Bad Start to Bongo Ownership

[Alan2016]

Finally bought myself a Bongo today (which was initially very exciting) only to have to call out the AA on the way home It is an unconverted 2000 reg 2.5 diesel 2WD Auto. The trip home was about 100 miles and I made about 90 of them when I lost power going up hill. The engine would crank over when I turned the key but fail to catch. I left it for 5 mins and tried again but still no luck so called the AA. They took about 30 minutes to arrive during which time I would try to start the engine every now and then and it finally burst back in to life just as the AA pulled up behind me. I had noticed that the Bongo seemed to be struggling on hills during the trip and I was having to press the accelerator hard to get it to any sort of speed but with it being a new car to me I wasn't sure if this was normal. A few miles before the car stopped a warning light (a coil) started to flash at me (the manual indicates that this is a scavenging fan issue?).

I've seen a few posts on here about power loss and sluggish acceleration that have suggested fuel filter and turbo related issues. I called the (reputable) garage I bought it from and the guy was pretty mortified and has offered to have it collected and looked at if I have more issues but wants me to drive it for a bit and see how it goes in case it is just a temporary fuel quality issue. I'm feeling a lack of confidence with the vehicle now though, especially as we were hoping to head off to Europe with it next month for a couple of weeks and I need it to be reliable.

I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to the inner workings of cars so don't really have the skill set to start doing any complicated diagnostics myself. Is there anything simple I can look at or am I better off insisting that the garage collect and take a look, or shall I do ask the garage ask and just drive it around for a few days? I can't do any long drives for a week or two though and given that it took a while to die completely today I'm not sure I would notice too much? I guess I can hit some hills and see if I can make it up.

Cheers

Alan

PS the car had had a full service and a new set of filters before I collected it.

[g8dhe]

Welcome to the forum, hope things get better!
If the Glowplug light was flashing then that indicates that the ECU is reporting a fault.
Its might be worth watching the flashing for a a minute if its just a simple on/off flash then you need to read the diagnostic code itself using a test lamp or similar, but if the flashing is uneven then the long/short flashes are the error code itself. There is a Factsheet in the Members area or use this web site
http://www.philmcfadden.co.uk/MazdaDiagnosticBox.htm to get the error number and from that the likely problem area.

[Alan2016]

Thanks for the tip Geoff. If it comes back (at the moment it isn't coming on) I'll have a proper look but I'm pretty sure it was just a regular on/off sequence.

[Northern Bongolow]

hi, there is a common set of faults with this age of bongo with the fly by wire pump and variable turbo, but in the end in my experience it turns out to be something unconnected . its a bit of a story but stick with it.

a very long standing bongonaught who has had bongos for over 10 years in fact 3 or 4 at any one time approached me at the bash with exactly the same fault that he was struggling to fix, hes a very clever chap and the motor was still drivable in every way and not in limp mode but had flashing coil light on a 2001 diesel.

we had a few beers and discussed possible causes, egr valve,turbo vanes, so a plan was formed, after several hours i thought i would check on progress only to find the owner had stripped his motor down in the middle of the field , another hour or two cleaning , decoking, reassembling, checking, testing threw up a similar fault light but a different flash sequence so we knew we were in the right area. the turbo had been stripped cleaned and tested, the egr removed, stripped, cleaned, tested for operation, all seemed well, we had a few more beers .

it turned out to be that the egr position sensor was giving the ecu wild readings, the egr valve had previously be stuck solid but freed off earlier, the sensor was cleaned with meths and tested again, this gave good results and the light was off after clearing the ecu of the stored codes, but a new sensor has been ordered anyway.

the egr valve had been blanked off for a few years, but had still been operating the sensor so no fault occurred, sometime later this had stuck and upset the sensor and showed a fault. if the egr is blanked you cannot put the modern cleaner through the system to clean the egr valve, im all for blanking off the egr myself but it maybe a good idea to clean out the egr first so it continues to operate the sensor correctly on these later facelift models.

hope this helps.

[Alan2016]

Thanks Northern, I'm not sure. How to tell if the egg has been blocked off or not but would it be worth putting a cleaner through anyway? I assume this is just one of the additives that go in with the fuel?

Cheers

Alan

[Northern Bongolow]

there are special turbo and or egr cleaners available the good ones sometimes have neutralisers too. most have to be introduced into the pipework, then put in a fuel tank additive.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Innotec-Diese ... 0988189814.

or you can do it on the cheap

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMzifhKBXyM.


also found this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmBGoYRSTRU

[Alan2016]

Ok thanks I will look at grabbing one of those then.