V6 bottom end gone

[Little-miss-cumbria]

First time poster, didnt even know about this website, ive been reading all day and will defo join. So here goes.

I've had my bongo 18 months now and I love it. A few months ago I had a hose go and my coolant alarm went off. Pulled over and saw the leak straight away. I topped up the coolant and drove the 3 miles home, about a half mile from home tha CA went off again, I drove the 1/2 mile home. Had a new hose fitted and all was great. A few months later I started to notice a loss of power, not a huge loss, but bothh my partner and I both noticed there was a slight loss of oomph!

Last week we drove over 2000 miles around the UK, on the way home I noticed a slight knocking noise. Pulled over and sure enough there's a slight knocking noise coming from underneath. She still drives fine, maybe a bt more loss of power.

I stopped by a garage today and asked them what they thought the noise was, all 3 mechanics said it was definitely the bottom end, they have worked on my Bongo and a few others but wouldn't want to attempt to replace my engine.

My question is HELP!!!! Where in the UK is the best place to have a V6 engine fitted and sourced. I did a search on eBay, please help we love our Bongo and were getting ready to take our kids away, really need to get this sorted ASAP. Its a 1998 V6

[mikeWalsall]

Any garage should be able to drop the sump and check the crank ..

If ... it is the crank bearings / journals .. knocks tend to be big ends (the bottom of the rod that connects the piston to the crank) .. main bearings tend to rumble ..

Engines do come up on ebay .. but how good a second hand engine would be ..???

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MAZDA-BONGO-F ... 3a6b11b37e

[Doone]

Sorry to hear you're having problems, you haven't owned it for long.

You need to get confirmed what is definitely wrong with it, before doing/buying anything.

If it's confirmed that the bottom end really has gone, and the top end is OK, one of our customers is selling the bottom end of a V6 engine. (Allan refitted a complete V6 engine for him.)
When our customer sourced his used, complete V6 engine via the internet, he heard it running, and made sure it was OK. Then it was removed from the Bongo. He'll be able to tell you where he got it. Hope this helps.

[TerryG]

Are V6 engine parts hard to come by then? Surely a re-grind and new bearings would do the trick.

[mikeWalsall]

Are V6 engine parts hard to come by then? Surely a re-grind and new bearings would do the trick.

Dunno about Mazda spares / prices ... but that's what I have always done ...

There have also been a couple of posts mentioning piston skirt / slap problems ...

[Bogmonster40]

This sounds identical to the problem I have had recently, though I was convinced it was either my exhaust or "Cat" but i am honestly a complete novice !!
It turned out to be a defective HT lead which was causing the lack of power and the banging was actually "Misfiring" See I told u i know nothing......

[cheffy34]

Out of a matter of interest has the belt been changed, mine origanally had a loss of power and a knock when i took it to bits i found a rip in the cambelt that was hitting the engine casing at the bottom of the crank pully (sounded very convincing like bottom end) and the timing was out changed the belt no more issue for 6 months then again 6 months later a loss of power, that time i shipped it down to allans to do , as Doone says get it confirmed by someone who knows not just guessing. my local garage told me the bottom end was gone, my local shiester bongo garage told me the top ends had gone(mainly cause he had a v6 engine on the floor with a couple of rings gone) i didnt believe either of them so i stripped it down cause i had nothing to loose and that is when i found the tensioner was goosed, belt had a rip in it and a cam pulley was chipped and cracked.

Keep us posted

Dar

[mikeonb4c]

Out of a matter of interest has the belt been changed, mine origanally had a loss of power and a knock when i took it to bits i found a rip in the cambelt that was hitting the engine casing at the bottom of the crank pully (sounded very convincing like bottom end) and the timing was out changed the belt no more issue for 6 months then again 6 months later a loss of power, that time i shipped it down to allans to do , as Doone says get it confirmed by someone who knows not just guessing. my local garage told me the bottom end was gone, my local shiester bongo garage told me the top ends had gone(mainly cause he had a v6 engine on the floor with a couple of rings gone) i didnt believe either of them so i stripped it down cause i had nothing to loose and that is when i found the tensioner was goosed, belt had a rip in it and a cam pulley was chipped and cracked.

Keep us posted

Dar

Excellent post. Fingers crossed it might be something like that (lesser of two evils etc.)

[Little-miss-cumbria]

Hi thanks for all the replies. We made a video of the Bongo starting from cold, and then starting from warmed up. You can hear the noise really well.

Please notice how long the CA stays on on start up, weak coolant or a dirty screw maybe?

Also, the oil light was flashing tonight when we took it out to warm her up, that's never happened before Here's a link to the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr9xKNVskOk

We really need help on who to take it to. We are on the Scottish, Cumbrian border. We were going to drive it to York to Autosafe Clifton, has anyone used them before?

Where would you guys take it

[Simon Jones]

Has the oil level been checked? When was the oil and filter last changed? Low oil level and / or pressure will cause rapid wear of moving parts.

[Little-miss-cumbria]

Is the dip stick for the oil under the passenger seat? If so NO oil We were supposed to have had an oil change 3 months ago, at least they said they had changed it.

We were getting a full service and oil filter change when we took it in to the mechanic and were given the news.

Does the oil go in under the driver seat, and the dip stick is under the passenger seat, is this correct? Sorry, we have NO clue about cars. We both drive new company cars and never have to check anything other than tyre pressure

[Simon Jones]

Yes, on V6 the dipstick is on the left, while the filler is on the right. Unfortunately, the design of the Bongo is such that checking the oil is not the easiest thing to do. It does sound like low oil level may be the cause of your problem and that may mean the whole engine could be a write-off .

All cars, no matter how new or expensive will consume oil so regular checking (especially when new) is absolutely vital to ensure a long and reliable life.

[mikeonb4c]

You'd think the oil warning light would come on before serious damage could be done?

[Little-miss-cumbria]

Just put 4 lts of oil in. Not good news about needing a new engine OK, so if we need a new engine, where do we go?

These people offer to fit it too http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MAZDA-BONGO-F ... 2661wt_928

If they fit it surely they have to stand by their product?

[Doone]

How does the engine sound once the oil's worked its way around?