Bongo Fury

hi there,
after smelling diesel coming from my engine i decided to have a good look for the fault. i have traced it to a couple of failed o rings on the diesel pump. one i could get to and replace but the other is more difficult and havnt yet sorted. i decided to have a look on the net to see if other people had had this problem and if it could be fixed without taking the diesel pump off(which is a difficult and costly affair). to my shock ive found out that this is a very common problem. especially on vehicles pre 96 and especially on jap and korean vehicles of this age. its to do with the ultra low sulphur diesel that was introduced around 05. it eats away and basically damages the seals and o rings on these early models. the seals were not designed for this uls diesel. its looking like i may have to take my bongo into the garage and have all the seals replaced on the pump. dred to think what that will cost. just wondering if anyone knows of a diesel additive that i could put in to try and counter this problem. for those of you with similar aged bongos, keep your eye out cuz it could be just a matter of time.
look forward to hearing from anyone who might have some advice,
cheers adam

There is a handy fact sheet in the members area describing how to replace the seals. It does seem to be a common thing, but then any vehicle of a bongo age needs a bit more tlc.

Dom

Welcome slapndash.

What an extremely interesting post - I didn't know that fact. V. annoying if so

slapndash wrote:hi there,
after smelling diesel coming from my engine i decided to have a good look for the fault. i have traced it to a couple of failed o rings on the diesel pump. one i could get to and replace but the other is more difficult and havnt yet sorted. i decided to have a look on the net to see if other people had had this problem and if it could be fixed without taking the diesel pump off(which is a difficult and costly affair). to my shock ive found out that this is a very common problem. especially on vehicles pre 96 and especially on jap and korean vehicles of this age. its to do with the ultra low sulphur diesel that was introduced around 05. it eats away and basically damages the seals and o rings on these early models. the seals were not designed for this uls diesel. its looking like i may have to take my bongo into the garage and have all the seals replaced on the pump. dred to think what that will cost. just wondering if anyone knows of a diesel additive that i could put in to try and counter this problem. for those of you with similar aged bongos, keep your eye out cuz it could be just a matter of time.
look forward to hearing from anyone who might have some advice,
cheers adam

The older natral rubber seals are the problem. New seals should be made of Viton. Make sure they are, usually grey instead of black in Colour.
see the fact sheets for replacing them.
Let us know how you get on.

Biobongo wrote:

slapndash wrote:hi there,
after smelling diesel coming from my engine i decided to have a good look for the fault. i have traced it to a couple of failed o rings on the diesel pump. one i could get to and replace but the other is more difficult and havnt yet sorted. i decided to have a look on the net to see if other people had had this problem and if it could be fixed without taking the diesel pump off(which is a difficult and costly affair). to my shock ive found out that this is a very common problem. especially on vehicles pre 96 and especially on jap and korean vehicles of this age. its to do with the ultra low sulphur diesel that was introduced around 05. it eats away and basically damages the seals and o rings on these early models. the seals were not designed for this uls diesel. its looking like i may have to take my bongo into the garage and have all the seals replaced on the pump. dred to think what that will cost. just wondering if anyone knows of a diesel additive that i could put in to try and counter this problem. for those of you with similar aged bongos, keep your eye out cuz it could be just a matter of time.
look forward to hearing from anyone who might have some advice,
cheers adam

The older natral rubber seals are the problem. New seals should be made of Viton. Make sure they are, usually grey instead of black in Colour.
see the fact sheets for replacing them.
Let us know how you get on.

I'd meant to ask about that. The replacement O-rings sent to me by Lawson Diesels in Edinburgh (Dandywarhol recommended) are actually green, but as they are cosher Zexel pump ones from a UK supplier I'm hoping they are nonetheless of a suitable replacement material. I've had the o/s one done a year back. the n/s one has a v. slight dribble but - so far - not enough for me to feel action was necessary. But I have employed an interesting simple and effective dodge to avoid diesel on the road. Its a clean rag, left lying on the tray beneath the engine, where any diesel drops onto first. Works a treat - just renew rag from time to time

The green ones are supposed to be low sulphur fuel and bio friendly

dandywarhol wrote:The green ones are supposed to be low sulphur fuel and bio friendly

Yeh, stand corrected, Green. Just hooked out the box I keep ready for when replacement required.
On the Box:
BOSCH:
1 St/Pc
EP/VE/F
1 467 010 520

Excellent

Hi all,
thanks for letting me know about the fact sheet. thats just what i need. il let you know how i get on.
cheers again adam

You may find this interesting.

http://www.vwdieselparts.com/forum/view ... +stripdown

The Great Pretender wrote:You may find this interesting.

http://www.vwdieselparts.com/forum/view ... +stripdown

Holy Cow

Interesting isn't the word!

Intricate isn't an adequate word either

Nor is Involved

Ingenious belongs in there somewhere

Intgenvolvtriceresting oughta cover it

....boy we could use something as good as this for the Bongo fuel pump, plus how to get the damn thing back on and timed correctly.

Or then again just stump up £600 and have a reconditioned one fitted

I don't think the LARGE HADRON COLIDER is as complicated as that.

daveblueozzie wrote:I dont think the LARGE HADRON COLIDER is as complicatede as that.

No, but that don't work either.

Thats a good link TGP These old pumps are capable of producing pressures of over 150 BAR (the average car tyre pressure is 2 BAR!) Modern diesel HDI etc. are producing nearly 2,000 BAR purely by better tooling creating ultra tight clearance tolerances - thats why they don't like heavy, viscous veg oil........................

dandywarhol wrote:Thats a good link TGP These old pumps are capable of producing pressures of over 150 BAR (the average car tyre pressure is 2 BAR!) Modern diesel HDI etc. are producing nearly 2,000 BAR purely by better tooling creating ultra tight clearance tolerances - thats why they don't like heavy, viscous veg oil........................

Plus, I believe, VO go's solid, as in makes plastic, under those pressures within the common rail.