Bongo Fury

hi to all you bongonauts out there. weve been a bongo owner for all little while now thanks to the brother in law introducing us to there bongo. BUT during last summer we head a complete engine overhaul and new gasket kit etc and everything was fine until about three weeks ago when the bongo developed blue smoke on morning start ups (the neighbours comment was "didnt know you had a log burner in the back mate") cheers!! it was that bad and still is. not been mechanically minded can anyone help or advise please.Friendee 2.5 td 4x4 manual 1996

firstly is it using oil or has it been overfilled with oil, secondly other than the smoke is it starting ok, no misfire etc ?

Peter.

Could be a number of things click user control panel above right and put in an area where you are and local people to you might be able to help or suggest a local garage for advice = good luck.

hi.
did the blue smoke start when the outside temps dropped, if so it could just be the cold start working as it should.

when the bongo coolant is below about 10 deg c the 1st stage cold start comes on, the left hand solenoid on top of the glow plug rail. this works until the coolant is above about 10 deg, then it switches off an the right hand solenoid comes on and sets the choke to (half) until the coolant is at about 50 deg c. then it is warmed up.
if you imagine it as an old fashioned pull choke you will understand it is really allowing more fuel into the burn, usually more fuel than is needed, so some may be passed through.

if not
the piston rings/valve seals could be worn, and as the engine warms up they seal better than with a cold engine.

worn oil seals at the turbo, leaking in to the air side when parked, then burnt off during start up.

is your egr blanked off, this is good idea as it stops the exhaust going back into the new air supply, giving a cleaner burn.

M 80NGO wrote:firstly is it using oil or has it been overfilled with oil, secondly other than the smoke is it starting ok, no misfire etc ?

Peter.

hi i have checked the dipstick on recent occasions and dont appear to be using any oil and its showing just below max mark on cold days before start up. it does appear to only be firing on three cylinders to start with according to a fellow trucker friend after listening and then after about 2 minutes theres a different tone and the engine ticks over normal like theres not a problem and the smoke has about gone. After chatting with different folk at work a couple of people suspect valve stem seals.

thanks for your comments

aitch wrote:Could be a number of things click user control panel above right and put in an area where you are and local people to you might be able to help or suggest a local garage for advice = good luck.

thanks for your advice. i will post out locally and see if there are any friendly folk out there who maybe able to help aswell thanks

If its a diesel could be glow plugs x4 are not all working .this can give three or less cylinder start up rough and smokey
Worth getting checked there are threads on here relating to this
Good luck

Northern Bongolow wrote:hi.
did the blue smoke start when the outside temps dropped, if so it could just be the cold start working as it should.

when the bongo coolant is below about 10 deg c the 1st stage cold start comes on, the left hand solenoid on top of the glow plug rail. this works until the coolant is above about 10 deg, then it switches off an the right hand solenoid comes on and sets the choke to (half) until the coolant is at about 50 deg c. then it is warmed up.
if you imagine it as an old fashioned pull choke you will understand it is really allowing more fuel into the burn, usually more fuel than is needed, so some may be passed through.

if not
the piston rings/valve seals could be worn, and as the engine warms up they seal better than with a cold engine.

worn oil seals at the turbo, leaking in to the air side when parked, then burnt off during start up.

is your egr blanked off, this is good idea as it stops the exhaust going back into the new air supply, giving a cleaner burn.

very interesting points thankyou. when we first had the bongo the previous owners advised in the cold weather that we turn the ignition on until the coil went off then turn the ignition off and then back on until it went out a second time and then actually start the engine. apparently a cold start feature but not owning a bongo before we werent aware of it. i will start by trying that first and post updates. thanks

the laird wrote:If its a diesel could be glow plugs x4 are not all working .this can give three or less cylinder start up rough and smokey
Worth getting checked there are threads on here relating to this
Good luck

hi thanks. we had a complete service about 3 to 4 months ago and we had all the glow plugs changed at that time BUT thats not to say that one or more plugs has gone down since. i will get them checked as soon as in case it could be an easy solution. thankyou

Do you know if they were cheap glow plugs ,should be on your invoice.better fitting NGK or Nippon denso glow plugs.might be worthwhile making ure they are the correct length

junior wrote:

M 80NGO wrote:firstly is it using oil or has it been overfilled with oil, secondly other than the smoke is it starting ok, no misfire etc ?

Peter.

hi i have checked the dipstick on recent occasions and dont appear to be using any oil and its showing just below max mark on cold days before start up. it does appear to only be firing on three cylinders to start with according to a fellow trucker friend after listening and then after about 2 minutes theres a different tone and the engine ticks over normal like theres not a problem and the smoke has about gone. After chatting with different folk at work a couple of people suspect valve stem seals.

thanks for your comments

after you saying the above i would go for glow plugs too.

the laird wrote:Do you know if they were cheap glow plugs ,should be on your invoice.better fitting NGK or Nippon denso glow plugs.might be worthwhile making ure they are the correct length

the mechanic who did the service only uses ngk glow plugs, (i asked a lot of invisitive questions) along with other quality parts but doesnt do invoices - keeps costs down for every party involved but always a quality job and no reason to complain. i will ask and make sure they were the right size/length. many thanks.