Bongo Fury

I purchased my 2000 V6 from an importer, advertised as serviced and with a new cam belt. I have owned it for a couple of months now. So far everything I have looked at seems to have been serviced. I could take the dealers word that that the belt has been changed based on what I have seen. However, having been bitten before always gives me doubts. Is there any easy way to view it and confirm it has been changed? It has covered approx 110,000 kilometers.
What is an approximate cost of the belt replacement.
Richf

Think it's a dear job on a v6
£500ish
See if the nuts show sign of recent disturbance
Big importers should be trust worthy
But I know what you mean

Thanks for the reply Gasy. It is hard to say if the nuts have been removed yet the plastic cover over the belt did seem if it had been cleaned. I was wondering if it is easy to remove the plastic cover and have a look.

I paid around £500 for mine but that included the oil seals for camshaft and crankshaft which are worth changing whilst it's all apart. I've never tried to take it off but the plastic cover on the drivers side looks less tricky than the alloy one on the passenger side. This is a view of the front of the engine looking up and you've got two belts in the way of the black cover so it may be possible to loosen the top so you can pull it back far enough to peer inside.





I'm a bit picky about cambelts and when looking at cars recently, several dealer have said they'd chuck in a cambelt change for free, but the concern is they will be doing it with for the cheapest price possible. Given a choice, I'd try to haggle £100 off the price and say I'll get it done at my cost.

Simon thanks for the reply and pictures.
I don't think I will be happy until I find out.
I will have a look with a torch and mirror to see if it is within my capabilities to ease open the cover, otherwise I will probably try and arrange to visit a Bongo recommended garage not so far away and seek their advice.

I have heard of some who do a quick cam belt change ..... with a Stanley knife .. How ??

By removing the cam covers ... running the engine ... and splitting the cam belt vertically in two with the Stanley knife .. stopping the engine .. removing the cut half .. putting the new one on as far as possible .. then cutting the old one horizontally across then finally tapping the new one fully into position ..

No seals .. rollers / adjuster .. just in and out in a fraction of the time of doing a proper job ..

There are lips on two of the four camshaft sprockets so the V6 engine should be safe from that kind of shoddy workmanship (hopefully).

The simple thing to do is ask the importer for the invoice ( or copy, dated and part Number listed)from the cam belt manufacturer/supplier for guarantee purposes.


Good Luck.

Thanks all for the replies and comments.
I will have a further "investigation" tomorrow and will probably end up contacting the importer for proof that it has been carried out. At least that will put my mind to rest one way or another. I have a copy of the for sale advert. So I'll see what transforms. I did previously ask for feed back on the dealer on this forum but unfortunately heard nothing. Having said all that we are extremely pleased with the Bongo.
Once again thanks all for the replies.

Is the V6 a non interference engine?

The V6 engines are not an interference fit (ie; there is sufficient clearance between a permanently fully open valve, and the top of the piston ... so the valves .. would not .. hit the piston if the belt breaks)

If the 2.0 Mazda petrol engine used in the Bongo is so designed .. I don't know ..

mikeWalsall wrote:The V6 engines are not an interference fit (ie; there is sufficient clearance between a permanently fully open valve, and the top of the piston ... so the valves .. would not .. hit the piston if the belt breaks)

If the 2.0 Mazda petrol engine used in the Bongo is so designed .. I don't know ..

Thanks for that Mike, at least I am not in panic mode whilst I get sorted.