Oil Level Galaxy 1.9 Tdi

[Neilo]

Hello,

 

I would be grateful if someone could give me their views on the following:

 

Just picked up my 2005 Galaxy 1.9 TDi from the garage, once home checked the oil level out of curiosity (on level ground, one hour after parking up). The oil level was a good 1.5 cm past the recommended MAX mark on the dipstick. The manual clearly informs you not to overfill as this could lead to catalytic converter problems. Is this a real problem or am I just being a bit over protective of my beloved car?

 

Thanks very much

[chromedome]

Did the garage you bought from do a "service" as part of the deal? If so I bet they didn't use the correct oil either. The oil should be to VW505.01 spec or you will get early camshaft wear.

 

Edit: Another important thing to check, is the engine undertray fitted?

Edited December 18, 2010 by chromedome

[Dave-G]

Also be advised - there is no low oil level warning light or beeper on the newer Galaxies. :lol:

[edatelder]

It is dangerous to overfill a diesel engine with lubricating oil. If the level is too high, the oil can blow past the pistons, self fuelling the engine, you can't stop it, the revs increase until the engine blows up! That stops it!! I would get them to take out 2 litres, then put in again slowly until the MAX mark is reached. They probably didn't measure 4 - 4.5 litres or topped it up just after running the engine.

[rwtomkins]

When my 1.9TDI was a year old the dealer overfilled it by at least as much as that and I was just as concerned as you, probably even more so. I phoned Ford technical services and they told me to relax and stop worrying - though I did buy a length of tubing and siphon a bit out just for my own peace of mind.

 

I don't doubt for one moment that overfilling with oil can cause problems, even serious ones. But on a practical note you have to consider that overfilling is going to happen very frequently indeed and therefore that the margin for error will probably be enormous. I've no idea what that margin is but I suspect it's a great deal more than the amount you've mentioned.

[Joey P]

Did the garage you bought from do a "service" as part of the deal? If so I bet they didn't use the correct oil either. The oil should be to VW505.01 spec or you will get early camshaft wear.

 

Edit: Another important thing to check, is the engine undertray fitted?

 

Can you or someone tell me the significance!

 

My car has not got a engine undertray at all, and wonder if one is vital or just a plus

[SilverBeast]

Without the undertray water and road dirt will get into the electrics at the bottom of the engine causing premature corrosion/failure of the wiring and onto the auxilliary drive belts causing them to slip.  This can cause the power steering assistance to be lost/reduced and the air-conditioning compressor (assuming the air-con is working!) to not turn.

 

This all worst case.  I would seriously look at getting one ebay link as it will minimise future issues. If it has been off some time damage may have already been done.

 

Not what you want to hear I know.  Main thing for now try and avoid driving through puddles or standing water (just the time of year for that!) particularly at speed.  My major concern would be if you were to charge through a puddle or standing water and experience a sudden reduction in power steering assistance (I don't know how bad the effect is) then you may struggle with positioning the vehicle on the road.

 

If you have just bought the vehicle from a dealer/garage I would take it back and ask them to fit one.

Edited November 14, 2013 by SilverBeast

[chromedome]

Power steering not working is the worrying one. If you are going around a bend and the steering stops working then you will go straight on.

 

Oil spec is very important on this engine. It is a VW PD engine and the camshaft has very high loads put on it. Incorrect oil will cause the camshaft to wear prematurely.

[insanitybeard]

I changed the oil on my 'new' Galaxy recently, bought secondhand a couple months back..... When I got it, the oil level was a good 2 inches above max on the dipstick. I know the Ford spec oil for the Galaxy was 5-40 fully synthetic which was different to nearly every other Ford out there of the time which used 5-30 semi synthetic (Ford have now changed their 5-30 oil to fully synthetic). If the people responsible for 'servicing' a car can't even get the oil level remotely correct, you certainly can't trust them to have used the correct oil either! My Galaxy doesn't have an undertray at present, due to some previous badly repaired (read:bodged) accident damage. I plan to get one in the future, once I've fixed the other raft of front end problems mine has...... Front panel incorrect for the vehicle and broken, front bumper mountings broken, grille glued in with epoxy, broken intercooler mountings, damage to N/S chassis rail, etc. Being a former mechanic I should have been more cautious, should've known better, should've walked away!  :wacko: In my defence the worst of the damage was out of sight to my -admittedly brief- inspection! You live and learn!

[Joey P]

Thanks for the feedback. I guess it only being a plastic shield, a salvage one would do if available, or am I being optimistic. Is there a pile of specific year fittings needed for it.

 

Re: Oil

 

I went into amotor factors and presented the relevant page, and was assured that elf evolution sxr 5w-40 met all the requirements.

 

Only after I opened it, did I notice the words synthetic technology.

 

I have only used to top up to half way, as the reading was on the minimum.

 

 

Anyone know if the oil is good enough.

[acecard]

Always had servicing done on the gal by VW, not Ford - at least they should put the right spec in it! - one hopes...

[xavier]

Joey P - what engine do you have? If TDI, the main spec you need to check is it meets VW 505.01 spec (think that's right!)

[insanitybeard]

Thanks for the feedback. I guess it only being a plastic shield, a salvage one would do if available, or am I being optimistic. Is there a pile of specific year fittings needed for it.

 

To my knowledge the shields should all be pretty similar, though I'm not sure if the petrol and diesel engine shields are contoured differently at all. Fixings wise, the shields have 2x 10mm headed bolts either side that bolt into the chassis rails, and 2x 10mm headed nuts that go onto hexagon shaped rubber dampers at the rear (that bolt to the subframe IIRC)- so 6 fixings in total.

[seatkid]

Thanks for the feedback. I guess it only being a plastic shield, a salvage one would do if available, or am I being optimistic. Is there a pile of specific year fittings needed for it.

 

Re: Oil

 

I went into amotor factors and presented the relevant page, and was assured that elf evolution sxr 5w-40 met all the requirements.

 

Only after I opened it, did I notice the words synthetic technology.

 

I have only used to top up to half way, as the reading was on the minimum.

 

 

Anyone know if the oil is good enough.

That Elf oil is Renault spec and does not meet the requirements of your engine. Spec VW505.01 or VW507 is required to protect against premature wear of the unit injector camshaft.

 

Driving without an under tray is hazardous on the diesel models as the power steering belt is very close to the offside wheel. Driving through a puddle often leads to temporary loss of steering, the steering becomes very very heavy, most people would assume its locked. Its a very frightening and dangerous experience I can assure you.

Edited November 15, 2013 by seatkid

[insanitybeard]

 

Spec VW505.01 or VW507 is required to protect against premature wear of the unit injector camshaft.

 

I presume Ford's recommended oil for the TDI PD Galaxy must meet that spec- 5w40 fully synthetic formula SD, just checked the Ford technical databook, but unfortunately it's Ford's own specification reference, not a VW one! The Ford spec is WSS-M2C917-A.

[Joey P]

Thanks again for the feedback and info.

 

Going to order a under tray asap.

 

Re ELF oil,

I am now a little confused.

 

I just spoke to a different distributor of several different oils, who assured me that the elf evolution sxr 5w-40 not only meets but exceeds the Fords requirements.

He stated that it is fully synthetic.

He said that the book  spec of WSS-M2C917-A is old and out of date with oils.

 

He did appear to know his stuff, stating they were old VW inspired specs, but!!

 

At worst I guess it will do little harm topping up for now as I plan to do a oil change soon.

However, that is two unconnected people in the motor factor retail trade who have stated that elf evolution sxr 5w-40 is a good oil for the year and model.

Edited November 15, 2013 by Joey P

[seatkid]

Ignore dealers or distributors.

 

THE ONLY OILS SUITABLE FOR A VAG PD ENGINE are VW505.01 or VW507 (longlife) SPEC. (beware 505.00 is not suitable)

 

There are many oils that are approved to one of those specs. The ELF oil is not. It does not have the EP additive thats needed to protect the injector camshaft. Continue to use non spec oil and you will end up with a chewed up camshaft and ruined injectors - could be in 5000 miles - could be 50,000 miles FACT.

 

One of the cheapest that meet the spec is Quantum Platinum Oil which is sold at most VW/SEAT/SKODA/AUDI dealers for around

[insanitybeard]

 

 

 Continue to use non spec oil and you will end up with a chewed up camshaft and ruined injectors - could be in 5000 miles - could be 50,000 miles FACT.

 

Heh, in all seriousness I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that mine seems to chug over on the starter for a couple of seconds before it actually fires up- it doesn't exactly have the best service history, there's a good chance it's been filled with the wrong stuff under the 'care' of it's previous owner. I've changed the oil myself for the proper Ford spec stuff now but I wonder if damage has been done.... I know that mine has logged a MAF sensor fault which I thought may have something to do with the fact that it doesn't fire up straight away, but maybe there's a more serious issue with injector wear.....  :( Or maybe the glow plugs are past their best.... that would be preferable!

Edited November 15, 2013 by insanitybeard

[Joey P]

Ignore dealers or distributors.

 

THE ONLY OILS SUITABLE FOR A VAG PD ENGINE are VW505.01 or VW507 (longlife) SPEC. (beware 505.00 is not suitable)

 

There are many oils that are approved to one of those specs. The ELF oil is not. It does not have the EP additive thats needed to protect the injector camshaft. Continue to use non spec oil and you will end up with a chewed up camshaft and ruined injectors - could be in 5000 miles - could be 50,000 miles FACT.

 

One of the cheapest that meet the spec is Quantum Platinum Oil which is sold at most VW/SEAT/SKODA/AUDI dealers for around

[xavier]

Looking on elf's website here (hope link works...)

 

http://www4.total.fr/pdf/elf-lubricants/product-guide/index.htm?startPage=14

 

The evolution doesn't have the VW505.01 spec however the elf solaris stuff does. There's an email address for questions at the end of the PDF, might be worthwhile emailing them.

[MartinWindsurf]

My 2000 1.9 TDi had a broken MAF for a while (40K) and contuinued to start on first turn, but ran with much reduced power.

Much later on it developed delayed starting - at 90k miles.

2 glo plugs were open circuit - replacements did not fix the starting, then I found no voltage was getting to them.

Then I noticed a broken wire to the water temp sensor (temp gauge had been fine - must be a separate sensor).

After repairing the broken wire the power to the glo plugs was restored and starting has always been instant since then - now 113k miles.

It seems the computer system does not enable power to the glo plugs if it cannot check the water temp - it uses this temp to decide how long to apply power to the glo plugs from cold start.

(sorry I know it's not the same subject, but it might answer INSANITYBEARD above, and I posted this in a poor starting section too)