Bongo Fury

Hi all, recently got my first Bongo 1 month ago (have wanted one for ages) as the wife and i go to a lot of dog agility competitions and we wanted more space for cages but did not want to go `full van` yet, and liking some of the little luxuries you get with the Bongo - nice driving position, air-con in the back so the dogs can stay cool without me freezing etc .

Anyway, done some basic checks of the engine and mechanicals as far as i know how (have yet to get a manual) and all seems well apart from a slight noise that i believe is coming from the transmission. It`s not really a knocking, or a whine, but a bit more like the sound you get running your nail over a comb, or a ratchet in action, possibly like a dodgy bearing............so i`ve checked the wheel bearings and they seem ok, bit harder for me to check any bearings in the gearbox though. At very slow speeds <5 mph it comes as a regular dull click every second or two and at higher speeds is obviously much quicker, so i`m ruling out an engine noise here - would never get anything clicking that slow i`d think.

I have checked the oil level to the engine and that`s fine, but i can`t see where i can check or top up the gearbox oil. The van is an `N` reg 2 wheel drive manual gearbox, 2.5 TD tin top, and currently doing around 320-350 miles per tank, most of which is pulling the caravan, so much better than i`d expected.

Has anyone else encountered this kind of noise with their Bongo pls? It may just be me getting paranoid but i think it sounds a little more prominent than when i got the van, and i`m aware of the fact that towing the caravan will be causing more strain than normal to the transmission so any help/advice would be appreciated pls.

Cheers in advance,
Mike

The only one that I know with a Bongo that has manual transmission is Brorabongo. Now he is on his second gear box after one of the gears in his first one distingrated. Don't mean to worry you just to bring to your attention that Donald has experience of problems associated with manual gearboxes.

Tony

& Northern Bongolow Tony

Not seen Ady's phantom Bongo yet. Is it pink?

Tony

Welcome to the madhouse have a read of this thread http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... =3&t=29471 - local help may be available
It's not something stupid like a stone or nail in a tyre is it?

My manual bongo is fine after seven years,lol.

Hi Mike,

SAE 75w-90 long life, 2.5 litre capacity.

Level plug half way up the side of the box.

Thanks all for the replies - a bit late (and dark) for me to go looking for the level plug now Rita but i`ll have a look in the morning, and i`ve updated my prophile a little now Franco - cheers

Hi and welcome to the forum Mike.

When I had my box problem there was no warning/changes in sound, It was a sudden bang, then differculties changing gears. It seems that a bearing disintegrated and the bits then started to break teeth off the gears.

For the sound to be every second or two I can not see it being in the gearbox, as I would guess the gubbings (now you know how techincal I really am) inside are spinning a bit faster than that?

One thing that might be worth checking is the alternator? One of my old alt's had a ticking noise bit like a ratchet......front bearing fault, noise would go away for a short while with a drizzle of engine oil. come to think about it, the alt would of been spinning faster than the tick sounded.

Don't worry too much about reliability. We do quite a higher mileage per year compared to others on here, and I expect to have a few more problems with wear and tear etc, but we've found our bongo to be the most reliable vehicle we've owned. It's also been the longest we've ever kept a vehicle, and have no thoughts of selling it at all.

All the best.

Welcome to the manual club.
Have a look underneath and make sure nothing is touching any of the moving bits.
I had what sounded like complete gearbox/transmission failure on mine.
Drove home in the dark for about 10 miles in first gear at walking speed wondering when it was going to completely collapse and leave me stranded. Made it home and got the torch out and found the big plastic engine gearbox cover had come loose on one side and was trailing on the ground.
The bolts had fallen out.
Bongo got its first hug for not murdering my wallet.

I am thinking of putting a manual gearbox in my 2.5td, does any one know the name of the manual gearbox that works in them