Bongo Fury

Hi there,

As my vehicle smokes a bit for a minute before running fine and chugged a bit when it was colder I have concluded I might need to change the glow plugs

I have read the glowplug article and was wondering whether I have the 83mm or 102 mm glow plugs for the pre VIN 300306 95M reg vehicle I own. Is there anybody who can identify at a glance or do I have to remove one and measure it

rgds Paul


83mm or 102?

The difference in size is the outer part so you should be able to measure it with a vernier

thanks dandy, (i think)

I am sure it's a good answer but i'm new to all this mechanics can you explain a bit more?
I am thinking you mean a long one has more projecting? and use a special ruler , I only have a metal rule what length should I be looking for?

cheers Paul
PS that was quick!

This help? - http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... th#p177407
It is possible to use the shorter plugs (ngk recommended due to some of the cheaper ones failing/breaking off) & gently bend the fuel rail a bit, or I think one or 2 peeps have extended the top of the shorter plugs using bits of spark plug IIRC?

its not rocket science to remove one. might be easier than rushing off to the shops to buy a guage to measure them. dosnt matter in the end what length you have, just adjust the glowplug rail to stop it shorting out.
just buy 4 or the 83mm ones, bend the rail and ave done with it

cheers for your practical advice dreamwarrior, is there a special method to bending them or just use hands? hammer + wood?

rgds Paul

Practical just bend with hands.its just got to ensure no contact with any other metal barring the posts. Could also wrap tape on the 4 risk areas. Simple and cost effective

Took the beast apart!

Bit of a faff getting the metal cover off, found out they were the 102mm type! , well 3 were and one 83 mm one!
Thats why it was smoking -one cylinder not getting warm as the electric bus thing not contacting (PLUG TOO SHORT) .

Reason why it was left in was it would not come out, the nut thing on it just turned so plug is knackered. Is there any way of rectifying this? how do you remove a knackered old glow plug that turns when you get the socket on it? replaced the other 3 plugs lowered the bus, but no better than before, although the others must have been quite old as some rust on them

rgds Paul

Paulinwales wrote:Took the beast apart!

Bit of a faff getting the metal cover off, found out they were the 102mm type! , well 3 were and one 83 mm one!
Thats why it was smoking -one cylinder not getting warm as the electric bus thing not contacting (PLUG TOO SHORT) .

Reason why it was left in was it would not come out, the nut thing on it just turned so plug is knackered. Is there any way of rectifying this? how do you remove a knackered old glow plug that turns when you get the socket on it? replaced the other 3 plugs lowered the bus, but no better than before, although the others must have been quite old as some rust on them

rgds Paul

Sounds like it's stripped in the head Paul - not good news as any drilling/tapping will mean crap going into the precombustion chamber. Sounds like a head off job to fix I'm sorry to say

just looking at a glow plug today with this in mind and the construction of it suggests what dandy says as it looks impossible for the plug itself to spin on the nut section and not turn the threaded part.
is a helicoil possible with it in situ ?

not sure i understand what is been said? - are you saying it's messed up in the thread? Can't i just leave it as it? it runs ok just a bit smokey for first minute it runs? runs fine when warm? started ok in the winter even when it was cold with a load of veg oil in it!

had a spark plug once that came out of a polo - someone mentioned helicoil then? took it to a garage that drilled the engine and put another (i guess larger) spark plug in and it ran fine, not sure how this would be acheived with engine inside vehiocle over seat?

Any comments appreciated as I am just learning as i go along and never changed the oil filter till i got this bongo

rgds Paul

I had this issue with one of my plugs, the first three came out no bother but the last went with a crack and the hex part of the plug has sheared leaving about 5mm of the plug exposed. possibilities are:

1. Remove the head and get it drilled out and helicoiled, reassemble and pay a largeish garage bill but be happy the job is done right.

2. Attempt to drill out the centre of the plug and use an easy-out to remove the remains of the plug. I tried this and I now have a broken plug and a broken easy-out left in the head.

3. Remove the inlet manifold and use heat/WD40 along with mole grips to try and gently ease the left over plug out, providing there is any stud left to get the grips on.

4. Do nothing with the broken plug and replace all 3 others with decent quality plugs. I have done this and in summer it only takes about 10 seconds of running the engine at 1800 rpm to stop the burbling and lumpiness and all is good. Let's face it there can't be a Bongo on the planet that is in A1 pristine condition with absolutely nothing wrong with it! In winter starting is a bit more lumpy but my mechanic tells me you won't do any damage to the engine running it on 3 plugs as long as you have compression in the broken plugs pot.

Bongo would not start today - appears the bus has touched the metal injectors and either blown the relay or the fusable link ( ) so much for my proactive maintenace! prob should have left the thing alone. Had to call out the mechanic as did not have the understanding to sort it myself

not blaming anyone just higlighting the probs inherent to help someone else avoid similar. I was warned to avoid contact with injector pipes

rgds Paul

2 hrs of diagnostics and it's fixed - fused wire off the positive terminal - luckily the relay is ok

missfixit70 wrote:This help? - http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... th#p177407
one or 2 peeps have extended the top of the shorter plugs using bits of spark plug IIRC?

Cheers Missfixit , Ihave googled IIRC and glow plugs/spark plugs and pulled a blank ,can you elaborate a bit more for us newbies as I would like to extend the glow plug to the 102 length to avoid a repeat blowing of the fuse and/or purchasing longer spark plugs as I spent £50 on the 83mm ones

PS how do you know if they have failed I have one that does not work but the glow plug light does not flash or anything

rgds In advance Paul