maximus

I had another go at re-gassing my aircon due to the hot weather. It filled up then the compressor swithced on and the pressure gauge was going in the right direction, great I thought! Then I tunred the car off to see if the climate control panel was still flashing when turning the ignition on. This is when I noticed a loud ish hissing noise. The leak is at the front offside corner, on the pipe which runs down the chassis leg and around the back of the engine bay. I have asked at the loacal fraud dealer if I can get a new one, but it's now obsolete!!!! So does anyone know where to get a new pipe either made or perhaps VW still do them? I'll pop to VW and see if they still do them and report back. I'm near Oxford so any tips on good aircon repair people would be great!

Well it didn't take long, but the missus kerbs the nearside front wheels today! ARGH!!!!!!!!!

Old Wheels, scuffed and worn out tyres. http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m293/markallinson/PICT8174.jpg New wheels, ncie and shiney with fat 235/40R18 tyres! http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m293/markallinson/PICT8186.jpg Got the wheels from Rochford Tyres, aka alloywheels.com. Got a good deal and a discount through this forum, cheers Mirez! The tyres are Fullrun extra load, 95W. Time will tell how well they last. I adjusted the tracking on the NSF as the old tyres were very worn on the inside. I just guessed at a bit more toe in and now the steering wheel is straight again. As for lowering springs, I'm not going down that route for several reasons. I tow a caravan, 23 feet! and go camping a lot fully loaded. Also I take my son to the local motocross track and the track up to it is about 1.5 miles and is really only suitable for 4X4s! The Galaxy does a good job with the motocrosser on a rear rack and has only bottomed out one, ouch! I did notice when changing the wheels that the exhaust is literally about to fall off!

Ok so nothing exiting here, just a new set of RS6 style wheels for my Galaxy. Going for 18" wheels as there's some pretty good deals out there. I'll post details fo where I get them from and photos after I order them / get them.

Yeah the standard stuff is really cheap, about

Hi all, I've got a 1999 TDI Ghia-X. I know there is an option for a timer which activates the aux heater to pre-heat the car. The clock has 4 buttons rather than the normal 2. Can this be retro fitted? Any ideas? I thought about fitted an alarm system with remote start but I don't really want to go down this route. Thanks in advance.

Does anyone know of a stainless steel exhaust system for the Ford Galaxy TDI (AFN 110BHP 1999) I've had a look and other than custom made ones I can't find any.

I understand Maximus, but my point remains; the tappets are pressurised by oil pressure from the oil pump, they're not quietened by lying in a bath of undrained oil! The camlobes are 'splash' lubricated, but that's not the problem you're having, your oil pressure is low and that's not a good thing. Hi, a bit more info. No - the oil pressure is not low, it's fine after just 5 seconds. I know how the lubrication system works and of course if the top end is starved of oil for 5 seconds there will be no oil for the tappets.... Yes - the oil is of the correct viscosity and is suitable for this car, I have also tried thicker and thinner oil to see if that helps, it does not. Yes - it is the correct oil filter, I have tried genuine and non genuine, 90BHP and 110HHP filters, to no avail. The engine has done 145,000 ish miles, so yes there's plenty of wear, but thats not the problem. It's sweet as a nut after the noisey start up. The problem is that when it's cold, or after a lengthy period of not running, so may still be warm, the oil pressure light stays on for about 5 seconds, the top end starts to get very 'Tappety'. The oil light goes out, the engine is again quiet. This is due to having to re-prime the top end, after the ening has been run for say 30 seconds, its fine to re-start, i.e. the oil light goes straight out. Now I know that some engines can be a bit noisey on start up but this is not the same. This is due to the oil retention valve not operating correctly and letting the oil drain from the top of the engine into the sump, so everytime it has all drained down to the sump, it's like starting a car after an engine rebuild, not good of course! So back to my original question, has anyone ever replaced this valve in the oil filter housing? as far as I can find out you have to replace the whole oil filter housing.... Cheers Maximus

Hi sepulchrave, The point is that the oil drains from the top of the engine when the engine is stopped, therefore the top of the engine has to be re-primed every time the engine is cold. The idea is that the 'oil retention valve' stops the oil all draining from the top end and thus no re-priming. Well thats the theory as far as I can figure out. It transpires that this valve is actually part of the oil filter housing so the whole thing has to be replaced....... I'll report back if it sorts out my problem.

Hi All, Merry Christmas! and a happy new year! Has anyone every replaced the 'oil retention valve' as listed in the Haynes Manual. My 99 Galaxy TDI is noisey on cold starts, the oil light doesn't go out for about 5 seconds, in which time it gets quite noisey up top.... The Haynes manual says this is down to the oil retention valve, not stopping the oil draining back to the sump, and thus the tappets etc get starved of oil. Well my local ford dealer doesn't know what it is and they've never heard of it..... Usual amount of help there then. So any clues? Cheers Mark

Hi, Grab a DVM (volt meter) and turn the ignition on, not check to see if you are getting 12V on the fuel solenoid. If not it may well be the relay which powers up the engines electronics. I had this exact problem when I bought my Gal, 1999 TDI 110bhp. The bloke I bought it off had wired an ignition 12v directly to the fuel solenoid, so it would start, but then it wouldn't turn off! So not really knowing what was wrong with it he sold it to me for a bargain price! ;) So I found the offending relay, which is buried away behind the fuse tray under the steering wheel area, just inside the door. All it was, was dry joints on the solenoid pins on the PCB. Re-soldered them and that repaired the problem. :) check out how to replace (or repair it) http://www.fordgalaxy.org.uk/ford/index.ph...0&hl=relay# Hope this helps! :) Cheers Maximus

The valve sounds like a buzzer when this happens. I figure the valve may be faulty so maybe removing it and cleaning it in both the de-energised and ernergised (with 12dc) states. Anybody done this, is it worth trying?

Hi all, I've got a 1999 Galaxy TDI 110BHP GhiaX. It's a great car pulls well and gives great MPG, until now. The car drives fine, unless I floor it for a while. Even worse when towing a caravan of course! So I'm going up hill with my foot down, then it's like the turbo has been switched off, no power! So pull over and pop the bonnet. I can hear a valve pulsing on and off very rapidly ( this is noticable in the car when parked up), I can feel that it's the right of the two valves near the rear of the engine bay, the Boost Control Valve as far as I can make out. I can feel it vibrating. So turn off the engine and restart, all is fine, until the next time. So I figure the Boost Control Valve is faulty, or could something else be causing this? Does anyone know the part number for this and is it better to get it from VW or GSF etc? My Fraud dealer is clueless! Thanks for any help.

My TDI 110 Galaxy 1999, does the same thing. The oil light takes a good 5 seconds to go out, the engine sounds tappety for 10 to 20 seconds then it settles down and is ok when warm. I don't drive off/ put the engine under load or even rev it until it goes quiet. I thought I'd try magnatec oil to see if it helps but that did nothing. Looking at one of the posts above I may try thinner oil, say 0W30, and see if that helps.

Funny you should say that. We've just 1500 miles twice in the last month visiting family in Scotland, so the old Gal's had a few really long runs. Is there a way I can check the oil pressure, and does anyone know what the oil pressure should be when cold at idle and hot at idle? Cheers for all the help

Oops, thats a 1999 TDI, not a 1991, doh! Yeah it's diesel oil I'm using, I know it takes a second ro so for the oil pressure to get up to the correct level but mine is taking way to long. I'll take the sump off at the weekend and see what I find. Any tips on sump removal? I've got axle stands so getting under shouldn't be a problem. Oh and it is 10W40 oil I should be using isn't it? I guess I could use 5W30 fully synthetic but does a Galaxy TDI engine really need fully synthetic? Anyone tried Magnatec, would that be worth a try? Or maybe Slick50?

Hi All. My 1991 Galaxy TDI has been spot on, brilliant on fuel, comfy for the kids etc. etc. But recently I've noticed the oil light takes quite a while to go out after starting up from cold. It takes a good few seconds to go out and the top end gets quite noisey, then say 5 to 10 seconds later the oil light goes out then the top end quiets down again. After a recent run and the engine is warmed up the oil light goes out straight away. I've changed the oil and filter twice since getting it and have used the Halfords semi-synthetic 10W40. I see some posts about the oil pickup pipe being blocked but that seems to be related to the oil light coming on during driving. Any help would be much appreciated as the Galaxy is otherwise fine (apart from Climate control...) Thanks in advance Mark

I've had this problem on a Suzuki Rascal van, it was petrol. It just got slower and slower as the cat got more blocked. Eventually it just wouldn't go, so a new cat was fitted, Suzuki price

Thanks for the replies, I'll maybe buy a UV dye kit and the kids have some UV torches (Dr Who super screw driver no less!). With a bit of luck I'll find any leak. My biggest concern was that there may be a leak in the evaporator and obviously a dash out repair! But as stated it's probably much more likely the condenser in front on the rad. Come to think about it the seller (only had the car 3 weeks) said that the gearbox was replaced in January, so it's possible the pipework may have been damaged then. Oh and thanks for the contact info, I'll make a note of that and give him, a call for an idea of costs. Cheers

I don't expect to just fill it up and job done. Thanks for the link to the report MR T, although it seems to be concerned with system sealers, I would't expect to get a leak repair from a tin either. What I figure is that if I use a UV dye kit and get a UV lamp then I should be able to find the leak myself. So if it's a split pipe then it's a case of replacing it and then getting the system recharged, at this point if I was confident that the leak has been sorted then I would pay a pro to vac it out, replace the dryer and recharge it. As far as I can gather from ringing round is that I'm going to get charged

http://www.wheelkool.co.uk/html/ac_faq.html The above link has a nice explaination of how aircon works, there's also a page of products for the DIYer, such as UV recharge kits. I figure this has to be worth a shot if you know you've got a leak. I assume you just get hold of a UV lamp and fire the system up whe its a bit dark and the leak will make it's self obvious? http://www.wheelkool.co.uk/html/diy_products.html I took my Galaxy to Kwik Fit for there "Recharge or no charge" deal. Turns out that my system has no pressure at all!! So I don't know whats best to do, should I get a UV recharge kit and try to find the leak or should I just book it in? I don't want to spend a fortune on repairs but I'd like it working. So no visit to Ford but I would go to a specialist. Can anyone recommend somebody in or near Oxfordshire? I'm in Didcot by the way. Other than the aircon I'm well impressed with the Galaxy, we were getting 55mpg on a slow run last night! Awesome!

blady aircon! I've bought a 1999 Galaxy Tdi GhiaX, the climate control seemed fine when I bought it but I had a starting problem (sorted out thanks to this very forum!) but during sorting the starting problem I had the battery disconnected and then the C.C. started flashing and now the air con is futo, arsebiscuits! anywho kwikfit do a recharge or no charge service so I'm going in for that on Tuesday and I'll keep you posted.......

Hi, my sutochanger is playing up, it a 1999 GhiaX TDI. The changer takes the CD in but doesn't spin. It looks a bit like a Pioneer unit but not sure, anyone know? What options are there for replacements? I took it out and resoldered some dry joints but to no avail. If I need to get a new one I may change the head unit too, any recomendations for a replacement head unit, I'd like to keep the functionality of the remote stalk. Cheers maximus

Cheers Wolfie! I guess I should read the manual, doh! As far as the pre-tensioners go, I'm just going on past experience, my Xsara used to do it all the time. So does the Galaxy not have pre-tensioners?

Do they all have aux heater? And where is it? I've got a GhiaX so lot of toys but there are no controls in the rear of the car for heater so I asume that means it doesn't have one? Good luck with the ABS, I'd say check the wiring to the seatbelt pre-tensioners, it used to play up on my old Xsara all the time!