Bongo Fury

hi guys, since my freeda died and has now parted my company for a few months, im missing it and probably going to get another one but what i want to know is a v6 less prone to the overheating problems like the 2.5d i had or is it an issue with all bongos regardless of engine.

Well from our V6er being used in 40oC temperatures in France a last month, plodding up and down roads in the alps it didn't even blink!

We had a coolant alarm fitted and it's saved our engine twice - both times were split coolant pipes due to the intense cold last year and it being left stood to long (dratted wife) due to me being away with work.

Other than that ours is groovy!

I think it may be due to a host of reasons - of which I'm not technically suited to answer or more importantly know!
However, like I said ours was brilliant during some hot, hot summer weather and the fans kicked in (with ac on too) with no problems.

From reports now coming in, as the number of V6's on the road increase, there have been a few heads going, still the same issues with a plethora of aging hoses, pipes & matrixes, being the mid engine "bells & whistles" vehicle that it is. Whether the heads are quite so "prone" to failure as the diesels - difficult to say, but spares are a bit of an issue, there is apparantly no ready to go "kit", you have to order the bits inidividually, even down to ordering the headbolts individually, they don't come as a set, don't think there are any copy parts available as yet, so cost may be a bit of an issue.
Preventative mainitenance & effective system monitoring will go a long way to protecting yourself, but sometimes it's just down to luck - as with any vehicle.

Is the V6 identical to the Mazda 626 / Ford Probe etc engine?

If so, presumably there would be a reasonable supply of engines in the scrap market.

No - Mazda 929 is the only other identical engine - never sold in the UK

Ahh, yes. My research shows that the Bongo uses the J series cast iron block/alu head, whereas the 626 family used the K series which was all alu.

Shame though, because that would have opened up possibilities.