Bongo Fury

We had a speed related swooshing/squealing noise that we had attributed to a drive belt or a blowing exhaust manifold or worn alternator bushes

Armed with a can of Roebuck RB 12 Drive belt dressing (nasty gooey stuff), we sprayed it on the belt around the aircon pump... masking off the bits that were not belt!

BINGO no squealing... a lot cheaper a first check than removing and refitting the exhaust manifold or removing the alternator to check the bushes (we thought the "jockey wheel" above the aircon pump might have been a suspect too!)

Anyhow: here is the details of the can of goo:

http://www.darlas.gr/comersus/store/cat ... /57515.pdf

photos of can http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnbullas/tags/rb12/

The mutts nutts, thanks to Nick Roberts for bringing the goo to my attention!

To quote: "RB12 Belt Dressing is formulated to restore friction and grip to all types of Driving Belts.
Rubber/Canvas/Leather/and man-made materials. The product can be used on wet belts
and on belts in exterior locations. Spray a light coating over the gripping surface of the
belt. Never apply to a moving belt."

I by no means mean to pee on yer fire.... I really don't..!

Make sure your AC compressor pump isn't on its way out/seizing up...??!! What is the belt like with the AC on & the compressor clutch engaged???

Just replaced mine.. Can be done from the top without removing the alternator.. (Apart from getting underneath to loosen the jockey wheel nut.) http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... =3&t=57295

Closer examination showed/heard the source of the noise was near the #4 sparkplug....

IN FACT spark plug #4 was loose! needed 2 turns to nip it up, lots of crud in the spark plug depression (now cleaned out and the plug threads greased with coppaslip)....it was blowing

Now whether that was due to the muppet doing the servicing not doing it up (another plug needed nipping up too) OR this can actually happen 'naturally' (this I doubt), who knows ?

This might explain the piss-poor fuel economy, we have been running on 3 for a few miles...... will get a heads up from Mrs B......

Anyway, with a set of curtains installed and a plug pulled and refitted, the exhaust manifold nuts checked and the HT leads checked, I feel I have developed a wee bit of a rapport with Purple Pixie!

We had a similar problem this summer, had to pop into Allans at short notice when we were on Dartmoor following a massive loss of power. On inspection Allan found that at least two if not three plugs were loose, he was able to remove them by hand strength alone. The loose plugs weren't the main cause of the problem but it may have caused the problem which was down to arcing along the length of the plug insulator leading to charring and then loss of spark at the plug itself on one lead, the others were ok. Replaced the lead, new spark plugs and new rotor arm as that had signs of arcing as well and all was well. Can't identify if the the plugs were loose from the last service or had worked loose, but they hadn't done so since previous services, so highly suspicious that they hadn't been correctly tightened in the first place - but no proof of course.

The HT leads do have a limited shelf life and show little if any of the degredation necessary to give a dip in performance

QUESTION: are the HT leads the same as the MAZDA 626?

I think the next few weeks will see (i) an oil change, (ii) an ATF change and (iii) a check on the level in the rear diff (2WD)

QUESTION: What equivalents exist for the oil fillter? again 626?

Pip Pip

Dr B

Not certain, Allan didn't have a proper HT lead to replace the damaged one and getting a spare set would be a day or two, however he had a quick rummage and located a suitable Mazda lead it was only about 1/2-1" longer than the original so I was quite happy for him to use it - it could have come from a 626 no idea to be honest!

Thinking about it, a lot of classic car and kit car dealers sell single HT leads to cope with exotic ignition modules

http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/V ... tcable.php
http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/V ... minals.php

"Robert's your Dad's brother!"

Dr B