Gearbox whine AND not starting

[Alison01326]

Hello all! Hope everyone is well, and still looking on the bright side. It's been ages since I ventured on to the forum

Am looking for thoughts on what may be a related problem with a "new" gearbox.

Back in February, our Bongo (Seymour) started showing symptoms of gearbox trouble after a drive from Cornwall to Lincolnshire and back, so we took him to a local(ish) garage where after about a month's worth of investigations and, presumably, mechanicking we got him back on the road again. For about 100 yards!!!! He stalled and wouldn't re-start so had to go back to the garage. My husband reckoned it might be the torque convertor so ordered a gearbox off eBay and had it delivered to the garage. Another month or so and the new gear box was fitted and Seymour was returned to us.

We had a hell of a job getting him started, and on driving there is an awful whining noise. Does anyone know whether the two could be connected? The battery isn't flat, and the glow plugs seem to be OK so that isn't likely to be an issue with the starting. As for the whining, I have never heard a Bongo whine before and I never wish to again.

We will, of course, get Phil the mechanic to sort it out if it's not straightforward, but he's had to lay off his staff and is shutting up shop for a bit. Any easy fixes or things to look for? Of course the eBay gearbox might be faulty, but that's always an unknown quantity until it's fitted and you drive it. I haven't driven far in him, but my husband went out for about 20 miles yesterday and says he's flying.

If none of this makes sense, I apologise. I have limited mechanical knowledge (limited to maintaining a 2 stroke motorbike I had almost 40 years ago!!)

[g8dhe]

Hi Alison, sorry to hear of your problems, I had some similar problems about 18 months ago, fortunately I'm fairly close to Geoff - Alacrity on here who is http://www.autogearboxes.co.uk/
After looking around for a replacement box I decided to go for a refurbishment which at least gave me a warranty as its not a cheap option, but it has been perfect since and hopefully for a good time longer!

The symptoms where very much as described problems starting, much stalling, but once moving you could make a journey but there were some horrible noises as broken parts churned around in the Torque Converter!!!

[Alison01326]

Thanks, Geoff. Hope all is well with you. I imagine you are finding plenty of things to keep you busy?

The replacement gearbox has a three month warranty, but the expense of having it removed and sent back to where it came from, or haggling over whether it's faulty or not via e-mail rather negates the fact there is a warranty at all. Hey ho! Hopefully the issue is a simple fix and not another gearbox removal. If all else fails, I shall contact Alacrity. Determined not to spend any more money on anything this year.

A lot of things seem to be breaking / failing in our household since lockdown started. The highlight of our week was having a functioning shower after three months without. The shower repair man (from the shower company) came twice and fiddled much and said it was working and a couple of hours after he left it stopped. We even had our usual plumber out who had a fiddle and couldn't find the problem. Third visit from repair man resulted in an apology because it was the electronic shower controller at fault, and he had dismissed that on his first visit. New controller, apology from shower man and all good. I felt a bit sorry for the bloke as he said "I don't know how I am going to explain the three visits to my boss".

[mikeonb4c]

Can't add anything useful gearbox wise but just to say its great to hear you're still Bongoing with Seymour. Still got old Mango Bongo and she's sitting proudly on the drive having hardly moved in 2 months. Strange days hey ho. Stay safe down there and hope you get Seymour sorted.