sh55123

Hi, I have been a member of this forum for years, but rarely post. I have had three different Galaxy's/sharan's over the last 6 years. I am a huge fan!! My current car, and 50,000 mile pristine Sharan vr6 carat, is absolutely fab apart from one niggly fault. I am hoping that somebody out there on the forum may be able to help. Under certain conditions, when the auto box changes into third, it appears to engage,and then mildly 'kangaroo'. It almost feels as though the engine is being momentarily (and repeatedly) retarded, or that the torque converter cannot decide whether to lock up or not. I also occurs when dropping into 4th, but not as pronounced. On occasions when it is milder, acceleration appears to be 'stepped' rather than nice and linear, with the revs rising in distinct but subtle steps, even with the throttle held static at about 25%. I have just had the auto box completely rebuilt at a cost of about

I don't know whether you have found anyone yet, but I have just used an excellent company in edenbridge called vehvac - had to have my evaporator changed (dashboard out), and 'only' cost

The parts required are as follows: 2x metal brackets that you actually 'rivet' to the inside of the rear wings. These are black painted angular metal brackets that have three holes punched in them for the rivets. The corresponding rivet holes on the bodywork are already present. 2x Large plastic tonneau 'carriers'. It is these that the tonneau actually fits in to. Ensure that they also supply 4x large philips head screws that fit these fittings to the metal brackets listed above. 2x Small plastic catches for the rear (for the tonneau to clip in to once fully extended). NOTE - VW will also need to supply the self tapping 'nuts' (in fact they are more like clips with a hex head pressed in to them) to retain these plastic fittings to the rear panel from behind. My VW garage even supplied a bag of rivets, which was excellent, as I have no idea what size they are (but thet were fairly large with thick stems that were a bugger to fit!!) That should be all you need in the way of parts. Now on to the fitting... (I will do my best to explain this from memory!) The main aim is to remove the rear side panels. These are secured by a couple of those nasty plastic retainers (as fitted to the door trim panels) along the edge next to the rear doors. To safetly 'pop' these off, remove the door seal rubber along the edge that meets the rear trim panels and pop them off by levering them with as screwdriver. Remove the plastic retaining screws along the bottom of the panels (1 long one on the near side, 2 shorter ones on the offside). Remove rear and middle row seatbelt anchor points. Remove rear pillar trims either side of the tailgate, as there are rear panel retaining screws that need to be removed. There are also another pair of retaining screws nearer the bottom of the panel, but I cannot picture exactly where they were located - they are fairly obvioud though. Remove the plastic panel that runs left to right along the floor where the tailgate latch is. Remove the left & right tailgate latches. The panels themselves are best removed by pushing them upwards, as the top edge at the bottom of the rear windows is clipped to the bodywork just like the door panels. Once the panel is removed, you will see the cutout marks indented into the rear of the panels where you would expect to find the (large) front tonneau holder (right near the small rear speaker, if fitted), and the (small) rear tonneau retaining clips. I used a drill to mark out a coarse outline of this shape, drilling right through the panel in about 15 places (ouch!!). Be assured that as long as you stay exactly within the markings, the hole will NOT be too large. Once the outline was marked, I used a sharp stanley knife to cut throught the top surface trim (velour in my case). The rest of the hole can be cut out using a jigsaw etc. Once the holes have been cut, rivet the metal brackets in place using 3 rivets a side (believe it or not, these strange shaped brackets marry up perfectly with the holes on the inside of the wing). Fit the small plastic tonneau retainer clips to the rear of the panels while they are off, and don't forget to drill the 2 holes needed for the plastic legs these fittings have on them to pass throught the trim panel, allowing you to screw on the strange self tapping nut/clip things (this description will be far clearer when you have the parts in your hand!) With the rear plastic tonneau retainers securely fitted, refit the rear panels, again by clipping them in to the top edge of the inner wing first at the bottom of the rear windows, and then clipping/screwing them back into position . The large hole you have cut for the metal brackets should leave the brackets clearly visible through the hole, and should accommodate the large plastic tonneau holders. These can now be inserted into the hole and screwed to the newly fitted metal brackets underneath (using the large philips screws mentioned earlier), thus providing the strength to hold the tonneau in place. Next, spend ages tidying/refitting little bits of trim throughout the inside of your cherished vehicle - there will be sawdust and bits of velour (or leather!)everywhere from where you cut the holes etc. The satisfying bit comes when your tonneau clips securely into the perfectly fitted large plastic carriers, and clips neatly into the small rear plastic retainers. If the trim is all refitted carefully, and the holes cut accurately, you shouldn't be able to distinguish the end result from a factory fitted option. Best of luck to anybody who attempts this, although it is not as daunting as it looks if you are fairly handy and into a bit of DIY!! If anybody wants more clarification, just post another message. One thing I will say is that a copy of the ford TIS cd (look on EBAY) is invaluable when it comes to removing/refitting the panels, although there is no documentation on how to actually fit a tonneau!! :huh:

The gauge works perfectly, with the car coming up to temperature at normal speeds, and coming to rest in the middle of the gauge. I also suspect the wiring for the gauge, as the whole dash has been out etc etc. Do you know what exactly causes the light to flash, as the user manual just suggests checking that the engine temperature is normal, and that there is enough coolant in the system. It does not detail exactly what this telltale lamp is supposedly warning you about.

Just had the evaporator on my 1996 vr6 sharan (climate control) replaced and aircon works perfectly. We have only owned the car for 6 months, and it was purchased with non-functioning aircon. The car came with full vw service history, and had only covered 55,000mls. According to the service history, the aircon only suffered its first leakage issue in 2003, which isn't too bad judging by these postings!! Had a great local aircon specialist do a leak test using fluoresvent/uv dye, and they confirmed it was indeed a leaky evaporator (this is far more common than people think on all makes of car).

Successfully managed to fit a genuine 2003 sharan load cover to my 1996 vr6 carat! Useful info to know that the covers do not appear to have changed even thouugh the 'new' shalaxy has undergone quite a number of changes. If anybody wants more information about how to do it and what parts to get, then add a reply to this messaage thread. I would like to point out that the process does involve removal of both rear side trim panels, cutting them (although template marks are provided on the inside of the panels) and about 4-6 free hours!! :(

I contacted my local VW dealer (I have a 96 VR6 Sharan carat), and they supplied me all the parts I needed to fit it. The only problem is that there are no instructions, and it doesn't look very easy at all - has anybody ever fitted the brackets to a car without them, and if so, do they have any details/photos? I have had a look at the inside of the rear interior panels where the main brackets are supposed to go, and there appear to be indented markings on the insode of the panel that look to be the correct shape for the supplied brackets. The problem is how to fit the metal brackets that go underneath, and actually hold the weight of the cover/tonneau. Any help gratefully received! :P