neiluk

I've been delighted overall with my Galaxy over the last 6+years and I'm actively looking into buying another one before something expensive breaks. I wonder if you could answer a couple of Air-con related questions for me as my currents car's air-con broke quite soon after I bought it. 1. Which is deemed to be the most reliable, the air-con on a late Mk2 or early Mk3 2. I know Galaxy air-con isn't the most effective around but which would keep the car cooler on a hot summers day, Mk2 or Mk3? 3. Is it worth hunting down a Mk2 with the dual condensator system (extra vents in roof)? Does it make the car much cooler than the usual setup and is it any less reliable? Thanks very much in advance, Neil.

Hello, I'm looking into buying a newer galaxy and was wondering if anyone knows if the mk2 has side or curtain airbags for the second or third row passengers. If so, what year/spec were they introduced. Thanks for any help, Neil.

Thanks very much for the advice. You have been very helpful :-). Neil.

Hi all, On the way home in heavy rain my rear wiper only worked when the rear demister was switched off. When I switched on the rear demister the dashboard and radio etc lights lit up as well as the rear fog light indicator. When I turned it off all lights went out and the rear wiper started to work. I tried this out several times and it was the same each time. Also on the way home the left brake light (that goes out when you press the brake peddle) came on and stayed on. Would these be connected? Is there some kind of short in the boot or is something else likely? The rear wiper was sometimes sticking and sometimes working for a few days but I didn't work out any pattern until today. No lights were effected before. Any ideas would be more than welcome. Thanks very much, Neil. Galaxy Mk 1, 1999 2.3 Ghia.

Have you seen this table? It seems quite comprehensive. Further info is given if you click on each tyres make/model. http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Grid/ Neil.

Does anyone know if this will work on a Mk1 aswell? I'd love to get my alarm to bleep as it is hard to see the lights flash in daylight sometimes. Thanks, Neil.

Did you have any luck finding a 3 bolt? I need to get a new mechanism for my Gal too and I'm unsure if I will need a 3 or 4 bolt. Neil.

I have found 3 and 4 bold versions of the wiper mechanism for my age Gal on Ebay. Does anyone know which type would be right for my car? Thanks, Neil.

Hello all, My local garage greased my wiper mechanism last week (for the second time) and on a 50 mile trip down the M4 the wipers again slowed down. Putting them on fast helped for a while until they again started to slow down and I could smell what I presume was an overheating wiper motor. I managed to make it to a service station where I let things cool down for about 20 mins but I had to get going again as I had an appointment to keep. I found that if I flicked it straight into fast wipe for one sweep then off for it to cool down a little until I couldn't see anymore and had to do another fast sweep. I managed to drive about 55 miles like this and never want to do it again! My wrist was aching after all the flicking on and off. Now everything has cooled down and rested my wipers don't move as fast as they used to on normal speed (whick was never as fast as I would have liked) but nice and fast on full speed. I took it back to my garage yesterday and they advise changing the wiper mechanism and/or the motor as there was that smell. They said it is hard to tell which (or both) is best to change. My instinct is just to get the lot changed as I want reliable wipers and plan to keep my Gal for a long time. I believe though that the parts from Ford might be quite pricey. My garage will tell me how much on Monday but I was going to see how cheap I could find the two parts in the mean time. I see there are some on Ebay for sale. Would you trust reconditioned parts? Are there any other websites I should look for cheap parts? Does anyone know if the wiper mechanism and motor is the same for my Mk1 as for the Mk2's or should I look out for specific model No.'s? I read earlier on this thread that VW parts are somewhat cheaper than from Ford and would fit. If this is so, does anyone know the relavant VW part No.s. I realise it would be a lot cheaper trying to do the jobs myself but I'm afraid changing a tyre is about as mechanical as I get with cars (and I haven't tried to get to the spare on my Gal yet!) Thank you all for any advice you can give. Neil.

I used to coast as it definatley made a difference to the stated MPG over just taking my foot off the accelerator. I have since heard that it is illegal to coast with big fines possible so I don't do it anymore just incase. I would still like to though as anything I can do to get a few more MPG is welcome. I don't think it makes driving any more dangerous if done sensibly. Neil.

I can see that would work. I've booked my service etc with them at the same time so I'll give them another chance and tell them what you said. My Gal had a tendancy to stall when I put my foot on the clutch especially after coasting for a few seconds first. I've read that other members have had similar problems. Lemon juice has all but cured the problem on my Gal :) Thanks for the suggestion, Neil.

Thanks all, I have been using the 'sprayed water' technique on and off for the best part of 8 months as I thought it was just lubricating the squeal in some way. Any other symptoms have only started in the last month or so. Now I think of it, one thing that may be connected is my air conditioning has had something of a mind of it's own of late. About 2 weeks ago in hot weather it worked fine to cool me down but in a sudden downpore soon afterwards the air con puffed up a load of condensation onto the windscreen like I'd never seen before and misted up the whole car (thank goodnes for a heated windscreen!). Since then it sometimes works fine in hot weather for about 5 mins then I notice the car getting hotter. Sometimes it will work fine again for a while after being switched off for 15 mins or so, or it will refuse to work at all. It can be coaxed into action sometimes if I switch it from 'LOW' to '18'. I guess it thinks it thinks it doesn't have to work so hard ;-) Anyway, I've got it booked into my local garage for next Wednesday and I'll put your suggestions to them. When I took it back to them after it started squealing again after the tensioner and belt change they said there was no adjustments that could be made. Maybe I should take it to Ford though from what you all say I'm reluctant to. My Gal has had a couple of other intermitent problems but I'm unsure if their connected. I have been told a seemingly great tip using lemon juice that has done wonders for one of them but I'm wary of your comments ;-). Thanks again, Neil.

I had the tensioner and belt changed for Ford parts some time ago to stop the squeal I had. This worked for about a month then the squeal started again :-( . The noise always stops when driving in the wet, so for when it's dry I carry a spray can in the door compartment and squirt the belt and wheels (mainly A/C I think) behind the drivers wheel with water which usually stops it for up to a day. I havent noticed any connection to the squeal and my other problems though. Thanks, Neil.

Hi all, On my way home yesterday with my family in heavy rain I noticed that my wipers started to move more slowly than usual. I had the dreaded frozen wiper problem last winter and my local garage greased the wiper mechanism as specified on the forum. They have been working fine for the last 6 months or so but yesterday I had the reacurance of another problem at the same time. My dashboard illumination faded to what looked like about it's dimmeas setting when it was set to it's brightest. It sometimes brightened up somewhat but usually stayed dim. It was at this time that I noticed my wipers slowing. I put my wipers on the fast setting to give them momentum to sweep (as the AA man told me to do last time) which worked great for 5 mins. They were going really fast, but even they ground to a halt about 100 yards from my home. They luckily came to life for one more sweep close to my home making life a lot safer. When I reversed onto the drive they seemed to come back to life after about 30 seconds at which time I noticed the dashboard lights were brighter again. Could the two problems be connected in some way? I have noticed the dashboard lights dimming themselves for some time but with no other notisable symptoms. I tried the wipers in the dry on my drive today on slow and fast and they seem to be working fine again but the slow setting is still slower than I would like but that may be normal for a Galaxy. I don't have an undertray on my car so I was wondering spray from all the standing warter could have affected the electrics in some way. The inside of my car (under mats/seats etc) is dry as always. I will see if my garage can fit me in soon as I don't trust the wipers again. Thanks for any advice, Neil.

I've been having the same intermittent problem with mine. I tested it today and it seems to happen when I press the brake peddle rapidly as you would at the start of an emergency stop. The peddle is hard to press and does not depress much at all. If the pressure is continued the peddle softens up and brakes work much motre as normal. Pressing the peddle normally straight afterwards gives usual braking performance. Do Galaxy's have some form of 'brake assist' to speed up the response time of the brake peddle? I was wondering if this is what it might be. If not I think I should get it looked at sometime. Neil.