Steve P

Well - got me my U581 and found the problem - dicky connection at the MAF!! Plugged the code reader in and got a fault code that the MAF voltage was low! With the engine running I could see that the MAF read out did not change - should go up with revs. Rooted round under the bonnet - reseated the connector - problem fixed. Steve

I suspect this will not be easy to fix!! Our galaxy is LPG converted - but it was done many years ago and is a single point injection. This switches over at any temperature - even stone cold. It switches over after the engine revs have been above about 2500 rpm and then decelerate - for example when changing from first to second when driving off. This system switches over fine and runs OK on petrol before switching over. My vectra has a factory fit LPG and this operates the same as yours, although the temperature required to allow LPG operation is much lower - probably about 10 degrees so in summer it's straight away after starting. Anyway my vectra has almost the same problem - but lower temperatures make it worse. Today when it switched over to gas it stuttered quite badly - so much that the system decided to switch back to petrol. A minute or two later I forced it back onto gas and it ran fine. However i know that as the mornings get colder this problem will also occur whilst it is running on petrol before switching over - it did so last year but I never got round to fixing it!! What is the relevance of all this to your problem? Well LPG exaserbates any problems with the engine - e.g ignition faults show up worse on LPG than petrol. So it could be that we have the same problem - and if your car switched over to LPG quicker it would be even worse. For info I have just had a fault code reader on mine and found nothing. A cold engine needs everything to be more perfect than a warm one - which is why you need fuel enrichment (choke) on a cold engine. I'd be tempted to get the fault codes read - to be sure that the temperature input to the ECU is sensible. If this is out the ECU may not be supplying enough "choke". It could be the injectors - if they are blocked a bit again this might mean that they cannot supply the right fuel for the "choke" when cold. You might not be able to feel this at other times - at higher revs when you have been running on petrol. Personally I don't think it is the injectors but would not be prepared to bet on it!! The other is plugs. Are the gaps correct. Have the plugs been changed? Have you got a HT lead breaking down (or a coil pack). I've got investigate my Vectra - I'll let you know if I get to the bottom of it. Cheers Steve

Thanks - think you mean "air flow" - because that's what they measure? Anyway I've ordered me a U581 - should be good for friends and familly as well then if it reads more. I'll update when I get it and have had chance to plug it in! Cheers Steve

Stevoo - no need for you to reply - found one of your other posts - I see that you found the culprit was the MAF sensor. I don't THINK that this i the problem with ours because it runs well throughout the whole rev range - it's just a little lumpy at idle (only just noticeable). HOWEVER - I recall that many years ago we used to get about 30 mpg on a run and then a few years ago it fell to about 22 mpg on a run. I believe that the MAF sensors on the petrols tend to be very reliable - must admit I've never unplugged it to see if it makes any difference. Do any of the OBD 2 readers which do LIVE DATA give a MAF readout? I was thinking of the U581 or the u381 (anybody know what the difference is other than

Update - no further problems - didn't get round to looking at the wheel bearing - been on hols - no more abs lights. Why the old sensor should fail - and it did look as though it had contacted the ABS ring - and the new sensor contacted the ring I don't know. Perhaps there is corrosion on the CV joint under the ring forcing it outwards a bit? If so the ring will probably be the next bit to break - can't wait!! Cheers Steve

Stevoo - did you get to the bottom of this problem? The tickover on my 2.3 is a little rough - both when running on petrol or lpg. I'm getting a whole 20 mpg - even on a run! It runs fine through the rev range and pulls well but I suspect it's running a bit rich. It scraped through the emissions tests a month ago but I think we were just lucky- we had to go back for a retest and whilst I found a collapsed breather pipe I wasn't there when it was retested - I wonder if they actually checked it? I don't think it's a failed coil pack cos when one of them goes you can really tell - I've replaced a few in the 8 years we've had the gal. I'm going to get me a fault code reader and will probably end up changing the lambda probe - although it is only about two years old. Any thoughts? Thanks Steve

Well - I've fixed it - sort of! Bought the new sensor - resistance measured 1.2K ohms just like the three others on the car. Fitted the new one. Spun the disc and there seemed to be clearance between the ring and the sensor - just. Took the car for a spin - ABS light went off at about 20 mph. However there was a loud rubbing noise from the drivers front wheel. Got back home after a short run round the block and sure enough the sensor was contacting the ring. That was obviously why the old sensor had failed - contact with the ring had damaged the end of it and probably let water in causing the coil to fail. Have fixed the problem for the moment by putting a washer under the sensor to hold it further away from the ring. It still picks up movement of the wheel but clearly something is not right. I can't believe that the new sensor is too long. Even though it is a cheaper copy the fact that the old sensor had contacted the ring and failed is too much of a co-incidence. The ring isn't split and looks fine to be honest. I have to think that that the wheel bearing is on it's way letting the wheel and cv move up under the weight of the vehilce and the senor and ring gap to close. The bearing seems alright but a few years back we had the top suspension mounts done and I know that they didn't replace the CV bolt. These are supposed to be use once and then fit new. It wasn't very tight and without the right load holding the bearing together this may have caused th bearing to wear - although the old gal is coming up on 100k now so things are bound to wear. Any thoughts - I think I'll get me a new bearing - on holidays in a few weeks and don't want that to go!! Cheers Steve

Thanks Mirez -it's not the cost of a new balljoint it's the hassle of fetching a new from somewhere. Local motor factors only seem to stocky shiney steering wheels, smelly things and go faster stripes now days! And there's the risk I'll replace a perfectly good part with a cheap crappy item from China which will fail in less than a year. Paul - thanks - I'll give it a go. Steve

Thanks - i had thought of resistor - wasn't sure if these sensors are just a plain coil or if there is more to them than that - such that a resistor would trick the system. Have ordered a new sensor - only

ABS light came on the other day with a bit of juddering during braking. Wife was driving, I wasn't there so I guessing the juddering was the ABS working? Have done a search on this forum so I have an idea of what to look for. My findings don't fit exactly - hence this post! Checked the resistance of all the sensors. 3 of them are 1.2K ohms , the drivers side front is 1.75K ohms. Anybody know if that would be enough to upset the system? The ABS light comes on with the ign and stays on. Have checked the abs sensor rings (as on the CV joints). They all turn with the wheel - so they are not split. HOWEVER! The drivers front ring has shiney metal showing - I'm guessing that the ring has contacted the ABS sensor. So the question is WHY if the ring is not split? This contact could be related to the high resistance - or just coincidence! Have checked the wheel bearing - that seems ok. So that tends to suggest rust build up under the ring has pushed it out to the point where it contacts the sensor but without splitting the ring. Has anybody seen this. I don't want to start just buying bits and replacing them willy nilly - that's too easy and often means bits get bought / replaced that were unnecessary. However I do want to get this fixed asap. If I buy a new sensor and plug it in - will the ABS light go out without driving the car? I don't want to risk fitting the sensor just yet in case the ring touches it. On the other hand I don't want to go down the path of fitting the new sensor, removing the ring/cleaning the rust/ gluing it back on - or buying a new CV joint to find that the ABS light is still on. Any thoughts please. Thanks

Hi all, have got to get access to the drivers side outer CV joint so that I can sort out the ABS ring. Undid the two cap head bolts that hold the lower lower ball joint in place, tried to lever the lower arm down and hit the arm a few times with a hammer but the joint didn't seem to want to come away from the hub assembly. Also tried levering the hub up a bit with a scissor jack but that didn't help. Is it just a case of a bigger hammer! I don't want to part the balljoint from the lower arm as that will probably wreck the rubber! Cheers Steve

I'd be surprised if you notice - except that the engine will run smoother on LPG - and yes I do reckon you tell the difference in smoothness!! Cheers Steve

Power supply to the drivers door lock. Took me absolutely ages to find this - and even then I could not find the fault - only how to fix it!! I think there is a red and white wire to the drivers door lock. The power comes from fuse 19 as mentioned above. Unfortunately somewhere behind the dash this red and white wire branches off in three directions (or more) - taking power to the two front doors and the rear doors. This power is directed back to the central locking unit by the many switches in the door locks. On my galaxy I found that the power to the drivers was only about 2.7 volts whereas at the other doors it was the full 12. I worked out therefore that the point where the wire splits and sends power off to all has something wrong with it. However I don't know where the junction of these wires is so I spliced in a new, fused 12v supply to the drivers door. Presto everything started working again. This took me a month of taking the car apart, replacing the lock, checking wires etc before I worked this out. The symptoms were all over the place making it very hard to work out what was wrong. Quick way to check for this fault. You'll need a multimeter and a short piece wire. 1. Disconnect the multi-connector that goes from the drivers door to the body. 2. Find which pin the the red and white goes to. (if you know how to check the wires inside the rubber garter you will be able to see which pin is which) 3. Take the short piece of wire - stripped and each end - and poke it into the correct socket hole on the body corresponding to the red and white wire. 4. Check the voltage between the socket and earth. If that's ok you'll need to move up to the drivers door lock and check voltages there. The haynes manual for the galaxy is very useful and seems to be quite accurate. I suspect that the wiring for the SEAT is the same. Cheers Steve

For anybody that's interested I finally got this fixed. Only wasted

Been outside with the torch - nothing wrong with the wires to the passenger front door. Looks like I'll have to risk the

Got your PM - thanks. Are there many different types of locks / motors on the mark 1 galaxy? You say pull the two wire connector off - I've got a small connector with three wires sthat connects to the lock as well as one with six wires. This seems to tie with the haynes manual. the three wire connector is the door lock switch and the the other is for the motor?? IIRC today when messing around I did forget to connect the switch - don't remember the locking working. It is strange that I can't use the passenger door lock to manually operate the c/locking - wonder if some wires on that side have busted? I'll have to check - outside with a torch I go!! Cheers Steve

Thanks - I did do a search before posting about this problem and came across that and even had a look on ebay at the repair parts for the "paddle". If the paddle is failing / broken then would'nt I have trouble locking the offending door using the key?? Operation of the door seems fine with the central locking disconnected. Thanks Steve

Thanks for that - no joy I'm afraid. Have just been out and tried every combination of your suggestion I could think of - it definitely don't want to play ball. A chap on Ebay has just offered me a lock mechanism for

Got fed up of trying to fix the central locking on my wife's galaxy - have wasted hours! Gonna start throwing new bits at it - as long as it don't cost as much as the car's worth! Problem was that the key started to get stiff in the drivers door then the central locking started playing up. Have already fixed the wires that lead thru to the door - have checked again and can't see any problems. Anyhow - with the central locking mechanism disconnected on the drivers door the central locking using the key fob will work all the other doors. We then have to lock the drivers door manually. However the key fob is a bit fussy and my wife is getting fed up of standing next to the car in the rain trying to get the doors to lock. With the wires to the drivers door lock disconnected it seems that you cannot activate the locking from the passenger side using the key in the door any more. Have tried a few ebayers to see if I can't get another lock mechanism - but they might be bust or older than ours (1999). So I may have to resort to trying a new lock mechanism - anybody know how much they are? Any other ideas welcome Steve

Agree with the radweld bit. We found that ours was using water and the windscreen was misting up. Certainly on older cars the heater matrix can fail - and you will not get a puddle of water inside the car because it will drain via the aircon drain. Radweld fixed ours for now. It's a big job to change the matrix - and it would cost more than the cars worth to have a garage fix it!! Cheers Steve

Have you checked that there is actually any hot water flowing through the heater box? Get the engine warmed up and then feel the pipes that disappear through the bulk head. They should be hot. If not either there is a blockage or an air lock. I'm guessing that the temperature gauge reads normal - otherwise you would have told us?! Our 2.3 had a failed thermostat for years - it always ran cold and the heater was useless. Fixed it this year and now the heater works!

Hi - the procedure I looked at was for a car with aircon and there was no reference to disconnecting the condenser or discharging the aircon. Cheers

Quick look at the Ford TIS suggests:- Remove front grille and left hand headlamp (!) Disconnect the various brackets and things that will get in your way. Remove the fans Detach and move out of the way the - aircon radiator. No suggestion that you actually remove it. The radiator goes out through the bottom. I have abreviated this A LOT. I don't have time to retype the whole lot and it seems you cannot cut and paste from the TIS. I would recommend getting a Ford TIS off ebay - dead cheap - packed full of info - some of it is useful. Cheers Steve PS. This is taken from the procedure for the V6.

Hi Tom, the tanks basically worthless. They don't cost that much new and fitting an old tank onto a car will probably leave you not being able to get anybody to certify the installation. Cheers Steve

this has been a very interesting thread to watch (and participate in - a little). There are days when, after having been on here and seen some of the mpg's quoted, I am convinced that our Gal is a pile of sh*te because it only returns 23 mpg (40 odd equivalent on gas). However I now feel much better. The car still only does the same MPG - but I know I am not kidding myself - we do not have a lie detector fitted. My mpg is worked out based upon filling the tanks to the absolute brim (petrol or LPG) and noting the mileage when we next fill up - at the same pump! OK - so you might still think I own a pile of sh*te. But I can now stop worrying that there is something wrong with it. It runs very smooth and goes like stink (for a bus!). Thank you - all has been revealled!! And if I was buying another one - I'd buy petrol again and have it converted to LPG!! Cheers Steve