sparky Paul

First of all, the Dunlop 2020Es are a noisy tyre, so that may account for your increased road noise. I suspect later cars were fitted with better engine bay sound insulation too. Assuming all the cars are on 16" rims, there must be something else affecting the ride quality, as all the Mk1/2 Galaxys are essentially the same suspension, bar for the spring rates. How many miles has yours done? I know you said that you can't ever remember your car being as good, but in my experience you don't notice the gradual changes in the behaviour of the car as things wear out. Now my Galaxy has new front suspension, it certainly feels very different, and much softer - and it's taking a bit of getting use to.

There's quite a few different spring rates fitted to the Galaxys, are the two cars the same engine, etc.? Wheel/tyre combinations can also make a difference.

I have had increased road noise due to a broken front offside spring - the very top coil had cracked, and the rest of the spring was being supported by the underside of the suspension turret, bypassing the isolation of the rubber mount. The spring on the nearside snapped in two shortly after, and dismantling the front suspension revealed all the horrors. So, new front coils, shocks, bushes and bearings... and it wasn't easy. There was no hope of removing the top mounts, I ended up burning through what was left of the rusted cups to remove the struts. I did not remove the hubs, it is possible to remove the struts without the hubs, but it is tricky... If I were to do it again, I would probably remove the hubs, but remember that you will need new driveshaft bolts to do this. Watch the hub pinch bolt on older vehicles, corrosion in the pinch gap weakens the bolt, siezes it in and makes it very easy to shear off. I had to use some heat on the casting to free the bolt, the old bolts were corroded in the middle of the thread and had to be replaced. All in all, the job was not easy. Just another thing, regarding packing the tops with grease. In the process of attempting to free the top nuts, I soaked them in penetrating oil for several days prior to starting the job. I noticed that the oil attacked the rubber on the top mounts, swelling it and releasing the glue attaching the rubber... If you want to pack them with grease, make sure it's something that is waterproof, but will not attack the rubbers.

If you mean you can swivel the whole track rod an inch or so each way, that's normal - there is a ball joint at the other end connected to the steering rack.

No, but the trailing arm bushes suggested earlier are a good start. Failing that, I'm afraid you need to get the tracking measured on the back end, and any defect corrected. Possible cause could be suspension damage caused by heavy kerbing.

IIRC the Jimny is based on old SJ running gear, and they may well have common off the shelf bearings fitted. The Sharan/Galaxy wheel bearings are not standard types and I reckon you would be lucky to obtain them outside of the bearing kits supplied by the various manufacturers. Don't forget that you'll also need new driveshaft end bolts for the front bearings, included in the bearing kit.

Yes, the days where you could fit standard taper roller bearings off the shelf are gone. Most cars are now fitted with double race angular contact bearings made specifically for the automotive market, although they aren't that expensive for the Galaxy/Sharan. Try GSF. :lol:

I believe the wheel bolts are M14x1.5 thread. If you are planning to run a tap through them, I would have a very careful look at the threads. If they have been crossed and you recut them, they will be weakened. Any doubts at all and the hub should be replaced... I have seen previously damaged hubs that have been helicolied, but I'm not sure I would fancy that idea...

They are XL (eXtra Load), so they are fine for the Galaxy. New price is around

...and I think I would have to agree. In addition, and I don't know if this is correct, but this report appears to have been instigated by Continental, and all of the tests have been conducted by Continental themselves. The way the charts are scaled, and adjusting the base as close as possible to the Continental's result, make the differences appear huge - when in fact some of them are very small. I don't doubt that the absolute best performance is offered by tyres made by the big tyre manufacturers offering the latest advances in tyre technology, you would have to expect this. However, even in this report, I am quite surprised how close some of the next best results are - in most cases within a percent or two of the Continental's result. That's not to say that there are no bad Chinese tyres, and this report seems to have included quite a few of them, and it is this contrast between the Continentals and the very worst Chinese tyres which makes good headlines. Personally, I would have liked to have seen more of the better reviewed Asian tyres included in this test, as well as some of the mid-range European tyres. What is needed to make a proper informed choice is completely independent and truly objective testing of all tyres, with relevant grading, something which is sadly lacking. Just because a tyre is made in China, it doesn't automatically make it bad - most of the big tyre manufacturers have, or are currently building, tyre plants in China. Some of the existing tyre plants in China also produce big branded tyres under license for local markets. I'm sure that some of the Chinese-branded tyres from these same plants are perfectly good, but some of the tyres from the lesser Chinese factories are going to be poor, and it is a risk if you are content to fit brands nobody has ever heard of before. The whole tyre thing is something I've been experimenting with for a while now. Previously, I always went for a premium tyre on the main car, and tended to opt for European made mid-range tyres on the secondary car, but recently I have experimented with various different types, including Chinese made tyres. My choices have been guided by positive reviews and user reports, and to be honest I have had no problems with the ones I have used. Would I buy Chinese tyres again? Possibly, but only after considering reviews and tyre tests, and I would prefer to go for established European brands if the difference in price wasn't too prohibitive, which it usually isn't. I very nearly fitted Vredestein Sportracs last time, which were very highly reviewed at the time, and were very reasonably priced at

Frankly the cost of the matrix is trivial compared to the cost of the effort involved in replacing it. :) Too right, but the OP didn't want to pay dealer price for the part.

Your mechanic means the heater matrix. The aircon evaporator and heater matrix are two separate devices - the aircon evaporator provides cooling from the aircon circuit (gas), if you have aircon fitted, and the heater matrix provides heating from the engine coolant circuit (water). Connections to the aircon evaporator are via two aluminium pipes on the nearside of the bulkhead, the heater matrix is connected by flexible hoses behind the engine. If you have coolant (it has a particular smell) in the footwells, then it is likely that the matrix has gone. You can link out the heater matrix as a temporary measure, but obviously you will loose cabin heating... I can only recommend that you try local motor factors for a replacement matrix, that's what I would do if the part was too expensive from Ford or VW, or try fleabay. AFAIK, the matrix unit is the same for mk1 and Mk2 vehicles, the only difference being for LHD and RHD cars. A leak in the coolant system will cause it to loose pressure and boil, subsequent inadequate cooling and overheating is likely. If the matrix has had it, I would replace that first. EDIT: That's what happens when you go off and pour a cup of tea mid reply - SK beats you to it! :16:

What matters is the load index on the tyre - these numbers correspond to a maximum weight the tyre can carry. Are you certain he has the same tyres fitted? I just checked a few Voyager models, and two tyre sizes came up - 215/65R15 and 215/65R16 on later models, neither specified RF/XL. The load index of standard tyres in these sizes is 96 and 98 respectively, both of which are above the 94 minimum required by the Galaxy - assuming the gross weight of the Voyager is not too much higher than the Galaxy, then it is possible that these standard (not-reinforced/extra load) tyres are sufficient for the Voyager. Indeed, a load index of 96 seems to be the minimum specified. If the load index on the Voyager's tyres is lower than 96, I would guess that the wrong tyres are fitted.

AFAIK none of the 2.3 alternators have the free wheeling pulley on them. Either a bad tensioner or idler pulley would cause the symptoms you describe, or indeed a bad belt or possibly alternator bearings. I've changed both the idler and tensioner pulleys on mine, and they do indeed appear to be the same basic pulley on each.

It does seem odd. I think seatkid has hit the nail on the head though. You need to eliminate all external possibilities as far as is possible, then I'm afraid the next step is to remove the head, examine the head gasket very carefully, and get the head pressure tested. If it were me, I'd get the head whipped off and have a look - the answer must be somewhere in there. Good Luck!

No problem, glad it helped someone out! :ph34r:

If none of the other suggestions work, check the wiring in the convoluted rubber conduit to the tailgate.

Past experiences with garages, both fast-fit and main dealer, are one of the reasons I do my own. If you plan to use a garage to do work like this, ask friends for local recommendations.

I did mine, and I think you do need a fair bit of room underneath the car. I didn't have to remove any heat shields, but it was very tight indeed. The replacement slid back in without any problems, much easier.

AFAIK, you have to have the correct spring to suit the engine, and I understand there are some differences between Mk 1 and Mk 2 models. Any decent factor should be able to get them, or there are a few sellers on fleabay - not sure if they're any good though. By strange coincidence, I've just had the front n/s spring go bang... :lol:

Yes, hold with the allen key and undo the nut... and hope that the hex socket in the top of the strut isn't too corroded. :D

There's a thread here with some VOSA info regarding the front suspension MOT issue. http://www.fordgalaxy.org.uk/ford/index.php?showtopic=4919

It certainly is possible to produce hydrogen by electrolysis, simply pass a DC current through tap water and you will find hydrogen is produced at the negative electrode. However, as has been said earlier, the amount of energy required to do this is less than that recovered by combustion. There are a number of issues with burning hydrogen, one of which is that the waste product is water, which is not very engine friendly. Another problem is that the gas produced in most of these devices is actually a combination of hydrogen and oxygen, often termed HHO or 'hydroxy', which is highly volatile... http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=gfk8jXVUF34