Bongo Fury

Hello fellow bongoliers!

Strange noise from pulley area,on closer inspection the bottom inner pulley,(which drives the two belts for water pump etc),has come unnattached from the outer pulley,it is rubber mounted apparently,how has this happened?any ideas?
I have sourced a relacement,but need to know how this pulley comes off?Is it just the giant nut in the middle of the pulley that holds it on?if so is this an easy job,or is it hours of swearing,scraped knuckles and lying underneath my bongo!!
Lucky I investigated the noise b4 pulley sheared off completely and stopped driving the water pump!
Any advice graetly appreciated!
Cheers,Hammond

I've not done on a Bongo but done it twice on Fiats.

It's what's known as a "dual mass" pulley - a bit like dual mass flywheels - it acts as a vibration damper.

On Fiats you have to remove the belt by levering the tensioner away then remove 6 (I think) torx head screws and the main centre bolt it should then just drop off.

As they say in Haynes manuals refitting is the reverse of the removal procedure, but I have no idea of torque setting etc.

You then have to refit the belt - I've no idea how that is tensioned on a Bongo, it's automatic on a Fiat, just lever the tensioner back, fit the belt and release the tensioner again.

Hi hammond4 sheds

Can you describe what type off noise you were getting from the pulley.

Thanks Gary

If it's the same as on Fiats it's a low donging noise so on a Bongo it could be a sort of low Bonging noise.

Sometimes it gets worse when you load the alternator by switching on as many high current users (lights, HRW, Aircon etc.) as possible as that increases the tension on the belt and increases the load on the pulley.

the noise was kind of a slightly rumbling\slack belt type of a noise,used to last for about 3 mins when bongo first started,then would ease and all would sound normal! I thought it was a loose belt or knackered bearing,so had a ferret around and insde pulley seems to be adrift from the others!

Yep that sounds like it - it is noisier at start up because the alernator is working harder them to put the charge used to start the engine back into the battery.

my local motor factors now reckon dual mass pulleys like that are a service item and should be changed every 60 - 80k miles.

They went on my Fiats at about 80-90K.

How much is a Bongo one? They were £70ish for the Fiat.

As Scanner correctly says it's a secondary vibration damper which has 2 masses bonded together with a rubber sandwich. I've seen crankshafts actually shear in two through faulty pulley dampers (Ford Pinto)- best get it changed soon

thanks for all the advice guys,does anyone know the procedure for removal and replacement of the pulley on a bongo?planning to do it at the weekend!!

Cheers,Hammond.

Sorry, can't help you but that bottom nut looks like it would be tight. I checked mine tonight as I was getting paranoid when I thought the engine was vibrating a bit - turned out to be the airbox rubbers are a bit worn!

I wonder if there's any connection between the damper pulley rubber failing and using WD40 to sort out the belt squeaks????

dear hammond,i replaced mine not too difficult,took off belts put the front up on ramps took off bottom cover removed the central fan then used big air gun with 38mm socket to undo. if you do it with a breaker bar you need to lock engine somehow.when i put it back on i used thread lock on the 38mm bolt.good luck steve

Replaced it today!!!

The 38mm nut holding it on was a bugger to get off,snapped 2 big socket bars trying to move it!Welded the 38mm socket to another bar,still wouldnt shift,ended up taking bongo down to local tyre fitters to borrow their air ratchet!!
Re;refitting,what torque should nut be tightened up to?I used both feet on the bar while wedging the flywheel and tightened it as hard as I could!! Do u think this will be enough?
p.s. the old pulley inner bit had sheared right off and was scraping against the side of the block,hence the scrapy\rumbly\mettallic noise!
Thanks for all the advice guys!jobs a guddun!!

a tip we use on the estimas to reomove bottom pulley bolt,place a long bar and socket on bolt,try and lock up somewhere either on body of vehicle or on the floor,and give starter a flick via ignition

Tried that one Paul!!!,was doing the job on gravvely type drive,succeeded in digging a 6" trench with the end of the bar!!