sparky Paul

That's okay, it's not very clear which section is which. Us old stagers know where everything is. I just thought you would be more likely to get a response in the other section.

I've replaced both front ABS reluctor rings on mine over the years, they are only 4 quid each delivered off ebay, and it's also and quicker and easier than changing the whole CV joint. If the CV joint is otherwise okay, I wouldn't replace it for an inferior one from a factor. Because the job requires you to separate the driveshaft from the hub, you should also replace the driveshaft end bolt for a couple of quid, as it's a single use stretch bolt.

2.0 TDCi must be a mk.3 car surely? If it is, you might have better luck asking in the mk.3 section. With regards to mk.3 questions being posted in here, I wonder if it would help if '95-06', or '1995-2006', could be added to the mk.1/2 section title, and '06-on' or '2006-on' to the mk.3 section title?

I had an early Vauxhall Calibra 4x4 with red fluid in the manual gearbox from new, a bit puzzling when I took the 5th gear end plate off when the clutch release bearing went up the spout. Spec was for standard 75W-90 if I remember correctly, but the fluid did look like ATF. However, I found out it was a red coloured synthetic manual gearbox oil, and definitely not ATF.

If you weren't having to top up, I would say condensation from the aircon evaporator. Collect some, or dab it with a white tissue. If it's clear, it's probably condensate. If it's tinged with pink/purple/yellow/green etc., it's probably coolant leaking from the rear heater matrix or pipework.

I certainly would not go down the route of splicing in parts of secondhand loom, the wiring on the Galaxy was poor quality and they are all deteriorated. Best option is to splice in new wires and make one set of joints within the tailgate itself, and the other end inside the car in the rear trim between the rear light units and the roof. Use a good quality extra-flexible wire with fine multi strand cores, especially for the larger sizes.

I had this on a rear door when a locking motor failed, it can be a real pain to sort out. I had to remove the door card and partially dismantle the lock mechanism from inside to manually actuate the locking mechanism. The rear ones are a work of art to access, I don't know how hard it is to get into the front door locks.

Sounds like caliper has not self adjusted. With the handbrake cable removed or slackened, pump the footbrake several times to make sure that the adjuster takes up. Then reattach the handbrake cable and adjust the cable equaliser to take up any slack. If that doesn't work, a faulty caliper is a possibility, or maybe the internal adjuster screw is jammed at the end of travel. You could try manually winding the caliper piston out a little, then repeating the self adjustment procedure. Do you have excessive footbrake travel?

Yes, the captive washer bolts are fine to use with either wheel. Incidentally, AFAIK early cars all had solid bolts. My mark 1 car has had alloys and solid bolts from new, so I don't think it would matter much the other way either. Put it this way... I haven't had a wheel fall off in 14 years.

At least you found the answer,it could have been a tricky one. When all the obvious has been tried, it sometimes pays to go through the basics again.

Ditto. I don't think the rack often gives problems, hence the lack of any mentions on here. I haven't done this myself, but Mr Haynes says drop the subframe, or 'cross member' as they call it.

Not at all, it's interesting to know what you are up to! B) About the cooling system, I guess you have found that the thermostat housing on the end of the head is empty, and the thermostat is in the top radiator pipe...

The drawings in TIS are much more comprehensive and specific to age, but they can be very difficult to follow as they are chopped up into small bits. I'm not sure if all the PATS stuff is there, it's a while since I looked at it - but I have a feeling there are still bits missing. The Haynes drawings are very sketchy, and I found they often didn't match what was on the car.

Don't need to see proof, just checking to make sure we aren't overlooking something silly. If it worked before, I doubt very much that's the problem. The relay 30 issue can be a pain, it is often intermittant at first, and I have no doubt that disturbing everything could provoke a dodgy relay into causing trouble. This thread shows you where relay 30 is. It's a mk.2 car, but your 1999 car essentially has the mk.2 fusebox, BeCM and other electrics - the mk.1 electrics were heavily revised in late 1998. As for OBD, I just use a cheap, generic USB interface, but it obviously has to be J1850 compatible... some of them sold now are not, as it's an old protocol. I usually use ScanTool software, it works but is very basic.

That's the impression I got from the OP, but I thought it would be worth making absolutely sure he had connected it up and had it working before.

PATS information is very thin on the ground, and I'm certainly no expert on the mysteries of PATS. Are you absolutely certain that your ELM327 interface actually connected to the engine ECU before you ripped it all out? There are a number of these interfaces in circulation which do not work with J1850 PWM protocol. Even some of the interfaces which list that they are compatible are not... I have a bluetooth one here which was sold as being J1850 PWM compatible, but didn't work on the Galaxy. When I opened it up, I found that pins 2 & 10 weren't even connected to anything. One other thing, the VAG-COM KKL cable and/or VCDS will not see the Ford engine at all.

The 2.3 uses the J1850 PWM protocol, specifically pins 2 &10 for data, pins 4/5 GND, and pin 16 +VE on the OBD socket. Presuming you have power, it may be worth checking that 2 & 10 go back to the ECU.

Thanks for that, it's been getting on my tits!

You might have better luck asking in the mk.3 section, perhaps a mod will move your post over there.

Sounds like the old favourite to me, door wiring. Check the wiring in the door gaiters for break and/or shorting, particularly the tailgate, then driver's door.

I was starting to think relay 30 too.

You mean the starter spun the engine over normally, but it would not start? Any sign of it trying to fire up at all, when it was making this rattling noise?

I think there are only the two types for 2.3 petrol. AFAIK, short casting with 9 tooth gear is for auto gearbox, long with 10 tooth is for manual.

Have you checked for inlet manifold and inlet pipework leaks? Pay particular attention to vacuum pipes to the brake servo... any unusual braking problems? Any sort of erratic control of the airflow can cause problems for the idle speed control. Manual gearbox is more tolerant of problems here, but for the auto gearbox, everything has to be spot on. Might be worth checking MAP sensor (manifold pressure) is behaving with diagnostics. Worth doing a full diagnostic check anyway, to check other sensors are working as expected, and for any stored faults - both in the gearbox with VAG-COM, and the engine with a generic code reader.

Sounds a lot of money to me, unless it's a main dealer - some of them charge near £100/hr for labour. I would have thought about £50-£70 each side at a non-franchised or MOT garage, including parts. I cannot stress enough the importance of finding a decent MOT garage you can trust, listen to local recommendations. There are garages out there that have a knack of 'finding' work, in particular ball joint dust covers and CV joint gaiters... my old bus is approaching 18 years old, and has 156k on it... and it's still on the original CV boots.