electrical problems on 08 Galaxy Ghia - help please

[ramblinghen]

I am totally new here, and I joined in desperation in order to keep my beloved Galaxy. I am hoping someone can give me some pointers as to what is wrong and that it can be fixed. Please bear with me, I will describe the faults as best as I can but I know very little about cars in general. I have owned this car from new, and about 2 years ago the radio started behaving oddly - not remembering the time, going blank, changing volume, switching on and off spontaneously, not working at all. I thought I needed a new radio eventually and didn't do anything about it. The speed-control thing ('autopilot', as I call it - cannot remember the actual name!) stopped working intermittently. Then whilst on holiday in Germany a year ago, the car did not start at all and was recovered by a local garage - I described the electrical faults and I got a new battery, new radio and new 'stalk' for setting the speed. Already on the drive back to the UK the radio started playing up again, and it still is. 4 months ago, all the electrics cut out while I was driving, there was no sound at all and I had to perform an emergency stop. Since then, I have been recovered three times when the car has not started, and it has spent a total of 7 weeks being observed in my local garage. They have identified a problem with some diodes on the alternator, and replaced a cable going to/from the alternator. It did not misbehave at all during its 7 weeks in the garage. I got the car back last week, reset the key code for the radio and the same problems still exist as before.  Last night I could not start the car again. We managed to jump-start it immediately, so the battery was not flat and it needed no charging up at all. I would love to keep my car if I can - does anyone have any bright ideas on where this all stems from, and am I dealing with one problem or two or more separate ones? Any help at all would be much appreciated. Thank you!!

[ramblinghen]

and one more bit - when I switch off the engine, the radio stays on, and it remains on even if I then lock the car. Never had any difficulties with windows, interior lights or the central locking.

[Chrispb]

You mentioned the alternator cable between alternator and battery fuse box, what is the condition of the other large black cable and the short red cable going to the battery.
Both large black cable suffer oxidation at the crimp terminals and often show signs of overheating and melting of the fuse box.
The cable/crimps need cleaning or even replacing then soldering to avoid further issues.

See post below.

https://www.fordmpv.com/smf2/ford-galaxy-reference-library/battery-junction-boxauxiliary-fuse-box-repair/

[insanitybeard]

The problem with newer vehicles (less so with older stuff such as the previous Mk2 Galaxy built up to 2006) such as the Mk3 Galaxy that you own is that a lot of the systems and various electrical modules within the vehicle communicate with eachother using CAN bus (controller area network)- in short, the modules send and receive electrical signals between themselves to perform various functions relating to the operation of the vehicle. An issue with one module can then cause issues with multiple electrical systems, and diagnosing such faults becomes much harder and more specialised than on older vehicles which had in relative terms much simpler electrical systems. A lot of people and garages, when faced with a vehicle with such problems don't have the knowledge or equipment to diagnose them properly, or don't want to get involved so may throw a battery or an alternator at the fault in the hope that it will fix it.

My knowledge of such systems is limited but from the symptoms you have described sound like you may have an intermittent issue with a module such as (but certainly not limited to!) the BCM (body control module), or an intermittent wiring fault, the radio fault may or may not be related.

What you need is a specialist who knows what they are doing and talking about, these kind of problems for the most part are beyond the scope of your local small garage to fix, indeed, even people in franchised garages quite often baulk at these kind of problems because they simply don't have the training and knowledge to diagnose them.

Sorry I can't help more, although others here may be able to, but in the wrong hands somebody attempting to repair the fault may just start effectively 'throwing parts' at the vehicle to try to fix it and you could be presented with a bill for parts (and labour!) erroneously fitted and still be no further forward!

[gregers]

does the convers display stay on when you lock the car?
if so then the system isnt powering down,this may mean it requires an update to the system,alas this afaik can only be done at the gealers.

[ramblinghen]

Thank you for everyone's help so far. It is helpful to have some pointers at least. I have not taken the car to the dealers as yet, my gut feeling says it is more than just an update needed. My experience of taking it to my local Ford dealership (once) has been very costly and very negative. I have given the garage the pointers from this forum and they will check each problem in turn, they have been incredibly good so far and are happy to find a solution together - and they like keeping cars going, and i want to keep it if I can.
Chrispb - have given the garage this information! Thank you!
Insanitybeard - where do I find such a specialist?
gregers - what is a convers display? The radio stays on when I lock the car, along with the radio display. I will have to observe the other display, I think it shuts down but will watch if it actually does!
Thank you all for taking the time to help me, it is much appreciated. I really want to keep my car, and my options for cars are very limited with a family of 6!

[Chrispb]

Hi Judith
A lot of problems can be attributed to poor intermittent power supply it can play havoc with the modern electrical systems,
your description of your problems is a more common issue with the mk 2 battery fuse box but on looking at your post again see you have a mk3 so the info I gave may not help although may help point to the area of concern.

What area of Kent are you?

[ramblinghen]

I am based near Maidstone in Kent.

[Chrispb]

As your not far if you don't have a result with the current garage let us know.

[gregers]

hi judith,this is the convers+ dash,
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ford+convers%2B&tbm=isch&imgil=AfZk0vSgcXLh9M%253A%253BxFa2iGn2QN1a9M%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.youtube.com%25252Fwatch%25253Fv%2525253D3n3tK-hTSZU&source=iu&pf=m&fir=AfZk0vSgcXLh9M%253A%252CxFa2iGn2QN1a9M%252C_&biw=1467&bih=702&usg=__lTJFfj_zObAkjq9pYhmCEHF7-3I%3D&ved=0CC4QyjdqFQoTCJjGgNWD7cYCFUy4FAodNeoKjw&ei=7aauVdibKczwUrXUq_gI#imgdii=AfZk0vSgcXLh9M%3A%3BAfZk0vSgcXLh9M%3A%3BTUqa83re2qV2wM%3A&imgrc=AfZk0vSgcXLh9M%3A&usg=__lTJFfj_zObAkjq9pYhmCEHF7-3I%3D

as said if this doesnt power down after locking the car then an update is needed.

[davetech]

Hi Greg.
Judith is unlikely to have the convers+ display.
I remember being a bit gutted when my colleague bought an Smax at the same time as I bought my Galaxy Ghia (flagship?) in '08; his had the convers+ fitted as standard, whereas my Galaxy did not.

[ramblinghen]

Morning everyone. My display looks nothing like the ones from the google link. And when I switch the engine off, the display just goes down to the time, which I think is what it ought to do. The radio, however, stays on... I'll speak to the garage today to see if they have had any luck with going through the list of suggestions from here, and I will let you know!

[gregers]

ok well that cleared that up then,
but you still can check doing the same procedure with the old dash layout,
work colleague has a 06 focus titanium and ive cycled through the relevant menus to see if any fault codes have been logged.

[SiC]

I cant add anything to what has already been said, but my radio also plays up intermittently and has failed to turn off like yours on 2 occassions when removing the keys and locking the car.

https://youtu.be/ApK0bDvSrHE

Hope you get to the bottom of it.