turk90210

Its hard to give any specific advise here as it all depends on how competant you feel about doing it, Autodata has it as a 5.5 hr up to 7.5 hr job depending on what you have to do.(If your doing the head gasket will it be worth lapping in the valves again ect, also will you be skimming the head to make sure it is perfectly flat as you dont want to spend alot of time but scrimp on some stuff only to put it all back together and find another fault) It might be worth buying, begging,borrowing a Haynes manual for it and having a good read first to see what is involved then make your decision from there,(ie what parts need to be replaced -gaskets,head bolts(some have to replaced as they stretch) and price them up).Depending on what info you want they are not too bad it will give you the basic info on what you will need tools wise aswell as you will need some tools to time the engine up properly. what would you do with it if you didn't fix it yourself(take it to the garage or trade it in) If you decide to go for it them my best advise would be 1/take your time Dont rush 2/be methodical and lable everything if necc 3/ it will take as long as it takes if you hit any problems post on here and we will see how we can help

Hi Danny Boy from what you say it seems like it could be the new turbo at fault but sometimes you can get other faults Having said that though i would be concerned about the blue/white smoke you say you are getting. VERY CONCERNED Its obviously hard to speculate as to the exact fault without actually seeing it but blue smoke is usually a sign of burning oil, white smoke could be water getting into the cylinders and burning off I would suggest getting it to the Diesel Specialist ASAP as if it is oil burning you could end up with a runaway. By that i mean if the seals have go in the turbo and it is allowing oil to get in you could end up with the oil being pushed back into the engine and running on this instead of the fuel and not being able to turn the engine off until either the engine blows up or the oil runs out which gives you other problems ****Please note that this is the worst case scenario and it doesn't happen very often, but better safe than sorry****

just thought i would share this with you to help with repairing the parking sensors After alot of searching for answers I gleened alot of good info on how to check the sensors (ie ticking noise, although it is very quiet i found it better with a mechanics stethascope) and vag.com. I found that one of my sensors was faulty but not throwing a code up, anyway after reading someone's post about sensors being ultimatly the same I decided to look into it as the stealers were doing just that by all reports for buying a new one and E'Bay sensors were getting expensive aswell as everybody wants them. Well I bought 3 parking sensors for a rover for

Hi Bus boy personally the codes you have stored could be old ones so I would clear the codes and take it for a run then re-read it and post back what codes you have. A good web site to find out what the codes mean is http://wiki.ross-tech.com/index.php/Category:Fault_Codes , scroll through to the code you have and see what it means the 17964 code usually relates to a deviation in turbo boost which is usually linked to vacuum pipes leaking, turbo pipes or n75 valve faulty 1135 i think is the interior sensors for the alarm which are in the B post at the top(the post the rear door hinges attatch to) but im sure someone will confirm this and finally all the others relate to your parking sensors 2 are self explanitary which sensors have a fault which could be the sensor itself or a wiring fault not too sure about the others though However now that you have found that you can communicate with your car why not register your vag.com version and get the full functionallity of it

re the ABS have you checked all the obvious ie, wheel bearings ect and is the mating surface where the sensor fits is it clean,(the castle like surface on the drive shaft) or even the cvjoint. I was thinking of these because of your strange noise as you call it. the ABS sensor runs next to the castle like surface by a very small gap, if there is any movement in the gap it can give you a false readingand bring the warning light on Believe it or not it has been know for a new tyre on 1 side and a worn 1 on the other to bring the light on as it see's the 2 wheels running at different speeds

well from personal experience and from others I WOULDN'T just rebore 1 cylinder as it will throw the balancing of the engine out and create other problems. have you done any mods to the engine or is it all standard, also did you set up the timing properly! Its hard to say what has caused your problem without a thorough examination, my best advise would be to post your problems on http://www.tdiclub.com/ which is an American site dedicated to diesel engines with alot of knowledgable people (anyone with a petrol engine forget it they dont want to know)

Hi Ian A hard brake pedal is a sign of your vacuum not being present, they will still work but will need ALOT of extra effort to press them as you have lost the servo assistance. Its a bit like Power Steering, when the engine is running the steering is easy to turn but when the engine is not running the steering turns but it take alot more effort but 1st thing what are you classing as a brake failure, were you pressing the brakes fast 5-6-7 times then found they went hard or did you press them a couple of times before they went hard or were they hard straight away? If they were hard straight away chances are either a leaking vacuum pipe or total failure of the pump (but as you say they were ok after 5 mins it doesnt sound like the pump) If they were hard after a few presses then i would be inclined to think poss worn vac pump If they went hard after alot of pumping then this could be normal re the pipe being loose, yes this could be ok the main factor here is "is there any vacuum leak along the pipe" if there is then theres your fault if not then the pump needs checking (how much is it sucking) If you feel confident then you could check these bits yourself, BUT if you have any doubts get the brakes checked over by a mechanic who should be able to advise you better Im sure if you called in at your local garage they would do a quick check for you I know I would (but then again i have a thing about brakes, its easy to make a car go but you always need brakes to stop) ***NEVER*** take chances with brakes

Well I can recommend K-Seal. Have used it a few times for different people (cheapskates mainly) when they couldn't afford a proper repair and was suprised by the sucess of it. If you are limited on tools I would suggest a good run to pressurize the cooling system then leave overnight, if the head or anything is leaking coolant into the cylinders it can seep in overnight. Then before you start the car take out the plugs and try to look inside, if you cant see inside the cylinders place some kitchen roll or similar over the plug holes then get someone to turn it over and observe what comes out. if it is water a thorough strip down would be needed unless you try the K-Seal NOTE OF CAUTION make sure the ignition system is disconnected and if poss the fuel pump aswell

hi Mutley sorry for the delay been a bit busy re the cig lighter fuse i had to dig out my old haynes for this info it lists the cig lighter fuse as a 20 amp (yellow) in the main fuse box No7 counting left to right some times fuses are hard to see when they are blown without taking them out, a trick i use is to use a volt meter or some type of test lamp and probe onto the fuse they usually have a little tag that you can touch, obviously if there is power on one side and not the other the fuse is gone looking at the wiring diagram the cig lighter has a permenant live. Depending on what you are checking you sometimes have to have the ignition on I cant find any mention of the rear sockets but it wouldn't suprise me if they are on the same fuse

there is no hard and fast rules with any gauges as they are only a "guide line",(fuel gauge included) this (in my thinking ) is why the manufactures use the word "NORM" between cold and hot on the temp gauge you tend to find that the different engines usually have 2 or 3 different coloured temp sensors which will show differently on the gauge so once you get to know your car you usually know where the temp gauge sits and what you can class as norm, the gauges will rise if sat in traffic which is normal until the fan kicks in then should come back down. This is usually the time when you notice a problem as normal driving keeps sufficient air flow over the radiator to keep it cool The only way you can check the temperature is with a seperate temp reader then compare it to you gauge or if you have an obd scanner some of them have coolant temp readings for you to compare

by the aux belt i take it you mean the single v belt that operates the power steering pump (if memory serves me well) in a nut shell yes you will need to loosen all the mounting bolts for the pump then the 13mm nut in the middle of the adjusting nut, when all are loose you should be able to move it no probs. Dont force it if it doesn't move as you will strip the teeth off the adjuster (if they havent already been stripped).If they have been stripped you just move it the old fashioned way-=-A big crowbar

Hi mutleybrookes the rapid ticking noise (which could be your starter motor) and the radio loosing its channels sounds like a classic flat battery problem. The lights and everything else might work ok but your starter requires 9-10 volts to spin it properly, if there is not enough in the battery to turn it, alot of other circuits momentarily loose their power ,then when you stop turning the starter the power is returned to the other circuits. This in turn resets your radio to default (sometimes a code is needed) it can also cause alarms to need reprogramming aswell Try jumpstarting it and let us know how you get on

could do with a bit more info re year but if as you say the red immobilizer led flashes rapidly when you first turn ignition on without trying to start it does sound like an immobilizer problem.The key has a transponder chip inside it which the ecu recognizes and allows the car to start, if there is a problem or the chip is not recognised then the led flashes rapidly and the car wont start. There are 2 type of systems on the galaxy depending on the year. 1 had a red master key to program slave keys the other had no master key but the principles were the same. Have you a spare anywhere to try if not it might have to got to the stealers to be reprogrammed or try a decent auto locksmith who should have the software to reprogram a new key

I have done a mk2 Gal recently with this type of fault so not sure if the mk1 is the same but i found the washer jet was blocked and also found the pipe was disconnected in the pass footwell which incidently left NO wet marks on the carpet,there is plenty of insulation/sound deadening there to soak it up. The pipe came from the washer bottle throught the wheel arch and into the car behind the n/s kick panel,then just as it ran along the cill under the trim i found a connecter which had come apart. Another good place to try is where it comes through the body into the tailgate, the constant flexing weakens the pipe and it breaks (i had an astra which broke there and just filled up a void with water)

Sorry I cant comment on the ELM327 as Ive never used it and am unsure just how indepth it will go when checking for faults If you have a diesel Galaxy I think you might be better with the VAG.Com as this will interface with all the systems on you car from engine to parking sensor ecu's. I have a generic OBD2 tool but can only interface with the engine ecu but even still it will only give me a code reading if the eml light is on When I tried VAG.com it goes into everything from engine to parking sensor ecu's and highlighted 3 faults I never knew I had (well apart from a fault on the parking sensors which i was struggling to identify) but vag.com told me the exact sensor which was faulty, and as mentioned told me of other faults which hadn't brought the management light on You can buy a dumb interface off ebay for around

well im not a computer expert but it does sound like a driver problem. I havn't seen the vista interface so cannot comment too much but from various items i have read the general concensus is that anything that was made before vista came will be 50/50 as regards working the best way would be to check with all the manufacturers of all the scanners,camera's,printers ect that you own to see if they have updated drivers to work on vista. If not chances are it wont work Is it a new computer altogether or have you upgraded Just a thought does vista not have a compatable program like xp to get older software to work or is that just for software itself and not things like printers ? anyway good look hope you sort it

The loosing power/going into limp home mode coupled with the over boost code are related, basically the ECU moniters the turbo boost and tries to keep it at a certain level, if it goes over the threshold then the ECU trips into limp mode to protect the engine and other components from damage. (turning the ignition off /on again and every thing ok again confirms the limp mode and if the ECU see's the same problem on acceleration will trip out again) As tim-spam has mentioned the VNT mechanism could be the problem like it was on mine, but I didn't get the rough and sluggish bit before tripping into limp mode it just went suddenly. however that said dont overlook the other bits that help to control the boost ie 1/ N75 valve (located on bulk head in the centre usually behind a heat shield) 2/vacuum pipes to said N75 valve (blocked or split) 3/leak around the bowl located at front of engine block with a vac pipe connected to it I did alot of searching on this site and also on www.tdiclub.com to find out the answers I needed, the tdi club site is predominantly all about VW's but the Galaxy diesel is ultimatly a rebadged VW and was very helpful when i couldnt find the answers here It took me a while to confirm my fault as it was intermittant and I tried the easy bits first and had to wait until it tripped out again before I knew for sure if it was cured or not. Eventually I narrowed it down to the VNT mechanism(located on the turbo) and moving it with a 9/16 or 14mm spanner I found its movement very rough( should obviously be smooth) and after alot of wd40/duckoil and elbow grease moving it up/down I got it moving as it should. I hasten to say that I expect the problem to re-occur as I havn't (due to working shifts) actually regreased/cleaned or stripped down the turbo which I will try first as I was taught to fix/repair cars when i did my apprentaship (yes Im a mechanic of 20+years)

Hi all, never posted on here before but been looking for a while so please bare with me Alot of manufacturers are now supplying what they deem as "emergency" spare wheels (space savers, steel wheels when you have alloys fitted ect) believe it or not some dont even supply a spare now, instead they supply a can of foam sealer type stuff (it was around years ago)and if you want a spare it is classed as an extra and as such costs you. The reason for the 50mph/80kph sticker is because you will usually find that the spare is of a different size in some way (be it the rim or just the tyre itself if you have what looks like a proper steel rim) and as such the manufacturer sticks a speed restriction on it useage. This is because technically you cannot put different size tyres on the same axle, but as someone mentioned before its the manufacturers get out clause So in a nutshell if you have a space saver then its obvious your restricted to 50mph, for those of you who have what looks like a proper spare (steel or alloy rim) then check the tyre size if its the same as the other tyres then you can use it as normal ,if however the size is different then you are restricted to the 50mph aswell On another note someone mentioned the wheel nuts/studs, if they are original wheels and nuts then there will be no problem if you have alloy wheels and a steel spare the nuts will be ok to use, the only manufacturer that I know of that might use different nuts is merc's but there is usually a large sticker on the spare telling you of this. If the wheels are ""not original"" (usually alloys) then be careful as they rarely use the original nuts and as such might not be compatable with your spare( usually you only buy 4 fancy wheels and use your original spare) so if this is the case then keep 4/5 of the original nuts to use on your spare if ever needed