Willie Krashitt

Try spelling it VANES (Veins are what are in your body carrying blood around!) - Do a search and dozens of pages will come up. To 'lubricate' them (wrong term as they run dry bearings) means removing turbo from car stripping it down and cleaning all the c*&p out of it, or a new turbo. Plenty of info if you look, including a link to a full teardown with pictures by a chap on the TDi website. You might be lucky and find that a good dose of something like Millers diesel additive, or a tank or two of the 'Optimax' or 'Ultimate' premium diesel will put enough detergent through to clean things up, but it will depend on how bad the sticking is. My old car did it a couple of times when cold only, and the detergent method worked for me. George.

Been covered on here loads of times. Standard radio is 1.5 DIN. Good news is that you can buy quite cheaply the housing for a double din unit - factory fitted sat nav was double din. Look here: http://www.fordgalaxy.org.uk/ford/index.ph...p;hl=double+din Last July the price was just over

Scorpio, It will be/have an oxidation catalyst, not a particulate filter. DPF's were only ever an aftermarket/dealer fit option on Mk2 Galaxy. George.

For the diesels, it is located at the back of the engine, in the plastic water outlet housing, which is below the fuel filter. Do a search on water temperature sender and you should find details on how to get to it and change it. George.

Ho hum... Where it is depends upon what year, what engine type you have? Add your vehicle details to your signature and people will be more willing/able to help you. George.

I have just looked at the Bosch Autoparts site, and the blades you suggest should be correct for Mk1 and early (pre May 2002?) Mk2s. Sp28 is described as 700mm long, curved with hook fitting. Hope that this helps, George.

EGR FACTS: I often see many comments that are either half right or completely wrong when EGR systems are discussed, so here are some points that should help anyone understand what it does. 1/ If your EGR valve is working properly it will make absolutely no difference to maximum power or torque simply because the EGR valve is shut at loads higher than approx 65-70% load (closed throttle = no load, full throttle = 100% load) and also will be fully closed over about 3000rpm. It depends upon the engine speed and load as to exactly when it will close. 2/ As a previous poster said, as have I when this subject has come up before, its primary role is in reducing nitrous oxide emissions by slowing combustion down. (High combustion temperatures/pressures = lots of NOx). Nitrous oxides are a primary cause of smog build up in cities. If blanked off it can give the catalyst a hard time handling all the NOx, but as has been stated it is not an MOT test item. There ARE however, roadside emissions test vehicles about, but you would have to be very unlucky to get stopped and tested by one. 3/ On Diesels, a result of adding EGR into the intake system is that it makes combustion quieter, especially at idle. 4/ A disadvantage of EGR is that, by slowing combustion down, too much smoke can be produced. This in turn makes injection timing even more critical. 5/ On turbocharged cars, when the EGR valve is open there is less pressure available at the turbine to provide boost and can contribute to turbo lag. VNT turbos help overcome this. Remember that this is PART LOAD ONLY so any loss of "performance" is marginal. 6/ When the valve goes wrong and sticks open, excessive smoke will be produced as a result of not enough air getting into the engine. Most current production engines have electric motor actuated EGR valves and will do a clean off cycle when the engine is stopped to help stop this - the ECU will instruct the valve to go through several open - close steps after you have turned off the key. (Mk3 Galaxy will do this for example). Hope this explains things a bit better. George.

Hi All, I have just received a case of VW's own brand Quantum Platinum PD oil from the Skoda Parts shop who advertise on ebay. Works out at

With all respect, your part number cross reference would take years to compile, and when you have done so, you would probably find that the part had beed superceded so that the number you wanted was no longer valid. Case in point is the wheel you mention. Early Galaxies were fitted with steel 6Jx15" wheels, part number 95VW-1007-ABYYCL, but this was superceded to 95VW-1007-FAYYCL when Mk2 came along and the earlier part is not available. The most bizarre bit is that many parts like for example, Mk2 Galaxy headlight assemblies, that are obviously unique for the Ford derivatives still carry both a Ford AND VW part number but are not a VW/Seat part and wont fit a VW or Seat model without getting the Galaxy bonnet and radiator grille as well. As Big Kev says, the VAG-Cat website is really good as an online resource, and can be invaluable when going to either Ford or VW dealers with the picture so you can show the parts desk person exactly what you need. it will also give you a pretty good idea whether what you need is available seperately or is only available as part of an assembly. George.

To add to the previous, while using Millers or similar is perfectly ok, it is a lot less messy to use a tankful of a 'premium' diesel like Shell V-Power or BP Ultimate now and again. Yes, they are more expensive than the standard diesel fuels, but they do have a much better detergent additive in them which will help clean the system out. Engines get more power and run quieter as well as these fuels have a higher cetane number. Have to agree on the 'Italian Tune-Up' though - exercise those vanes! lots of high load accelerations between 1700 and 3000rpm is better than simply staying on a motorway in 6th gear at high speed. George.

If you want to mask the lights, the 'official' templates are attached. Please note that the page breaks are in the wrong places for my printer and I don't have acrobat writer to modify them. If you have the cornering lights the templates are the same for LHD and RHD vehicles. If you have the normal lights, then you need the last two templates on pages 4 and 5. Hope that this is of use, George. galaxy_06_headlamp_mask.pdf galaxy_06_headlamp_mask_Cornering.pdf

I think the switch you are referring to is only for the xenon lights. "Normal" lights have to be masked. I have attached the masking details for normal lights for temporary driving on the right below. Hope that this helps, George. Galaxy_Headlamp_masking.doc

If you are talking 2.3, the standard set up is indeed 95 octane. The PCM is recalibratable for 91RON, as some markets where the Galaxy was sold (eg. Germany) still sell the stuff. If yours has been reconfigured for 91RON, it does beg the question why, as it isn't sold in the UK. Was the car previously used in Germany? It certainly won't be the cause of your poor running - the codes tell you that the lambda sensor is faulty, or at least the wiring to it is - so is 99% sure to be the cause of that, but the retarded ignition timing for 91 RON will make the car less responsive at lower engine speeds and not help the fuel economy either. As far as I know though, getting the PCM reset to 95RON requires WDS or IDS at a main dealer. George.

I think it is a special feature for SK! The PCM sensed that he would get nowhere near 56mpg if he was overtaking other vehicles, so it shut the throttle down to bring him back to his senses! Seriously though, the "different reading between sensors = disable throttle" really is there for your safety. If it wasn't, then there would be nothing to stop it if it failed in the other direction, ie it could leave you at full throttle. I know which scenario I would prefer. It is my understanding (but don't know for fact) that this is also in the legal / certification requirements for 'fly by wire' throttle systems. Progress? I guess it is no different from the old days when your throttle cable broke, leaving you at tickover... George.

Older diesels like yours are usually ok with biodiesel, although you would be advised to run alternate tanks of mineral oil based diesel to keep your engine clean. Biggest problem with biodiesel is the lack of a common standard to test it to. All forecourt fuel currently sold has a maximum of 5% bio unless labelled that it has more (often called B10, B20, B100 - number = %bio in fuel.) With newer cars (all types) only a handful are truly capable of running on fuel with more than 10% bio content . Cars with common rail engines are particularly vulnerable to damage when used with high concentrations of biofuel. George.

Hi, Might be worth checking that the water hose going from the radiator to the thermostat on the front of the block hasn't delaminated and the inner layer isn't sucking in on itself. Had this occur on a Golf I once had with similar symptoms occurring when i was thrashing it. It looked perfect on the outside, but inside the pipe was another story. Another point to check is whether the thermostat is in the correct way round - My understanding is that it is possible to do so. If it is, then it won't open as the 'bulb' will be in the cooler water coming from the radiator. Hope that this helps, George.

And while you are doing it, PLEASE give the cable that goes off into the main loom very close inspection at the connector that goes into the fusebox. Any black on the cable means that you will be doing the job again very soon. The only fix is to cut this wire back and join in a new piece and also a new connector. My previous galaxy went back over 4" before copper coloured wire was found, while I was lucky with my current car as it only went back about 2". George.

Some good news? Door glasses are the same on a like for like basis (privacy or light tint) so Mk1 door glass should fit a Mk2. Windscreen carries a completely different prefix, for both Ford and VW so may well be different. This might be simply down to the tint colour or mirror position pad, but could also mean it is a different shape at the bottom. Try asking a windscreen repairer if the aftermarket says if different or not - they either might already know, or by looking up the velicle types, say if the aftermarket references are the same or not? Hope that this helps, George.

Can't say anything definitive about your noise, but I am able to answer your question about the turbo. There is no need for a dump valve on a diesel as the engine is unthrottled so the "excess" air simply goes through the engine. The turbine doesn't stallout like in a petrol engine but slows down more gradually. The vanes will pre-position to a closed position as the engine speed and boost pressure drop. Remember that on the overrun, ie downhill with closed "throttle" - more accurately no pedal input, there is no fuel going into the engine so no energy to spin up the turbine, hence the need to close in readiness for the next boost demand. Hope this helps, George.

To answer Saif's question. If you aren't sure whether the 'remapper' is taking the engine beyond it's design limits or not, ask him to show you the factory supplied data stating what the limits are and equipment he uses to prove that the limits are respected. Decent kit to measure the in-cylinder pressure on each cylinder starts at about

The ehgine temprerature sensor on the TDI is located round the back of the engine in the water outlet (and is just above the gearbox). Do a search, as someone posed a 'how to change it' with pictures. Make sure that you get the correct colour replacement or your gauge will read wrongly (among other things). George.

Remap for more power? Enjoy the new world of overheating, leaking head gaskets and cracked heads. You can sometimes get away with "remaps" on lighter vehicles where the engine isn't running at a high load for too long, but a Galaxy weighs 2 tons before you start putting people and stuff into it. There have been plenty of people on this site who have suffered from the above maladies having had "remaps". If you really must have more power, then seek out and buy a car that has the right engine for you. If a simple "remap" were all that was necessary to obtain the higher power, you can guarantee that VW would have done so. 130/150PS engines got different injectors for each power level (more flow), different turbo's , bigger intercoolers air cleaners and exhaust systems to name just a few bits that were different, and the torque curves are virtually identical upto 2500rpm for 115, 130 and 150PS. Ask yourself, why on earth would the manufacturers spend millions of pounds/euros and 2-3 years with incredibly high tech equipment/facilities developing the calibration in the PCM if someone with a laptop anda rolling road dyno in a backstreet lock up can do a better job in 30 minutes for

Adding to the above, if you do go for a diesel and do LOTS of short journeys, then please try and find a car WITHOUT a particulate filter (DPF). 1.8 diesels didn't get them, 2.0L was a choice for earlier cars (now standard). DPF's need to get hot to regenerate (ie. unblock themselves), and short journeys won't let this occur. A reasonable length run (10 miles or so) every week should be enough to keep things running happily. George.

The pressure shouldn't just keep increasing as there is a switch that should shut the system down if the pressure goes too high. You will need to check that it is ok as well. The system pressure is quite high anyway, so it might just have been a fatigued/ aged pipe that couldn't take it any more (bit worrying if it is that though. Do you mean the 2-piece pipe (with a join at the top of the front bulkhead?) If so, I think you will find that this pipe is significantly cheaper at a VW dealer (around

For what it is worth, the Ford part numbers for 2004 on turbochargers are: 90PS (Engine code AHU) XM21-9G438-AA 115PS (Engine code AUY) 6M21-9G438-AA 130PS (Engine code ASZ) and 150PS (Engine code ASZ1) 4M21-9G438-BA Ford will charge you an extortionate amount of money - there are several posts on this site about cheaper options though, as well as cleaning up if the problem is just stuck vanes. George.