Jim

Hi Tigger, Am I right in assuming your electrics are mounted using the following mounting plate?

Brink fitting instructions here. Even includes a picture, albeit for a swan neck. Instructions and pic show that the electrics is also below the parking sensors. My experience of Witter (fitted by me to my Passat), is you need a mounting plate for the electircs between ball and flange and according to other posts on this forum this can cause problems. My choices are Bosal or Brink then. Any opinions on which is best?

Was in today. Apparently I need a new "switch". Didn't get to speak to service manager to find out exactly what the problem was as I was in a rush. Car booked in again for Friday morning as they have to order the new switch. They say they will need the car all Friday morning as there is quite a bit of work involved in fitting the switch. Lets see what Friday brings.....

Its 19mm nut on mine - All sold in Lidl by the time I got there this afternoon. Too bad as

Can't drive to Lidl - don't have the car. I even have one of the spanners in the boot of my car, but forgot to check this morning. The size of the spanners is 19 or 21 mm. Someone must know the answer?

OK, not very technical, and very easy to check, but 'er indoors has the car and I need to know quickly as I am looking to buy one of those telescopic wheel spanners in Lidl. Yeah, the ones that can remove the bolts that tyres fitters put on much too tightly with air guns. My guess is 19 or 21 mm, but want to check just in case its 23 and the spanner won't fit.

Just asking to clarify. If the tyres are 215 width, then they do not need reinforced side walls? I only ask as my tyres as 215. The rear Dunlops are reinforced, but the front Continentals are not.

Try www.gsfcarparts.com or www.eurocarparts.com/download.htm for the parts. Had to include the download page as their server is having problems with asp pages at the minute. Don't know about the Galaxy, but they were much cheaper than VW for the CV boots and bottom straight arm for my Passat.

Hi Keith, forgot to mention in last post, the Bosal was fitted by a Seat dealer to the Alhambra, but I checked the electrics and these are connected the cheap and nasty way - using these cable connectors. The proper electrics kit must be even too expensive for the dealers to use - I believe thay are over

Hi Andy. I know about the nose weight issue (75 kgs I thought?, but you may well be correct). When towing, I only try to have one bike on it and the others on (roof mounted) cycle carriers on a carry rack mounted on my trailer tent. Of course, the one bike on the carrier is the heaviest steel one that does not fit the carriers on the TT. :rolleyes: I always try to keep the nose weight of the trailer reasonably low though. Back to the towbar. Had a good look at the Bosal fitted to a 2002 Alhambra today. Looks neat, and I am pleased to say that there was no requirement to drill holes in the bumper. The two little metal bars (marked B on the diagram) can be attached with screws to the bumper using the existing holes that on my car are used to hold the cables for the parking sensors. Any more info on other makes of towbar?

Nice work Seatkid!

Hi Seatkid - thanks for the reply. No it's not been under water - when at least not in the 6 weeks I've had it. What you are saying makes sense - I also have my doubts that the fuel gauge is reading correctly as it wavers a bit, although not as bad as the temp gauge. I also consider the car to be a bit dangerous when this is happening, as I wouldn't like to be over taking and need the power, when the gearbox decides to play up!! I will make sure I mention all faults on Tuesday and discuss what the cause might be with them - making sure they investigate what you say.

Car is booked in with dealer on Tuesday and have been having difficulty trying to recreate my problem - until tonight. I have been having a couple of problems in the last couple of weeks - all intermittent. 1. Temperature gauge (sensor) not working/giving false readings. 2. Engine occasionally over revving when started (1-2 seconds). 3. Engine idling too fast (1200 rpm) 4. Auto gearbox changes not smooth My wife usually drives the car, but I was lucky enough to have it today. On the way home I again noticed the temp gauge moving between 50 --> 90 -- 50, as it has been doing. I stopped at a shop for 10 minutes and upon restarted the vehicle, I got the over revving. The temp gauge was at 50 and stayed constantly there, and whilst driving, the gears were mischanging and idling speed was too high. Once the temp gauge started responding again, (allbeit still not working 100%) the problems went away. Could problems 2,3,4 all be being caused by problem 1. The dodgy temp sensor is giving bad info and causing the rest of the electronics to screw up? Seems too much of a coincidence.

The electrics on the Bosal towbar are attached to plate C - there is no need for the "traditional" mounting plate for the electrics that normally goes between the flange and ball. A friend actually has the Bosal bar fitted to his Alhambra, so I will get a closer inspection before deciding. The advantage of the setup is that as the electrics are on plate C and this plate is mounted at the lowest point of the towbar (via 2 bolts on the L shaped bits welded to the bottom of the main U shaped structure), effectively below the height of the bumper, this should hopefully not interfere with my parking sensors as per other posts. I guess my question really was do Witter, Brink etc use have something similar to plate C for the electircs, or do they expect the electrics to be mounted behind the ball and therefore potentially cause problems for the parking sensors?

Hi All, Looking to fit a towbar to my 2000 (post facelift) Galaxy with parking sensors. The towbar MUST be ball & flange type - swan neck is no use to me as I have to be able to carry bikes and tow at the same time. Have been looking at Witter, Bosal, Brink etc. I am wavering towards the Bosal bar as the electrics on this are mounted on the shaft leading to the flange and no on the flange behind the ball. I am thinking this means the bar is less likely to interfere with my parking sesnors. Fitting instructions here. Once thing I don't like is drilling a small hold in the bumper to attach it to the towbar, but maybe this is not strictly necessary? Anyone know more details on Witter and Brink regarding where the electrics are mounted? Thanks, Jim

Looks like a phone call to the dealer is required. Thanks seatkid - you have me suitably concerned - well at least I still have just under 35 months of my 36 month warranty left to run!

I have a very occasional problem with gear changes too. Usually 2nd --> 3rd, sometimes can take a second or two to change and when it does it's with a bit of a thump? OK the vast majority of the time. Do I have a problem?

SA Intruder, is the 506 a typo - should it be 505? If not a typo, will 506 also do? Just asking, as I'm off to France this summer, so will pick up some of this oil.

I heard (from a locksmith) that the code key can be by-passed by bump starting the car as the is an EU directive that immobolisers must deactivate above 15 mph - some safety directive. Don't shoot the messenger, as I am only passing on what I have been told. I personally use a decent steering wheel lock, as I think it's as good as anything. I think my car also has an alarm though.

Thanks Andy - minor mystery solved - forgot about parking sensors!

OK, so it looks like a good idea to disconnect after market electrics prior to a visit to the ford dealer, but they can say nothing about the towbar itself - so long as it is type approved. How much is the Ford kit and would a VW/Seat kit also do? Just had a look at my rear passengers side light connections, there is something looking like a small speaker - is this an audible reley already fitted in the car?

Towbars on car built after '98 require EC type approved towbars and will require no drilling - the bar will fit manufactrers mount points. This was certainly the case when I fitted a Witter bar to my Passat. Easy enough to do - remove bumper, fit bar, refit bumper and do electrics. I have to check if my Gal has a bulb failure system as extra realys my required, but not too sure on this? Will be fitting a towbar to my Galaxy soon - don't know make yet, but it will be ball & flange. There are other posts regarding parking sensors on the forum, so it looks like towbars can interfere - a problem I will have to try and overcome also. I know someone who has a Bosal towbar on his Alhambra and it looks like the mount for the electriics is lower down on these towbars. Hope that helps Jim

These maybe a silly questions, but at this time of year, is there a way for Joe Public to 1. Test that the air con is working 2. Ascertain what helath state it is in

Well, cannot complain on this one. Once the dealer had checked the computer, they confirmed that the belt should indeed have been done at 40K, they said they will do it FOC :huh: ;) ;) . An oversight on their behalf as my car was one of the first 3 year warranty cars. I have been told that the belt should be good for 60K, but with the warranty going from one to three years, the belt interval was brought down to 40K just in case, as belts snapping before 60K would cost Ford a lot of dosh! I will also ensure that the tensioner is done at the same time. Is the tensioner and idler all the same component?

Where do I find the sender to check the wiring - sorry, I have no idea where to look, so the more detail the better. Thanks, Jim