbook sometimes(very seldom) when it rains or sensors are dirty. :D I have some problems with dealers they charge ???/hour !!! I found the reference by doing a site search on TOWSURE

It should not be required at all. Its an artificially produced problem brought about by trying to reach conflicting targets. It seems that a balance has been struck by the designers in reducing the NOx emissions and increasing the amounts of particulates(soot) in the design of the systems controlling the combustion and emissions from the 1.9TDI range of engines. I could not understand why there was a limit of 5% Biodiesel usage when mixed with Normal diesel in the handbook, when apparently to all reports its should be such a clean burning fuel. I have a feeling that it may be related to this problem which is mentioned in several places over the web. A google search of "TDI EGR Valve VAG" produced much of interest.

Sorry if I sounded upset but I'm not. The topic is very full of emotive idealists who only just scratch the surface and look at it in a simplistic way. I consider myself to be an enviromentalist but I know that the Green party would consider me to be the worst sort of evil. Someone who knows enough to be able to pick flaws in some of their arguments. The method talked about in the American site pages mentioned by Mr Intruder frightens me to death with the idea of washing out , rinsing and drying the inlet manifold. Liquids/ water and diesels engines do not mix. I've been thinking about it and what comes to mind is High pressure steam, in small enough quantities, when the engine is hot and running at high speed?? I am unsure at the moment how safe it would be. Depends upon the temperature inside the combustion chamber when at maximum compression. Any ideas anyone. (enough to burn Diesel anyway) I seem to remember superheated steam was used in some low speed diesels to inject in really heavy fuel oils. Should be some data somewhere. Not having seen the gung as yet that builds up. I hope to avoid it. It suits the service agents more work for them.

There is an awful lot of propaganda talked about pollution. I doubt that many people who talk about it have done serious research into the matter. Homes produce far greater pollution effects; where is the legislation on that. Government employees respond by saying:- Ah! but the growth of road transport energy use is greater (as an excuse for increasing Tax on Fuel I have the letter somewhere but no Email from a Treasury Employee). Notice they do not say pollution from transport is growing. Then we enter the argument about WHAT IS POLLUTION? To a Green plant, that horrible nasty stuff responsible for GLOBAL WARMING, called Carbon Dioxide is Mannah from the Air. Too much Oxygen they struggle. Exhaust gas recirculation, correct me if I am wrong, is primarily designed to reduce the NOx emissions from engines. The worlds manufacturers of fertilizers go to great expense to get the Nitrogen and Oxygen present in the air to combine in this way so they can produce nitrate fertilisers. These NOx gases are very soluble and are readily absorbed in water when it rains. (It rains a lot in the Pennines !!) I did see a suggestion that upto 10% of the nitrates falling on our farmland came from vehicle some years ago. It may or may not be true. I am not too sure of the actual figures. All I know is that extra energy is now used to make the Nitrates I once provided for free. Diesels also produce very little or no Carbon Monoxide (CO). Petrol 1 -3% without a Catalytic convertor( Now that burns fuel) 5 miles to warm up before it functions fully (hence the awful smell). Since the average UK journey is just 5 miles .i.e. switch off when it starts to work!! More pollution as a result. Cat standards were set (at German insistance?) for the American Market where the average journey is 15 Miles hence 10 miles of reduced pollution, 5 of more. Why so much propaganda against Diesels? What I do know is that the oil companies have a vested interest in keeping Fuel Consumption up. They make about the same per gallon/litre if its petrol or diesel. If all cars etc sold from tomorrow were diesel then their profits would plummet (20% reduction in Fuel usage?). Yes I know that diesel is only one fraction of the output from refineries, but the balance can be changed is favour of Diesel if required. (as it was in the past to favour petrol) I became suspicious of the fuel companies when they sold the government of the UK at that time, the story that they would not be able to produce anything other than 95 Octane when we went unleaded. This caused higher fuel consumption on all cars as compared to 98 Octane (Estimates I have seen say1-3%). I knew that was nonsence all the unleaded in France was 98 Octane to begin with because of a French Political decision. Some/many French politicians/civil servants have a more technical educational background, not like our UK types. Why do you think France now Manufactures more than us. More added value on petroleum products than us and they don't have reserves. Exports as much Electricity in value as we do North Sea Oil. Typical 'Enviromentalists' use emotive terms.:- Murdering??????Read/watch and learn your 'Yes Minister' about the substance Meta Dioxin to give you some insight as to how our Politicians react to media, ill informed pressure groups etc. Absorbing misinformation from all directions. Study the scientific research before getting carried away. Its just like the NIMBY environmentalists jumping up and down about Wind Turbines. Every day I feel upset because misinformed (in my opinion) Government legislation causes me to burn more energy than I need.

As Mr Intruder has hinted before with his postings about Vag-com, it seems the simplest and best solution to prevent the fouling problem is to reduce the activity of the exhaust gas recirculation valve. This of course needs access to software and connectors of the correct kind. Whether the dealers at Ford garages would flag this up when it was serviced I do not know. I doubt they do more than set the values to preprogrammed ones if they do change them, but that will have to be answered by someone who knows. The ignorance of some service personnel is quite staggering. Mind you when you've taught (sorry I mean tried to teach) some (and I do mean some) teenagers Physics and Electronics then I suppose that I should not expect any difference.

Your all moaners!! :angry: Stacks of space for manuals in big pockets behind drivers and front passenger seats. :angry: What about those massive caverns below the two front seats. :blink: The door pockets can hold a 1.5 litrebottle of water/coke. Poss 2lites. :o What you people need is a real serious problem with your mota car, like we had in the past, then you wouldn't have time to invent things to make postings about!! How dar you blame that poor kind Mr Ford when you all know Mr VAG caused the problem. Anyway I have small hands for my size! I Can reach where others can't!! (PS Keep it clean boys)

I just think the person answering was covering themselves if you read the 2nd line of the posting it says about them asking for invoice copies which are on their way. Today I received this from the same person:- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Mr Sher, Thank you for your e-mail which arrived in this office on September 23, 2003. The oil ratings that we recommend are as follows: 2.3 DOHC Petrol - 5W-30 2.8 24V Petrol - 5W-40 or XR+ High Performance 10W-40 1.9 TDI Diesel - 5W-40 Thank you for contacting the Ford Information Service. Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us again. Yours sincerely, Donald Campbell Ford Information Service When replying please quote FCRC 12*****

Just got this back from Ford Technical section on the web. I rang the telephone number and they asked me to forward copies of the invoice to them!! Will have to follow this up!! Thank you Mr Intruder for pointing me in the right direction!! :blink: ! You are better informed as usual than most of us O Imperious One! 22/09/2003 Dear Mr Sher, Thank you for your e-mail which arrived in this office on September 22, 2003, regarding information on the oil used in the Ford Galaxy. Ford would recommend that an oil viscosity rating that meets 5W-40 specification be used. It is stated in the handbook and technical data provided by Ford to the dealer network that this oil rating has to be used. The Galaxy specification and emissions levels are based around a given set of components, the correct oil being one of them. We would recommend taking this matter up with your dealership. You can also speak to the Ford Customer Relationship Centre on 0845 8411111 for further advice on this matter. Thank you for contacting the Ford Information Service. Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us again. Yours sincerely, Donald Campbell Ford Information Service When replying please quote FCRC 12*****

Some oils are able to be used in both. One only presumes that this is what the Ford oil was. I was not too happy. Anyway this is about costs Here it is date 21/07/03 18394 miles

Yes. I just presumed that Ford provide them with one oil which is designed to cover the range. (Maybe the E in the grading has some meaning). If you look back you can see that I commented on this in the past and one member said that I should not complain because the agent had done better than they should in providing the oil they did. I explained in more detail why I did not agree. Here it is Invoice 4/R/4061* date 21/07/03 18394 miles

Yes Mr Intruder the very stuff you recommended to another person on this forum for his 2.0L petrol Galaxy (5W-30's). But they have changed it. A week or so after they changed it for fully synthetic 5W-40's and spent a lot of time trying to sort out the drivers door wind noise and the intermittent dry(?) bearing noise which is starting to reappear now its colder in the morning. When I got the car back it had been running for nearly 2 hours and covered 1.6 miles (or so). Over the years I have learned not to expect miracles. I've had problems with Volvo and Rover service agent of a more expensive kind than I've had so far. When I buy a new car first thing I go for is Manufacturers Service book if I can get it. With Ford I don't need it now the TIS is a good start. This Forum is third and my friendly neighbourhood Ford mechanic is second!!

The Ford Oil has to be a decent one because they use it across their range of cars. A problem I have had is that the agent's service department used it on my 1.9TDI when it definately says 5W-40's in the BOOK. If something goes wrong who do I argue with?? I know there have been discussions on this topic before so I dug around and found this neat little feature called a "search" the forum at the bottom of the page. If you search for:- Oil?, Which ones the best?? or just Oil You should find some answers. P.S. I know I should have spotted it before!!! But I was too busy looking for information..

OMC Main Ford Dealers at Oldham and now also Rochdale charged me less than

So if you drive to a clear area and come to rest, with the engine running, if someone were to walk from the back of the car past the sensors and then past the front ones you might be able to simulate the same conditions! Ah! Remember the front sensors have already passed the entrance. You may need to pass from the front to the back and the front again!!! Sounds like a joke, but I find that if you can cause a condition to arise under your control you've almost got the problem licked.

Failsworth??? Thats very close to home!! :D How do you Know??

I knew about the NOx reason for EGR. Question is how do we get this done??

This is a question to SA Intruder. What you are saying is if we can cut down on EGR then we will get longer intervals before needing to spend lots of cash on cleaning the Inlet manifold+EGR valve. From what I know about the effects of EGR possibly more power, better fuel consumption and overall Lower running costs. I presume it can be done without compromising the emmisions test for diesels at MOT?? I know it cannot be done in the same way but I think this this is what was done to the Endura 1.8TDi in Mondeo, Escort etc to improve Power and Torque. I presume it needs access to the VAG.com equipment?

Sorry don't know Crystal Peaks but I know Towsure towbars as I have fitted them to all our Family cars for about 20 Years? ( I forget now its been so long). I went off the Witters because of price and their bitty make up at that time causing some difficulty in lining up. I suppose they have changed now but their prices are still higher than Towsure. They seem to have grown folloeing the demise of steel in Sheffield. I've even been to their Factory by the river in Sheffield. A very genuine firm.

Parking sensors don't just have a direct forwards and reverse sensing function they also radiate outwards slightly from the corners as I have noticed when reversing out of my drive and doing a reverse park, which is very useful for myself. With regard to the problem of them coming on for no apparent reason:- I wonder if you have possibly selected reverse which activates the sensor function or just started up the car. ( General question:-Do the sensors switch of after deselecting reverse?) When the car goes forwards and does not travel at more than 15mph the sensors remain active, both front and rear. Why I reply on this topic is I find the standard fitment of parking sensors one of the most useful innovations in automotive technology in the last 20 years following ABS and Power Steering. (ABS we get a fair bit of snow/ice in winter and Power steering helps my wife and myself now) I feel all should be and will be standard fitments in the near future (ABS from next year?) Parking sensors standard are one reason I bought a Galaxy Ghia. If like me you have vision in one eye only then distance measurement is far more difficult over those last 12 to 18 inches when parking. Width and going through gaps is not a problem, you line up at a distance and take it easy. The curved 'lane changer' mirror which sits over the interior mirror, I bought from Halfords (about

Seems I'm not the only person who believes in using a trailer for visits to the local tip. The stuff I see people taking out of newish cars is unbelievable!!! Makes me think they may not be paying for them.

I have a fixed Towsure (Sheffield) + a large bumper protection plate which I fitted myself. (

I seem to remember quite a few people at one stage having problems at the waiting section at Calais perhaps 10 years ago? Too much interference from radios/ radarwas spoken of as a possibility. The batteries in the fobs are small and seem to last forever so the Transmitted power can only be mWs and could so easily be drowned out. Also don't codes sometimes cycle on from one use to the next to prevent them being grabbed?? opr was this a recipe for disaster and dropped?