Bongo Fury

Hi all

Our newly purchased Bongo V6 has developed its first teething issue.

We have only had the Bongo for a week, have done circa 250 miles.

It all seemed excellent, until today.

Had a great day out, enjoying the Bongo and all its space.

All was fine, until on the way home when I noticed a slight hesitation as you drive along.

The normal smooth enjoyable drive had disappeared.

When pulling onto the drive it felt uneasy, even on the slight incline of our drive.

Anyway, dropped the family off and took it down the Upton Bypass in Poole for a test.

The drive just confirmed the hesitation, I was doing 60 and expected it to cut out. Thankfully it did not, as I had left my phone at home !

I also noticed the rev counter fluctuating slightly, which I assume is what is causing it to feel odd.

Obviously I will phone the dealer, but keen to see what you think.

Bit of rubbish in the fuel and might clear itself ?

Dont want to keep having to take it back to the dealer and be caught in the " We cant find anything wrong ".


All the best

Nick and Family

Hi Nick,

I would take the bongo straight back to the dealer, irrespective of the issue as you will be covered by their warrenty. Hopefully it's a bit of naff fuel, though this is highly unlikely in this day and age.

Get them to take if for a test drive and try and identify the problem.

I hope it's a quick fix mate.

bongodonkey wrote:Hi Nick,

I would take the bongo straight back to the dealer, irrespective of the issue as you will be covered by their warrenty. Hopefully it's a bit of naff fuel, though this is highly unlikely in this day and age.

Get them to take if for a test drive and try and identify the problem.

I hope it's a quick fix mate.

Thanks for the reply.

Will phone the dealer and see what he says.

Did read some of the threads on here that describe similar issues and they all seem very long winded to sort out. Just dont want to be caught out with a duff Bongo.

Regards

Nick & Family

Start with a distriubter cap and rota arm.

If that dosn't fix it move on to the ignition leads.

Fixed the same syptoms on our V6

Take the worry out of the situation, as said above take it straight back to the dealer and let them sort it out.

Hi all

Just to update you.

As the dealer is a bit long winded to get to, I have dropped it off with a Bongo Garage in Poole.

Whilst they have not really had time to look at it properly, they have confirmed that they can feel the hesitation under load.

A quick inspection of the engine bay has shown that the cam cover seal is leaking and one of the plug holes is oily because of it. This could be causing the problem.

Tomorrow they will have a proper look over it, clean out the plug, check the dizzy etc.

Will report back when I know more.


Nick & Family

Nick

you are potentially looking at a day labour for Cambelt seals - you really should contact the dealer and ask him to arrange for collection and return when the issue is fixed.

Hope its sorted soon!


Liz


PS and while they are doing that one might be worth them changing the crank shaft seals too (correct me if im wrong someone with more knowledge) they are almost in teh same place, cost about £8 each and it avoids repeating the job a few months later (as I had to do!)

Hi Liz

Thanks for the reply.

Did say to the garage that if its a cheap fix, then so be it. But if requires £££££££££££££ then the dealer will need to sort it.
I have explained the situation to the garage.

If it cant be fixed cheaply then the supplying dealer will be seeing me soon !

I am bit fed up with the whole situation, as it was supposed to have been checked through their workshop and serviced. I also thought by buying through a dealer I would be ok.

All the best

Nick & Family

Hi Nick,

I feel for you mate.

Our "Mr Kwippy" cost me £650 10 days ago in 2 repairs. My front crankshaft seal went (£20 part) and 8 hours labour. So as was suggested bud, straight back to the dealer and a good idea to get those other seals done. Wish I'd thought of that too.

We are in the same situation as our nearest 'bongo' friendly garage is about 26 miles away cross country roads - however they are awesome and good value.

Stick with it and you'll end up giving your V6 a daft name too!

Best of British

Hi

Have emailed the supplying dealer, explaining the current situation.

Bit worried about ££££££££ for replacement of cam seals !!

Nick & Family

On V6's have the cam seals and front crank seal done at the same time as the cambelt..... each time everytime if it needs it or not, if they are not done one ussually in the drivers side bank ussually leaks within a few months of a cambelt and smells and then ruins the alternator........

Paul

Hi Paul

Do you know what the Mazda recommended procedure is? My V6 had the cam belt replaced in Japan, by a Mazda owned dealer as part of a 10yr/100,000km service. Would the seals have been replaced then?

I have all the service records confirming this plus the beast is stickered to show the job has been done. The cambelt replacement was confirmed by the importer and again confirmed by Discount Trucks. There is no sign of any oil leakage on the seals, but it is something I worry about. I am considering an LPG conversion but am not sure how the mileage, now 79,000 miles not kms, would affect this if the seals are fragile.

The cambelt was replaced at 87,600km, 54,500 miles. That makes it 25,300 miles since then without any known problems.

Hi

I don't know Mazdas official policy but would imagine it doesn't include the seals, most manufacturer advice on these issues would be geared towards these things being done upto maybe 5 years on a higher average miles vehicle. We are now looking after these vehicles way beyond their service life, for instance Mazda would be unlikely to have issued advice on avoiding the rear arches and cross members from rusting etc... but experience in the field suggests good practice same with coolant alarms etc....

I have brought some ultra low KM vehicles in and had really unusual issues, like power racks failing this can be on a 9000KM car which for all other purposes looks new... time degrades rubbers and seals...

LPG conversions would have no impact on cam or crank seals.

Paul

lpgimports wrote:On V6's have the cam seals and front crank seal done at the same time as the cambelt..... each time everytime if it needs it or not, if they are not done one ussually in the drivers side bank ussually leaks within a few months of a cambelt and smells and then ruins the alternator........

Paul

I can vouch for this...expensive fix...now runs sweet...cheers Paul

Delboymel wrote:Hi all

Just to update you.

As the dealer is a bit long winded to get to, I have dropped it off with a Bongo Garage in Poole.

Whilst they have not really had time to look at it properly, they have confirmed that they can feel the hesitation under load.

A quick inspection of the engine bay has shown that the cam cover seal is leaking and one of the plug holes is oily because of it. This could be causing the problem.

Tomorrow they will have a proper look over it, clean out the plug, check the dizzy etc.

Will report back when I know more.


Nick & Family

I assume you mean the rocker cover gasket and not the cam shaft seal, my rocker cover has seeped oil into plug one on driver side for four years does end up miss fireing any missfire will make it hang back, i have recently glued mine back down and re torqued it, the seal was fine just needed sealing if you get me, before that i just used to clean it out with bog roll once a month ish you may get used to doing it when you have heavy rain and standing water on the roads anyway . ofcourse there could be the other reason why it is pulling oil into the plug but we hope not good luck with but i must say it would be goin st8t back to the dealer if it was me