Gearbox woes

[bigbadbob]

It all started just as the phrase "this bongo is soo reliable..." left my lips...

The radiator blew up, spraying hot fishy water over the windscreen, no problem I've changed loads of radiators, but this one has 5 pipes, strange.

After unintentionally draining my automatic gearbox of all it's oil, I realised I had to refill it, unable to find dexton 3 here in rural France I used gl5, the Bongo protested, offended by my use of inferior product and did the very French thing and refuse to go into third gear.

Having viewed t'internet ad nauseum, I drained all 'l'huile inferiore' and removed the gearbox sump and filter, thoroughly cleaned, refitted and refilled with dexton 3, the sale of my left kidney was a small price to pay for such a luxury product here.

Still the Bongo starts, engages 1st, goes into 2nd, tries to find 3rd then revs wildly, unable to locate 3rd. If I manually put it into 2nd (L) it will run fine, although only gets to 65kph before running out of revs, then pours himself a glass of pastis and lights up a gauloise

I now implore your help this festive season, any ideas before I attempt to explain to the local Franch autobox specialist that the Mazda Bongo Friendee does exist, it is a car and I am not trying to elope with his daughter... although I do admire her lovely raven hair, underlining her majestic nose

[dandywarhol]

Love your prose bbb but not your injuneering prowess - gl5 is a hypoid oil for diffs and will have seriously clogged the valve block and valves due to its 80/90 viscocity

The only idea I have is to try to flush out the 'box by removing the oil pipe at the radiator 9preferably the one feeding into it), start the engine in "P" and pump out the mess whilst filling it down the dipstick hole. Might also be worth jacking up the van and driving through all the gears off load whilst flushing it out.

This MIGHT work but I'm guessing a 'box strip and washout might be the only answer - that hypoid is sooooooo sticky Best of luck

[Trouble at t'Mill]

Although the vehicle is a strange thing called a 'Mazda Bongo' , I understand the 'box is shared with quite a few other vehicles.

Does anyone know the name of some of them so's bbb can tell his nearest autobox specialist the actual 'box unit itself ain't so weird?

With luck they might know of a flushing oil that could be - gently - used.

[scanner]

Although the vehicle is a strange thing called a 'Mazda Bongo' , I understand the 'box is shared with quite a few other vehicles.

Does anyone know the name of some of them so's bbb can tell his nearest autobox specialist the actual 'box unit itself ain't so weird?

With luck they might know of a flushing oil that could be - gently - used.

I think I have read somewhere it's a Nissan designed box, similar (if not the same) as the one in Nissan engined black cabs.

[dandywarhol]

It is - didn't think there was much benefit in telling bbb that as he's in France...............

[brorabongo]

Seems like these bongos do not like anything BUT the right stuff!!

http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... il#p160957

No more "near enough" to spec for me.

[bigbadbob]

Many thanks for the info, I will sell my right kidney to buy some more dexton 3 and try flushing the treacle out of the box, in the meantime I am using my fiat Punto, which refuses to start unless pushed, typical Italian temperament.

[Matt&JoyBongling]

I can't help with the gear box but thought I would just ask if you have bled the coolant system correctly when changing the rad as it is not as straight forward as many people assume and the consequences if you get it wrong will make you weep.

Best wishes,
M

[Trouble at t'Mill]

bbb, I'm not an expert on autoboxes by any stretch, but I would hope that no actual damage has been done by the use of GL5 - tho' I fully understand the 'box's reluctance to function properly!

If Dexron 3 is a 'solvent' of GL5 - and fair chance it is - then it should hopefully work for you after a few flushes. I'm surprised D3 is so expensive - it didn't cost me any more than GL5 from a motor factors - around £28 for 5L I think.

If you can get Dexron 2 significantly cheaper, I think this can also be used, so might work to do the flushing for you. BUT PLEASE CONFIRM THIS FIRST!

I'd be tempted to phone up one of the auto-box specialists listed on the factsheets on this site and ask their opinions. You never know, perhaps a really time-served fellow will know all the 'tricks' that could be used. Perhaps there is a gearbox equivalent of 'engine oil flush', or it might even be possible to even use actual engine flushing oil for a few minutes, but these are potential solutions which you'd need to confirm beforehand!

(Agree with Dandy - love your poetic writing style!)

[bigdaddycain]

I'd steer clear of DEXRON3

[francophile1947]

I'd steer clear of DEXRON3

[bigdaddycain]

As i understand it john, dexron is produced under license by GM, or at least the "3" version was up until 2006, they now recommend the use of DEXRON-V1, which is backward compatible with older type dexron fluids. This is how it translates to me, less scrupulous lubricant vendors could be stuck with vast stocks of older 2 and 3 type ATF's, and perhaps blend those fluids and legally dub it as DEXRON3, seeing as GM have let the license slip on that brand of fluid.

A quote from General Motors:

All DEXRON®-III licenses expire at the end of 2006 and will not be renewed. Beyond that date GM will only support the use of DEXRON®-VI fluids for use in Hydra-Matic transmissions. Fluids sold in the market after that date bearing claims such as “suitable for use in DEXRON®-III applications” or similar wording should be avoided. DEXRON®-VI licensed fluids are fully backward compatible and can be used in all applications covered by earlier GM ATF specifications.

[francophile1947]

As i understand it john, dexron is produced under license by GM, or at least the "3" version was up until 2006, they now recommend the use of DEXRON-V1, which is backward compatible with older type dexron fluids. This is how it translates to me, less scrupulous lubricant vendors could be stuck with vast stocks of older 2 and 3 type ATF's, and perhaps blend those fluids and legally dub it as DEXRON3, seeing as GM have let the license slip on that brand of fluid.

A quote from General Motors:

All DEXRON®-III licenses expire at the end of 2006 and will not be renewed. Beyond that date GM will only support the use of DEXRON®-VI fluids for use in Hydra-Matic transmissions. Fluids sold in the market after that date bearing claims such as “suitable for use in DEXRON®-III applications” or similar wording should be avoided. DEXRON®-VI licensed fluids are fully backward compatible and can be used in all applications covered by earlier GM ATF specifications.

I've just put Comma AQ3 in mine, which they claim is to Dexron 3 standards. Gearchange is a lot smoother now, but is it a load of old tat

[bigdaddycain]

I hope i'm not playing devil's advocate with this john, it's gotta be bad for me to take anything that general motors says seriously.

Comma is a decent brand, and i'm not sure how much of the info i quoted was just for the american market, if indeed that makes any difference at all.

I know that plenty of peeps,intimidated by a vast amount of lubricants available, are very likely to copy and paste relevent lubricant specs into the e-bay search bar, BEFORE they google it, and read up on the specs, this COULD lead to a "no brand" of dexron3 making its way into an auto box.... Who's to REALLY know what it contains?

Trusting aren't i?

[francophile1947]

Gives me an excuse for a little drinkie to calm my nerves