sparky Paul

Mines looking scabby, but withstands the hammer at the moment. Body corrosion is the problem starting on mine, the very bottom of the wings on to the sills are turning to weetabix. I suppose it's to be expected, I forget that it's a 16 year old car now... Strangely, the outriggers seems to be more of a problem on mk.2 cars, seen quite a few failures due to rot in the subframe/chassis area behind the front wheels.

I don't know what sort of driving that is, but that doesn't sound good... Ours eats about £40 a week doing mixed driving, so that would be approx 36L... and it does 230+ miles on that.

Just my two penn'orth... The 2.3 Ford engine is totally bombproof if serviced correctly, and gives fewer problems in general than the diesel. The 2.3 is also great to drive. Prices are also lower and there are plenty of good low mileage examples about, so you can be choosy. On the downside, ours averages around 30mpg, the answer is a LPG conversion which puts the fuel costs on par with the diesel. The 2.0 litre petrol has to work hard in the big body, and fuel economy is no better than the 2.3. The exception to this is the mk.2 2.3 petrol, which carried over the 5 speed Ford VTX75 gearbox from the mk.1.

Agree, looks like the post cat lambda sensor kaput. Also check for damaged wiring, it's a bit vulnerable under there. My mark 1 doesn't have one, but I understand the later ones do.

That could be the best hope, it's certainly worth a try. Looking at the various master cylinders, there are certainly some non-ABS/ABS types that look interchangeable. The only other option is to try to obtain a seal from somewhere other than the dealer, it may be possible to obtain the seal from a brake parts supplier, or maybe a recon specialist. It may even be possible to obtain a replacement from a general bearing & transmission parts supplier, but you will need exact measurements of the seal, or a sample to match, i.e the old seal. The shaft seal usually some type of lipseal, and some are fitted with generic sizes. Failing that, though maybe not the most satisfactory answer, it may be possible to remove a good seal from a scrap servo unit, to fix yours. I would have thought that the input shafts on the servos would be fairly similar across the various Galaxy servos.

Can't see it either. I know the 4 port non-ABS are a weird looking thing, but I thought your master cylinder was okay? As for the electrical connectors on the later servos, I believe it's only a sensor and you can just ignore it. Just find something that fits!

I'd be interested to know too. Looking at the drawings, the end of the ABS/non-ABS master cylinders into the servo looks the same, or very similar indeed. If I found a similar s/h one that actually mated with your own master cylinder, I would be trying that and to hell with the numbers!

That's been cut with a hydraulic cable cutter or similar. Unfortunately, looking where they've cut it, it could cost you a downpipe and middle pipe too. They still steal these, and they know which ones to go for. Some are worth very little, some scrap at

Part 7 on the diagram above is a spacer, not present on the Galaxy. The pic is of a Golf suspension, but gives you the general idea of the layout - I couldn't find one for the Galaxy at the time... On the Galaxy, it goes... top spring seat - bearing - small nut - rubber seat - car body - top mount (cup) & nut. The manual does not instruct you to threadlock the bearing retaining nut, but I don't think it's a bad idea. The original bearing retaining nut is a slim nut, about 1/8" thick - you can re-use the original. The top mount nut is a ovalled locking nut with shoulder, and is sometimes supplied attached to the top mount. Aftermarket shock absorbers are sometimes supplied with a replacement nyloc nut (the one with the nylon insert). Watch what you put in the top mount, some greases affect the adhesive that holds the rubber bumper.

If you take the scuttle cover out from under the bonnet, the protrusion of the top cup above the suspension turret will tell you if the top bush or bearing has collapsed. Look for a 1/4"-1/2" or thereabouts gap between the lip of the top cup and the suspension turret, with the car's weight on the suspension. TBH there's not a lot else can go wrong with the top of the suspension legs. The smaller nut under the top cup can come loose if the leg has been disassembled, it's a good idea to studlock it on reassembly. If this has come undone, it will make the knock you describe as the bearing will be able to move on the shaft. You can access the small nut by removing the top cup with the weight of the car on the suspension, but you will need a slender ring spanner and shock it with a small hammer to tighten it. Take care to make sure the bearing is seated properly as you tighten it, as it could be irreparably damaged - if it isn't already. If this is the case, the strut will have to come out to rectify. If all the components on the bottom of the leg have been changed, I would make sure everything is tight - an insecure droplink makes an awful noise. A pry bar can be useful when locating the source of any movement.

What's wrong with that? Mine still works :P

Not this bugger! Might be worth trying VW for the boot, I believe same boot is used on other VWs.

I'm no 'tech expert', but coincidences have caught me out before... have you checked relays 30/167? When your tinkering, and something goes wrong, it's natural to assume it's something you've done.

If you ever need genuine parts, I've used fordpartsuk a few times without any problems. Trevor Porter, the chap who answers the web enquiries is extremely helpful, and although there are postage costs, the parts prices are discounted so it usually ends up a bit cheaper than local dealers.

Clicking on a full lock circle is the classic symptom, but loss of grease or contamination from a split boot can also give the same symptoms.

Very generous chrome, there must be somebody around Peterborough that can make use of these useful bits. B)

Ironically, the 2.3 thermostat lump is a VW part and has a VW part number on it. I guess it came from the VW parts bin somewhere along the line, but I'm not sure what from. In reply to xavier, the remote stat comes contained in a sealed housing with 3 pipe outlets, and you have to buy the whole thing.

If you pull the rubber gaiter to the tailgate back, you should be able to identify the problem if the wiring is at fault. It is possible to bodge the wiring with insulating tape and/or soldering to get you away, but it will only be a temporary solution - the answer is the pull through some new flexible wiring to replace the old brittle stuff. Access is by removing the trim panels on the tailgate and inside the car.

Yes, it can be a pain of a job. Do both sides to make sure handling is unaffected - but if one has broken, the other side is often not far behind anyway. Can't go wrong with KYB.

What shape are the discs in?

Well, I've always fitted 'cheap' pattern ABS sensors, and never had any problems. I'm sure the one I fitted to the Galaxy has been on 5-6 years now. As for the cheap CV joints, again from J&R, I did fit one of their cheap driveshafts to a Renault. It seemed perfectly fine for the 2 years we had it, the car is still local and it still going strong AFAIK. That said, it's a bit optimistic to expect the cheap Galaxy CV joints to be as good quality as, or last like, the original parts... my old Galaxy still has both of it's original CV joints (both have had new ABS rings fitted), and they are still perfect. It seems daft to me to replace a perfectly good original CV joint, just because of a split ABS ring. Worse still, replace it with a cheap pattern part. Personally, I would just swap the ring - it's easier than replacing the whole CV joint anyway. However, your mechanic is probably going to want to do it his way.

I would also add that if the problem is intermittent, and the reluctor ring has obviously failed, chances are the sensor will be okay. They are only

It doesn't need a new CV joint. Just as xavier says above, all old CV joints scale up with rust, breaking the reluctor ring. The scale can be knocked off the old CV joint and a new reluctor ring fitted, usually without any problems whatsoever. New rings are