Ford Galaxy T Reg Won't Start And Now Ford Gates Made It Worse

[had-enough-of-cars]

hiya guys, at a real loose end. Could really do with some help. i have a ford galaxy 2.3 ghia t reg.

form the begiining.

i was driving on motorway and then power went. everything stopped and got it to side of road. Tried starting it and it turned over nicely but no firing up. The aa came out and kept trying and they found there was no power to the fuel pump switch (ineartha). towed it to a ford dealers in bishops stortford and they had it for 18 days. They removed the aftermarket alarm and checked the relays. the car now doesn't even turn over but this could be the battery cos nothing works in the car now. After 18 days they wanted to charge me £1800 for diagnosis fee. told them to swivel as they hadnt diagnosed it. got the car back home and searched online. Relay 30 kept coming up so i ordered one and replaced it. charged the battery up after it being dead for 2 monthes. The fuel pump now makes a sound but still not turning over. Theres power to the starter motor and i gave the coil a little knock but still nothing.

Tried jump starting and no turning over. Tried bump starting and nothing again. Ford left all the fuse box hanging down so i can get to all the relays. checked them all, all the fuses are fine. checked cables, fine. Had a look at the ignition barrel and it seems it has been changed. as turn the key one click, two click and then third click makes a spark sound.

I.m literally at a loose end and really don't want to get rid of the car as its not worth much scrap and its the first car i really enjoy driving. Please any advice or help would be greatly apprteciated. Thank you and look forward to the replies

[Scorpiorefugee]

I have no experience with petrol galaxies but can offer a couple of observations.

My old S reg starter packed up one day and it turned out to be an external flexible connection between the spade connector and a flexible point on the starter body about 2 inches away - a combination of corrosion, old age and cold weather starting had vapourised it. It had to be removed but I bridged the connection with a lot of copper braid from coax aerial wire. It needed a very large soldering iron and a lot of heat but it held until the engine died 18 months later. May be worth a look

It sounds as if you've cracked the original problem so you may be through the worst. I did have a similar problem on a Granada Scorpio and that turned out to be inside a sealed alarm/imobiliser. I bridged a wire from the fuse box directly to the pump and all was well.

Unfortunately, if the battery has been dead for a couple of months it's probably knackered. The general rule with these batteries is charge after use and optionally before if left standing for more than a few weeks. Never leave one discharged!

Hope that helps.

Edited December 3, 2012 by Scorpiorefugee

[had-enough-of-cars]

thank you i will have a look at that. i'll try anything.

[had-enough-of-cars]

had a look and still nothing, bought a new battery and still nothing. turn the key and there is no sound at all. checked all the earths and still nothing. really don't want to depart with this car.

[Scorpiorefugee]

Does the starter solenoid click?

Is it possible that the chip has fallen out of the key? this can happen on one with the remote fob if it separates - mine did it several times but I always managed to find it.

Is it auto and the system thinks it is in drive which may inhibit starting.

If they've been disconnecting things there is no telling what they may have done.

If you want to really have a go without just chucking money at it and hoping there is a cd available which gives virtually everything you need to know and it is widely available for nowt if you want it. It depends which you have most of, money or time.

Have you thought of investing in a VAG com? For a tenner or less with a laptop you can read error codes yourself. It can take a while to work out how but I did it so it can't be that bad. Failing that another site member living locally may be able to help.

From what you say initially it may be that the original fault has been fixed but you are left with a few extra faults thrown in free of charge by the Ford garage. They do that quite often.

It sound like you need to get a pipe and deerstalker.

[had-enough-of-cars]

• the starter clicks,
  
• it is a chipless key
  
• its a manual drive
  
• we have had the computer connected showing no results, so did ford.
  
• i have no idea what you mean by pipe or deerstalker? lol
  
• the fuel pump engages and starts up, all the lights come up on dash board but as soon as turn the key nothing. no sound at all. i hear the relays clicking in one at a time as i turn it slowly.
  
• it doenst even try turning over or make a sound. i'm stumped. it was turning over before it went to ford and all they did was disconnect the alarm system (no immobiliser was fitted in the first place and they said they checked the relays. they reckon it was the fuse box supply but ive tested this and theres power to all terminals in and out. Thank you for the reply.
  

[chrispb123456]

If the starter solenoid is clicking when you turn the key but not turning over then either battery is flat or starter motor is at fault.

Have you tried shorting the starter solenoid terminal to the larger battery + lead, usually a big old screwdriver is good for this

[had-enough-of-cars]

i'll give it a go now. thank you, i let you know in a min

[xavier]

chris, maybe he electrocuted himself! That's a long minute. You ok dude? I used to have to do this with an old Dastun I had, used an adjustable wrench to short the terminals.

[Scorpiorefugee]

" have no idea what you mean by pipe or deerstalker? lol"

 

Obviously not heard of Sherlock Holmes.

 

If there's power to the starter and the starter solenoid is clicking then....

a-The solenoid is US

b-The starter is US

c-The link I described earlier has blown. - You may have to remove or get close and personal to the starter to see what I mean as it is underneath the starter and if there is very little of it left it may be difficult to see that it was there in the first place. In my case the garage removed it and were going to get a replacement until I took it home and had a good look at it.

d- The engine to chassis connection is not effective. Not really likely but it is the other end of the circuit.

If the solenoid is not clicking try a link from the battery to the solenoid control contact. Tedious but safer than feeding 12V to the starter which can take several hundred amps surge on a cold morning. It won't electrocute you but you could get a nasty burn.

 

Note - as both are inductive you can get a nasty flyback kick when you disconnect the link so do it from the starter end not the battery.

Edited December 8, 2012 by Scorpiorefugee

[xavier]

> it was turning over before it went to ford and all they did was disconnect the alarm system (no immobiliser was fitted in the first place and they said they checked the relays

 

Are you sure there's not an immobiliser on these? I thought it was standard equipment. Parkers lists it as standard here :

 

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/ford/galaxy/estate-1995/safety-reliability/

 

You also have an alarm, my guess would be immobiliser, can they / you reconnect the alarm system?

[had-enough-of-cars]

hiya, i didn't electrocute myself, lol. i didn't get a chance to check as my daughter was ill. i'll have a look. as for the alarm, it had a aftermarket alarm on it which ford disconnected (ripped it out and cut the cables) they said it never had an immobiliser, just an alarm. i'll have a good look tomorrow again for the other advice mentioned.

[had-enough-of-cars]

i can't thank you all enough for taking time out of you day to help me with this. thank you

[had-enough-of-cars]

hiya guys, checked all links, checked all fuses, everythingthing is fine but car still not starting. turn the key and nothing. anymore ideas? lol

[had-enough-of-cars]

right, got it turning over, checked relay k191 or 185 (cryptotransponder) i over rid the relay and it started turning over. there wasn't enough battery to fire so i will try it again later. Can anyone explain what it is as i have no clue what it does or what for. Also if this went would it just cut out the car whilst driving. i'm not sure it would because the car was turning over when first broke down.

[Scorpiorefugee]

Something strange...

If you have a new battery why is it not able to whip the engine over?

Another thought....

If you had to bypass the solenoid it may be that the solenoid is not the problem. It could be that the control to the solenoid is missing and in that case there may be another problem further back in the control system.

You seem to be doing pretty well so far but do you have a wiring diagram?

[had-enough-of-cars]

hiya, the car cut out originally and it was turning over, took it to ford who had it for 18 days, they couldn't find the problem, when i collected it, the car would not turn over and this is where my problems started. they have made it worse somehow and thats what led me to where i am now.

I changed relay 30 as everyone said that was the issue. after i changed it there was still nothing working. underneath it was relay 167 when i bridge the connections 87 to 30, the pump starts up where as it wasn't before. The k191 or 185 was the crypto transponder relay and replaced that relay and it started turning over. Now the fuel pump runs and it turns over but not starting up. checked the plugs and theres a spark and the starter motor is fine. the car doesn't have automatic transmission.

[had-enough-of-cars]

Something strange...

If you have a new battery why is it not able to whip the engine over?

Another thought....

If you had to bypass the solenoid it may be that the solenoid is not the problem. It could be that the control to the solenoid is missing and in that case there may be another problem further back in the control system.

You seem to be doing pretty well so far but do you have a wiring diagram?

 

i now have a wiring diagram and have been following it which led me to the other faulty relays that are used to start the car.

its turning over and fuel pump is working. got a full tank of the correct fuel and the plugs have a spark. Its one thing after the other. lol.

[had-enough-of-cars]

 

If you had to bypass the solenoid it may be that the solenoid is not the problem. It could be that the control to the solenoid is missing and in that case there may be another problem further back in the control system.

 

 

so heres a possible silly question, inside the relay is a solenoid, and i bypassed the in and out pins(30 to 87) of that relay. Now pins 85 and 86 go through the solenoid. is that correct? if thats the case, are these the control wires? are they needed? could this impact the car starting? thank you so much for you and everyones help. i do feel there is a light at the end of the tunnel. lol

[Scorpiorefugee]

The solenoid has a coil which activates it. It will normally have 12V to one connection and the other is returned to the ECU which has a transistor or some other electronic device which pulls it down to 0V and activates the solenoid which makes a connection between two other points which are presumably the ones you have shorted. My reasoning is that the solenoid is not being activated by the ECU and that the ECU is choosing not to do so for reasons unknown or it has been damaged. Since the flow of fuel via the injectors is also controlled by the ECU and it now seems likely that it is withholding that also it seems likely that there there is a reason for this. Now, it is quite possible that there is something in the wiring that was part of the stuff that the garage removed that is the cause of your problem my guess is that you have some detective work to do. Everything is pointing to an immobiliser problem and if it has been ripped out there are probably some wires which need connecting to simulate "Active" in the same way that you shorted the relay. It is of course possible that it may be a wire that needs to be disconnected depending on the logic or way the circuit works. (Hence my reference to pipe and deerstalker) I have a TIS disc which should help but if you already have a diagram you have what you need apart from some experience with that particular motor.

I hope that makes some sense and my next suggestion is that you start a new topic under a heading for help needed to sort out a butchered 2.3L immobiliser circuit.

You certainly have a challenge and I hope you get there.

Edited December 11, 2012 by Scorpiorefugee

[had-enough-of-cars]

thank you, i will definately do that. i was told it never had an immobilaser and all ford disconnected was the alarm. it was them who said it never had an immobiliser. i'm so lost and it seems i've jumped down a rabbit hole. lol. thank you for all your help.