Johnny B Goode

It`s got standard Jag inboard discs on the back and uprated discs on the front , single circuit system with a 9" (3 to 1 ) servo , a brake bias proportioning valve between the front and rear to get the "balance" right.....

As we`re in a "classics" thread , i thought I`d put my 1953 Ford Pop on here. .. it runs a Rover V8 3500cc. , auto box , Narrowed Jag rear end and Viva front , all sat on adjustable coilovers. .. . Video here. .. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=3jjehoPJyB0 http://usera.imagecave.com/johntravell/DSCF0713.JPG

Gas , electric and now water is now going up (as well as coming down in bucket loads around here !). . . It`s time to move country me thinks !

Although being "off" with the Galaxy`s at the moment ( seen this ?. . http://www.fordgalaxy.org.uk/ford/index.php?showtopic=15212 ), there are 3 Taxi`s around here in white , and to be honest I think they`re very eyecatching .

It seems after 3 1/2 weeks they can`t find me a "reasonable" like for like exchange , they offered me another Galaxy from thier stock, same month of registration , almost the same miles, the only differences being that it had leather seats and was the Grape colour, I could see it had been sprayed and poorly polished down one side (with masking tape left under the N/S sill ), scratches to to the black painted backs of the rear seats , it made mine look mint in comparison . To top the lot they were asking me for a further

my Galaxy power steering has failed again (4th time in 6 months) , I`m waiting for Bristol Street Ford in Gloucester to find me another "like for like " exchange after my wife nearly lost control of it when it failed last Friday , she now refuses to drive it ever again , I will start my own topic on this if they don`t hurry up, (I am after all dealing with the Managing Director) I`ve been waiting since Monday and haven`t heard a thing ! Oh and I`m also contacting VOSA tomorrow to get a Mechanical Defect Report filled in (that should wake `em up a bit !!). I think there should be a thread on this forum for us to either praise up the product / dealer or slag them off if they deserve it ! John

Good on ya m8 , my Galaxy power steering has failed again (4th time in 6 months) , I`m waiting for Bristol Street Ford in Gloucester to find me another "like for like " exchange after my wife nearly lost control of it when it failed last Friday , she now refuses to drive it ever again , I will start my own topic on this if they don`t hurry up, (I am after all dealing with the Managing Director) I`ve been waiting since Monday and haven`t heard a thing ! Oh and I`m also contacting VOSA tomorrow to get a Mechanical Defect Report filled in (that should wake `em up a bit !!). I think there should be a thread on this forum for us to either praise up the product / dealer or slag them off if they deserve it ! John

Hi , had the same problem with my `56 2.0 TDI Ghia , booked it in and picked it up the same day . . . .fixed ! I asked to see the jobsheet and it said they`d recharged the gas but still wasn`t working , checked the electrics with thier computer and then did a "visual check" of the wiring and found a wire had come disconnected !. .. Job done ! The trouble is these days the "teccys" seem to rely too much on what the computer says.... By the way , our Galaxy returns 41-45 mpg (on the computer) which is mainly short journeys ( school runs and shopping etc. ) , it`s got 12500 miles on it and the original front tyres are going to be lucky to make 18-20,000 miles ! Good luck with yours.. John

Well since my posting of this topic (touch wood) the power steering has been fine. Now bearing in mind how hot the weather was at the beginning of May , it appears my climate contol / air con does not work. .. .aaarrgh. .. . so, it`s booked in (again) to be checked out during the scool hols next week. I`ll keep you posted as to progress (or lack of) it`s a great shame because , despite all the problems I`ve had with the power steering etc. it really is a lovely car to drive and ticks all the boxes for our requirements . John

I recently had the power steering fail on mine several times ! After a lot of messing about I sent the dealer a letter quoting the sale of goods act.. . . . which woke them up pretty sharpish ! As it turns out there was nothing wrong with the steering at all , it was a software problem shutting it down , they`ll probably programme the latest update into it like they did with mine. . . . Good luck John

Well , I`ve just got mine back (1st Feb) after 2 weeks of software updates and extensive roadtests with the dealer. As I`ve said on this forum before , Fords have admitted there is a problem with the software and an update will be out in April `08. Apparently the onboard computer tells things to switch off and a message comes up on the dashboard telling you somethings failed when really it hasn`t !. . .I`ve recently had a few parts fitted to mine incl. a new P/Steering pump , there was nothing wrong with the original , but the "fault codes" tell the engineer to change it so they do . Since having problems with mine I`ve spoke to 3 taxi / Galaxy drivers who have 19000, 26000 and 29000 miles on the clock of thier Galaxy`s in a short period of time and none of them have experienced any problems at all and really praise these cars up ! I guess I`ve just got a "Friday Car" . .. John

I bet you`re right ..

Hi , as many of you may have read I`ve had significant problems with my P/ Steering malfunctioning regularly , it`s been back to the dealer numerous times and they change everything the "fault code" tells them . Well I picked my car (`56 Galaxy 2.0tdci ghia) up last Friday and it`s failed again after 4 days ! Any way when the car gets back to the dealer it`s working fine ?. . The Dealer has told me that Fords are aware of a software problem with this model and are working to overcome this problem , but it`s not likely to be until April ! I`m waiting to hear if Ford will give me another Galaxy in place of mine until it`s sorted , my guess is that they won`t , so keep your eye open for me on BBC`s Watchdog programme , because that`s who`ll be hearing from me if they don`t help ! After reading some of the other electrical problems people are having on this forum alone it would make sense that there is a generic fault. Hope this helps Thankyou for this forum by the way (Power to the people etc.) John

Hi again , well I had my car back from Fords on Friday with a new P/steering pump fitted , it`s lasted 4 days and malfunctioned again. When they got it back to the garage the steering appears to be working fine ????? so they`re keeping it to extensively roadtest it , but as you see below , Fords have admitted to the dealer that there is a software problem with the mk3......... I`ve had a lot of apparent P/Steering malfunctions coming up on the display (which shuts the system down), but I found out today that there is a software problem , Fords are working on it but it won`t be available til April ! So I`m waiting to hear if they`ll give me a 7 seater courtesy car ???. . . keeping you informed . . . John

Ive found out today that there is a software problem with my `56 Galaxy 2.0tdci ghia , Fords are working on the software now to correct it (power steering on mine is constantly failing ), but it won`t be available til April ! Mention this to them when you take it in , they`ll soon back off , and keep on to them to get it sorted ! Hope this helps... John

Hi , yes you are right , there is a problem with the filter... it`s too fine and doesn`t allow the oil to pass through it fast enough , they`ve changed that on mine after the power steering totally packed up , they`ve also changed the pump recently and it`s failed again today. I`ve had a lot of apparent P/Steering malfunctions coming up on the display (which shuts the system down), but I found out today that there is a software problem , Fords are working on it but it won`t be available til April ! So I`m waiting to hear if they`ll give me a 7 seater courtesy car ???. . . Please see my postings on another related page on this forum and good luck with yours. John

28/12/07. . .Just to move on a bit , I dropped the car off and was going to be given an `07 Renault Espace (horrible thing ) to replace mine whilst in for warranty repairs , anyway the service guy told me there was going to be about a

:lol: Well here we are on 27th of December 2007 and after driving the car to a relatives house 10 miles away guess what ?. . .Yep , the power part of the power steering has failed me yet again !. I`m droppimg it off at Fords AGAIN tomorrow. . . Keep you informed. .. :) John

Well. . .surprisingly the car was ready the following evening , much to my joy . It`s now run for 2 & a half days from collecting it only for the pwr steering to fail AGAIN (Saturday night ) just as we`re pulling off the drive to attend a "family get-together". So , after not been able to attend the family do , this has made me even more angry ! This morning (Sunday) , I`ve been out to the car to check the oil & water etc. . . check the pwr steering oil (all ok) , I take a closer look at the p/s reservoir to find there are NO wires going to it so there couldn`t have been an electrical fault with it in the first place ! I then proceeded and started it up to find the p/s working perfectly well !........I`m going to give it a test drive this afternoon and keep you all posted as to how it goes. (Attn. Adrian-the post above this one) I`m sorry to read how many problems you`ve been having there mate , I thought I was struggling until I read your post , if it`s any help I`ve had 6 months of trouble free motoring with our Galaxy , but you`ve seemed to have ended up with 2 "Friday" cars. Cheers John

As promised. . . I called them this morning at 10 o`clock and I`m told the parts I need are in Germany and won`t be arriving with them until Friday !. . but when I collected my courtesy car (Fiesta) at 4 o`clock I`m told my parts have arrived in Coventry ??? and should be with them first thing in the morning ! So , I told the Service bloke to ring me tomorrow with good news that either a) my car is ready or b ) he`s got me a Galaxy as a courtesy car instead of this Fiesta ! . .. .because very shortly I`m gonna be blowing my top with all the "fobbing off" and useless parts supply !. .. Grrrr... :blink: P.S ....Adrianf. .. I live in Barnwood , Gloucester

:lol: O.K . . . Here`s the latest on my Galaxy ....On Thursday of last (29th Nov. ) week my wife rings me up after picking the kids up from school only to find that the Power steering has failed ! I met up with her and drove it to Bristiol Street Ford in Gloucester who said they could look at it on Friday (30th Nov.). So , I ring Friday pm only to find they haven`t had chance to look at it and will look at it Saturday am !.....So I ring near to lunchtime and I`m told that it`s in the workshop but the fault hasn`t been diagnosed and to ring again on Monday ! I understand that my car only has to be plugged into a computer to diagnose any faults. .. how long does that take ???...anyway they`ve got no courtesy cars left at all let alone another Galaxy for my wife to use to get the 5 kids to school. . . I`ll keep you all posted as to the progress ( or lack of ) and the outcome....rant over for the time being , but I will be BARKING at them on Monday... thankyou Well , I called them again today and I`m told they`ve ordered a new "modified" P/S reservoir and seal ???.... (it doesn`t leak)It must be something to do with the elec switch within it playing up ??. . Anyway.. .I`ll keep you posted later. . . John

:lol: O.K . . . Here`s the latest on my Galaxy ....On Thursday of last (29th Nov. ) week my wife rings me up after picking the kids up from school only to find that the Power steering has failed ! I met up with her and drove it to Bristiol Street Ford in Gloucester who said they could look at it on Friday (30th Nov.). So , I ring Friday pm only to find they haven`t had chance to look at it and will look at it Saturday am !.....So I ring near to lunchtime and I`m told that it`s in the workshop but the fault hasn`t been diagnosed and to ring again on Monday ! I understand that my car only has to be plugged into a computer to diagnose any faults. .. how long does that take ???...anyway they`ve got no courtesy cars left at all let alone another Galaxy for my wife to use to get the 5 kids to school. . . I`ll keep you all posted as to the progress ( or lack of ) and the outcome....rant over for the time being , but I will be BARKING at them on Monday... thankyou

Does anyone know where my avatar picture has gone ???....I`ve checked my control panel and it`s only 64 x 48 and the link is still there ! It was showing for a couple of days but now I`ve just got a little red cross ???? Sorry if I posted this in the wrong forum. . . Confused John

I also meant to say that my only "niggles" so far are that the rear side windows don`t open and I think the door and rear side panel "chrome/ polished" strips are a bit dull and could be a lot better. There ya go ! John

:) If it helps. . . my `56 plate 2.0ltr ghia whines as well... . you can`t notice it so much when you`re driving , but when my wife takes it off the drive it sounds quite loud. I took it back to the dealer who assures me that this is normal. Hope this helps... John