richyrich

Finally said goodbye to my 2001 galaxy yesterday - gone to the scrappy after owning for 17 years! Did 188k miles - loved it for it’s practicality, but i must admit I always seemed to be working on it - even had a new engine, turbo and clutch fitted at 70k miles due to the dreaded ‘blocked Egr valve’. Final straw - lots of smoke from exhaust- think the turbo was about to go, kept going into limp mode when going over 2k revs. Sad to see her go - replaced with a seat Alhambra which I’m not sure about yet - especially the back seats - and we can’t get our 2 bikes in either! Richyrich

Hi - my mk2 y reg nearly failed last year on rear brake pipe corrosion, so I bought a kit from ebay consisting of 4 different pipes (which I still have). But I found that the joins were just under the front cross suspension on one side so were visible but not really accessible. So I rubbed down most of the corroded areas with wire wool and fine emery paper and rubbed in some grease and now the mot man is happy. The pipes still felt pretty solid when I prised them out the clips as well. I replaced some of the clips but couldn’t get a certain type. Good luck Rich

It's definitely the air con hose - mine broke in exact same place. Rich

Totally agree with traff - had exact same symptoms - mine was the hard plastic pipe had split at elbow where it connects to brake servo. Complete thing available on line ( prob about 50 squid by now) hardest part of job is fitting it in original route behind engine to the vacuum pump. Good luck Rich

It could be the turbo - there is an oil feed to the bearing of the turbo I think, and if this bearing breaks down it may allow oil to get into both sides of the turbo. You will be burning oil from the intake air and putting oil into the exhaust gases as well, hence the black smoke. More people on here with more knowledge and experience will be along shortly hopefully. Rich

Definitely no missing engine management light. Did you get the plug and socket together good - they do seem to be a tight fit - mine are anyway(no doubt because they have to be waterproof). Rich

Xavier - Just looked at my old gal (same as yours) and the light you are missing on start up is the brake pad wear indicator. Just comes on briefly like the others. Maybe just the bulb blown? Or you need to check pads/wiring. Wear indicators only fitted to 2 wheels, one front and one back, opposite corners(can't remember which!) As chrome dome says - the glow plug light doubles up as the engine management light and will flash if there is a problem. Rich

Hope this turns out ok (ie not too expensive) for you. 7yrs ago I had something similar - when I got home the engine would still run, but if you took the dipstick out or the oil filler cap off you would get showered with oil being blown out! Recovery guy said turbo-ford garage said something seriously wrong with engine - no s--t Sherlock I said. (Could have been piston rings or hole in crown of piston) Long story - ended up with new engine. Big problem at your mileage can be egr valve - check it out - do a search. Rich

Thanx for that chris - guess what - I'm not gonna bother Rich

Insanitybeard - doesn't look like number 4 in this - it's just a shaped piece of foam that fits snugly around the front of the engine as you look directly at it. (Know what I mean?) I'm guessing it's to stop freezing cold air going straight on to the engine in this weather as you drive at speed - and lots of other reasons regarding temperatures /circulation etc etc. chrisb123456- I'll check that thanks -didn't think it would cost a lot - if it does I'll stick something there myself. Thanx guys Rich

Does anyone know the part number for the insulation jacket around the VW 1.9tdi engine in my Gal or where I can get one - mine has disintegrated into nothing! Rich

Thanks Chris - so long since I had to do any work on the engine. It's on the boost pipe work near to the engine fuse box isn't it? Rich

Hi Matt, Just did a quick look on my Gal using my MaxiScan and I got 99kPa for the MAP, I also got 9.1 g/s on the MAF. Both readings change when I rev the engine. Not sure about this but I thought our cars had a MAF (mass air flow) sensor, and not a MAP sensor, which I think is a different sort of sensor that measures pressure in the intake manifold. Maybe there is a conversion in the engine management system. I had a very poor performance with mine some time ago (before I had my scanner), unplugged the MAF and no difference at all, fitted new one from VW(cheaper than Ford) and the difference was unbelievable. Hope this helps. Rich

I had exactly the same symptoms - rigid pipe was split where it connected onto an elbow connection at the brake servo. About 46 quid from Fraud, Hardest part was taking the heat shield off - feeding the pipe along the original route - then the really hardest bit getting the heat shield back in place - b----r of a job. Good luck Rich

A helicoil basically replaces the damaged thread in the hole - it looks like a spring but it's not - if you know what i mean. You have to drill the damaged hole out and thread it with an oversize thread, the helicoil is then wound into that thead using a special little basic tool and you should be back to having an original sized and type of thread. Basic, but you need the right sized drill,tap and helicoil kit.

A note to anybody fixing their auxillary heater, or even to those with a working one - Fit a switch in the circuit so you can switch it manually from inside the cab. . I found that the unit was cycling on and off too much during cold weather - which is no good and soon ruins the glow plug and gums up the chamber. It switches according to water temperature and outside temperature - can't remember the settings. I think other forum members may have done this already. Rich

Thing to look out for - brakes start to work but then pedal is hard and you have to really press to get yourself to stop! To do the job is just a matter of getting everything out of the way - 1. Unplug Maf sensor, remove air filter box and next section of pipe completely This will give you better access to the master cylinder. 2. Remove rubber splash guard thingy, undo 3 bolts and remove tray under wiper assembly 3. remove air pipes(2 sections) on the right of the engine(the air to the egr valve/intake manifold) after unplugging the sensor - this will give you access to the pipe connection on the vacuum pump 4. Remove the heat shield by unscrewing 2 funny type of nuts(at the top each corner) - then skillfully manouvre out of the way - or demolish it by ripping it out, its only thin ally. By the way, this was the hardest thing to put back as a litle slit at the bottom locates on a little metal bracket. 5. Vacuum pipe has just one clip fitted just under bottom of all the stuff behind the heat shield. 6. Carefully and skillfully pull out the pipe (after disconnected from either end) from the battery side taking note of where the pipe is routed. 7. A new vacuum pipe is Ford 1357764 for 40 pounds approx. Don't try to repair this type of pipe - it's hard plastic and probably has a number of years life before it gets brittle. 8. Take note that there is a blanking cap on one of the connections on the non return valve - you will have to carefully prise it off to reuse or get another one 9. Carefully feed new pipe in from battery side - reconnect both ends and you're done! All that remains is to refit everything in reverse order. The non return valve needs to be in good working order and the the vacuum reservoir(the big black ball on the front of the engine) + piping all needs to be intact for all this to work okay Hope this is helpful to anyone. I'm available if anyone needs any help - or me to do the job for them! (Northants area) Rich.

After having replaced front pads/discs and even calipers my brakes were still not as good as I thought they should be, Looking around I was inspired by a post by Andymet some time ago about the hard plastic pipe connection, with a non return valve, from the vacuum pipe to the master brake servo. Not exactly the easiest of things to do but started this morning, found split where pipe connects to 90degree elbow on master cylinder, ordered from Ford, collected at 4pm, fitted and back on the road by 5 30. Difference is unbelievable - can stop on a sixpence now(well - nearly!) This forum is the best - unbelievable amount of help and knowledge shared = problems solved = money saved = happy days :-) Richyrich

If the car is fitted with a calcium type battery then it probably is no good after standing for a long while. These batteries need a special charger (which Fraud have) to get them back to normal - but yours is probably too long. These calcium batteries are used in cars now which use the 'Smart charging' system - fitted since about 2000 I think. Rich

unplug the sensor in the B pillar

Mikej - it was just a thought. Ford introduced a'Smart Charging System' to it's vehicles from about 99 onwards. Google it and you'll see what it means. The Galaxy - according to my TIS - has been fitted with Ca batteries since 09/99. It does also say that Ca batteries MUST be fitted due to the higher charge voltages that can be used. The actual charge rate is determined by other factors - not just the 'system' voltage. You can use Ca batteries in cars not fitted with the Smart system - but not the reverse. Hassan - I hope your charge voltage has by now settled down from the 16.8 v you say you had. A more realistic figure should be 14.8 max. Check out - www.thequalityfactor.co.uk/offers/​FORD%20CARS-SCS.doc interesting little fact sheet. Rich

I had the same problem with this fuse box and cable 5 or 6 years ago. After replacing said items and looking at everything in detail I convinced myself that there may be a problem with the battery as well - so I replaced that too. Batteries can develop internal faults, and as I hardly had anything on at the time the melt down happened to me the current from the alternator should not have been too much. To melt the terminal the way it did, and the fact that my alternator was still ok I thought there must be something wrong somewhere that caused the alternator to load up to 150amps! The securing 10mm nut was not loose - it has serrations underneath that help to lock it together. I always replace my battery every 5 years, and it must be a silver/calcium type if specified. Anybody any thoughts along my line! Richard

For drop link testing, just grab roof bar and rock the the car sideways. You can hear it straight away if links are the problem. This way is the easiest test I have used. Easy job, but use decent make. Richyrich

I had the sameish problem with 1 disc being really hot with smells as well - mine was simply the brake piston shaft stuck. Tell tale giveaway was the handbrake not doing anything for 1st inch or so. Just sprayed the back of the brake caliper with a bit of WD40 and operated with a spanner back and forth until free. Never had ABS light on though - this would point to the sensors or ring being suspect/faulty. Smell could be ring rubbing on abs sensor - not good news and an MOT failure! Richyrich

SolarB - thanks for your post and photo's. Had a look at my rear wipe today and same as yours - just needed to clean the copper ring and pick up contacts. Did mine in half an hour without taking the motor out, just took the rear tailgate cover off, then the wiper cover plate, rear wiper, and then the machanism pulls out. Easy job. Richyrich