HELP! Can't get the Bulkhead back in!!!

[fordnewbie]

Hi guys,

I started the job of looking to see if I could view/access the turbo actuator as discussed with Johnnyroper.  I managed to take out the airbox and bulkhead, but I now can't get the bulkhead back in!

It seems that the water bottle and a metal thing next to it (looks like a metal speaker) is in the way. 

I urgently need your help before it starts raining!   

Thank you

[alial]

hi...start to insert  the left side first and push it all the way till u right side...wiggle it and bit of pressure will get it back to its position..if u cant then undo the bottle 2 nuts and try again..i hope this will help. 

[fordnewbie]

Thanks very much alial.  I've managed to get it in without taking off the water bottle.

Much appreciated.

[marinabrid]

bit of an aquired skill that bulkhead going back in , remember when i 1st did it , come out easy but what a sod to put back. needs a good shove in the right place. A few more goes and you be an expert

[johnnyroper]

Did you manage to get on the vnt actuator?

[fordnewbie]

Marinabrid - Exactly my issue.  I managed to just about manuovure it out, but I ended up damaging some of it whilst placing it back in.  Also was really worried as it was putting a lot of pressure on the water bottle.

Johnny - You won't believe it, but I couldn't get to it mate.  Very disappointed.

[johnnyroper]

That's a pain,I am so sorry just realised I may have sent you on wild Goose chase.Reason I can access mine easy is because I have got rid of EGR and EGR cooler so access is better.

How confident are you about jacking up and putting on axle stand? If you do one side the under tray can be undone and dropped out the way so turbo can be accessed from below.

If you jack up make sure you do on chassis and not sill though.

[fordnewbie]

That's a pain,I am so sorry just realised I may have sent you on wild Goose chase.Reason I can access mine easy is because I have got rid of EGR and EGR cooler so access is better.

How confident are you about jacking up and putting on axle stand? If you do one side the under tray can be undone and dropped out the way so turbo can be accessed from below.

If you jack up make sure you do on chassis and not sill though.

Wild Goose chase?!    .....Nah it's all good buddy   I know it's not easy unless your with the vehicle.

I'm not confident at all as you can see, I panicked just because I couldn't get the bulkhead back in.  I only prefer if it's a reasonably simple task, such as changing air-filter, oil, battery etc and certainly nothing that is fiddly.

I'm better off paying you and bringing it down for you to see it, lol.

[johnnyroper]

The undertray is not a difficult task to do if you can use a ratchet,2 bolts each side by wheel arch liner and 2 nuts on rubber mounts at back where exhaust comes out. The hardest bit is probably jacking it up.

Shame you are way up north I would have taken a look for you

[fordnewbie]

Mind I ask what part of south west you are?

[johnnyroper]

I am in west Wiltshire

[fordnewbie]

God! 

That's miles away, lol.

Never mind.  I'll be honest, but I'm getting to the point of giving this one up and putting up with the problem...at least until I have sufficient time to deal with it.

Truth is this vehicle seems to have a lot of issues, so I need to get the important ones out of the way first.  One of them being both inner front tyres worn down.  I just hope it's not the struts.

[johnnyroper]

The fronts wearing like that and quickly is fairly characteristic of these old gals.
Mine was same with numerous issues when I bought it I have gradually worked through them as and when time allows. Nearly got through the list and something else pops up... Gotta love cars eh?!

[insanitybeard]

I've never got what I would call great mileage out of front tyres on the Galaxy, they do seem to wear the insides quickly. More so if you give it some beans from time to time to keep the VNT free! I've been working through a list of stuff but the stuff I had to do recently for MOT increased the length of it! Still to do is replace the rear dampers, give the EGR and inlet manifold a de-coke, replace the driver's seat foam base pad, fit the new booster heater, as well as tackle some bodywork issues- need somebody to attend to the sills up front before they get too bad.

[johnnyroper]

Bodywork that's another issue on mine as well,I am part way through sorting that out. Front sills luckily only the lip was damaged so managed to beat back in to shape and re stone chip them got some plastic trims to go in to cover them up.
The rear arches had some bubbling going on offside all sorted bar a polish,nearside is just waiting a flatting back and re coat of paint to blend in before coating with clear. Trying to get it sorted before bad weather arrives.

[fordnewbie]

Normal tyre wear is one thing, but mine are bold from the inside and this has happened within 2 months.

[johnnyroper]

When you say 2 months do you mean the tyres were new 2 months ago or the tyres were ok 2 months ago and are now bald?

If you get 10k miles out of fronts on a galaxy you are doing well and it does tend to be the inner edge wearing out first.

I would advise an alignment check when you get new boots though just to make sure all is ok.

[suffolkadam]

sounds or like you've got some tracking issues , get down to HI Q /ATS and get it looked at. if you tell ats your gonna buy new tyres they will do the laser alignment and tracking for free.

[fordnewbie]

Johnny - To be honest I just bought the car over 2 months ago, so it could have already been like this, but I only found out when the garage mechanic put vehicle on ramp to fix brake calipers and noticed the front inner tyres had worn down.

Adam - Yeah, it's either tracking or struts.

[insanitybeard]

I wore out a new set of Dunlops on the front of mine in 8500 miles, bald on the inside edge and nearly down the the tread wear indicators over the rest of their width, and no, I don't drive it like I stole it all the time! Tracking was checked at the time they were fitted so it can't be attributed to that.