johnb80

Not a lot, she's got good manners and knows not tto talk with her mouth full :D

I collected my Gal tonight supposedly having had a new aux heater fitted and 4 new alloys. Drove off into the middle of Lincoln and yes the turbine sound was there followed by a collosal amount of smoke. I rang the dealer, the service manager assured me it was all ok, it had been checked. I drove back to the dealer, you couldn't see the car behind at all. I reversed up tpo the showroom door, left the car running, opened the door which accidentaly stayed open :ph34r: and went over to service reception. I then had a call on my mobile and had a chat with one of my engineers. After about 3 minutes the fire alarms went off and then the dealer principal appeared. He was pretty agressive telling me how stupid it was drive round in a vehicle in this condition. The service managers face was a picture as I explained that this had just been fixed and that his employee who was stood behind him had assured me it was fine. The dealer principal di an about turn and summoned the service manager to his office. I now have a Galaxy 150 on loan until they sort mine out, I'm going to get some mileage out of this before I'm done though. Regards - JB

No it isn't, bloody Toyota crap in the background :P I suspect your two minders are going to keep you on your toes for a year or two. Regards - JB

I would find a good stretch of road and do a few 0 to 60 runs and time them. You could also do some 50 to 70 runs in top gear and get those times. Have the work done and repaeat the tests in the same stretch of road, the should be a significant difference. Some of the rogue chippers do nothing more than make the drive by wire position further up the pedal making you think you have loads more power. Regards - JB

Why would an aux heater need extra fuel instead of a choke? It's not an engine that has to self sustain, do you have extra gas on your gas cooker when you light it ? Short journeys should make little difference, in it's basic form, it's an electric fan, a fuel injector that sprays fuel onto a glowing glow plug. All of this being surrounded by a water jacket. Regards - JB

Though I haven't had this fault myself (yet?), my mate has. It was a complete farce with the dealers, in the end we fixed it ourselves. My logic was the message on the display was triggered by an 'event', it's reasonable to assume that the event was engine running and alternator not charging, take the drive belt off and you'l get the message straight away. So now consider the cold and damp, cold makes the engine harder to start and the battery voltage lower (more amps needed when started to charge the battery + Heater + HRQ etc), damp makes it easier for the drive belt to slip. Add all this together and you get what you've got. The solution?........ A new drive belt from the local Halfrauds. My mates car had been in the dealers 6 or 7 times for this. Hope it helps - JB

screw

really

IS

CHOCOLATE

It's the updated version of a reverse parking sensor :huh:

Take it up with Ford customer relations and stand very firm. It's dangerous, it's a known fault and TSB's have been done about it. I would furthermore say it is your intention to 'reject this vehicle' because it's not fit for the purpose for which it was sold. That should get the ball rolling. Contaminated diesel is complete rubbish, ask them what sort of contaminants could cause this clear overfuelling situation. The most likely fault is that it has been overfuelled from new, it's now getting more and more sooted up, changing the glowplug will make little difference. Regards - JB

ABS Light on and no effect on braking is not true, it most definately WILL have an effect on braking in an emergency i.e. no ABS. It also makes your vehicle unroadworthy and technically uninsured when driven. The usual causes of the ABS light coming on are wheel sensors/wiring/sensing rings. If you can get the code read you'll know which corner to look at. Does the light come on and stay on straight away or does it come on just after you set off? Regards - JB

hi Steve67, As far as I'm concerned I really feel that retail is pretty much dead. I own a computer business, turnover in excess of

If the MAF isn't working correctly the engine management system doesn't know how much air is going into the system and thus can't work out how much fuel to pour in. If disconnecting it has made no difference it's a pretty clear indication you have a MAF problem which COULD be the MAF, the wiring or the ECU itself in that order. Regards - JB

Could it be condensation on the disc / head? Regards - JB

Cruise control light.

No he's not, he's ripping you off, you should get at very least

Ring Ford Customer Services and 'explain' that even though you did have a service done at a non Ford garage (or even that you did it yourself), the service schedule doesn't require any work to be done on the booster heater. Furthermore under European law goods must be of merchantable quality clearly this unit should have lasted longer than 'x' years and because it has failed in such a short time it must have been sub-standard at the time of purchase. State to them that you would like it repairing within the next 7 days and that a courtesy car will be provided whilst your vehicle is being repaired. If they fail to comply with this reasonable request, get it repaired, go to the small claims court and you will win. They can't skip their responsibilities that easy. I did similar with my drinks holder and my alloys got the 'Oh thats bodywork, thats only covered for a year' B*ll*cks, my car goes in on 23rd for Aux Heater, 4 new alloys and a new drinks holder all under warranty. Regards - JB Regards - John

I'll have to wait for sk or mm to answer that one. All I know is I do and my belt is 40K. I think I'm right in saying all 115 / 130 / 150 are PD, the 90 & 110 are not. Don't quote me, I'm sure well get chapter and verse shortly. Regards - JB

All diesels are belt - period The 40 / 60,000 miles depends I beleive on whether it's a PD engine or not. Regards - JB

I think you're getting your wires crossed here. There is a rear cabin heater that does have controls on the dash and I beleive in the roof lining near the nearside rear door (mine doesnt have this because of dual cc). This works off the hot water system just like all car heaters and is NOT connected with the operation of the AUX / BOOSTER heater. The Aux / booster heater is mounted on the underside, makes a noise like a jet turbine and also smells a bit like a jet aircraft when it's starting up. It's controlled automatically and burns diesel to help the engine warm up quicker and also helps the cabin heaters cope with cold external conditions. Regards - John

The switch on the dash does NOT control the aux heater. It's controlled by the ECU with pre set conditions i.e. outside temp below a setpoint and engine temp below a preset level. If you have done a relatively short journey and the aux heater was running at full power, when you stop the heater will continue to run for a while to allow it to cool down. Regards - John