sparky Paul

If it's the same pipe I'm thinking of, that pipe has failed twice on mine, corroding where it crosses the chassis leg and comes out of the engine undertray. I'm surprised Ford no longer stock these, that's not good news... I had one supplied a while ago from FordpartsUK - you could try there. After the second failure, I too am now without aircon again. I need to look at repair options for the second failed pipe - even if a new replacement pipe is obtainable, they are not cheap. I would be very interested to hear how you get on with the VW dealer...

Ouch. Sounds like it's being sorted though, which is good news. If things had turned ugly, I suspect you would have been able to win a small court claim against them, as their designated courier all but admitted the damage.

There's a supplier on fleabay selling complete new driveshafts for around

How did you pay for it? I'm hoping you say 'credit card', and that it was over

I have the same problem and need to know how to get to this wiring loom to check it, does anyone know where this is please? You should be able to open the boot with the various methods listed and linked to above. The failure in the wiring loom is usually in the rubber conduit at the top right ride of the tailgate, between the tailgate and the car body.

It's not easy to improvise something for these, I can only suggest obtaining a set of 5-point bits, they are relatively easy to get hold of now.

What's the oil level like? You might get a better response in the MKIII section, the MKI/II cars discussed here are completely different build. http://www.fordgalaxy.org.uk/ford/index.php?showforum=175

If you connect battery +ve to the small solenoid terminal, and the battery -ve to the motor casing (earth) - yes, the solenoid should push the gear out. If the large terminal is connected to the battery +ve, as it should be in the car, and the motor casing (earth) to battery -ve, the starter should spin as soon as you apply +ve to the solenoid too. Note that you will need decent sized cables and secure connections to make the starter spin.

Manual gearbox simplifies matters. Haynes electrical diagrams are not ideal, IIRC they are of the earlier mk.1s, and incomplete. Yours is a later Mk.1 with the completely revised electrical system, similar to a mk.2. TIS is Ford's 'Technical Information System' which is a PC based service manual on CD. Only R26 will actually stop the starter cranking, and as this has been replaced, it should be okay. This is the relay controlled by the immobiliser, so that should rule that out too. As the solenoid is clicking, I would appear that the circuit to the starter is actually being made. As starter is attempting to engage, first thing I would now check is the battery-engine earth strap for a bad earth. Preferably check visually, or you can check with a voltmeter by measuring from battery -ve to engine whilst cranking, should read zero, or as near as. Failing that, assuming starter is good, you are looking at something daft like a faulty starter switch or bad contact somewhere, there isn't much else. Locate with a voltmeter, checking for a volt drop across switch contacts, etc., whilst cranking. According to TIS, circuit goes... battery +ve ---> starter switch N278 ---> fuse F26 ---> relay K191 (R26) ---> starter solenoid Hope this helps!

Wow. That's what I call lucky! :D

According to TIS, fuse F26 (30A) is for the starting circuit, so I would check that. Auto or manual gearbox? Auto has a starter inhibit switch, which is mounted on the gear lever, under the centre console. Finally, I'm not 100%, but from the electrical schematics (Galaxy 98-00) it looks like the petrol car will not actually turn over if the immobiliser is not deactivated, so you may have to investigate that possibility. First thing to do is try another key. Whilst other stuff will stop the car from running, there's nothing else which will actually stop the starter from turning as far as I can see, apart from something basic like a faulty starter switch or a broken wire, etc.. Hope this helps! :D

I give another vote for ARB links knocking, it's the most common front suspension/steering defect. As for the bouncing tensioner, did they check/change the idler pulley too? That can cause the same symptoms, and does seem odd that disturbing the auxiliary belt cured the problem for a while.

Well, personally I think Mintex are excellent aftermarket discs/pads. I have had Mintex on the front now for 40-50,000 miles and they have worn perfectly flat, no ridges, scores, or any sign of unevenness whatsoever. As far as I'm concerned, that's an indication of a good casting of decent quality steel, and good quality friction material. I chat with the local tester while he's doing the MOT on the car, and they always give a good result on the dynamometer. The back ones ones are looking a bit crusty now, and Mintex will be going on there too.

It does sound like a wheel bearing... I do hope that fixes it for you. :ph34r:

Yes, that's the aircon receiver/dryer on 95-00 models. Sounds like an aircon leak... ;)

At least you've eliminated one thing. I said it earlier, it's not easy to determine where noises are coming from on the front end, and it can be very frustrating as you have found out. Sometimes, you just have to start with the most likely culprit, and carry on until you find it. The fact that the noise varies with the loading on each tyre does tend to point to a wheel bearing though, but even that cannot be guaranteed. Are there any other factors which alter the noise? Ambient temperature? Driving in the wet? How exactly does it alter with road speed? You say it does it at low speeds. Does the noise go away over 40-50mph? When it sounds worse on smooth roads, is the noise actually worse, or is it not being masked by the road noise?

It's not too bad, but not the easiest job either. Watch that pinch bolt! The bearing can growl without any play, so feel for any roughness - it's not as easy to determine which side is the problem on the front.

Sounds like the gearbox on the wiper motor.

Virtually impossible without removing the hub carrier, but you can remove the hub carrier without removing the strut. Remove the driveshaft bolt, brake disc, brake caliper, and abs sensor cable, then split the trackrod end and bottom ball joint. Push the driveshaft out of the hub. You then have to undo the pinch bolt holding the hub carrier to the strut - great care is needed here, as the bolt corrodes in the gap, siezes into the hub casting, and may shear off... putting some heat into the casting is the safest way to undo it. Replace the bearing in the usual way, remove circlip and press old bearing out, then press new bearing in and refit new circlip... Driveshaft bolt must be renewed on reassembly, and the pinch bolt too if in poor condition.

To be honest, I wouldn't worry too much until it starts blowing, or is advised on the MOT. I thought my back box was a bit rough, but they are double skinned and quite heavily made... it was several years later when a large section of the outer skin had rotted away before the box just started to weep. IIRC, I paid around

Don't know, but might be better in MkIII section.

The spring rates generally only differ for engine/gearbox/ancilliary combinations, so I wouldn't expect yours to be much different to the other later models of similar spec. I haven't had much experience of other Galaxys/Sharans, so I don't know if they vary much in ride quality, but I wouldn't have thought so. :lol: You can put your hand up into the suspension turrets to feel if the springs are intact. No part of the springs should be touching the actual body of the car, they should fit neatly into the cups at the top and bottom of the suspension strut. No spring coils should be touching. Another thing to look for is the front suspension being lower than normal, and the drop can be slight if a spring has only lost the top coil. A broken or damaged spring on one side will also pull down the other side of the car, because of the effect of anti-roll bar, so the car would not necessarily look lop-sided as you would expect.

I wouldn't want to worry you, but mine had done 90k when both front springs snapped... :blink:

If that's the text from the failure sheet, it looks like the garage means both sides, i.e. offside and nearside. I would guess that the garage is planning to replace the wishbones with pattern parts rather than re-bush, and with the track rod end you'll be looking at over