Bongo Fury

hi guys...
i've been having trouble starting my bongo in the mornings and when the van has been sat around allday....it takes 3-4 attempts of constant turning over to start and then when it does i get a dark grey bellow of smoke and fumes from the exhaust...can someone suggest a cause of this and maybe a solution! thanks

Hi Aid, it sounds as if one or more of the glowplugs are on their way out, its a common bongo thing, in fact, its a common diesel vehicle trait.....

The smoke is down to all the unburnt fuel that has flooded the combustion chambers as you have been cranking the bongo over & over to try to start it Nothing to worry about

cool! thanks for that,i thought engine was on the way out...had nothing but problems since i bought it a year ago!

As a word of warning, some bongo's have different sized glowplugs fitted, if you are getting them replaced at a garage, see if they can temporarily remove one to check the size/ref no,re-fit it till a complete new set arrives... Glowplugs are available via the club shop.

just a thought, has anyone figured out why there is 2 different types of glow plug sizes?

i wonderif its the winterpack type bongo that has a certain sized glow plug maybe?, has anyone ever checked or noted

There was simply a shortage of the 86mm? glowplugs in japan at the time wayne, so a substitute was temporarily used, with a suitably spaced glowplug rail ...

There are chassis numbers with the relevent sized plugs configurations in the members area...

ah right, havent read most of the fact sheets, will have to get around to reading them sometime

is it possible to change the plugs yourself? only was thinking of getting the workshop manual from the bongo shop

Yep, most do change their own...it's not a big job. My bongo was in for a cambelt change at the garage anyway,so it seemed to make sense to have the plugs replaced whilst there...