Bongo Fury

well i hope i am not jinxing my bongo in to something wrong, cos i may be over reacting

ive had the bongo since may and not had a single hintch so far and has ran like a dream

but sometimes on start up after starting, left on tick over it starts to ......hard to describe...

its as if it pinks,,,missing a beat now and then ( it is a diesel, so i know it isnt pinking )

give it a couple of revs and all clear

this doesnt happen all the time, and i dont use everyday,,,,sometimes it will do it the next day

leave for a week and it doesnt do it,,,,,,damp weather sometimes and sometimes not

like i said a couple of slow revs or revs up for 10 seconds and cleared

is this a sign or nothing to be concerned about

after the couple of revs on the occasions it does do it,,,,drives faultless and never missed a beat

i think im prob just being over cautious, but just wondering if any others get the same symptoms

maybe just damp etc etc etc just asking for thoughts

andy

still havnt managed to set up my new kyham motordome classic yet due to other things and weather

god i dont like this side of the year

Hi there,

I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will be along soon but in the meantime it could well be that you have a duff glowplug so that not all cylinders are firing initially.

Had an old Golf diesel way back that did this, doesn't sound so good then suddenly clears.

There is a way to test them with a multimeter, try googling test glowplug.

I am presuming yours is diesel and not petrol.

Hi Andy.

Bit hard to diagnose from here, but I would have thought it was unlikely to be anything major, if the car runs well at other times and once warmed up.

In cold weather, the glow plugs become very important - a dash light comes on for a few seconds after you turn on the ignition to show the plugs are being heated. If one plug has failed - something that'll happen every mow and then - then the engine will initially only fire up properly on 3 cylinders, and it will sound pretty rough! After running for a few seconds, it should settle down and the 'missing' cylinder starts to ignite properly too.

A garage will be able to check in minutes whether a glow plug has gone - they seem easy to access in these cars.

Damp doesn't affect diesels like it does petrol engines, since diesels don't require a spark to ignite the cylinders. Therefore, they are pretty immune to wet conditions. It's possible it could affect other control electrics, though - I'm not familiar with how complex the Bongo's management system is.

Meanwhile, something I think is worth trying is a good quality fuel additive such as Millers Power Plus/Sport. As well as generally improving the quality of combustion, they will thoroughly clean out your injectors which can suffer especially if run on cheap 'supermarket' fuel. I use it fairly regularly, adding a double dose when my Zafira started playing up - service light coming on, and car going into 'limp home' mode. A brisk drive with some of that in the tank seems to have cured it (can't be sure it's all down to the additive, of course!)

Like everyone has said probably nothing to worry about, but a bit of a service wont do any harm,
new glow plugs, new fuel filter (fill fuel filter with injector fluid then replace,ready primed then, easier to start)
check and clean the banjo filter.(on top of fuel pump)
new oil and air filter as well.
then your ready for the winter.

I agree with the above, in addition, do you run veg oil in the bongo? Mine stumbles on a stone cold start in this weather with veggy,hence why i'm on 100% neat diesel at this time of year.

I let my glowplug light extinguish, then count to 5, then crank up the old girl in this weather, the light is just an indicator, the plugs are still glowing after the light has gone out.

daveblueozzie wrote: then your ready for the winter.

Don't forget to wear two pairs of smelly socks...clean socks don't insulate from the cold quite so well.

cheers guys

like i said only does it now and then

i always let the plug light go out before i attempt to start

and i must admit, it starts within a second, no spinning over or nothing,,,instant running

its just after the 1st few seconds,,,,and again,, not all the time

yep, check the plugs and a service

only done up to 2000 miles since the last service ??

is it worth the oil change etc yes is my bongo worth it????

of course its worth it,,, but is it nessesary

andy

2000 miles since your last service? you should be good for another 3k yet.

Mine does stumble even with 100% diesel every once in a while, but only when i have been impatient and cranked from cold before the light has gone out.

Just out of curiosity, what engine oil do you run andy? I found 15/40 a bit...gloopy? My bongo seems to run sweetly when cold on 10/40 semi synth.

hi again

it had not long been serviced before i bought it.......

my bro in law is a mechanic ,,, came to stourport with me

before we went he put my bongo through an mot run, and checked all fluids etc

gearbox, axle , oil , coolant etc said all were spot on and clean

only thing he had to do was increase antifreeze mixture slightly

said if it was the actual mot, flying pass

hope he has same opinion when next may comes lol

only does the splutter thing now and then,,,, guess nothing to really be worried about, as it runs fine

yes ive read up on oils

10/40 - 10/30 but fully syn or semi ????

engines only done 93k kms

andy

I use semi synth, fully synth is a bit too thin in my opinion for the bongo.

bigdaddycain wrote:I use semi synth, fully synth is a bit too thin in my opinion for the bongo.

Hi BDC,what brand do you use.
Mal..

hi andy,your not running with Japanese coolant are you not everyone changes it on import..

teenmal wrote:

bigdaddycain wrote:I use semi synth, fully synth is a bit too thin in my opinion for the bongo.

Hi BDC,what brand do you use.
Mal..

valvoline is my usual choice, but i'm not that fussy as long as it's a recognised brand. Granville make a decent oil too, i'm quite impressed by their engine oil.

bigdaddycain wrote:

teenmal wrote:

bigdaddycain wrote:I use semi synth, fully synth is a bit too thin in my opinion for the bongo.

Hi BDC,what brand do you use.
Mal..

valvoline is my usual choice, but i'm not that fussy as long as it's a recognised brand. Granville make a decent oil too, i'm quite impressed by their engine oil.[/quote]

If ol' Arkwright had known that he'd have made a fortune out of the little fella...........