Advice desperately needed following 3month layoff

[Don&Shirley Gungadon]

Don had a heart attack early November and our V6 has not been used since then. Now he feels OK to drive but Bongo not in the mood! Flat battery which we sorted, but think there is a problem with brakes as they seem to be locked on. Impossible to move Bongo off the driveway. Can anyone offer any helpful advice?

Many thanks.

[Driver+Passengers]

I'm sorry to hear about the health scare. I wish you both all the very best.

I had my brakes stick after a about a month off the road. I couldn't drive forwards at all.

You may have some luck rocking it back and forth (ie drive/reverse/drive/reverse). Obviously, don't give it too much welly, but this freed mine up.

Assuming parking brakes are releasing properly, then it may be the case that the calipers could do with a strip and grease, but someone with better knowledge of the anatomy than me may be able to advise further.

If you do get it going, then try a short drive without braking too much (at all if possible) and try to coast to a stop. Then approach each brake disc with the back of your hand to determine whether there might still be friction between the pads and disc. Just a thought.

Edit: if in doubt, have someone look at it.

Regards,
Matt.

[321Away]

More than likely just the rear brakes 'welded' to the discs, either drivbe the car til the 'break off' or give the wheels a good beating with a soft mallet to free them off

Julian

[Don&Shirley Gungadon]

Thank you both for your advice and best wishes. We will try what you suggest tomorrow and report back.

[Simon Jones]

Sorry to hear Don has been unwell. If you need a hand to get the Bongo moving, let me know and we'll pop over to help.

[the janner vanner]

So glad that Don has recovered after such a scare, we are looking forward to meeting up with you again soon. Sorry but can't help with Bongo, Simon's your man to sort out your problem with the Bongo,

all the very best

Dave and Roseanne

[maxi_77]

Hi, I had a heart attack a year ago and had a stent fitted, doing fine, just keep taking all the pills. Rocking back and forward usually frees of the brakes though you may have to use a little 'enthusiasm' when doing it. If that doesn't do the trick jack up the back wheels in turn, take of the wheel and give the brake drum a few good bashes with a hammer on a block of wood. That always shifted my old boat trailer brakes when they seized on.

[PixieAndTheMoon]

Shirley,

Sorry to hear about your man Don all these guy's are right although I am with Julian, and would advocate a few hard knocks with a soft hammer that does release brakes that are stuck on.

All the very best friend

Jo

[Bob]

Second what the guys have said, if you do decide to rock it back and forth to free the brakes cover the brake pedal with your left foot as you give it welly so you can stop it when it leaps free.

So glad Don is mending.

[Northern Bongolow]

dont be too keen to rock it back and forth, you may pull the handbrake linings off the shoes.wheel off and a soft big hammer.
check you have brake fluid in the res, and coolant in the exp tank too.

[Don&Shirley Gungadon]

We are very lucky that our Bongo seems to have freed itself with no obvious damage. We have enlisted the assistance of AJC Classics of Hythe, Southampton, to give the brake and steering systems a thorough check and at this time we await their report. AJC have been mentioned favourably by members as being Bongo competent and this is why we contacted them.

Many thanks to everyone who offered help and advice in the true spirit of the club and our special thanks to Simon Jones who offered to come all the way down from Salisbury to help. These offers were much appreciated.

PS Incidentally, Paul Furze of Furze Motors has gone out of business. Paul provided a repair and maintenance service for Mazdas in the Southampton area and we were always very happy with his work.

Don and Shirley

[New Forest Terrier]

Glad to see that both you and the Bongo seem on the road to recovery. Must have just missed you at AJC. The green one in the process of being converted is mine. Dropped it off on Monday and awaiting the new improved LPG version on Friday.

Great shame about Paul Furze. Nice guy and he had a good reputation. With the amount of Bongos around you would think Southampton could support a specialist.

AJC seem very competent and certainly have a big throughput of petrol Bongos. There is somewhere in Eastleigh that has started advertising as a Bongo specialist. No further information on this one though,

[Simon Jones]

This is the place in Eastleigh: http://www.mastertechautos.com/mazda_bo ... alist.html. They always have a lot of vans in for service / repair when I drive past.

New Forest Terrier - I'd be interested to hear your feedback on the LPG conversion from AJC as I'm thinking of going there for mine.

[Don&Shirley Gungadon]

Update: Very pleased with the service provided by AJC who were happy to collect and deliver our Bongo (two journeys each covering about 20 miles) despite their existing heavy workload. . Bongo has been thoroughly checked over and the front brake pads have been renewed at very reasonable cost.
New Forest Terrier: Hope you are pleased with your LPG conversion. However I don't think we will go for LPG as we don't do the mileage to justify the £1500+VAT it would cost to have it done.

[New Forest Terrier]

Glad to see AJC treated you so well. They mentioned you and said how pleased they were to hae sorted it all for you. Really nice people.

Very pleased with my conversion. Beautifuly done, just a discrete little LPG gauage showing fitted on a spare switch. Runs and starts perfectly and even quieter than before. It is a very quiet engine anyway for something that size. Great to roll back time to 78p a litre. I had got to the point where I was not going places because of fuel costs.

Not had it long enough to work out what the consumption will be like on LPG. THe power is fine, although I noticed it once pulling away from a roundabout up a steep hill, there was a slight lag.

I put off a conversion as I was not doing a high mileage and then realised the saving per mile is higher on short mileage jouneys where the mpg is awful, than on long runs where it is respectable. Plus after the conversion is paid for what you only notice is your fuel costs. A £36 fill up as opposed to £61 for the same number of litres.

AJC should definitely be added to Ian's list of Bongo experts.