Galaxy gearbox ecu nightmare

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Fri 16 Dec 2005 11:47
Galaxy gearbox ecu nightmare - ellie
Can anybody help with this problem which has been running since the beginning of August this year...? Bear with me cos it is a bit of a long story but am getting desperate...

History: The gearbox failed on my 2.3l auto petrol galaxy (car would no longer move!) - after a 3 week wait got it fixed by the only local garage who would touch it with a bargepole (new switch and something or other to sump). Car then drove forwards and backwards(big improvement on before) but jumped between gears and ignition did not work till tried a few times.A new gearbox ECU borrowed from another car was tried on my car by the garage and this completely fixed the problems - car drove perfectly. So all we needed was to get a new gearbox ECU of our own and we'd be sorted. Ha.

Tried three separate cheapo gearbox ECUs from mail order firm in Essex - none were quite right; car driving in 'safe mode' (not changing above 3rd gear); also ignition taking many tries to fire.

Finally decided about a month ago to give in and pay the £700+ odd to get new ECU ordered and properly callibrated by Ford main dealer. My partner - who under step-by-step instruction from galaxy gearbox specialist garage had fitted the previous 3 not-quite-suitable gearbox ECUs and so really did know which part he needed - read the part number off the side of original gearbox ECU in car to mechanic to ensure no mistakes. To cut long painful story short, Ford main dealer say they have received and fitted an ENGINE ECU, and further they insist that this is what we ordered(?????), and that we owe them about £800 for this (oh yeah, and our car still isn't working cos it still needs a gearbox ECU, which was all we wanted...)

Have phoned everyone at Ford, written letters, cried....they still have my car a month later....WHAT IS GOING ON???? can anyone shed any light on this...? Is it possible they did receive gearbox ecu and fitted it to engine instead?????(dunno even what one looks like...)The ECU we wanted sits beside the battery and is removed by sliding the battery sideways...Are we talking about the same thing even...????please help, running out of options here and the 'customer service' has been terrible, just defensive and hostile - 'closing ranks' and just telling us it's our fault........................:0( :0(
Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Looking for a garage you can trust? Honest John's Good Garage Guide has thousands of reader recommended garages, plus how-to guides and tips on servicing.

The Good Garage Guide