DaveM

I've gone through the whole of the air con system on my 2.8V Ghia X galaxy. new compressor, filter drier, etc, the lot ! (compressor sounded like a tin of nails) it worked for a month or two, but then it lost it's gas. a subsequent regas lasted about a week. no evidence of any dye on any of the components or pipework HOWEVER! the condensate water left on the driveway has has a very slight oily bright yellow residue Aarrghh! sounds like the leak is at the evaporator coil I hear it's a dash out, labour intensive job (circa

another possibility check the rubber boots either end of the steering rack, (and the power steering fluid level) if the boots are full of liquid, then yor seals are 'letting by' so it's a new steering rack. (speaking from exterience, about

@big_kev: The battery did look well weathered. I'm sure it was at least 5 years old. I don't know how many years they should last for? 5 years (in my experience) is about right for a V6 Gal I've just bought my second battery and the car is now 11 years young oh and idle for a V6 is about 650 to 750rpm, so if it's nearer 1000 then it's either cold or the air con has kicked in

bad form to reply to own post, but somebody has to ;) just an update. No, seals cannot be replaced and it cost me

Air Con ? rattling compressor and hissing evaporator.... eek ! just guessing

2.8V6 1998 My power steering started to scream a couple of weeks ago. The fluid level was low so I topped it up and the screaming stopped. However, I checked it out anyway. The near side rubber boot at the end of the steering rack is full of fluid. I guess this means the internal seal has gone and so letting fluid into the boot. luckily the boot is a snug fit and it's retaining the fluid... for now two questions 1/ Is it possible to replace the steering rack seals ? 2/ how much, on average, will it cost to get a new rack fitted ? Thanks all

I noticed that my '98 2.8 V6 Galaxy is leaving small spots of oil on the drive. I've just had a quick look underneath and there is a bright yellow oily substance dripping, (very slightly) from a cylindrical 'lump' just behind the front bumper, drivers side. The bit that i can see is about the diameter of a can of drink. it's positioned verticaly, not on it's side I had a new A/C compressor about 12 months ago.... surely this isn't the oil with the leak detection dye in it ? if it is, it's got a 2 year warranty, so back it goes. The air con appears to be working pretty well though. (not that it's under any real load at the moment) could it be anything else ?

it could also be the condenser fan of the air con After switching off my V6 Gal, the condenser fan runs on for several minutes. sounds like a jet engine :P It does however stop after a couple of minutes. It occasionally comes on again for a second or two whilst the sensor 'hunts', but only if it's very, very hot outside, so it sounds like you have some sort of sensor fault. Try turning off the climate control for 10-15 minutes and see whether the fan still runs after you switch off, (I guess you have full climate control ?)

My 98 2.8V6 has developed a loud hum and slight vibration when I turn the steerng wheel. The power steering seems un-effected, i.e. it still works, it's just very noisy Any ideas what it is, (belt vibration of some sort?) and how much is it likely to cost to get fixed ? thanks all

Mine also refused to 'com' with my Ford Galaxy until i tried to connect as a VW Sharan.... now works perfectly.

My replacement MAF seems to have done the trick. it hasn't missd a beat for a week now. (fingers crossed) I too thought it could be a burnt out exhaust valve, aarrgghh! it certainly felt like it, but thankfully not. One more thing, my Ford 2.8V6 would struggle to talk to VAG-COM. (on the odd occasion it did it only reported a couple of faults), my mate then tried to connect as a VW Sharan and it it connected straight away and displayed a long list of fault codes! (minor ones or MAF related) I guess my Galaxy Ghia X is a VW in disguise. (it also has a single coil pack 'brick' which I gather is a VW thing also) good luck

Ian A faulty MAF Sensor would not produce rough running symptoms, only restricted power (slow acceleration and limited top speed). My faulty MAF produced flat spots and rough idling at tickover... I thought these are 'rough running symptoms' But maybe that's because mine is a petrol engine (Dec'98 2.8 V6)

Just got my '98 V6 back from the garage today for an intermittant misfire. it wasn't so much a misfire, but struggling to tick over, (rpm all over the place) and flat spots when cruising. (under acceleration it was OK) Some days it was perfectly OK, but then other days it was a nightmare. it to would 'click' then struggle to tick over it appears mine was a dodgy MAF sensor. but then the intermittant MAF fault appeared on VAG-COM as just that. (MAF sensor fault - intermittant) worth a look though

This has been going on for a long time, so i'll try and summarise. I'm not sure if any of this is related, but it all appears to come from the same area of the engine compartment. Here goes : My 2.8V6 1998 'S' plate Galaxy was serviced by an indepant (but Ford trained garage, I know this as i've known the garage owner since his Ford apprentiship days) After the service there was a popping noise that appeared to be comng from under the air filter box The mechanic said there was nothing to worry about, so bring it back the following week and he'd sort it out, (whilst it was booked in for a new exhaust) whilst he was looking under the box, he also moved a small pipe with a T piece in it that broke. He taped up the straight section (as it was making some serious sucking noises) and left the lower pipe flapping about. the straight section of pipe appeared to be attached to the lower part of the air filter box and the other end dissappeared behind the engine block. He also said that this wasn't a problem and he'd replace the taped up pipe whilst he did the exhaust. The car then started to run very 'lumpy' no problems under load. only when cruising or slowing down. it also had problems to maintain a consistent idle rpm. (sometimes cutting out) This problem was only intermittent. the car either run very sweetly or it was a nightmare (flat spots) It's now also started to do nothing when you put your foot down, just hesitate and almost cut out) the problem would dissappear if you stopped, turn the ignition off, then on again. but then come back again. The garage had it back last week and cured the popping noise. (didn't tell me what it was, just said he'd cleaned out something or other, (throttle housing ?!) The small T piece pipe was on order from ford, so that is still broken. it run sweetly for a couple of days then the flat spot/idling/no oomph problem started again. i popped it by his garage so he could plug in the diag vag/com thing. I can't remember exactly what it said, but there were about 5 faults found. (all intermittent) one states something about 'evap' which he said was something to do with the exhaust and was nothing to worry about. there was also an oxygen level warning of some sort then 2 x maf sensor faults (intermittent) He reckoned that the MAF was the reason for the flat spots/idling/cut out problem. it's booked in for monday. Sorry for the lack of technical speil, (i'm not a mechanic) Do you think all the above are connected, i.e. something the mechanic did during the service which produced the popping noise that then screwed up the MAF ? I know the MAF can be a problem, (mine is from new, so 10 years old) but does it sound like the cause of my problems. AND what is this little broken pipe that "doesn't matter".... is it related to my problems oh, and is 40-50 quid about right to replace the MAF cheers