rwtomkins

i was having a look at the Air Con John website mentioned in a parallel thread http://www.ac4cars.co.uk/ and he seems to think the correct regime is a complete re-gas after four years from new, then the same at three-yearly intervals. top-ups don't work, he says. but mr tower's right, it's appalling that aircon service is not included in the car's regular servicing schedule

what's the correct service regime in your opinion, seatkid? or is it a case of "if it ain't bust, don't fix it"?

at risk of provoking more red squares - no, you're not quite alone, floz. when i first got my gal i used to have this problem: it happened when I was trying to look cool by twirling the steering wheel around with one finger behind the spoke. i learned that if you use the horizontal spoke you inevitably end up sounding an embarrassing blast on the horn half-way through the turn, so the trick is to use the diagonal spoke. the alternative of course in to use both hands, but then that takes you right back into red square territory...

haven't noticed anything from mine and i'm one of the more noise-sensitive types!

this has come up before and no one has yet come up with the answer. probably wicked wheels can do very superficial stuff but as nimrod and mr tower indicate, if the damage is at all substantial the wheels will have to come off and be sent away for machining. i've got a couple of damaged alloys and i've tried searching the web with search terms such as alloy wheel repairs or alloy wheel refurbishment. it produces a small number of results but they all involve such hassle and expense i've not got around to doing it yet. first you have to take off your wheels, then you have to take the tyres off the wheels, then you have to despatch the wheels to the repairer, then they have to fix them, then you have to do the whole thing in reverse to get the wheels back on the car again, only this time you have to have the wheels rebalanced as well. nightmare. plus without any recommendations you don't even know if the job is going to be done to your satisfaction. i've just decided to live with it until the corrosion gets so bad it can't be put off any longer.

what's emerged from previous threads is that ford dealers (like other dealers) buy their oil in bulk from the oil companies, and it's usually a one-size-fits-all 5W30 oil. regardless of what the galaxy manual or any other manual says, this is the oil they will put in your engine unless you specifically instruct them otherwise and supply them at your own expense with the oil you require them to use. i'm not qualified to say whether this 5W30 oil is damaging to a diesel engine but it isn't the oil specified in the manual for the TDI and personally i wouldn't want to use it for any length of time. however, if you have been supplied with this oil, i doubt you can go back to the dealer and expect them to change it. they will say it's perfectly OK and nobody else has ever complained. further, i'm only speaking from memory but i think there's some sort of cop-out line in the manual along the lines of using the specified oil "or other such oil recommended by the dealer." can anyone supply the precise wording?

i would be really cautious about what you put in the sump of your TDI. like seatkid says, oil does matter and there's no point taking a chance. previous threads have concluded there are very few oils suitable for the TDI and probably none from halfords. you need either Ford SD 5W40 as specified in the manual, or the VW equivalent (can't remember the name but it's the one that meets VW 505.01), or Millers XFE-PD which you can get by mail order. if you can find another one that meets VW 505.01, and it must, then good luck. if you use anything else, you don't love your Gal!

good point, hjt, even if you are on the wrong medication. i've got a horrible gash on my rear bumper <_< but isn't that what it's for? i'm leaving it to collect a few more then i'll have them all fixed together and start again from, er, scratch.

are you sure the rear bumper's finished with paint and clearcoat, seatkid? as you hint, the bumper's made out of plastic. i always assumed it was fibreglass with a gelcoat finish? that's not to say your remedy wouldn't work, though.

poo willy bum, nimrod smells, etc. sorry guys, just testing. the important point is, you can only see your own squares, no one else can see them. oo, mine have just gone all red...

I've got a TDI and it's without doubt the fastest loaf of bread I've ever owned. Phut phut.

there's a brilliant website for batteries like this: http://www.watchbattery.co.uk they're very fast and very cheap. do all kinds of batteries for phones, cameras etc too at a fraction of normal prices.

thinking about it, maybe i'm being a bit thick. i believe the hieroglyphic is saying that in temperatures above freezing, you add 1 part of screenwash to 4 parts of water. if anyone thinks otherwise, please say so.

i just got a bottle of the special VW stuff from the local VW parts department (

i'm sorry, fozzer, i can't offer a cure, but if others are interested, i understand prevention is possible. here's a link to an article on the car care online site which i recently recommended - strangely echoed by another forum member almost immediately in another thread. http://www.carcareonline.com/viewarticle.aspx?art=13

ditto. unless you're unbelievably lucky you're never going to get a perfect spec on the second-hand market. the only way to get that is to buy new and take a hit on the depreciation. if you really have found a bargain, i would just be thankful and go for it - i bet you won't even notice the interior seat colour scheme after the first few weeks, and anyway, trying to change it would be hopelessly impractical and expensive.

the consensus from many previous threads has always been that the ticking is perfectly ok and only a problem if you find it annoying, in which case ford can offer a fix. i get a bit of white smoke but certainly nothing alarming. interesting theory about the brand of diesel: maybe those suffering from the billowing clouds could try switching brands and tell us

in fairness he says he's going to clean it, not change it. but unplugging it would be easier still

Towcester, eh. As the ineffable Noel Edmonds once said, I must pop up there some time.

while in that general area, does anyone have any tips for repairing a deep gash (pushchair injury) in the rear bumber, which appears to be made of plastic dyed the same colour as the main body panels? or is it a job for the body shop?

can't comment on the wipers but there have been endless debates about the aux heater. it IS very noisy but most of us seem to like the turbojet noise. the tick tick tick noise some of us get from the fuel pump that serves the aux heater is less popular but apparently there is a fix available for that from ford. my experience is the turbo jet noise is very audible when you switch the engine off and this is normal. when the engine is on, i'm not really aware of the turbo jet noise, though i can hear it if i put my mind to it. if your turbo jet noise is VERY audible even above the noise of the engine, then perhaps you have a problem. otherwise i would learn to live with it and love it

that's funny, italiastar, i've had exactly the same problem with my Gal from new. the rear N/S door is much harder to close than the others and i always end having to slam it twice to close it. i've never bothered mentioning it on this forum because it seemed too trivial, but i asked the dealer to look at it on the first service a couple of months ago. it came back exactly the same. if anyone knows how to fix this, i'd like to know. i don't think it's out of alignment but i'll have a close look this weekend and perhaps try giving it a lift.

thanks guys. some ray of sunshine you are, seatkid! but it's my fault. i should have said that the voltage was indeed considerably above 12.6 volts by the time the automatic cut-out on the charger told me the battery was full (can't remember exactly what but i think it was about 14.5V). An hour or two later it had come down to about 12.8V and when i checked the battery this morning after it had been resting without any charging for 36 hours it was reassuringly at exactly 12.60 volts. so fingers crossed... i'll be putting it back in the car tomorrow.

in case this helps anyone with a flat battery... these silver/calcium batteries don't seem to respond to the normal trickle charge (2 amps), but my charger also has a 15 amps "booster" setting and by using that in very long bursts i eventually managed to get the battery up to 12.6 volts across the terminals. i don't know whether it's sustained any permanent damage but as seatkid says, these batteries really don't like being fully discharged - it does something nasty to the plates and can prevent the battery reaching full voltage again. you probably all know this but i found the following info from www.autobatteries.com very interesting. a standard automotive battery is made up of 6 cells with 2.1 cells per cell, so it is fully charged when you have 12.6 volts across the terminals. a small drop in voltage makes an enormous difference to the charge, as follows: at 12.6 volts the battery is 100 per cent charged at 12.4 volts, the battery is 75 per cent charged at 12.2 volts, the battery is 50 per cent charged at 12.0 volts, the battery is 25 per cent charged a car battery is considered charged at 12.4 volts or more. it is considered discharged at 12.39 volts or less. it seems extremely improbable that you'd be able to turn over the engine with less than 12 volts across the terminals.

sorry if this is a stupid question but are the odour filter and the pollen filter the same thing? according to the manual the odour filter is supposed to be changed at every service interval and my dealer checked the box on the service record to say he'd done it, but i'm a bit suspicious because i wasn't invoiced for a new filter - the only parts i was charged for were those relating to the oil change.