Confirming gearbox model: Year 2000 2.0l petrol Auto

[lerjulian]

Well, my foray into Bongonauting has taken a disastrous turn ... the gearbox has completely failed after only two months of ownership. I am weighing up my options in terms of getting a secondhand box or shelling out for reconditioning. Either way, I am having trouble confirming the exact gearbox model on my bus. I found a reference number (starting with UM01), but the first gearbox specialist I spoke to didn't recognise it. I suspect this is the ECU id.

I found mention on this site of the box being manufactured by "JATCO" (although the gearbox guy I spoke to mentioned "Asian Warner") and model types J5-DE and WL-T.

Can anyone please help me confirm?

Thanks, Julian.

[rita]

Julian, check these against the VIN. CLICK ON 19-090A

http://lushprojects.com/bongopartsmk2/c ... o=.html#14

[lerjulian]

Excellent, thanks very much rita. I had been there but didn't realise you could click on the part for more info!

Cheers, Julian.

[lerjulian]

Just to close this one off, the link below doesn't reveal the gearbox model. There is no substitute for getting underneath the bus! I found the id on an aluminium tag bolted onto the transmission and visible from the passenger side just behind the cat converter.

Mine is a UM100, which I think maybe quite rare. The search continues!

[Simon Jones]

What are the symptoms of the fault & what checks have been done so far?

[lerjulian]

Hi Simon. I'd be grateful for your views.

It all started last week. My wife was driving around the village (thankfully!), and the gearbox suddenly disengaged. No warning lights on dashboard. The Bongo crawled to a halt. She left it a few minutes and re-started ... the car moved 100 yards and then stopped. This was repeated all the way home. RAC turned up, tested for any obvious problems, and then diagnosed a serious internal issue with the box. A search on here revealed a couple of examples with the same symptoms e.g. this one http://igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/view ... is#p602437, which has an explanation of the symptoms from Alacrity.

I'm still weighing up my options, but if I can't get the box fixed for about a grand and a half, I'll put a second hand one in (although finding a UM100 box is proving a challenge!). All quotes for reconditioning so far are between 1.75 and 2k.

[lerjulian]

Further question from me on this! My local garage has said it would consider swapping out my broken gearbox with a second hand one supplied by me (subject to a fistful of understandable caveats). The major question they have is .... can the gearbox simply be swapped out with my existing gearbox ECU in place? Or do I need to get the ECU from the donor vehicle?

Hope you can help!

Thanks, Julian.

[Simon Jones]

I guess you've checked the ATF level and condition? While your symptoms do sound quite terminal, low fluid level would also leave you with no drive. A change a fluid and cleaning the filter will cost you under £20 for the oil but may just fix it.

As an example, on a episode of Wheeler Dealers last week, they bought a Porsche Boxter for £1000 with a 'knackered' gearbox which was going to cost £5k to replace. All it needed was new fluid and filter and it was good as new. Not saying you'll be that lucky, but it's worth eliminating the cheap easy option first before ripping it all apart.

I would try to get the matching ECU if you had the option to ensure best chance of it all working.

[lerjulian]

Thanks for the feedback, Simon. Your comment about the fluid condition is exactly what the RAC man said! The ATF is brown, but I don't think that in itself would cause *complete* transmission failure. So I poured in about a litre of new fluid on the off chance. I figured that would be plenty to discover if the problem was with low oil level. But I still got the same symptoms - I'm pretty sure the box is knackered. It makes an horrific whirring noise.