sparky Paul

If he can't get the key back vertical, there's not much choice IMHO - you've got to start somewhere... If it makes you feel good, have a gold star and a smiley too! ;) ;)

The release of the key in the upright position is a mechnical function of the lock, so I would say you definitely have a mechanical problem. You will not be able to remove the key unless you can return it to the vertical position - attempting to pull out the key by force in any other position may damage the lock and possibly the key too. From your explanation, I would say that the either the lock mechanism or a linkage is jammed, or the key barrel is jammed or damaged internally. As you have obviously tried lots of key jiggling, you may have to remove the door card to see what's going on behind the lock... edit: ...just as mo4 said! ;)

If there are no problems when the car is idling, my first port of call would be the oil pressure switch - check the wiring to it and/or replace the switch. If that doesn't fix it, and assuming all servicing has been done (i.e. oil filter changed recently) and there are no obvious oil leaks anywhere, the oil pump could be failing, or you could be losing oil pressure somewhere internally. Turbo, possibly? I'm sure someone will be around soon who knows more about the diesel engine... ;)

The Scorpio uses a similar tensioner, but in a different position, and the auxiliary components and belt arrangement are completely different to the Galaxy. Whilst the Scorpio has the PS pump and alternator on the left side of the engine, the Galaxy has everything on the right of the crank pulley, or front of the engine, being tranversely mounted.

I'm not 100% certain, but if IIRC the complete tensioner assembly is attached to the block with three bolts... I understand you remove the tensioner arm from the assembly to access them. Perhaps someone who has changed one could clarify.

Fortunately, mine was a rather cheaper fix - a new belt seems to have cured my squealy woes. ^_^

Part number for the tensioner is 1148358. HTH ^_^

Yes they did, but I wasn't sure that they would, and neither did the garage supplying them. Having said that, you have to disturb two other pipe connections to change the pipe and dryer, and in theory you are supposed to replace the o-rings on these too. Well, I thought 'better safe than sorry' for a few pence... :rolleyes:

The Fortunas F2000s are asymmetric, but they're certainly quiet. I like directional tyres, but you're limited when swapping wheels round, and they're not exactly ideal on the spare... Factory fit on my Galaxy were 215/55x16 H-rated Dunlop SP2020Es.

Anyway, the pipe and o-rings arrived today, so that's the next job.

I wonder why the difference?

Just to add, I don't think there's much difference in wear between the Dunlops and the Fortunas - but at least they're a lot quieter!

In my experience, the TW number doesn't seem to make a lot of difference. Driving style and types of roads driven does. A tyre with a treadwear rating of 280 is supposed to last 2.8 times as long as a reference tyre, and likewise yours should last 3.6 times as long, in theory. In practise, tyre manufacturers tend to just put lower numbers on tyre sizes/profiles which are known to wear quickly, and higher numbers on tyre sizes/profiles which are known to wear more robustly. Although tyres are different, if the compound used for the tyres was much softer or harder than the norm, it would have adverse effects on handling.

You mean the foam block that fits where the pipe passes through the engine undertray? I've seen that mentioned before, but there's never been one on mine. That's where my pipe rotted...

Cheers Gaz. I've had the pipe off the Expansion valve on the bulkhead to check the size of the o-rings, and there seems to be easy enough to move about there. I was more concerned about jiggling the pipe up the back whilst getting it behind the front strut - but it sounds like it's not going to be too bad.

Welcome to the forum! Yes, that's the one, glad to hear you got it sorted okay. Did you have any problems fitting the pipe? Although I've got everything else ready and waiting, I'm still waiting for my new pipe to arrive... :wacko:

280, that's the same as the Fortuna F2000s. The Dunlop SP2020Es for comparison are 200. The problem with treadwear ratings is that the manufacturers assess these themselves - they are not assigned independently and so are not always entirely accurate...

For the 215/55x16s, I would think that for most people 15-20,000 would be more representative on the front, probably about 30-40,000 on the back pair. I've heard of people with 2.8 Galaxys wearing out a pair of front tyres in 5,000 miles!

Means nothing, especially if it's been bashed about. New parts can, and do, fail. A poorly clutch thrust bearing (or release bearing) will be noisy if you depress the clutch pedal, or usually when you just rest your foot on the pedal. Can rattle out of gear but unusual - look for a distinct change of the noise as you depress the clutch. It's a pretty distinctive fault which is easily diagnosed by a garage. Not cheap to fix - usually means the gearbox has to come off - but I think you can still do the Vectras without completely removing the gearbox. From your description earlier of a metallic sounding noise which increases with engine speed, the first place I would be looking would be the front half of the exhaust including the cat. If you can feel any exhaust gases escaping around the flexy, I would say that it is kaput. If the cat is disintegrating, you can often hear the bits rattle if you give the bottom of the cat a slap with your hand (make sure it's not hot first!). Can you feel the noise transmit through the car body, or is it just noisy? I'm over near Retford at the other side of the Trent to you, and I'm certainly no expert... The problem is, the source of rattles can be difficult to identify without getting the car up on a full ramp and having a poke about - however, any half decent garage should be able to locate it quickly enough. ...edited to make sense.

If something got damaged, it will only deteriorate over time. I used to have a Calibra many moons ago, the cat started disintegrating on that - it started as a innocuous metallic rattle... after a couple of weeks it was like a bag of bolts, and the exhaust sounded like a tractor.

If you mean the inline couplings, they are call Spring Lock couplings and you need a special tool which clips over the joint and separates it. They come in a set of four for the different pipe sizes, like these... http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SEALEY-Air-Condition...emZ160124741065 Use new o-rings on reassembly, and lubricate with PAG46 oil.

The mesh bit is just a protective cover, the actual exhaust pipe is inside - it's like the bendy bit on a bendy straw. If it splits, you can't see it. I saw the mark on the pictures, that's what made me wonder if the exhaust fitter had been a bit rough. Cats certainly don't like being knocked about - the core is ceramic...