Bongo Fury

Got our Bongo yesterday.
Vibration at low revs, especial when air conditioning or the like kicks in & lowers revs still further when stationery, but also when driving with low revs. Major problem for Wife, she has Fibromylgia & other disabling problems. We drove it home yesterday. When we arrived home she was in agony with back pain. As is the nature of this illness she had to spend most of the today in bed.
I can see no problems with exhaust studs, as I have see reported on other threads, but think I have noticed a low volume whistling.
Getting the engine mounts inspected on Monday. however the suggestion is Bongo,s are notorious for vibration & it may only be considered normal. Could try speeding up tick over but I feel this will only be a partial help. We did do a test run in another Bongo before Christmas & Wife did not complain of vibration problems.
So hoping to fined engine mounts need replacing on Monday. If not this purchase will be a real disaster as it was to have been a new way of life for us, I have cashed most of my pension to purchase it, early, & my disabled Wife can not even ride in it. Will not give up until tried all ideas.
Any suggestions wail be appreciated.

Welcome Biobongo and sorry to hear of your worry. Is the Bongo diesel or petrol. I have a diesel and it definitely puts more vibration through the car on tickover than my petrol cars did. I expect this though with an old fashioned diesel that is situated r8ght next to me (though I think it would do more or less the same if situated up front). I find the vibrations are pleasant though, rather like a vibromassage. Once on the move then - apart from a little raucousness from the engine when revs are high - I find it remarkably smooth, esp. once it has settled into top gear. The petrol V6 on the other hand should- by all accounts - by silky smooth all the time, unless the tickover has got too low or it is not firing properly.

Did you test drive various Bongos (apart from the one other one) before buying and is this one noticeably different. Did you buy from a dealer? With a warranty?

The tickover may drop when the aircon is put on, due to extra load on the engine. It shouldn't, as it has a sensor that raises the tickover to compensate. But if the sensor has packed up, then it will drop. Should be able to get the sensor working again, or else seek a replacement.

I think whatever you do you shouldn't panic. The Bongo is a great car, but we need to investigate what's going on with yours. If you can let us have more details we can advise further.

Mike

PS - one thought is that your wife might like to sit on an air-filled seat cover. Bf member Dandywarhol has these and may be able to advise (PM him) on whether they reduce vibration from the engine reaching the body. I have a heated massaging seat cover and even when not in use, its soft padding makes the driving seat very comfortable.

I must say that I didn't think vibration was a major issue in our diesel bongo. Obviously there's a bit of difference between petrol and diesels in this respect but it should be normal/tolerable. Best to get it looked at by the garage as you suggest. Could it be the injectors etc and just rough running? Did you buy it privately or from a dealer?

I should have said diesel. Going to try cushions tomorrow. Wife only test rode in the 'other' Bongo, not this one. Vibromassage is a no no, She has several health problems for this.
I would like to know more about the sensor !

Your low volume whistle could well be the turbo spooling up and ,if so, it is quite normal on the diesel when accelerating. Regarding the vibration, the bongo has a big 4 cylinder diesel engine and will give a certain amount of vibration but this should not be uncomfortably noticable although I acknowledge that your wife is particularly sensitive to this.

Bongos are not 'notorious for vibration'. Something must be amiss with it.

Got to agree with Trev, I suffer with Fibro & arthritis, & that was one of the main factors in buying the bongo, easy in & out, comfortable driving position, fantastically easy car to drive. Can't say as I've noticed vibration being a problem. Occasionally when the fans kick in on tick over it drops revs slightly which verges on a dodgy frequency I suppose, but not enough to cause a problem, when driving it's fine.

Biobongo wrote:I should have said diesel. Going to try cushions tomorrow. Wife only test rode in the 'other' Bongo, not this one. Vibromassage is a no no, She has several health problems for this.
I would like to know more about the sensor !

The air-cushions Dandywarhol has only came up on a thread today. See 2nd post down on this thread:

http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... it=airlift

The link in Dandys post is to a translated Japanese site so may read a bit weird!

Mike

Hi Bio
That's a proper nuisance. I may be barking up the wrong tree, but a couple of times, one recently, there have been posts about a front pulley damper breaking up....it could be that yours has the start of this problem. Whatever it is, I would guess its more of an external fault, as , like everyone else, I think the Bongo isn't that bad for a diesel. If it's a low-rev thing, and seems to be related to the air-con as well, then have a good hard look for un-evenness in a belt
Good Luck
Cheers
Helen

I've gotta agree, the diesel engined bongo isn't especially bad with vibrations, i'd say the biggest vibration is due to the rather abrupt fuel shut off solenoid to the engine!

I'm thinking along the same lines as mike on this one, the "compensator" type thing on the engine, (can't think of the correct name offhand), sounds the likely culprit,there was a highlighted pic of it on here recently, i'll have a trawl through and see if i can find the related thread...

bigdaddycain wrote:I've gotta agree, the diesel engined bongo isn't especially bad with vibrations, i'd say the biggest vibration is due to the rather abrupt fuel shut off solenoid to the engine!

Spot on as ever BDC. You certainly feel the high compression engine juddering to an abrupt halt on the Bongo when you switch off.

Thanks for the replies & I am sorry for not being able to get back sooner. The Engine mounts are fine & Dago (& Mrs D) came out with me for a test drive, the vibration is no worse or better than his Bongo. Our last car was a new Chrysler Grand Voyager 2.8 diesel, that was very smooth.
So nothing wrong with Bongo, can only be indicative of my wife's worsening back problems. Conic arthritis in lower 4 segments in addition to Fibromyalga & other problems Doc says nothing can be done so trying more drugs. By the way Vibro-massage is an absolute no no, very painfull for here. Would like to get two heated seat covers, one's that heat the lumber area in addition two the seat pan. Not seen any like that yet. Any help please?
Want to try increasing the tick over slightly. Is there a throttle stop foe that or a cable adjustment?
Other than that we are trying out as many different cushions as possible, looks like being a long process.
I hope to be able to make a visit Friday/Saturday at the Reading meet. I am flying back from South Africa after visiting my sick Brother on 16th. April so may be jet-lagged. My wife will be staying at our Daughters place in Reading.
If I can make it I will hope to meet as many club members as possible & get ideas on all matters Bongo. Wife may be with me on those days.