Bongo Fury

Hi all ,

Well ive just got back from traveling round Europe and while i had a lovely time , the bongo gave me a little issue !!

everything was ok until the last couple of days when it didnt wont to start in the mornings? i would wait for the glow plug light to go out as always and try and start it , but no joy but loads of white smoke????

so i had to jump start the engine a few times just to get going , but once the van had been running abit it was fine all day , it seems it was only in the mornings?

so i did a bit of digging and i think it is the glow plug relay as it seems fine when the engine is hot . so for rest of the holiday i just touched the cable for the glow plug rail to the positive of the battery for about ten seconds and it would start fine.

now i am back in england i went to get a new relay , i fittted it today hoping it fix my problem , but no joy ???

i got the multimeter out to test what was going on , and i found there was 12v at the entry of the relay when the ignition is off , BUT when i turn the ignition on and wait for the glow plug lamp to go , that 12v drops to 0v ???

the two cables that pull the plunger inside the relay seem fine , but surely its not the case of two duff relays ???

does anyone have any idea as to why the 12v drops when i turn the ignition on ??

i have included pics to help explain , the first is the old relay and the second is the new one.

[img][IMG]http://i1330.photobucket.com/albums/w56 ... ooayuv.jpg[/img][/img]
[img][IMG]http://i1330.photobucket.com/albums/w56 ... tu6zhv.jpg[/img][/img]
[img][IMG]http://i1330.photobucket.com/albums/w56 ... lgocgw.jpg[/img][/img]
[img][img]http://i1330.photobucket.com/albums/w56 ... ajsjjf.jpg[/img][/img]

http://vid1330.photobucket.com/albums/w ... vvcjla.mp4

i think that the red and blue cable is the 12v supply to relay and the solid black is the exit cable to the glow plug rail ?

the only way to start it in the mornings is to attach the solid black cable to the positive of the battery for 10 seconds (heating the glow plugs) ?


i would appreciate any help or advice.



Thanks

Have you checked the fusible link that provides the power to the relay from the battery ?

No i haven't Geoff , i didn't know it had one to be honest , i will go have a check this afternoon.

Thanks

hi all ,

i finally solved the issue ( fingers crossed ) thanks to Geoff , it turned out to be the relay fuse link wire . but it wasn't blown it had somehow severely corroded away inside the connector and totally disintegrated in to two half's? ( a light blue crystallization had formed ) , hence no power to the relay.

so thanks again Geoff.

martinc wrote:hi all ,

i finally solved the issue ( fingers crossed ) thanks to Geoff , it turned out to be the relay fuse link wire . but it wasn't blown it had somehow severely corroded away inside the connector and totally disintegrated in to two half's? ( a light blue crystallization had formed ) , hence no power to the relay.

so thanks again Geoff.

He is a bit of a star, or at least an exceptionally bright LED

I wonder if Geoff might have a view on how the corrosion/degeneration could have happened. I've not heard of this problem before.

Great result, and something for us to watch.

Bob wrote:Great result, and something for us to watch.

I'd keep your dirty eyes on the road ahead Bob, as the song goes. Even driving with the bonnet up, you can't see the battery area from the drivers seat

Can't say I can think of why it would corrode like that at all, unless perhaps it had got very hot and close to blowing at some point and then moisture penetrated the insulation and it corroded from there ... purely imagination at this point!

martinc wrote:hi all ,

i finally solved the issue ( fingers crossed ) thanks to Geoff , it turned out to be the relay fuse link wire . but it wasn't blown it had somehow severely corroded away inside the connector and totally disintegrated in to two half's? ( a light blue crystallization had formed ) , hence no power to the relay.

so thanks again Geoff.

Also let's not underestimate the value of your exhaustive and well stated analysis to our gurus. . I still chuckle over the exhaust video - brilliant - but really useful to anybody who hasn't seen what glowplug failure looks like at the back end (me for example!). Thanks.

how do you actually fix this ...solder?

The Bongo Fury shop and the Company below sells the fusible link.


http://www.mazdabongo.com/catalog/elect ... all-models