mk1matt

Hi all. The 6006cdc in the new fun bus is knackered, both electrically and cosmetically, so I need to replace it. Finding decent condition replacement units is proving difficult, as it's the square type (07 plate car). It seems like having the oval type from a later car would give me a much better choice, however I can't work out what's involved in making the swap. Obviously the fascia itself needs changing, but what about inside - I assume there's a different kind of mounting cage. Has anyone done the swap, or at least taken their dash apart so they can tell me how they fit? I'd even be happy with exploded parts diagrams for pre and post '07 cars if anyone knows where I can find them! Thanks, Matt

Thought I'd put up a quick post to show anyone thinking about a 6 to 7 seat conversion that it's actually pretty easy. I did this on my 2001 X plate Mk2 Galaxy TDI. The first thing I did was get hold of a new centre seat and brackets. I've actually gone with a mk1 seat, since it was uber cheap. I also needed one with a lap belt because I don't have the inertia reel in the head lining like 7 seat mk2's. Before the "think of the children" squad tie me to a stake for using a lap belt, I can promise that only adults will be using it, and only when they absolutely have to. Now, I didn't know what I was up against at first, so I got a full set of floor brackets and bolts. It was only when I lifted the carpet that I realised that I only needed 4 brackets (one for each outer seat), since the middle seat re-uses two of the existing ones. In order to get the carpet up, first remove the middle seats, then unscrew the plastic trim covers for all the floor brackets. Now, on the plastic sill covers, pop open the two hatches and remove the screws. The sill covers will now lift away. Grab hold of the centre air vent between the front seats and pull up to release the clips. Now use a 10mm socket to remove the plastic nuts to remove the bit underneath. The carper should now be free to lift up. I just looped it over the back seats, but it would probably be easier to remove it completely. When the carpet is up, you'll notice a load of black plastic screws in the floor. Remove these and it'll expose the threads for the bracket bolts. Next you need to bolt down the brackets. I've taken a photo mid way through the job so you can see what I'm talking about. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v382/mk1matt/Galaxy/4a4062cf.jpg Now that's done you need to cut the carpet. Start by trimming the underlay so it fits around the new brackets rather than bulging over them. Then, after putting the carpet back down, CAREFULLY feel for the new brackets and cut the holes. I used the size/position of the existing holes as a guide to make sure I got it right. You don't have to be too neat here, as the trim covers the edges. Now, put the bracket trim covers back on (I'm off to Ford at lunchtime to order the extra 8 I need now), put the sills and the air vent back together, and put the centre seat in. Finally, you'll need to remove the arm rests from the existing seats. To do this, pull the round cover off, then use a 6" long torx to undo the bolt. I re-used the plastic screws that I took out of the floor to cover the fabric where the armrests were. It's not perfect but does the trick. The last thing to do is put the seats on and crack open a beer whilst admiring your handiwork. It took me about 2 hours from start to finish. Not a hard job at all, and well worth it. Sorry I didn't get more pics - I was more interested in just getting it done. If anyone is planning on doing the same, feel free to PM me and I'll talk you through it. I've also got 4 spare brackets and bolts that someone can have for a small fee. Matt

I did the wiring fix myself yesterday. Have a look here: http://www.fordgalaxy.org.uk/ford/index.php?showtopic=19664 Pull the rubber trunking down and have a look. If you've got broken wires, then that's your problem. If anll the wires are intact, then it's something else!

The car: 2000 X Galaxy Ghia 115 TDI. Noticed something a bit weird the other day. The boot release solenoid was making a weird noise and the boot wouldn't open properly. Then yesterday morning I went to put the rear heated screen on, and the fog light warning indicator came on as well as the dash illumination and the parking sensor. Hmm, that's not right... Turns out there was a wiring fault in the tailgate loom. Over time, repeated bending of the wiring going to the tailgate combined with the rubber shielding breaking down has led to the wiring breaking, and shorting out on the bodywork. Time to get out the trusty soldering iron. The wiring runs through the rubber trunking at the top right of the tailgate. It's slipped in at the top so you need to pull at quite hard to get it to pop out. Once it's out you can see the extent of the problem. This pic shows the broken wiring. The yellow heatshrink is the main earth wire that had snapped cleanly in two. I repaired this before taking photos. For this wire I had to add a couple of centimetres of extra wiring as the cable would have been too short to overlap when joining. The pic also shows that I need to clean the inside of the tailgate shut more to get rid of the green gunk... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v382/mk1matt/Galaxy/0f354248.jpg The next pic shows that I've taped up some of the split wires. The taping is messy, but it's really fiddly! You'll see later that I've wrapped the whole up anyway. I've also stripped the ends of the other broken wire, ready to repair. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v382/mk1matt/Galaxy/96b64341.jpg I've soldered this one. You can just about see the black heatshrink tubing that I've pushed down the cable out the way. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v382/mk1matt/Galaxy/34984b7d.jpg And heatshrink done: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v382/mk1matt/Galaxy/eb735ae6.jpg Finally, this is the whole lot re-taped in order to bind it together better and prevent future breakages. After this all that needs to be done is to push the top of the trunking back in place. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v382/mk1matt/Galaxy/f7a52d04.jpg So, hopefully this guide will be useful to someone who has found a similar problem. Matt

It's a mk2 by the way - don't let the username fool you! Glad to hear other people have the same thing happening. I thought it had something wrong.

Fitted a new glow plug at the weekend and now the aux/booster heater fires up nicely in this cold weather. However, it seems to stay on even after the car has been driven for about 30 minutes, and is fully up to temperature. When my wife got home tonight the blower was still running when she got home. I must admit I didn't check the exhaust, as it was dark. Does this sound right? I thought it was supposed to switch off when the coolant temp hit 75 or so. Thinking about it, the faults that were showing last time were 5x "open circuit on glow plug", so could the continuous running have burnt out the plug? I'd rather not have to replace it again! Any ideas what I can check/test? I've got access to a friend with Vag-Com. Thanks, Matt

Cheers guys, just measured the disc (as best as I could!) and it measured 268mm, which according to vagcat is the disc used on the 15" wheel model, despite me having 16" wheels. Maybe it's because it's for the Sharan and Alhambra. Oh well, at least I know what I'm looking for now. I'll see if I can get a caliper from a motor factors and take it from there. George, useful info there - thanks. A fellow Northampton'er I see!

Good call fella. Hadn't considered that. I'm gonna whip the wheel off tonight and note the part number on the caliper as well, just in case, but I'll deffo measure the disc. Cheers buddy.

Had my (wife's) Galaxy for a year now, yet really haven't been very active on the site. Thought I'd re-introduce myself and the car. The car is an '01 Galaxy Mk2 TDI 115, in rare 6 seat guise. In the past year we've racked up about 12,000 miles, and experienced quite a few problems! So far the problems have been: * Failed wiper mechanism (fixed) * Dodgy fuel gauge (intermittent and not too much of a problem) * Air con pressure sensor failure (still a problem) - indicated by vagcom * Coolant temp sensor failure (still a problem) - indicated by vagcom * Broken wiring loom into o/s rear door (fixed) * Sticking rear caliper handbrake actuation lever (soon to be fixed) * Broken handbrake release button (fixed) * Suspect worn front bushes (not had time to check) * Suspect failed aux heater (no fault shown but I've never heard it running or seen the smoke) * Corroded exhaust centre and rear sections (fixed) * Down on power at the moment (I think it's linked to the coolant temp sensor, or maybe the MAF) It's done 127,000 miles now so I wouldn't expect it to be perfect, but that's a big list for only a year of ownership. Cambelt is due soon as well, as is a service, though we've already decided to hang on to it for a long time, so I'm going to DIY service it and not worry about its effect on resale values. I haven't just repaired it over the past year though - I've also tweaked it very slightly: The best thing I did was fit a Harmon/Kardon Drive + Play iPod connector. For those who don't know, it's a standalone iPod connection kit with a separate screen and controller. I've got the "brain" hidden in the centre top dash storage box, the controller is fitted to a switch blank, and the screen has replaced the oval clock on the top of the dash. It took a lot of cutting and fibreglassing, and whilst it's not perfect, it looks pretty good up there. I'll try and take some pics. The next best thing I did was get it remapped. I got it done at ChippedUK in Bromsgrove, and it cost

Hi there. Been a viewer of the site for nearly a year now since buying a Galaxy for the wife. Anyway, I'm having a problem with the handbrake at the moment. The actuator arm seems to stick on the O/S caliper. This is probably due to us having to park on a hill so we always put it in gear and crank the handbrake on. I searched the site and found only one other post about this problem, and that suggested that the actuator mechanism wasn't serviceable. No problem, I'll get a caliper from a breakers and fit it. Here's where the problems come in. I can't work out which caliper I need! The car is a 2001 Galaxy (mk2) TDI 115 Ghia and has 16" wheels (complete with the ubiquitous lacquer peel...). I found a caliper from a 2.8 Alhambra, and according to www.vagcat.com (very useful!) it shares the same caliper with the 16" wheeled cars. The guy at the breakers seems to the think the 115 and the 130 bhp models have different sized calipers. Can anyone shed any light? He's asking

The temperature guage on my '01 115 Tdi keeps going up to 90, then droppin to zero again. Sounds like the sender to me. Could it be anything else? Where is the sender on the engine? Cheers, Matt

Hi all, newbie here. My name's Matt and I've just invested in a 2001 facelift Galaxy Ghia. I'm a vw man at heart, but given that the galaxy is 99% VW it's made the transition easier. We just sold a Golf GT TDi 130 which was a truly awesome bit of kit, but the arrival of my Son has prompted the change. I've still got my Mk2 Golf Gti 16v as a 2nd car so I've not grown up completely. I'm loving the Galaxy at the moment. Room for all the stuff that goes with a newborn baby, plus it's surprisingly good to drive. I'm sure I'll have all sorts of questions, as I'm incapable of leaving any of my cars alone, so this is definitely not the last you'll hear of me...