Trouble starting. Help please.

[BongoJon]

Hi all.

My bongo struggles to start if left for 4 or 5 days and if left longer than a week I need the rac out to jump it. There is no drain on the battery and it charges ok when running, checked by myself and rac man too. Battery is only 3 months old and had a new one before that too which i replaced thinking it was faulty. Doubt it is a faulty bat though as would be 2 on the trot. The batt is a 95ah one so should have enough umph.

When it starts it draws just over 300 amps. I have striped started motor and cleaned contacts which did not seem to bad. Do I need a new starter motor maybe, or another from scrapped bongo. dont have £150+ for a new one.

Any thoughts?

Cheers

[francophile1947]

You don't give much information away
Is the engine turning over OK? - if so, it's probably your glow plugs.
Does it run OK when warm? - glow plugs again.

[MountainGoat]

Do you have a Leisure Battery with a split charging system that is connected to the alternator system, Bongos don't like that. When I first got my Bongo back from the converter it was wired up like that and I was having the same problems as you have now.

[BongoJon]

Hi,

When it struggles to start it does not turn over very well but then once it catches it is fine. Starts every time once warm. No leisure battery. When it does not start at all the battery is flat but as I said there is no drain.

I wondered if the starter motor is draining battery when turning over and then I am not driving the bongo long/far enough to recharge it. Sometimes only go to the shop which is a 10 min run and might not use it again for a couple of days for the same kind of thing.

Does any of that make sense?

[Ron Miel]

Do you have a Leisure Battery with a split charging system that is connected to the alternator system, Bongos don't like that. When I first got my Bongo back from the converter it was wired up like that and I was having the same problems as you have now.

Don't understand that. It's the normal way to operate starter battery and leisure battery charging, and should be fine if i.) both batteries are good, ii.) the alternator's good, and iii.) the split charge relay is properly disconnecting the starter battery from the leisure battery and its 12 volt load devices, once the alternator stops. Did you ever find out which one of those facets was actually pear shaped?

BongoJon's problem does sound like simply insufficient mileage/insufficient charging, especially if it's being driven after dark with headlights on for the few miles it is doing. I suggest it needs more miles, or the battery regularly taken out for trickle charging, if that is what's happening.

[g8dhe]

I wondered if the starter motor is draining battery when turning over and then I am not driving the bongo long/far enough to recharge it. Sometimes only go to the shop which is a 10 min run and might not use it again for a couple of days for the same kind of thing.

Yes I would suggest that you need a good 20-30 minute run to put a reasonable amount of charge back into a battery, and that's a run where the revs are about 1500-2000 for most of that time, just pootling around town start/stop won't do it. The only other way is stick on a charger when you get home for a good 24 Hours to get it back to a full charge to be certain.

[mister munkey]

Short term solution but it still suggests something ain't right with a 3 month old battery, especially a 2nd new battery.

As an example, I sold my trusty old Rover 620 a while back after leaving it stood outside & unloved for 10 months, it still fired up & ran fine almost on the first turn of the key.

There's something draining power here, it may be worth getting a local sparky to work some magic. Its more than likely a bad earth or dodgy connection somewhere.

Good luck.

[MountainGoat]

With my original setup my starter battery was running flat after a few days and required charging up again or a jump start to get it going. Replacing the starter battery with a new 110Amp battery from the club shop made no difference. I limped home from my first holiday in the Western Isles with half a dozen call outs and jump starts from camp site wardens.
Since I replaced my original split charging system with a Willinton Intelligent Split Charging Wiring Loom the problem has gone away. Now my Bongo starts first time and every time even when not being used for six to eight weeks as it is a dedicated camper and not my daily drive. Why?

[Ron Miel]

With my original setup my starter battery was running flat after a few days and required charging up again or a jump start to get it going. Replacing the starter battery with a new 110Amp battery from the club shop made no difference. I limped home from my first holiday in the Western Isles with half a dozen call outs and jump starts from camp site wardens.
Since I replaced my original split charging system with a Willinton Intelligent Split Charging Wiring Loom the problem has gone away. Now my Bongo starts first time and every time even when not being used for six to eight weeks as it is a dedicated camper and not my daily drive. Why?

Suggestion: original split charge system not working properly, leaving starter battery connected in parallel with leisure battery and leisure load devices, after engine stopped ("sticky" relay). Was it checked out?

[Ron Miel]

Short term solution but it still suggests something ain't right with a 3 month old battery, especially a 2nd new battery.

As an example, I sold my trusty old Rover 620 a while back after leaving it stood outside & unloved for 10 months, it still fired up & ran fine almost on the first turn of the key.

There's something draining power here, it may be worth getting a local sparky to work some magic. Its more than likely a bad earth or dodgy connection somewhere.

Good luck.

Yes, but that misses the point, doesn't it? The Rover wasn't having its charge repeatedly drained by engine starts, without sufficient re-charging between them. 10 months was very good but any good condition/well charged battery should start an engine OK after three or four months at least - but only if it hasn't been drained by repeated engine starts for very short journeys.

The "something draining power here" is not a mystery, or a fault - it's simply repeatedly starting the engine.

[MountainGoat]

Was it checked out?

Dandywarhol had a look at it for me at his lockup in Edinburgh and advised me to scrap what was installed and replace it with a Willinton Intelligent Split Charging wiring loom.

Tony

[Ron Miel]

Was it checked out?

Dandywarhol had a look at it for me at his lockup in Edinburgh and advised me to scrap what was installed and replace it with a Willinton Intelligent Split Charging wiring loom.

Tony

Understood, and assume root cause wasn't found, as you still asked "why". Often more economical to stop trouble shooting and replace anyway nowadays, of course. Not familiar with Willington system, so just tried to identify through Google and this forum - not in Google, and a forum posting referred to it as an ebay product. Doesn't seem to be on ebay now.

[Ron Miel]

Was it checked out?

Dandywarhol had a look at it for me at his lockup in Edinburgh and advised me to scrap what was installed and replace it with a Willinton Intelligent Split Charging wiring loom.

Tony

Understood, and assume root cause wasn't found, as you still asked "why". Often more economical to stop trouble shooting and replace anyway nowadays, of course. Not familiar with Willington system, so just tried to identify through Google and this forum - not in Google, and a forum posting referred to it as an ebay product. Doesn't seem to be on ebay now.

Just noticed, as I pressed "Submit" (!!) that I misspelled Willinton. Having another look out of interest.

EDIT, RATHER THAN FURTHER POST: Still no response on eBay Cars, Vehicles and parts to "willinton".

[MountainGoat]

Sorry Ron, no offence intended but my question was aimed at others to suggest a possible alternative explanation. At the time Dandy fully explained to me what he believed the problem was with my Bongo. At some later date he posted this eplanation on the Forum on one of the many times that this problem has arisen. What he said is as follows:

Jim, I think what Tony's alluding to is that the Bongo alternator doesn't like being tapped into for a split charge relay which is what his converter had done. The heavy duty "intelligent" relays work far better although mine packed in under high temperatures in East Europe this year
On a positive note, Martin of Willintons changed it without query.

_________________
Whale oil beef hooked.

SGL3 in burgundy TDM900

I had only had my Bongo about two months before I set off on holiday in it. Before I did so I took it round to my local auto electricians where they spent a day having a look at it, charged me £115.00 then told me that it should be ok. Five days later it failed to start again and needed a jump start. Looks like my auto electricians did not have a clue about split charging and just charged up my battery, That was a really expensive charge up, to think I could have got the breakdown out for nothing. After a month or two of my Bongo being stuck on my drive I got to know dandy and he agreed to have a look at my Bongo for me. He even showed me how to use a multimeter.

[mikeonb4c]

Hi all.

My bongo struggles to start if left for 4 or 5 days and if left longer than a week I need the rac out to jump it. There is no drain on the battery and it charges ok when running, checked by myself and rac man too. Battery is only 3 months old and had a new one before that too which i replaced thinking it was faulty. Doubt it is a faulty bat though as would be 2 on the trot. The batt is a 95ah one so should have enough umph.

When it starts it draws just over 300 amps. I have striped started motor and cleaned contacts which did not seem to bad. Do I need a new starter motor maybe, or another from scrapped bongo. dont have £150+ for a new one.

Any thoughts?

Cheers

Is there any smoke or somesuch coming out of the exhaust when it does start? You could eliminate the possibility of it being an under charged battery (which sounds unlikely to me if there is no current leak) by disconnecting and charging the battery while the car sits there for a few days. If it is still a pig to start, it ain't the battery!