Galaxy Heating

[anthonydevanney]

Hi guys i bought a 2002 galaxy tdi tuesday my girlfriend went to view car and when i seen it next day the cluster some features dont work the rev and temp gauge are ok but nothing from speedo and fuel stays right place for 5 seconds then goes to empty beeps and light flashes then back to normal but does this all journey also clock on top of dash not working tried fuse 32 and not blown next job is my friend said the oil seemed a bit watery so thought head gasket i got k seal and changed oil seems ok now did change yesterday i had someone else look at car he said was water pump so got tht done today and thermostat still no heating I dont want to replace head gasket for it not to work so any ideas guys thanks also coolant light was on dash so drain expansion tank and filled with antifreeze earlier took car for a 20 min drive and temp stayed at 90 but light was also still on as is the handbrake light just flashes when driving

[sparky Paul]

Instrument cluster problems are usually as a result of bad earths or water ingress into connectors. Check the main engine earth strap, and the multi connectors around the engine, and you can also have problems with water ingress causing corrosion on the connectors on the back of the cluster itself.

 

When you say the oil was 'watery', do you mean unusually thin (which can mean diesel getting into the oil), or actual water in the oil giving you the classic mayonnaise inside the oil filler?

[anthonydevanney]

No mayo on caps just seems thinner than 5w 40 oil was told by a friend it was water getting into oil

[anthonydevanney]

If it was diesel i would smell it surely wouldnt i and tbh to me it dont look Like watery oil

[BrianH]

The light above the temp gauge is to show low coolant level not temperature (its too low) - theres a sensor in the expansion tank, it sounds like its become stuck to me or the expansion tank has emptied itself out. Or the wires leading to it aren't correct (unplugged or broken in some way).

 

The handbrake light could be down to a few things - Assuming that it isn't down to a lack of brake fluid of course! If the clutch is leaking fluid this can be the cause as its a shared reservoir. Whats the fluid level sitting at? Given that it only comes on when driving I'd suspect its down to low fluid, but could be a dodgy sensor.

 

The fuel gauge and speedo may be connected - theres some damping involved so that you don't get slosh moving the gauge all the time, if the car doesn't detect it moving then it won't apply the damping (you can see this in reverse if you start the car when its on a slope with 1/4 tank left or less - depending which way mine is facing like that it can move anywhere from half to empty on my mates drive!) Speedo in mine is a sensor as theres no cable going to the speedo, would start looking at the sensor (is it plugged in?) I've never had to investigate mine so can't advise where its picked up from.

 

Also given you have other issues with the cluster, it may be best to start by removing the cluster as suggested above, checking the connectors and reseating them to see if it helps.

 

None of that will help with the oil issues though - if water or diesel is getting into the oil you should see the level going up so keep an eye on it?

Edited January 31, 2016 by BrianH

[sparky Paul]

If it was diesel i would smell it surely wouldnt i and tbh to me it dont look Like watery oil

 

You would smell the diesel, if it's that thin. Water is also pretty obvious, it forms an emulsion and leaves creamy deposits.

 

It might just be old and/or poor quality oil.

[anthonydevanney]

Problem was head all sorted now thanks guys

[xavier]

Did you just get a new gasket fitted?

 

If you find the heater is still poor in cold weather, your aux heater is likely to be not working. There is an additional pump for the heater in the engine bay - look for aux heater pump in the faq. The brushes in the pump wear out at about 80K miles, you can remove the pump and strip it down and replace with new brushes (£5 or so), I found when I did this heat would get from the engine to the cabin a lot quicker than it did before.