MOT failure

[insanitybeard]

    If you're happy with that then thanks very much, will paypal the money in due course! Now I'll have to decide which brand of springs to try next........ To buy 'em from Ford or VW they're likely to cost Ã,£100 each plus VAT, so maybe I'll look at the Febi ones.

[johnnyroper]

Yes happy with that,ok I will get them ready to go.

[insanitybeard]

Pair of OE febi rear springs with blue stripe was Ã,£100 through a friend who works at VW dealer in brum.

The Febi springs you bought- when you say they had the blue stripe on them do you mean they were virtually identical to the O.E springs with the colour coded markings on them as well? I've just been looking at Febi's online catalogue (see the attached PDF) and the only rear spring they list for my vehicle (their part no. 38675) doesn't seem to have any paint markings on it to denote it's spec, load rating etc, nor can I find the exact VW O.E number that it cross references for it (7M0 511 115 AN) on the Sharan parts diagram, but in the blurb it says it's 263mm long- I was looking at Ford's E-CAT earlier and it says the rear spring with the single blue stripe (which is the standard one I assume and what was fitted to my Galaxy) is only 249mm long, which says to me that the springs you got couldn't have been the same as Febi ref. 38675? Maybe they're just slightly heavier duty springs than the standard O.E ones........ as long as they don't grind I don't care!

[attachimg=1]

[johnnyroper]

Yes they were identical to what is fitted with the blue stripe as I already have fitted. Correct size and shape.
Can't recall part number off top of head but can check that's the ones I had and sent back. The blue stripe denotes standard spring rather than sports spring.
Febi made the oe springs for vw my mate reckons although no febi markings on them.

[insanitybeard]

Tony, any chance of you finding out if those Febi springs you bought and then returned were Febi ref. 38675 or something different? If they were something different, can you find out if you can get another pair and if so how much? I want to take another look at this problem now that spring has arrived. 

[johnnyroper]

Ok paul will text him now,probably be tomorrow when I find out though.

[insanitybeard]

Did you get anywhere with this Tony? I can get hold of Febi 38675 easily enough but it doesn't look like they have the blue stripe on them so I'm thinking you must have been sent something else?

[johnnyroper]

Sorry forgot to reply it was Febi 38675 equivalent to vw  7mo 511 115 apparantly.

[insanitybeard]

  Will give them a go, at least I know they'll have the tapered ends!

[insanitybeard]

In the end I ordered Spidan 55305 springs to replace the Sachs ones (from the Autodoc site I just linked- they seem to have a large selection of parts from a range of manufacturers, although the stuff is shipped from Germany. I think somebody here has linked them before as well), I went for the Spidan ones because the listing showed them as being 249mm long with blue stripe which is what my original springs were, the Febi ones were shown as being 14mm longer and 'violet' stripe which if I've read it correctly equates to 'heavy duty' suspension (for towing etc?). It probably wouldn't make much difference but the Galaxy suspension is already soft enough I.M.O without making the back end even higher!

The Spidan springs are indeed a much closer match to the O.E springs with the tapered wire ends and pattern so I think they'll be a much better fit. Interestingly, the Sachs springs I bought from Euro car parts have a part number on them (Sachs part number, not Euro's own stock code for them) which is nothing like the part number in Sach's own catalogue listed for my vehicle (996 640) or on the Autodoc website, so actually I'm not sure just what they're supposed to fit! I think I'm going to take them back and complain they were not a proper fit and see if I can get a refund.

[insanitybeard]

Fitted the Spidan springs with new seat rubbers, no issues and they fit properly unlike the Sachs springs previously fitted, so all issues I had were down to the incorrect spring profile/ pattern and the fact that the Sachs springs didn't have the tapered wire ends. I'll do a writeup at 'some point'! 

New Spidan spring (with blue stripe as per the factory fitted springs) and replacement seat rubbers:
[attachimg=4]

Poorly fitting/ incorrect Sachs spring 'riding off' of the seat rubber allowing metal on metal contact between the spring and trailing arm:
[attachimg=1]


Same view but with the new Spidan spring, contacts the seat rubber nicely around the full contact area:
[attachimg=2]


Another view of the Spidan spring showing the tapered wire end, sitting nicely against the stop in the rubber seat cup- something that the incorrect Sachs springs would just not do!:
[attachimg=3]

Glad to see the back of that problem and hopefully no more creaking and grinding when driving along! 

[insanitybeard]

Got my money back from Euro car parts for the springs after showing them the difference between the Sachs springs I bought from them and the factory fitted tapered wire springs, so that's good. I had previously emailed ZF (Sach's parent company) asking for clarification on what exactly the springs I had bought from Euro were meant to fit as the part number on the box and springs themselves was nothing like anything Sachs listed, and certainly not what their online catalogue said should have been fitted to the Galaxy. Their response wasn't very helpful though:

Unfortunately ZF Services has no control or information on the Sachs spring range in the UK. This is operated here by Euro Car Parts. If you have an issue with the parts supplied by them please contact them so that they can address this issue for you. The online catalogue is showing parts under the Sachs numbers available outside the UK all parts in the UK are that of Euro Car Parts product numbering."

Also finally got round to replacing the driver's seat base foam, I've always found dismantling seats on cars (e.g, stripping and replacing frames, covers and cushions) one of the most tedious jobs you can do on a car due to the hassle of trying to get at the wire hog rings they insist on using to hold the covers to the cushions. Will do a writeup on this 'at some point'

@johnnyroper, this one's for you if the want the old foam, you can see where it's started to disintegrate on the outer 'wing' where constantly shuffling bums from getting in and out of the vehicle take their toll but it may be better than what you've got (click image for full res):

[attachimg=1]

[johnnyroper]

Thanks paul it's much like mine is with the split allowing bar to protrude,looks like I will need to go same route as you and pay for new one. Thanks anyway👍

[insanitybeard]

No worries, I'll see if anybody else is interested as it might be in a better state compared to what some people have got, otherwise it can go in ze bin!