bongo stops completely and seems electrical

[martin70]

Hi guys and just changed the top right 15 amp fuse for my bongo 95 radio and cig fuse. However after driving 2 miles with coolbox and radio on the engine dies. Any help greatly appreciated on this fantastic site.
my bongo at the moment is abandoned 2 miles from my home and I hope it is an electric problem.....how can i fix it

[Simon Jones]

A few questions to assist us:

Petrol or diesel?
What lights come on the dashboard?
Does it spin over ok on the starter?
If you remove the fuse you recently changed, does it make a difference?
Do you know what caused the fuse to blow?
Have you checked the fuses under the bonnet, especially green 40a on the left labelled 'main'? If this fuse is blown, the starter wont work (or at least it doesn't on a V6)
Are other electrics ok?
Are the main beam headlights their normal brightness? If not, check voltage across starter battery.
Have you done any other work on the van recently other than changing the fuse?

[rita]

Hi Martin,I presume that you have plenty Diesel in the tank,if so the first thing to check is the supply to the injectors.

Sounds like fuel starvation.

[martin70]

Hi simon and thanks very much

the answers as you asked them
1. diesel
2 all
3 seems to spin ok but doesnt catch
4 havent tried without new fuse
5 cig and radio fuse blew when I was fiddling with my phone charger but i replaced
6 no not checked headlights
7.electrics ok and all lights come on
8. dont know how to do this...sorry
9.no

Thanks rita but tank is 3/4 full and i have done repair on faulty diesel tank fuel gauge

We were driving and we just heard a pop and engine just lost power and electrics seem ok but will check fuses
#thanks so much folks
martin

[teenmal]

It would also be worthwhile having a wee look at the timing/cam belt.

We were driving and we just heard a pop

[steveyd]

Hi,

I've read about camshafts breaking on these Bongo diesel engines. It could be that if the timing belt is turning too fast (does it sound like the engines turning over quicker than normal?) the top cam pulley is still "timed" via the belt to the bottom crank pulley -but a break in the camshaft somewhere in the head means there is less resistance so is turning over quicker.. I suppose this is a worst case scenario - another could be a failure in the injection pump pulley also on the cambelt circuit. Were there any horrible grinding noises accompanying the pop - or any untoward noises when turning the engine over? If not then this maybe a good sign that no other significant damage has occurred.

The best way to tell if your camshaft is broken is to take out the centre console and the simple crossmember underneath it, then take off the camcover. Hopefully it should be fine or you'll find out what it is before it gets to this stage!

Good luck!

Steve

[martin70]

My garage need to know what is the probability of more damage to engine. I have a 95 diesel bongo and was 2 miles into my journey.I replaced the belt at 80k and it has done 75 k in 5 years. Garage needs to know before they do repair??? I will send them anything I find out .Any advice greatly appreciated

[martin70]

the mechanic wants to know if the bongo is an interference engine of valve to piston on timing belt? Thanks so much bye the way

[wonkanoby]

afraid things will have been damaged as its the diesel

[Muzorewa]

Are you talking miles or kilometres? Recommended time for belt it 100,000km (62,000 miles).

If you snapped the belt whilst at speed you'll be lucky not to have bent some of the valves

[martin70]

they want to know if the engine is an interference one with valve to piston contact on the belt. My bongo is in kilometres and thanks very much.
Iwas doing 40 to 50 at the time I think

[Muzorewa]

It's definitely an interference engine. Head off job at the very least I'd say. But you'd need a new head gasket and new head bolts.

You could try just a new belt but if it's no good you'll need another new belt once you've repaired the valves as you shouldn't stretch the belt twice

[martin70]

what are the chances of it just needing the belt???????????? Is it worth a wee gamble? Is there a way of looking in the engine? thanks again

[Muzorewa]

Can you describe the sounds at the tme this all happened? How long did you take to stop etc.

I can't see it being undamaged. You could try nudging it over on the starter to see what metallic sounds you hear

[mikeWalsall]

My opinion is .. with the diesel it will be very likely that the pistons will have hit some valves..

Should be simple for the garage to confirm without lifting the head .. Maybe if they remove the cam cover it will be apparent as it is not unknown for the camshaft to snap ..

Or the way I would try would be to turn the crank .. gauge to when the pistons are roughly in the middle of the bore .. then attempt to turn the camshaft .. if any valves are bent the cam will 'lock up' ..