Bongo Fury

Hi there,

Since the temp dropped i have noticed a little squeaking for the first couple minutes and it would then disappear and it wasn't every time i drove it either.
This morning, this squeaking got louder and was constant all the way on my drive but only when i had the blowers on was the noise present. The noise is very reminiscent of a squeaky slipping belt but im unsure whether this is the belt itself or the blower motor making this noise.

Anyone had experience of this before and can point me in the direction of what needs replacing?
I have read about this no1 bolt that makes a squeaking noise similar to a fan belt slipping but i presume that has no relation to using the blowers themselves.

I have looked through the search and cannot find anything that replicates exactly my problem, so sorry if this has been asked and i havent found it.

Thanks all

you could try taking fan apart and cleaning it up regrease its bearings

Sounds like a stripping down of the front heating duct and examination of the blower motor might be in order. If you find evidence of rusting/rusty water around the motor casing/bearings and/or tightness when spinning the fan motor, then clean up and easing/lubricating is needed. You'll have read about blocked windscreen drain hole and consequences, so won't bore you with that. Mind you, sometimes a leaf/sweet wrapper/whatever trapped in the inlet tract can act like the reed in a wind instrument and create a noise whose pitch alters with wind(=blower) speed so take nothing for granted!

Many thanks for the fast replies, Where is the front heater motor? im quite familiar with navigating my way around the bongo and its wiring but cant think where this fan heater is, ive seen the rear one as i disconnected that one when fitting my conversion.

Ill keep searching in the meantime but if anyone beats me to it please let us know, might be helpful to anyone else who searches these same conditions

under the bonnet to the right of centre near bulkhead

See the process in pictures here http://www.g8dhe.net/bongo_images/air_fan_cleaning/

very handy thanks all

redrocket wrote:Many thanks for the fast replies, Where is the front heater motor? im quite familiar with navigating my way around the bongo and its wiring but cant think where this fan heater is, ive seen the rear one as i disconnected that one when fitting my conversion.

Ill keep searching in the meantime but if anyone beats me to it please let us know, might be helpful to anyone else who searches these same conditions

Turn front fan blower to 4 with ignition on and engine off and follow the noise and suction to source under the bonnet. From distant memory the air circulation flap spring would be worth taking a pic of before disassembling so as to aid in putting it back later but job overall was straightforward. Good luck and keep us posted.

I recall one person (probably Geoff!) even managed to modify a set of brushes from elsewhere for the motor when they found existing brushes had worn out.

mikeonb4c wrote:

redrocket wrote:Many thanks for the fast replies, Where is the front heater motor? im quite familiar with navigating my way around the bongo and its wiring but cant think where this fan heater is, ive seen the rear one as i disconnected that one when fitting my conversion.

Ill keep searching in the meantime but if anyone beats me to it please let us know, might be helpful to anyone else who searches these same conditions

Turn front fan blower to 4 with ignition on and engine off and follow the noise and suction to source under the bonnet. From distant memory the air circulation flap spring would be worth taking a pic of before disassembling so as to aid in putting it back later but job overall was straightforward. Good luck and keep us posted.

I recall one person (probably Geoff!) even managed to modify a set of brushes from elsewhere for the motor when they found existing brushes had worn out.

is this literally as simple as taking out all the nuts/bolts that hold that thing in place or will there be multiple things i need to be aware of like this circulation flap.

Ill have to wait till friday to take it out and strip it down but getting all the info up front will help plenty, cheers all

is quite simple really,2 nuts to undo main fuse box under the bonnet, then move to the side, unplug a loom or two behind the main radiator top to make room, undo about 5-6 10mm nuts to the bulkhead then lift the whole unit upwards to remove from a groove that holds it in position to the aircon rad. there is is a sponge gasket here that does fall apart so be careful.
clean out the dead dragon flies and pterodactyls that have been stuck against the rad from japan, this is best done with a tooth brush and air line or foot pump. once done airflow through the heater will be far better.
if the motor is not cleaned out it will load the heater speed controller, this then starts to fail and may only work on certain heater fan speeds. this is also fixable, look up fan and front and resister.

some info here.
http://igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/view ... er#p662353

This link has a reasonable diagram of all the parts http://lushprojects.com/bongopartsmk2/c ... mgno=.html

Northern Bongolow wrote: there is is a sponge gasket here that does fall apart so be careful.

Yes i seem to recall being grateful i had some of that sticky backed black foam rubber thin tape handy so i could remake the seal. And the filter over the heater matrix will probably have deteriorated so a solution here might be useful, as long as it breathes easily, if you don't want any more pterodactyl bits in the heater matrix. Nylon stocking might even do. A cleaned up airway is very satisfying. In my case airflow was massively improved, condensation problems eased greatly, and the mildewy smell was banished forever. The roar of free flowing air in the cab was noticeable.

thank you all immensely for all the information, i feel armed and dangerous right now, I will update you all on my progress, cheers