Bongo Fury

Hi, I'm in Europe, and the old girl starting playing up.

The acceleration was pinking - I think that's the term - so I thought it was some dodgy diesel.
But after a while it wasn't changing gear it at the right time - it kept revving and not changing gear or getting any faster. If I took my foot off the pedal it changed gear and started accelerating, albeit slowly. The problems started when I hit an incline, and we just got to our destination before she conked out.

Any advice what it could be?

I'm getting a mechanic to take a look at it, but they will be Czech. I hope very much it's not the gearbox. I don't want to scrap it but it's going to cost an arm and a leg to get it back to the UK where someone will probably be able to do something with it if it's serious. I don't see us being able to get parts out here.

Oh goodness, really sorry to hear you have problems.

Could it be the gearbox fluid has leaked out from a broken pipe?

Check the level and look for signs of fluid near the bottom of the radiator and the pipes under the driver's side.

More techie peeps will soon be along I'm sure.

but they will be Czech

...... Cz mechanics are as good as anywhere, better maybe as they are used to keeping vehicles on the road in tough winters and tough past politics. Depending where you are, language barrier won't be too high. They should be able to figure their way around a Bongo just as a uk mechanic would an unfamiliar vehicle. The problem might be sourcing parts specific to yours. I'm sure a uk supplier would ship to Cz.

If the local mechanic is stuck, I suspect BF has the depth of knowledge to point in the right direction.

Very best of luck and try to enjoy Cz despite the problem - lovely country.

i would start with checking for pipes off round the turbo, you say it started when pulling hard up hill, does it sound different to usual. check the air filter for blockages, check under the front of the van under the bumper and look up the plastic air scoop, this is the intercooler is it holed or blocked.
find the turbo, follow the thick black pipes from the turbo to the front of the van to the intercooler then back to the inlet manifold are they ok.
on the top of the fuel pump is a 10mm black pipe it goes to the inlet manifold elbow, is this intact. after this your possibly looking at a fuel problem, fuel filter blocked, banjo filter blocked, or just bad fuel.
bad / no fuel makes the engine work harder so you press the throttle harder, the ecu says you want to accelerate so it holds on to gears longer and sometimes doesnt reach the correct revs to change up the gears.

intercooler pipes to check.
http://lushprojects.com/bongopartsmk2/c ... mgno=.html.
turbo.
http://lushprojects.com/bongopartsmk2/c ... mgno=.html.
fuel system.
http://lushprojects.com/bongopartsmk2/c ... mgno=.html
fuel pump.
http://lushprojects.com/bongopartsmk2/c ... mgno=.html

Didn't hit it off well with the mechanic!
He spent the first half hour finding the engine. I should have told him was under the passenger seat..

Make sure and tell him the other half (of the engine, not your wife) is under the drivre's seat.

Katka wrote:

but they will be Czech

...... Cz mechanics are as good as anywhere, better maybe as they are used to keeping vehicles on the road in tough winters and tough past politics. Depending where you are, language barrier won't be too high. They should be able to figure their way around a Bongo just as a uk mechanic would an unfamiliar vehicle. The problem might be sourcing parts specific to yours. I'm sure a uk supplier would ship to Cz.

If the local mechanic is stuck, I suspect BF has the depth of knowledge to point in the right direction.

Very best of luck and try to enjoy Cz despite the problem - lovely country.

Indeed. That man Hitler invaded Cz to get his hands on a workforce and industry second to none at engineering.

Recently i seen a bongo bleed translation into french, given the "stupidity" of bongo owners not staying in Japan is it worthwhile having a bible of vital info translated into various languages?
Previous experience with a one make british bike club says French , any scandy language (other than finish) Russian, german, spanish, portuguese.
This was done in 1980's without translation software
since 89 there is less dependence on russian in the "eastern block"
never been there so don't take my suggestions seriously

One other thing that may be relevant, on a run from Hungary to Slovakia on Tuesday I broke the temporary petrol cap (another story) - I did another 150km to Slovakia without any problems. On Weds we did about another 75km before we filled up with diesel. This is when I started noticing she wasn't pulling like she should to overtake.

It wouldn't be a petrol cap thing?? Long shot I know...

Are you running with a broken fuel cap, no fuel cap, or have you replaced it?

If it's a new one it may not be vented which could cause similar problems.

stunews wrote:One other thing that may be relevant, on a run from Hungary to Slovakia on Tuesday I broke the temporary petrol cap (another story) - I did another 150km to Slovakia without any problems. On Weds we did about another 75km before we filled up with diesel. This is when I started noticing she wasn't pulling like she should to overtake.

It wouldn't be a petrol cap thing?? Long shot I know...

It has been known to be a problem i think. Try driving with it off (but not with a full tank!) and see if things improve?

Or poor quality/dirty fuel?

So far the checks suggested are the simplest / easiest so still worth doing but if dirty fuel is suspected, not just a non-venting fuel cap, then ... The fuel feed is all on the driver's side.
Easiest to check and clean is the banjo filter accessed by removing the feed pipe where it goes into the pump.
Excess water should create an alarm I think but can be drained off from under the fuel filter
Could get a new fuel filter shipped out. Ian the Bongomeister of the shop here can usually help out.
Finally there is a filter on the fuel pickup in the tank. Harder to get to especially if you have a side conversion. Some have blown backwards through the fuel line to clear this.
I'm no expert on dirty fuel but I suppose if you have a tankful then draining the tank may need to be considered.

Those temporary fuel caps are useless, they dont even seal well enough to create blocked breather symptoms !
If you were driving with the fuel cap missing i would be more worried about the possibility of rainwater getting into the fuel tank depending on what the weather has been like.
A pinking diesel engine is also classic symptoms of petrol in the tank, you did put the correct fuel in didn't you?

I'm 99.99% sure it was the right fuel.
I was keeping a sharp eye on fuel prices and came off the motorway to find one that wasn't hugely overpriced.

The mechanic has taken her for a spin and says the gearbox seems OK. So the problem doesn't seem to be apparent when cold - I have asked him to take her up some hills, as this was when the problem becomes most apparent.

Maybe should make the next thing we do to is to drain the tank, and put new fuel in..