1996 Ford Galaxy GLX from UK and Ireland - Comments

Dear All

Please can anyone help with this problem as I have just become the owner of an otherwise cared for Ford Galaxy 96. It was whilst visiting the west country (Plymouth) that we had a flood into the car via the passenger foot well. My wife (bless her) stopped the ECU from being damaged by moping up all the water as it appeared and keeping the under seat compartment dry from behind the passenger seat. We went to a multi-story car park to stay out of the rain and clear up the water. I had heard of the problem from the Internet just the day before so we new the risks. The rain however did not stop and we were forced to go back out into the rain, but surprise we got no more water in? I know this may happen again and I am determined to keep this Galaxy (so are my children) but I have yet to find the Drain holes or be able to reduce the risk of re-occurrence. Can anyone give me advice with this or photographs showing the exact location of the drains. Please help and if possible I will pass on any remedy/photos. Do ford yet recall on this problem?

Regards

Alan

Contact alan.atherton@ntlworld.com.

The car is an excellent family car, but has some costs to the maintenance.

Alan - When this happened to my 99 Galaxy Zetec (see review http://www.carsurvey.org/review_30838.html) it was caused by piece of plastic breaking the door seal by the drivers wing mirror. The water that managed to get in in via the break in the seal in just one nights rain was staggering. It took about a week to dry the carpet and the "wet dog smell" was dreadful. Examine the door seals and ensure that the seals haven't fouled or perished.

Hope this helps.

I also have a problem with flooding in the passenger footwell. There is no sign of leaky door seals. I think it may be water coming off the windscreen draining into the pollen filter. Does anybody know how to remove the filter?

Contact me ahkip@btinternet.com.

I have a VW sharan which has the same one off flooding problem. Under the carpet there is an insulation blanket which acts as a brilliant sponge, it has broken up on my car, the replacement cost is £182.00 plus fitting. Anyway ford are aware of several water entries into the footwells including incredibly from the wiring loom entries around the tailgate, the pollen filter for which there is a modification and blocked drain valves in the inner front wings. As it rains the water that runs down the screen collects in a section below the screen which is drained by two valves in the inner wings the are quite large, but can only be seen if you remove the wheel arch liners and yes, ford know that these also get blocked up Ho Hum.

Firstly I want to say that I disagree with a comment I just read about poor spelling and grammar. I left school in 1976 with 4 CSE's, but it doesn't mean I don't have useful information to assist people who are having problems with their car!

I have a N reg galaxy and suffered the same symptoms (during a right turn, water was deposited in the passengers footwell). I searched the internet and came across the following explanation.

Behind the pollen filter there is a water run off channel that routes through the inner wings to the wheel arch. The entry to the wheel arch is covered by a rubber flap that can become clogged with dead insects. If your joints are still flexible enough, you can reach up under the wheel arch and clear out the c**p.

This should sort out your problem. If I can locate the original article, I will post it here.

Good luck.

James.

Hi, I have a 1996 Galaxy with the same problems with leaking. There are 2 drain holes under the bonnet in to top corners of the inner wing. I use a wire coat hanger to prod any blockages and I usually get a flood of water suddenly drain from the wheel arch. You cannot see the drain holes so you will have to prod about a bit, but they are right in the top corner of the engine compartment where the bulkhead meets the inner wings... hope this helps.

I have a problem with a soaked carpet on the passenger side of my 1999 Ford Galaxy Zetec. It turned out to be a break in the rear windscreen washer supply tube that runs under the passenger door. It might be worth checking.