Starting difficulty

[FBI Dave]

Morning all

A bit of diagnostic help needed, Bongo gurus:

Key in, glowplug light on and off as normal, turn key: nothing, not even a click.

Try again a few times with the same result.

Wiggle auto gearshift around the various positions and hey presto!

Try a few more goes and each time, starts right away.

Does this sound like the switch under the gearstick? The solenoid thing?

If so, what does it look like and where is it?

And what do I do about it? Apart from fix it (you wanted to post that, go on, admit it!)

I'm happy with the battery so far as I can tell as when it starts, it's immediate, no sign of a loss of power.


At the same time, this week, the filler cap flap has decided to stop locking down and the central locking has become intermittent. Well, I say intermittent, what I mean is that it will always lock but 90% of the time will only unlock the drivers door but it ALWAYS locks everything.

Is there any chance that all three issues are related or is this just Tojo's revenge and three separate issues in a week?

[dreamwarrioruk]

mine has started to do this occasionally, i just push my gearknob forward. havnt looked into it yet. cant help at mo on cap.maybe just needs oiling, cl most likely to be a damaged wire in the loom that goes between body and the drivers door.

[waycar8]

Yes sounds like the switch, cant remember exactly where it is but if you take of the center console tray you will probably see it, sounds like a dodgy wire/conection.

Also check the wiring loom in the drivers door wher it goes into the pillar, sounds like another broken/split wire in regards to your central locking.

As for the filler cap, easy obtainable from a scrap yard, or from your local motor factor for a few quid, just take your old one to make sure they are the same

[mister munkey]

Key in, glowplug light on and off as normal, turn key: nothing, not even a click.

Try again a few times with the same result.

Wiggle auto gearshift around the various positions and hey presto!

Try a few more goes and each time, starts right away.

Does this sound like the switch under the gearstick? The solenoid thing?

Could be one of many causes I guess but I recently had exactly the same trouble. Started with a slight delay between turning the key & it firing up getting progressively longer over the course of a couple of weeks to the point where it would do nowt. Wriggling through the gears helped for a while but that didn't last long. I figured starter motor/solonoid or interlock mechanism were fubared .Ended up getting the RAC out to diagnose and the clever man sussed it pretty much straight away.

It turned out to be a short from the live feed to the starter had melted some of the insulation off the wire & made a bit of a burnt mess of the two 12mm nuts on the solenoid. A quick clean up & a couple of fresh nuts later, all is well & it cost nothing - Hurrah!

Worth checking yer nuts Dave!!

[missfixit70]

Starting issue could be the starter motor contacts, the gearshift wiggling could be a red herring, been a few cases similar, the refurb kit is available on ebay for under £20, if it is that, go for the kit wilth the replacement plunger IMO. do a search on "starter and contacts", factsheet in the members area on changing the contacts & there's a video, easy job, shouldn't take more than an hour or so.
Linkage (if it's that) diagram here - http://www.lushprojects.com/bongopartsm ... mgno=.html

Filler flap release mechanism here http://www.lushprojects.com/bongopartsm ... mgno=.html not electrically connected to anything, diagram may help sort it.

Central locking, do you mean remote central locking or key? is it wired into a leisure battery? could be voltage is a tad low if there's a stereo or something draining it when it's parked up? or it could be one of the cables through the door/body connection chafed?

[FBI Dave]

An update...

The locking was an exposed wire, all sorted.

The fuel filler cap flap (!): bent the clip a bit!

The non-starting... well, it was the inhibitor: going in the garage tomorrow, but essentially the cable seems to have stretched! I tried tightening the black plastic thingummy that fits onto the gearstick underneath and discovered that if you prise it open with a screwdriver, it boings apart and the spring (like one in a retracting biro) jumps about a mile into the air and goes down your shirt... although this may not be a universal phenomenon. Tried adjusting the black end but couldn't get it to balance between starting and refusing to let the gearstick move out of D, although if you unhook it the stick works fine. So now I start by disconnecting the cable and yanking as hard as I can on it, which is hardly a long term solution but will get me to the garage (A&R Motors, Pilton, nr Barnstaple, top blokes). Am I right in thinking that if I follow this cable, it comes out under the steering column and goes into a white junction, the other end of which is another cable that goes to the filler flap as described above? If so, I think I may have hit upon a solution!

[missfixit70]

I don't think the filler flap release cable has anything to do with the gearshift interlock no wonder you're having problems if it is.

[mikeonb4c]

An update...

The locking was an exposed wire, all sorted.

The fuel filler cap flap (!): bent the clip a bit!

The non-starting... well, it was the inhibitor: going in the garage tomorrow, but essentially the cable seems to have stretched! I tried tightening the black plastic thingummy that fits onto the gearstick underneath and discovered that if you prise it open with a screwdriver, it boings apart and the spring (like one in a retracting biro) jumps about a mile into the air and goes down your shirt... although this may not be a universal phenomenon. Tried adjusting the black end but couldn't get it to balance between starting and refusing to let the gearstick move out of D, although if you unhook it the stick works fine. So now I start by disconnecting the cable and yanking as hard as I can on it, which is hardly a long term solution but will get me to the garage (A&R Motors, Pilton, nr Barnstaple, top blokes). Am I right in thinking that if I follow this cable, it comes out under the steering column and goes into a white junction, the other end of which is another cable that goes to the filler flap as described above? If so, I think I may have hit upon a solution!

Sounds like you are getting the problem licked - which is good

No idea about the technical stuf I fear

[FBI Dave]

Mike: Cheers!

Kirsty:

But look underneath and you'll see what I was getting at! Not that it makes any bally difference as it's off to the Bongo Hospital tomorrow anyway...