sparky Paul

Looking at that first pic, it does look close on that side. The top rubber bush looks like it's seated properly, from what you can see, you could have a feel of the gaps around the other front leg for comparison. The top spring seat does sit fairly close to the turret normally, but yours looks well tilted forwards. It does tilt from front to back as you turn from lock to lock, but the top spring seat shouldn't touch the body, obviously. Are you absolutely sure it isn't previous damage? the worn area looks rusty, and I would expect it to be bright steel if it was rubbing now. If you think it is definitely still fouling the turret, I would think that the answer is to get a top bearing/bush set and replace the rubber, making sure everything is properly seated and tight while the top cup is off and the strut detached from the turret. You can pull the strut down a bit to see things a little more easily. If the suspension is obviously lower than the other side, that would point more to a tired spring or even broken - you can loose a curl off the end without it being immediately obvious. Or perhaps it's had a new spring on the other side at some point?

From the underside pic, that top spring seat will be very close to the suspension turret when lowered, I'm assuming the pic was taken jacked up. One possibility is that the lower nut which holds the bearing onto the spring seat has come loose, allowing the bearing and top spring seat to cock over - which would account for the wear being on one side only. The spring end pushes more on one side of the seat, giving it a tendency to cock over one way if loose. It may not have been tightened properly on assembly, or maybe the spring seat was caught up on the bearing shoulder and not properly seated on shocker shaft. Ideally, the strut would need to come out so that you can visually check that everything is in the correct place and properly seated, however this can turn into a difficult job on the Galaxy. An alternative is to remove the top cup and check that the lower nut is tight with a long reach socket. If loose, you need to take care to make sure that the top seat does not get caught up on the shoulder of the shocker shaft as you tighten, a bit of tapping about of the spring seat as you tighten it should do the trick.

Yes, you can replace the top rubber bush without taking the strut out, so long as you can undo the top nut. If it's the bearing, you've had it though - it's a strut out job. Your top mount doesn't seem to be protruding excessively... is that first pic with the weight on the strut? If it is, that looks pretty normal. How long have you had the car, and when did you notice the damage under the turret? It's not previous damage from a faulty top bush/bearing which has since been repaired, is it?

I think FDCS is on diesel engines, so it could be the other option of power failure issues. The common Galaxy power relay problems often allow the engine to crank, but not start. As you have been unable to turn the engine over, and you will probably have the auxiliary fusebox near to the battery, I would be checking that first for bad connections.

Yes, don't worry about removing the lock from the handle - there are 3 torx screws that hold the handle on, two of them fix the lock into the handle. Once all 3 are undone, the lock and handle part easily. Note that I am not referring to the three screws on the bottom edge of the door. These only hold the solenoid mechanism, which has to be removed first to allow access to the three more screws that hold the handle and lock together. Incidentally, I took my handle off, cleaned it up and sprayed it body colour. Looks very smart!

Yes, it's weldable if it is a hole. Have a good poke about with a sharp implement, is it actually a hole, or is it just rubbed through the underseal? Either way, that top spring seat should not normally touch the body. I would suspect another problem here, perhaps the top bush worn/collapsing, or excessive front to aft movement in the suspension leg. How far does the top mount protrude above the suspension turret under the bonnet?

Two of the three torx screws behind the solenoid assembly hold the lock to the handle, through the tailgate. Remove all three, and the the internal lock barrel assembly comes out of the handle, and the external handle comes straight out without the lock barrel. Watch out for the rubber seal I mentioned above. Don't remove the circlip, you only have to remove that to remove the actual lock tumbler from the lock assembly.

The symptoms tell you that the clutch is not releasing completely, or 'dragging'. Most likely candidates are air in the clutch hydraulics, as mentioned earlier, or a fault in the clutch cover plate. Probably time for a clutch kit.

Just re-reading your post, I'm not sure how far you have got - are you trying to remove the barrel from the lock assembly, or just remove the handle casting? If you remove the three screws from the bottom edge of the door, you should be able to remove the solenoid assembly. Then remove the three black torx screws behind that, and the lock assembly, with the lock barrel, should split from the handle - watch out for a rubber seal around the lock barrel inside the handle. The handle can then be removed from the outside of the car by drawing it outwards and upwards slightly. If you then wish to remove the lock barrel from the lock assembly, remove the circlip and use the Insert key and turn 90° procedure I mentioned earlier.

Insert the key and turn 90°, you should then be able to draw the lock barrel out with the key.

It's probably better than mine! :lol:

Well, I haven't actually had the alternator off in the 12 years I've had the old Galaxy, so I had a quick look under the bonnet. Access is tight, and I agree that removing the air filter won't help that much. It looks like a combination of socket set, extensions, spanners and skinned knuckles. You will need to drop the undertray to remove the alternator belt and probably to access the lower mounting bolt of the alternator. Use a spanner on the tensioner pulley, just visible through the wheelarch, to relieve the spring tension whilst you slip the belt off.

PAG46 oil. If the system has been open to atmosphere for any length of time, you should replace the receiver/dryer before evac and refilling.

Good job done!

OP's is a 1999 car, so no box under the passenger seat to worry about.

...and it'll be the best five quid you ever spent, they're worth their weight in gold.

Rewind tool not needed for the front, but worth its weight in gold when doing the back ones!

Yes, you can just push the fronts in. Easiest way I find is to insert a large sturdy flat bladed screwdriver through the slot in the caliper and gently prise the outer pad towards the piston, this will push the piston back in. Obviously, you will need to do this before removing the caliper slide, aim to rest the tip of the screwdriver in line with the centre of the piston so that it pushes in squarely. You may need a bit of packing to push the last bit in. If you are fitting new pads and discs, you will have to make sure you push the pistons fully home, as you will need every bit of travel to accomodate the new parts. I would think yours will have the 300mm discs, but as bigdave says, it is worth checking - there are 3 different sizes.

Good spot. That the way to go, definitely.

If you can find another tenner, I would avoid no-name parts and go for these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-GALAXY-MINTEX-FRONT-BRAKE-DISCS-300mm-PADS-KIT-2001-2006-/231094607783 BrianH is right, you'll soon regret fitting cheap discs, and IMHO you can't go wrong with Mintex.

As BrianH says, what happens when you try to unlock with key in the passenger door? Does it only unlock that door? Once you do manage to get into the boot, any problems with the the wiring in the gaiter are obvious once you pull the rubber back. The driver's door one can be trickier, any damage to the wires should be fairly obvious, but you can also get breaks in the large multi-connector itself. I would flood the boot lock with penetrating oil and leave it a while to do its job, as suggested above. Sometimes wiggling the key helps if the tumbler pins are sticking or worn, and sometimes helps if the lock barrel has disintegrated, not uncommon. If you can get the lock to work, turning 90° to the left should force the lock open manually.

A '99 registered car will have the mk.2 electrical systems, so the programming procedure in the FAQ is correct. No response from the central locking by key does point towards a problem with the wiring, or a fuse blown, and the reprogramming will fail if the locking signal from the lock switch does not reach the central locking module in the body control module (BeCM) behind the fusebox. I would check the central locking fuses and the wiring thoroughly before proceeding - IIRC fuse 19 is for the locking, but check the other fuses too. The alarm, PATS security system, central locking and remote control are all integrated into the BeCM and ECU. There is no easy way to bypass the alarm or immobiliser, so you need to find the root cause of the problem.

The initial problems with the central locking may be down to snapped and/or damaged door gaiter wiring, which is a common issue - the tailgate and driver's door are the most likely culprits. If the central locking is completely inoperable from any lock, it's possible that a fuse may have blown due to wiring shorting out, so it will be worth checking that out before starting. If you can get the central locking to work on the key, you should be able to disarm the alarm and you can set about fixing the remote locking. If your car is a mk2 Galaxy or late mk1, the procedure to resync the remote locking is in the FAQ in the Technical Section, http://www.fordgalaxy.org.uk/ford/index.php?/topic/1485-coding-a-sharan-remote-key-fob/?p=9914

A quick google reveals one at Amazon for £240-ish all in, or you might find a used one on fleabay... obviously, a used one is not ideal, but it should be a lot cheaper. Alternatively, someone who specialises in aircon repair, or a refrigeration engineer, might be able to repair your existing pipe, depending where it's leaking from. It can be an expensive game replacing aircon parts for the Galaxy, and some parts for the early cars are on permanent back order at the dealers, i.e. obsolete.

Ah, on LPG... I missed that bit. That explains the discrepancy - 20% loss is about right.