Bongo wont start/auto box/switch?

[chiefster1976]

Hi all.. it seems the bongo sometimes will not start, except when you put the foot on the brake and run through from park to drive and back to park, then it will start!!!

From what i can gather through auto sparky mates could be a switch on the gearbox somewhere,that may need cleaning or replacing!
Any ideas ???

p.s I have had an imobalizer fitted but im sure its correctly fitted...)

[Driver+Passengers]

Could be a contact on the gear select. Can't remember is handbrake also needs to be engaged - worth double checking that contact too, for all it'll take.

[teenmal]

Hi,there IS an inhibitor switch on the side of the gear box.This is to prevent the starter from operating/engaging when the box is in gear.As you said it might just need the connector cleaned.

Cheers.

[Velocette]

My money is on the starter motor solenoid contacts. When they are worn thin and pitted it can mimic shifter switch problems because the contacts make at random attempts. Contacts are £11.00 from Ebay and easy to fit. There is a video on You Tube. Worth doing anyway because if it is the original starter they will likely be knackered anyway and one less problem waiting to happen IMO.

[New Forest Terrier]

This is an earlier post of mine, about a similar problem. Mine started with an occasional need to flip the gear lever in and out of park before it would start and developed into a serious problem.

Had a version of this problem before Christmas. It started when the Bongo refused to start in Lidls car park. The gear lever button that allows you to get it out of park was stuck and the Bongo, convinced it was in gear was doing absolutely nothing. RAC man turned up gave it a thump on the side of the gear lever which persuaded it that it was actually in park. The problem seemed solved but on getting home the key could not be removed.

The cause of this was that the ignition, park button on gear stick and and parking brake are linked via a cable. This is probably either displaced or damaged at the gear lever or ignition end. It is totally mechanical on my 95, cable pulls levers. If this is not pulling the correct bits Bongo will not start, thinking it is in gear rather than park or it will not allow the key out of the ignition.

To get at the gear lever end take of the center console and then you can see the underside of the gear lever. There are two cables, thick one on the passenger side for the gear change, thin one on the drivers side. This is the one to the ignition which is the cable causing all the trouble. It ends in two levers, the top one is connected to the button that releases the gear lever. Pull this lever and in my case normal service was restored, until it jammed again. To get better access there is a trianglar panel in the drivers footwell that can be pulled off to give a fuller view of the connections at the gear lever end.

Sorting the at cable will cure the problem. If the cable is damaged the Bongo runs fine without it, just no automatic handbrake in park.

In my case the cable was snagging somewhere along its length and the cure was a second hand cable as replacement. I also started using the spare Bongo ignition key as the original was very worn.

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[chiefster1976]

Interesting posts guys thank you!! I have no problem taking out of park or running trhought from park to drive or any other gear, it just wont start sometimes... Maybe the starter solenoid contacts or the gearbox switch could be the go!!!
Are the gearbox switch and the starter solenoid contacts easy to locate/clean etc??

[wonkanoby]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MAZDA-BONGO-2 ... 43b8ef5585

there is a faq in members

but its a simple spanner job